[gmr]

I'm not sure if people are aware of this or not but thought I'd mention it anyway.

I'm successfully editing AVCHD files from my Canon HF100 in Windows Movie Maker (Vista Premium). All you need to do is install the Pixela ImageMixer software. This installs a Directshow Video decoder for the native AVCHD files off the camcorder. I'm not sure if this works with other camcorders but worth a try (I would install the software that comes with your camcorder before trying WMM).

With the correct Directshow filters installed it's a simple case of dragging and dropping the clips from Explorer into WMM. On my PC (Quad Core 6600, 4GB RAM) it's pretty quick to edit these files and although WMM doesn't have any fancy capabilities I still prefer to use it over Premiere Elements 7 for a lot of things. (And I still use Pixela ImageMixer for very basic edits and other stuff).

What helps is to add thumbnailing for the AVCHD files in Explorer:

Add these lines to a text file, save with a .reg extension and double click to update registry:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.mts\ShellEx\{BB2E617C-0920-11D1-9A0B-00C04FC2D6C1}]@="{c5a40261-cd64-4ccf-84cb-c394da41d590}"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.m2t\ShellEx\{BB2E617C-0920-11D1-9A0B-00C04FC2D6C1}]@="{c5a40261-cd64-4ccf-84cb-c394da41d590}"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.m2ts\ShellEx\{BB2E617C-0920-11D1-9A0B-00C04FC2D6C1}]@="{c5a40261-cd64-4ccf-84cb-c394da41d590}"

Or click here to download a file I've already done for you!

You may need a reboot to get the thumbnails to display. I also needed to delete my thumbnail cache to force it to start thumbnailing - in Vista run disk cleanup (type "cleanup" from start). Select "thumbnails" and delete.

For uploading to the web HD videos I export using the 720p profile and upload to Vimeo with excellent results.

Hope this is of use to someone.

Cheer

Gidon

[muscleflex]

wow thanks for that. useful info!

[mmace]

I can do the same with CoreAVC installed (quicker codec)

Originally Posted by gmr

What helps is to add thumbnailing for the AVCHD files in Explorer:

Add these lines to a text file, save with a .reg extension and double click to update registry:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.mts\ShellEx\{BB2E617C-0920-11D1-9A0B-00C04FC2D6C1}]@="{c5a40261-cd64-4ccf-84cb-c394da41d590}"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.m2t\ShellEx\{BB2E617C-0920-11D1-9A0B-00C04FC2D6C1}]@="{c5a40261-cd64-4ccf-84cb-c394da41d590}"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.m2ts\ShellEx\{BB2E617C-0920-11D1-9A0B-00C04FC2D6C1}]@="{c5a40261-cd64-4ccf-84cb-c394da41d590}"

Or click here to download a file I've already done for you!

Great tip - thanks!!

[Mr Lazy]

It's interesting, I recently built myself a new Q6600 PC and one of the first things I did was try playing back AVCHD from my HF100. I installed ImageMixer SE 3 thinking (based on previous experience) that it had a stand-alone codec. The player can play back the video adequately. However, WMM says it doesn't have the correct codec and Media Player recognises and plays the files but the video distorts. The Tools->Compatibility option in WMM does not list any codes.

I installed ffdshow (which has a built-in H.264 codec) and Media Player now plays back the video "ok" but still not as fluidly as ImageMixer. WMM still does not list a codec. I guess I must be doing something wrong. Using 64-bit Vista though wouldn't have thought that would have made any difference.

[gmr]

Good to know works with CoreAVC codec too although you have to pay for that .

Mr Lazy - don't know what's going on there. Can only guess it's because you're using 64-bit . I see the Pixela H264 decoder under Tools | Options | Compatability. (I've just checked and this is definately what's doing the decoding - if I deselect it the video files won't play.)

Gasman2 - much as I'd like to claim credit I found that tip somewhere else!

Cheers

Gidon

Originally Posted by gmr

Gasman2 - much as I'd like to claim credit I found that tip somewhere else!

Ahhh... but I found it here!

[freemo999]

Works for me too Great Tip

I burnt a clip i took to a dvd but get lots of horizontal lines, any guess at why this might be happening?

Cheers

Andy

Originally Posted by andyfreeman

lots of horizontal lines

Probably something to do with interlaced footage on a non-interlaced screen, would be my guess.

But, someone who knows what they're talking about might be able to help more!

[freemo999]

Might it be to do with the fact that my camera is NTSC?

I need to learn about this stuff a bit more lol !!

[mmace]

Originally Posted by andyfreeman

Might it be to do with the fact that my camera is NTSC?

I need to learn about this stuff a bit more lol !!

in the HD world there is no NTSC or PAL

Originally Posted by mmace

in the HD world there is no NTSC or PAL

I'm not disputing this - but why then does my HF10 say 'PAL' in big letters on it? Is it just as comfort, so I know it will work on UK TVs? Or is their another reason?

