wordoffaith:

So would I be better off skipping the middle man and just using Premiere Pro CS4 if Avid is not advanced enough to support many formats? I am not making academy award winning pictures

I agree that if AVCHD is your shooting format that you should try editing with CS4 and if it works for you, you don't need Avid. I also agree that Avid is a lot more stable than Premiere, but the latter is now pretty good with new multicore computers loaded with RAM and is a lot more stable than it used to be. For long-form documentaries or 2-hour multicam edits Avid is more reliable but Premiere works. finally, you should consider your entire work flow, including output. do a 5 minute test edit with one or both and see how it goes.

                   - sasha

Do you mean Canon AVCHD, from an HF-11 type camcorder?

Would Quicktime, the $29.95 pro version, convert these files properly? I had a great person send me the AVCHD transcoder, but MC is not importing the files, so I am at a loss. I am using a 64 bit Vista system and Avid Media Composer is the only program I have ran that is stable. I have tried the following: PowerDirector 8 Ultra, Sony Vegas 9 Pro, Adobe Premiere CS4 Pro, Corel Video Studio 12 Pro, and others that escape my mind right now. Most, including the cheap ones handled these files, but they were not stable when the file sizes started getting larger. It is not my computer that is the problem, because the same files and many more in Avid do not result in crashes. I just want my AVCHD or mpeg2 .TOD files to be able to be transcoded to not lose quality and be able to edit in MC. I know .mov files work fine in Avid and seem to have decent quality, which is why I was wondering about Quicktime Pro. Apple's site is less than helpful and they offer no trial.

Maybe I should explain the error I get in Avid when trying to import the .mxf file created by Mainconcepts AVCHD transcoder. Media Composer says:

You cannot import this file into a bin.

See the documentation for information about transferring media files.

This is not the same error I get when trying to import an unsupported file format in which MC gives this error:

The file format of __________ is not supported for import.

I have read the documentation and cannot get the .mxf file imported, so I obviously am missing something. I know others have it working, so something I am doing or not doing must be at fault.

wordoffaith:

Maybe I should explain the error I get in Avid when trying to import the .mxf file created by Mainconcepts AVCHD transcoder. Media Composer says:

 

 You cannot import this file into a bin.

See the documentation for information about transferring media files.

 

 I have read the documentation and cannot get the .mxf file imported, so I obviously am missing something. I know others have it working, so something I am doing or not doing must be at fault.

 

As your profile is empty, we don´t know what version of MC you are using but if use 3,5 and up, you should use AMA to link to the folder that the mainconcept encoder has created.

If you are using a version pre 3,5 , import P2 might work.

That is, if you was able to preview the file when it was transcoded by the mainconceps transcoder, if you wasn´t , that particulat Avchd codec might not be supported by that transcoder.

Mid October I have to import several hours of AVCHD from a Sony HXR-MC1P, then quickly edit the footage, integrate it with preedited material and export 10 x 10 minute clips. Unfortunately there's no alternative to using this particular camera.

I downloaded the Panasonic codec (the only one available?) and did many tests with my Avid 3.5.4. It doesn't work. No AMA, no P2 import, no discernible workaround.

I tried it with FCP 6.0.1. I can see the files using the log and transfer tool but havven't been able to transfer rsuccessfully.

Munich's FCP Guru and I tried it with FCP 7.0. A test on his 2008 MacPro allowed realtime import. My 2x2.66 HGz Macpro transfered the material at 5 x real time, so I'l be doing the job with FCP 7.0.

BTW FCP 7.0 has all sorts of other very very very very big problems, so it can't be recommended for any feature films or longform docs. 

Frankly I'd try and convince your producer/camera department to use another format. There are so many good ones out there that have a professional, functioning and proven workflow

(oops, just realised this is the PC Forum... my apologies... hope my post helps anyway...)

RodneyinMunich:

I downloaded the Panasonic codec (the only one available?)

Do you have any small file to publish and send a link to for testing ?