Hey guys,

I have a need for HD video for work, so with budget of £800.00 i went out and purchased the Panasonic HDC-SD5:

Panasonic UK - Panasonic Introduces two full HD camcorders - HDC-SD5 and HDC-SX5

So i came home whipped it out and did a little test, fired up Premiere and went into the capture window .. nothing, so i'm guessing the unit saves into a native format, so stick in the HD writer CD that comes with and found a little button that says Save as MPEG2, so i di that, great, i then open the video and the size is very disappointing. Am i missing something? Doesn't HD mean i'll get an output size of at least 1920 width? What i'm presented with is less than half that.

Don't quite get where i'm going wrong? I just want to get a high quality, large/HD video output.

Any suggestions?

Thanks, Dave.

[rhubarbe]

Premiere captures video via Firewire. HDC-SD5 uses SDHC memory cards, not Firewire.

If you have an SDHC reader on your PC simply take the SDHC card out of the cam and insert into SDHC slot on PC. Open up My Computer, navigate to correct drive and transfer the files from SDHC card to PC HDD.

Then, if your PC is C2D you can play the files using Nero Showtime (a recent version).

Alternatively, just connect a USB A to B cable from PC to SD5 and the SD5 will show up as a drive in Windows. Transfer files as you would from a normal external drive.

Again, you'll need a C2D PC to playe the AVCHD files.

Thanks, my problem isn't so much getting access to the files, i can just browse to then through my computer, its getting access to a useable file format, and my query about the size. So far i can only access the video through a program that comes with the unit, called HD Writer. This shows the file with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, however when i click the 'save as MPEG2' button the outputted files is less than half this, which i'm most concerned with.

??

Thanks - Dave.

[rhubarbe]

Well, that's because converting the AVCHD (mpeg-4 part 10 h.264) file to mpeg-2 downgrades it from HD to SD, so it will be less than one quarter of the size on the PC screen.

I have the HDC-SD7, and I cannot play the native AVCHD files on my Pentium M 760 laptop, but on my E6600 C2D at work they play fine in Nero Showtime.

Thanks.

I'm still a little confused, i need the video to be in a workable format at the original HD size, is this possible?

The native file is a.MTS

but on my E6600 C2D at work they play fine in Nero Showtime

Whats C2D? and through Nero Showtime can you convert it to an editable format?

Edit:
My specs: Quadcore AMD 2.6, quadro 4500, 4gb

Thanks again - Dave.

[rhubarbe]

C2D is Core 2 Duo, but your spec is as good so you'll have no problems.

I believe that the newest Adobe Premiere Elements will edit native Panasonic AVCHD. Vegas won't since Sony adopted a non-standard h.264 version (and Canon followed them).

Not tried any editing yet, so do let me know how you get on.

I don't have Elements, though i've tried in Premiere Pro 2 and that didn't recognise the format. Is AVCHD the same as .MTS?

So do you think i'll be able to get access to the original HD size? by some way?

- Dave.

[rhubarbe]

OK, lets split this into two.

1 You can play the AVCHD files with Nero Showtime and if you just want to play them without editing them on an HDTV then you need one of these, if you don't have an HTPC:

http://www.tvix.co.kr/ENG/boards/Pre...=RD&itemid=378

You can use one of these to play native AVCHD on an HDTV.

2 Now, editing. If you can find an editor (Premier Elements 3 is what I use and I believe it handles AVCHD) then you will be able to save the files but not as AVCHD (I don't know why).

.MTS is the Panasonic proprietary file type that is outputted by the SD5/SD7. It is just an abbreviation for mpeg4 Transport Stream.

Well i've had a crash course in AVCHD tonight, something i'd never heard of prior

Anyway, with the Cam i also got a trial version of Pinnacle Studio Plus 11, i've installed this and that seems to be able to open the file and convert to something usable. Not quite sure what i'll do in 15 days though, i'll have a search to see if there's a free coverter or something.

Two final questions:

The file i've dragged of the SD card onto the PC, is that natively in 1920x1080HD? because i'm not sure if Pinnacle is just pro sizing it up to that size or if it's maintaining it's original size from the file?

Also which is the best format to convert the HD to? It has:

wmv
avi
divx
mp1
mp2
mp3

I would have prefered a PNG seq or something.

Thanks again,

Dave.

[redsox_mark]

As you have discovered, Premiere Pro 2 doesn't edit AVCHD. Pinnacle Studio 11 does; Premiere Elements 3 does. Vegas 8 Pro is supposed to edit Panasonic AVCHD as well, but I couldn't get it to work...