Is there really no difference at all between a UK and US HF100/HF10 etc?

Thanks

[senu]

Originally Posted by Gasman2

I'm not disputing this - but why then does my HF10 say 'PAL' in big letters on it? Is it just as comfort, so I know it will work on UK TVs? Or is their another reason?

Is there really no difference at all between a UK and US HF100/HF10 etc?

Thanks

The PAL and NTSC still apply if in using an analogue composite video ( or s-video) output, you want to play them on a display which may not be capable of accepting multiTv standard signals. That is a bit unusual these days for Displays sold here as DVD players output in either TV system

[alpine101]

Also Pal and NTSC tend to be associated in people's minds with frame rate. European camcorders record normally at ~25fps, US ones at ~30fps.

[zeroice]

does this work with the new version of WMM?
(the Live one)
Movie Maker beta - Windows Live

[freemo999]

Originally Posted by zeroice

does this work with the new version of WMM?
(the Live one)
Movie Maker beta - Windows Live

Not been brave anough to try it out yet haha




Let me know if anyone has a go

[rune]

Originally Posted by gmr

What helps is to add thumbnailing for the AVCHD files in Explorer:

Add these lines to a text file, save with a .reg extension and double click to update registry:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.mts\ShellEx\{BB2E617C-0920-11D1-9A0B-00C04FC2D6C1}]@="{c5a40261-cd64-4ccf-84cb-c394da41d590}"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.m2t\ShellEx\{BB2E617C-0920-11D1-9A0B-00C04FC2D6C1}]@="{c5a40261-cd64-4ccf-84cb-c394da41d590}"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.m2ts\ShellEx\{BB2E617C-0920-11D1-9A0B-00C04FC2D6C1}]@="{c5a40261-cd64-4ccf-84cb-c394da41d590}"

Or click here to download a file I've already done for you!

You may need a reboot to get the thumbnails to display. I also needed to delete my thumbnail cache to force it to start thumbnailing - in Vista run disk cleanup (type "cleanup" from start). Select "thumbnails" and delete.

I am unable to get thumbnails in Vista doing the above.. Any ideas?

edit: using 64 bit, in case that matters

[Mr Lazy]

Originally Posted by rune

I am unable to get thumbnails in Vista doing the above.. Any ideas?

edit: using 64 bit, in case that matters

64 bit doesn't matter, as I've got it working and I've got 64bit. I did have one time shortly after I did this that the thumbnails stopped displaying, didn't do anything to fix it they just came back and have been ok since. Sorry I can't help further.

[gmr]

Originally Posted by rune

I am unable to get thumbnails in Vista doing the above.. Any ideas?

edit: using 64 bit, in case that matters

Did you try my suggestion of deleting the thumbnail cache? Also downloading some new files from the camcorder got the thumbnailing working too. Good news is once it starts thumbailing it keeps going.

Cheers

Gidon

[rune]

Originally Posted by gmr

Did you try my suggestion of deleting the thumbnail cache? Also downloading some new files from the camcorder got the thumbnailing working too. Good news is once it starts thumbailing it keeps going.

Cheers

Gidon

Yes, tried deleting the thumbnails, but no difference. Also, im not able to watch the files using Windows Media Player (should I?), I have installed the ImageMixer software.

Do you know if this will work with Vista Premium 64-Bit. I just purchased the hf100 and I am now trying to figure out which editing software to use for editing, saving, and burning to dvd, the videos I shoot. I am not a professional movie maker, just an average home user who will be shooting family events, kids, birthday parties, vacations, etc.... I don't need anything too fancy.

I am running Vista Premium 64-bit, Dual Core 2.2GHz, with 4GB of RAM.

I am not sure if I should just use the Microsoft Movie Maker which my pc already has or get the Sony Vegas Platinum Pro 9 which I heard works great with this camera. I don't have a blu ray player, so any DVD's I would burn would have to be SD for now.

Thanks in advance....

sn

[senu]

Get The Sony software

Using WMM has too many workabouts that may make it harder work ..if it does work at all
Download a free trial to see how easily it works with a 64 bit system , and how it get on with you ( or vice versa)
Im not anti WMM but I think its really only meant to be a taster, and not meant to replace proper editing software even when your intended use is occasional
This is even more so for a newer format like AVCHD

[Tim7]

Hey guys (and gals if any here), I'm new here though have browsed a little bit!

I've bought myself a Canon HF100, and love it, I'm just having some trouble editing the videos that I've shot. Basically I recorded some stuff over Xmas of the family, etc. And what I'd like to do is to just create a small video clip of something that I've recorded, (this is hard to explain for some reason). So basically I've got a 3 minute recording, and I just want to create about 30 seconds video clip from it.

