Newbie with Gh2 with troubles with getting the footage from the gh2 to my mac

[Ricardo Malveiro]

Hy there,

 

I use to have a Canon 550d, that i used for photography, but mostly for video. I recently traded it for a new Panasonic Gh2k. I´m discovering yet almost all the features, but whats giving me the biggest headache, is that i can´t export my videos, to my mac pro, just like i did with the Canon. Why is that, and what can i do to resolve this. Each time i make a few videos, when i put the memory card on the card reader of the mac pro, in the Private folder, theres only one icon, that when open shows all the videos made, but, with no option to transfer one buy one, to the computer. What am i missing here? Do i require any kind of soft wear because of the different video format?  Canon= .mov  Panasonic= avchd

 

Can anyone help me with this?

 

Regards,

 

Ricardo Malveiro

[andy lee]

you need a modern fast card reader I went through 4 until I found one that t worked with the gh2 files

also Mac need to be running all the latest updates to read avchd files

I use my PC for downloading files as my mac wont see the card in the reader

[Ricardo Malveiro]

Already tried with a external card reader, another card, and still nothing. 

Getting a bit frustrated..

[andy lee]

its your Mac thats the issue

it needs to be a new one even a 2 year old one will not read avchd - I had the same problem

 

have a read of this

http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20120801145830468

 

http://www.winxdvd.com/resource/play-avchd-on-mac.htm

 

the files are in

root directory - private -bdmv-stream

 

read this

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AVCHD

[powderbanks]

are you using imovie? i know in one of the more recent versions, you have to use imovie's 'import' function to pull the footage straight from the card. if you try copying them to your hard drive then importing, for some reason it doesn't work. and you do need to dig through some folders on the sd card to get to the avchd files. unless you shoot mjpeg, then it will be in the photo folder, with a jpeg still of the first frame

[Gabriel86]

Hi,use this software ''ClipWrap'' to convert AVCHD to any other format your software editor is compatible with... the other option you have is connect the camera via USB and import from there.

[Claybatt]

Hi

 

If you have the latest Mac OS it kills the compatibility to read AVCHD files directly from your camera card.

 

A free way to read your files is to create a script that opens the single big PRIVATE folder so you can see each of the files.

 

But Christiano's method is really good. See the link below.

 

 

http://cristianogiardina.com/quickly-access-your-avchd-files-in-mountain-lion/

 

Cheers Clay

[VegaTeknique]

I had a page long write up - then accidentally exited out so excuse the quick post :(

 

You can find the .MTS files for your GH2 in the PRIVATE/ AVCHD/ BDMV/ STREAM

 

M-lion users look at Claybatt posting Access MTS in lion

 

In My quest to achieve the best quality from my Hack GH2, I have found that there are many workflows.

Ways to View/ Convert/ Tanscode/ Rewrap Ect- .MTS Files

 

My WorkFlow:
 
1st Step:

Download the AVCHD Plugin to be able to view .MTS files on Quicktime and work in FCP

(have not tested in M-lion osx)

 

2nd Step:

Use FCP Batch export Feature:

Open a new FCP project drag the . MTS files into FCP and Select them all and Batch Export -

set your Settings (for my files i used 1080 Pre Res 422 24p) and Boom goes the dynamite. 

 

I dislike FCX sorry guys you're not on my level.

 

No color gama shift, no stutter, no weird artifacts frames, smooth she sails.

 

 

Tip: 

When Exporting for web use this little guy

Fixing Quicktime Gamma Bug - Plugin Component

 

 

www.kingthebear.com

[Shane Lee]

Please keep in mind that AVCHD is not a Mac readable format by default, you need to do something extra to solve this incompatible issue.

 

VLC, plays almost everything including AVCHD, and it is  cross-platform (Windows, Mac, Linux).

 

Or visit http://www.ilikemall.com/how-to/convert-mts-to-mov-mac.html to convert them to QuickTime movie files.

 

Usually, i go with downloading VLC player, but if you want to sync the AVCHD files to your Mac iOS device or things like that, you will need to convert them anyway.

 

so it's a matter of personal preference, really.

[Amanda P Ross]

I would recommend you also try m2ts video converter which is free to download trial software.

http://www.freem2tsconverter.com/

[burrencrawler]

One of the easiest ways to get the footage into a Mac is the following:

1) Install Final Cut X

2) Open a new event and name it

3) Open a new project and name it the same

4) Put the SD card in the side of the Mac

5) If it hasnt asked you if you want to import something then hit apple+i 

6) Choose the files you want to import and click 'import'

7) Depending on how much footage you have this may take quite a while to process

it will convert the files into ProRes422

8) To find the new processed ProRes422 files:

a) get a new finder window

b) under movies go to final cut events

c) one of the files has 'high quality media' these are your ProRes422 files

copy them wherever you want and use them.

 

Easier still use Final Cut X and edit it in there, it has finally become a very good program.

If you are using CS5 or CS6 (both better than Final Cut 7) the new converted files will work great.

[JonGiuffria]

Burrencrawler, 

 

I've done exactly what you had said, however, FCX decided to tell me that more than half of the files were still referencing the camera. I tried importing the data directly from the card and from the camera with the same result.  I now have a newer Mac (purchased less than 6 months ago) and imported the footage onto the computer. As I attempted to put it into iMovie, the same problem occurred - more than half of the footage would not play due to the clips still referencing the camera. The kicker is that I can watch every single clip via Quicktime with no trouble. Each clip is as clear and smooth as ever! So why can't I just import these things and make my crappy movie!!!  :(

[p.hawks]

The files work great natively in adobe cs5.5 and cs6.  For FCP 7 use log and transfer.  I used FCP X for a day, but I couldn't stand it, so I can't help much there.  I struggled with conversions for a while, but ultimately settled on using the native footage in cs6.  When hacked, it is still great quality and holds up great to the (minimal) grading/cc I do with it, and it is much easier in terms of overall workflow.  I just dump the cards into a new folder, import, and then start putting things in my timeline.