In terms of output format, what device do you plan to play them from? If from a PC, WMV-HD is a good choice. If you want to burn to a DVD disc to play in a HD-DVD player, then HDV/MPEG2 is good choice.

[rhubarbe]

Originally Posted by everlite

The file i've dragged of the SD card onto the PC, is that natively in 1920x1080HD?

If you shot the clip in 1920 x 1080 then that's what the file will be. If the SD5 is the same as my SD7 (and I am sure it is) you get a choice of three qualities. The highest is 1920 x 1080 and the other two, aren't.

[EvilSpeaks]

Hi Guy's thanks for the informative information so far on this thread (great help)

With my wife due to give birth in about 8 weeks, i like most at that time am aslo looking for a camcorder and have decided on the HDC-SD5, I haven't got this yet so bare with me, and i've never had a camcorder in the past either..

Once i've recorded a video clip, and connected the camcorder to my PC via USB (has i don't have a card reader ), it's obvious i can browse to the video file....this i'm assuming has a extension of MTS??? Reading from this thread i'm assuming if i do a open with Nero Showtime, then this file with automatically play??? (I believe my Pc is powerful enough....2Ghz, 2G MB and a decent graphics card)

I'm then taking it that i can just burn this file it's ins native .MTS format for archive and shold i ever wish to play again, bang it in the DVD drive and open using Nero Showtime again and it'll play just fine....

to play in a normal DVD drive i'll have to use the HD writer software and save as mpeg2 and burn as normal, then pop it in a DVD player and away we go (this is to pass the video onto the inlaws who only have a SD DvD player, i'll be watching the Full HD version)

to convert this MTS file to say WMV-HD (to play in the XBO360) i'll need to use something like Elements to pinnicle right??

Thanks for any advice (and sorry if i should like a nob)

(has anyone tried this with the optional dvd burner (wv-bn1 - I think), which I believe does one click burn and then also plays back at the full HD res through the camera....does anyone know if this drive takes dual layer disks???)

What i really want though is to be able to archive the video files to Dvd to build a a libry and play then at will using my PC.....

Also i ready somehwre that the files can be played back in a Blu-ray player?? how is this does??? does the original stream need to be converted first?? or again, burn the original stream to dvd and just put in say the ps3???

[rhubarbe]

Once i've recorded a video clip, and connected the camcorder to my PC via USB (has i don't have a card reader ), it's obvious i can browse to the video file....this i'm assuming has a extension of MTS??? Reading from this thread i'm assuming if i do a open with Nero Showtime, then this file with automatically play??? (I believe my Pc is powerful enough....2Ghz, 2G MB and a decent graphics card)
Unless your PC is a 2GHz Core 2 Duo or AMD Dual Core then, no, it isn't going to be fast enough to play raw AVCHD files natively.

I'm then taking it that i can just burn this file it's ins native .MTS format for archive and shold i ever wish to play again, bang it in the DVD drive and open using Nero Showtime again and it'll play just fine....
Yes.

to play in a normal DVD drive i'll have to use the HD writer software and save as mpeg2 and burn as normal, then pop it in a DVD player and away we go (this is to pass the video onto the inlaws who only have a SD DvD player, i'll be watching the Full HD version)
Yes.

to convert this MTS file to say WMV-HD (to play in the XBO360) i'll need to use something like Elements to pinnicle right??
Pinnacle 11 edits AVCHD, yes.

Thanks for any advice (and sorry if i should like a nob)
I'll assume you mean a noob? Nob has other connotations.

(has anyone tried this with the optional dvd burner (wv-bn1 - I think), which I believe does one click burn and then also plays back at the full HD res through the camera....does anyone know if this drive takes dual layer disks???)
No, and I don't know

What i really want though is to be able to archive the video files to Dvd to build a a libry and play then at will using my PC.....
You can archive the data files to DVD but you'll only be able to play them in HD using Nero, on your PC, or on a new PC actually.

I would suggest making two backups of each clip on separate external HDDs, rather than on DVD as even though DVD dyes are better than they were they still do not last forever.

Also i ready somehwre that the files can be played back in a Blu-ray player?? how is this does??? does the original stream need to be converted first?? or again, burn the original stream to dvd and just put in say the ps3???

On a PS3 you can play native AVCHD files from a DVD (as data files) from an SDHC card directly or by copying them to the HDD, but do be careful since Sony AVCHD is not the same as Panny AVCHD (wouldn't youjust know it) and you may find that Panny AVCHD won't work on a PS3.

BD player, don't know haven't got one.

Recommend using one of these:

http://www.tvix.co.kr/Eng/products/4100sh.aspx

It'll play AVCHD natively and you can shove up to a 1 terabyte drive into it and play back on your HDTV over HDMI. Neat.