I read the first post and thought I'd try Movie Maker, but even with the ImageMixer software installed, WMM wouldn't let me import the raw AVCHD file because it said it didn't recognise the .m2ts format. So I knocked that on the head and then used the ImageMixer software, now I've created my clip and it's saved to my desktop, but it's in the .m2ts format. I basically would like to upload it somewhere (vimeo etc), so I can share it with others.

Oh yes and the video I created was a bit jumpy when playing it back too. I have got PowerDVD 8 Ultra, and can playback the raw video file and it's fine, no jumps or anything. However when playing the created clip back it is quite jumpy and not smooth?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

Thanks Senu, do you know if the sony software allows you to burn regular DVD's or can it only do ones that play on Blu ray?

[elektrobix]

Originally Posted by Tim7

..... I basically would like to upload it somewhere (vimeo etc), so I can share it with others......

Hi there, i've been following these guides for converting into VIMEO friendly videos....

TUTORIALS: Vimeo HD exporting guides from many editors in the Vimeo Technical Help Forum

[senu]

Originally Posted by snisenzo

Thanks Senu, do you know if the sony software allows you to burn regular DVD's or can it only do ones that play on Blu ray?

It allows you burn regular DVDS
However certainly it can produce files which are "ready" for creating DVDs in any DVD creating software

[senu]

Originally Posted by Tim7

Hey guys (and gals if any here), I'm new here though have browsed a little bit!

I've bought myself a Canon HF100, and love it, I'm just having some trouble editing the videos that I've shot. Basically I recorded some stuff over Xmas of the family, etc. And what I'd like to do is to just create a small video clip of something that I've recorded, (this is hard to explain for some reason). So basically I've got a 3 minute recording, and I just want to create about 30 seconds video clip from it.

I read the first post and thought I'd try Movie Maker, but even with the ImageMixer software installed, WMM wouldn't let me import the raw AVCHD file because it said it didn't recognise the .m2ts format. So I knocked that on the head and then used the ImageMixer software, now I've created my clip and it's saved to my desktop, but it's in the .m2ts format. I basically would like to upload it somewhere (vimeo etc), so I can share it with others.

Oh yes and the video I created was a bit jumpy when playing it back too. I have got PowerDVD 8 Ultra, and can playback the raw video file and it's fine, no jumps or anything. However when playing the created clip back it is quite jumpy and not smooth?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

Try any of Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum, Adobe Premere elemens, Ulead video Studio or Pinnacle Studio
WMM and Image mixer are more troble than they are worth IMHO

Any of them can also create files capable of allowing you upload video to the web

[gmr]

Originally Posted by Tim7

Hey guys (and gals if any here), I'm new here though have browsed a little bit!

I've bought myself a Canon HF100, and love it, I'm just having some trouble editing the videos that I've shot. Basically I recorded some stuff over Xmas of the family, etc. And what I'd like to do is to just create a small video clip of something that I've recorded, (this is hard to explain for some reason). So basically I've got a 3 minute recording, and I just want to create about 30 seconds video clip from it.

I read the first post and thought I'd try Movie Maker, but even with the ImageMixer software installed, WMM wouldn't let me import the raw AVCHD file because it said it didn't recognise the .m2ts format. So I knocked that on the head and then used the ImageMixer software, now I've created my clip and it's saved to my desktop, but it's in the .m2ts format. I basically would like to upload it somewhere (vimeo etc), so I can share it with others.

Oh yes and the video I created was a bit jumpy when playing it back too. I have got PowerDVD 8 Ultra, and can playback the raw video file and it's fine, no jumps or anything. However when playing the created clip back it is quite jumpy and not smooth?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

Hi
What version of WMM are you using? Look in Tools | Options | Compatibilty for a reference to Pixela H264 Decoder. I'm using WMM v.6 built into Vista.
Also in ImageMixer you can export to a few formats - File | Export. I'd use the ITunes preset which should give a decent conversion to upload to the web. But WMM gives any more options if you can get it to work.
Cheers
Gidon

[djfonti]

Originally Posted by senu

Get The Sony software

Using WMM has too many workabouts that may make it harder work ..if it does work at all
Download a free trial to see how easily it works with a 64 bit system , and how it get on with you ( or vice versa)
Im not anti WMM but I think its really only meant to be a taster, and not meant to replace proper editing software even when your intended use is occasional
This is even more so for a newer format like AVCHD

Hi there. What software are you referring to Senu?

I have a bunch of .mts files from my Sony camcorder, and all I want to do is join them so they play as one file, no extensive editing.

I store them on my PS3 for playback, but I have a bunch of clips which are annoying so I want to take them off, join them and only have a few big joined files on there.

Thanks.

[senu]

Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 9
Om told you can do simple joins with the bundles PMB ( Picture motion Browser) but I have no personal experience of that