General Discussion - 1080p/1080i AVCHD to FCP importing and editing Tips on Mac jacknjchn - Mon Jul 30, 2012 12:58 am Post subject: 1080p/1080i AVCHD to FCP importing and editing Tips on Mac
AVCHD, Advanced Video Codec High Definition, is a high definition (HD) digital video camera recorder format recording 1080i, 1080p and 720p. The AVCHD (.mts/.m2ts) recording is known as H.264 cedec. But as we know, format in H.264 codec is not a goode editing format. So if you will meet some troubles when you import 1080p/1080i MTS to Final Cut Pro for editing on Mac OS X.
In order to solve the importing issue, FCP developed the Log & Transfer, a background converting tool for transcode AVCHD footages to Prores 422 LT, one of the ProRes codecs to help Final Cut Pro work more efficiently with AVCHD contents. But it can not support all the AVCHD cameras and camcorders. Besides, the quality of the converted files has been reduced, not to mention its so many restrictions when working with AVCHD. The most important problem is that, although it is possible to copy AVCHD files directly to your scratch disk, Final Cut Pro won’t recognize these files, sometimes even the L&T. Thus, to convert AVCHD to ProRes for FCP with a more powerful and professional AVCHD converter for FCP is much easier.
Here I take Brorsoft MTS/M2TS Converter for Mac, a top AVCHD to ProRes Converter as an example, I have successfully used it to get the videos in perfect quality by transcoding 1080p/1080i AVCHD clip to ProRes 422 on Mac OS X, including FCP 6/7 and FCP X. In addtion, it is developed with some easy and useful editing functions, such as deinterlacing 1080i files, joining imported clips together for easy ingesting, trimming section of your file, adding text/image/video watermark to your original files, replacing audio tracks, etc. With it, you can effortlessly get AVCHD files converted to ProRes codec and transfer your Panasonic/Sony/Canon/JVC HD recordings to FCP.
Guide on [color="#006600"]ingesting and transcoding AVCHD footages to Final Cut Pro with best quality[/color]
Step 1: Install the free trail version of MTS Converter on your Mac and load your .mts/.m2ts files to it.
Step 2: Click on the Format box and select the FCP Professional format in dropdown-list. You are advised to choose “Apple ProRes 422 (*.mov)”or “Apple ProRes 422 HQ (*.mov)” format. Due to the difference in the compresstion standard of AVCHD and ProRes 422, the converted files are significantly larger than the original ones. If you prefer smaller file size, please choose “Apple ProRes 422 (LT) (*.mov)” instead. The “Apple ProRes 422 (Proxy) (*.mov)” format offers file size at SD levels and is recommended for 480i/p and 576i/p shootings.
Step 3: Adjust video and audio parameters in the Profile Settings if necessary. You can adjust codec, bit rate, frame rate, sample rate and audio channel in the interface according to your needs and optimize the output file quality.
Step 5: Click File --> Import --> Files and then you can transfer/edit your shootings in FCP without any problem.
Tips for AVCHD to ProRes conversion with AVCHD Converter
1. Joining files: Tick the box "Merge into one" on the main interface.
2. Deinterlacing 1080i: Click Edit and select "deinterlacing" in the Effect.
3. Preview: Double click on the file and you can get a preview on the converter.
4. Auto shutdown: Click Option and tick the box “Shut down the computer after conversion” before conversion starts.
5. 3D conversion. The Red-Blue/Red-Green 3D conversions are supported.