[EvilSpeaks]

Thanks rhubarbe.....your answers where much appreciated.....but I think next time I should use a spell and grammar checker..lol reading my comments before your answers made for embarrassing reading!!!!

My PC is a 2Gz core2duo, so hopefully I’ll be ok playing back the raw .MTF files using Nero Showtime!

I’ll look into the TVIX player as well, thanks again for this link! But purchasing one may be a while off yet……gotta get the camera this week (to play around with and get used to before the little fella arrives), then my Sony 40x3500 within a few weeks to watch the clips and movies on……..just too much outgoings!!! But thanks for the link, it’ll definitely get used!

I believe I read that the optional DvD burner burns disks so they can be played via a blu-ray player as well as using the burner itself via the camcorder……like you say, weather this means a PS3 or not is another issue (I’ll look into this one a bit more I think!)

As you don’t have a blu-ray player, does anyone else know if the .MTF file needs to be renamed to say .AVCHD or anything to play in a blu-ray player?? Or the fact that the .MTF file is simply a raw derivative of AVCHD it in theory should play fine??

Thanks again for any help and assistance
(I hate being a novice at things!!!!)

[senu]

Just to add:

PS3 AFAIK reads AVCDH ( and HDV) as M2t or Mpeg ( mpg) .. MTS, Im not so sure but they should be easy enough to rename

There is no "free" converter software from AVCHD.. only the Mac based Imovie outputs AVCHD as AVCHD.

Even then I dont think AVCHD files outputted as such can be played back through the camcorder.
Output to WMV-HD will require you to have Windows media Encoder on your system
See
Ulead Movie factory plug-in now has BD-MV support!
You would need something like UleadMoviefACTORY 6 PLUS ( and its HD add on pack) to make MiniDVDs playable as BD

[feeder]

I've just popped the 4GB card from my Panasonic SD-7 in to my Sony PS3, and it has played it just like a BluRay disc.

I can skip backward and forward to each clip, and the PS3 recognised all the cuts/edits I made on the SD-7 and played them in their correct sequence.

I've copied some clips to the PS3's hard-drive and they've appeared in the "video" tab complete with animated thumbnail.

Quietly impressed by the ease at which it all worked.

I'm using the 60GB version of the PS3 as the new 40GB version doesn't have card slots.

Can i just pick on something that was mentioned earlier, i've tried Adobe Elements 3 and this doesn't recognise the AVCHD format, can anyone confirm otherwise? does it need a plugin or something?

For the moment i'm using a HD version of Pinnacle that came with the Camera to convert over to other formats, which is the absolute best format to covert to? AVI, WMV, DIVX??

Thanks again - Dave.

[EvilSpeaks]

Originally Posted by feeder

I've just popped the 4GB card from my Panasonic SD-7 in to my Sony PS3, and it has played it just like a BluRay disc.

I can skip backward and forward to each clip, and the PS3 recognised all the cuts/edits I made on the SD-7 and played them in their correct sequence.

I've copied some clips to the PS3's hard-drive and they've appeared in the "video" tab complete with animated thumbnail.

Quietly impressed by the ease at which it all worked.

I'm using the 60GB version of the PS3 as the new 40GB version doesn't have card slots.

Do you know if the SD-7 saves in the same format as the HDC-SD5??? and are you able to test if you can just burn the file from the SDHC card to a single layer DVD and play that in the PS3???

[senu]

Originally Posted by everlite

Can i just pick on something that was mentioned earlier, i've tried Adobe Elements 3 and this doesn't recognise the AVCHD format, can anyone confirm otherwise? does it need a plugin or something

?

I think it does HDV, not AVCHD

For the moment i'm using a HD version of Pinnacle that came with the Camera to convert over to other formats, which is the absolute best format to covert to? AVI, WMV, DIVX??

Whichever suits your needs really, none is "best"

[feeder]

Originally Posted by EvilSpeaks

Do you know if the SD-7 saves in the same format as the HDC-SD5??? and are you able to test if you can just burn the file from the SDHC card to a single layer DVD and play that in the PS3???

I suspect the SD-5 and SD-7 use almost identical firmware, as technically they're the same. So yes, the (.MTS) clips are saved to card in the same way as on the SD-5.

I burned a copy of the entire contents of the 4GB card to a DVD-R (basic DVD-ROM compilation via Nero) and it also played in the PS3 although it didn't start it like a bluray (or the card). I had to find the (.MTS) video files on the DVDR and it stopped after each clip ended, leaving me to manually select the next one.

Not quite as impressive as playing direct from the SDHC card. I guess this is something that could be fixed in a forthcoming PS3 firmware update, or perhaps there's a "knack" to burning AVCHD content to disc so that it plays like the card.

[EvilSpeaks]

Originally Posted by feeder

I suspect the SD-5 and SD-7 use almost identical firmware, as technically they're the same. So yes, the (.MTS) clips are saved to card in the same way as on the SD-5.

I burned a copy of the entire contents of the 4GB card to a DVD-R (basic DVD-ROM compilation via Nero) and it also played in the PS3 although it didn't start it like a bluray (or the card). I had to find the (.MTS) video files on the DVDR and it stopped after each clip ended, leaving me to manually select the next one.

Not quite as impressive as playing direct from the SDHC card. I guess this is something that could be fixed in a forthcoming PS3 firmware update, or perhaps there's a "knack" to burning AVCHD content to disc so that it plays like the card.

thanks Feeder, you've made me one happy chappy.......

I think i'll be getting me a SD5 by the weekend now........SDHC cards are cheep enough to get a fair few (anyone got any good places to get these cards at a good price, looking at dabs quickly it seems like 8GB class 6 cards are about £65 - but i only checked this site so don't know it that's cheep or expensive?) and the fact that i can use the supplied software to burn my videos to standard def for viewing on normal Dvd players (for the in-laws) and also just copy the .mts files to dvd (I assume just make a data dvd in nero) and play either in a HTPC with nero showtime (I now have nero 8 so this shouldn't be a problem) or on the PS3.....i'm one well happy fella

I think 4-5 8GB cards will be enough, and as long as i stop short of filling them up completely, each card once done can go onto a DL disk (7.94GB I think)for archive and viewing later...(plus a back-up on hard drive as well)

Now just to see if i can get a shop to do a deal on the SD5 and sony 40x3500!!

Thanks again all

[rhubarbe]

I think that the SD5 and the SD7 are identical, technically.

I found three places to get SDHC cards:

http://www.mydigitaldiscount.com/

I have bought from here three times and due to them declaring the cards at < $20 value I have never been able to pay any VAT yet.

Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-lis...480563-4537535

I use Integral and Transcend cards from Amazon MarketPlace sellers.

http://www.lowpricememory.co.uk/8GB-...-integral.html

This link is to a Class 4 card.

Class 4 cards work fine BTW. My SD7 came with a Panasonic 4GB card that was Class 4: it works fine and so does the Toshiba 8GB Class 4 that I picked up before I went on holiday.

[rhubarbe]

Just tried Premiere Elements 3 and it doesn't recognise an AVCHD .MTS file. Being as mine are Pana it won't do me any good trying Vegas, either, will it?

[redsox_mark]

Vegas Pro 8 supposedly handles Panasonic AVCHD - you could try it.
I'm pretty sure Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 8 (which came out before it) does not.

[rhubarbe]

Yebbut nobutt, my red socks'll need darning if I have to run to a copy of Vegas 8.

[senu]

Originally Posted by rhubarbe

Just tried Premiere Elements 3 and it doesn't recognise an AVCHD .MTS file. Being as mine are Pana it won't do me any good trying Vegas, either, will it?

Elements 3 doesn't recognise any AVCHD AFAIK

[rhubarbe]

I know. That's what I said.

[senu]

Originally Posted by rhubarbe

I know. That's what I said.

Just for clarity:
Its easy to read "what you said" as if it doesn't specifically recognise the Panasonic AVCHD .MTS variety, this being the subject of another similar thread

[rhubarbe]

Qué?

If you click on the bit in Premiere Elements to open a source from file, it doesn't include .MTS as a file type, so I concluded it wouldn't open Sony or Canon .MTS files, though I obviously only have Panny .MTS files, so I couldn't be 100%.

Very tempted to get an HV10 to use as a deck. Annoying thing is I can get an HV20 cheaper but I really don't like the Handycam form factor.

[EvilSpeaks]

Just as a side note, as anyone tried Nero Vision to convert these .mts files??

I’ve used it on avi files to convert them to standard dvd video format for others to watch (with good results), but under the supported file section, next to the Mpeg-2 Transport Stream Files it has .mts (along with others .m2t, .ts etc..), now I was wondering if anyone has used Nero Vision to convert the .mts files to DvD Video? And what results where seen (I know the answer to this is a most likely no as the supplied software also does this, but you never know)….My main question however is, has anyone used (Nero Vision) to make a AVCHD video???? And if so, what would this play in?? PS3??? Xbox360 (with hd-dvd add on)?? Anyone?? Anyone willing to try??