HMC-150 Transferred Footage Problems:

Shooting Mode: 1080i 60 : PH Mode

Card in Camera: Delkin Devices 16GB SD Card (Used for other shoots just fine)
Delkin Devices | 16GB PRO Secure Digital (SDHC) | DDSDPRO2-16GB (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/546633-REG/Delkin_Devices_DDSDPRO2_16GB_16GB_PRO_Secure_Digital.html)

*Footage was later copied to USB hard drive to free up the cards. Entire card directory was copied over.

Edit System: Mac Pro Intel Quad 2.66 4GB Ram Video Card: nVidia 7300GT

Storage: LaCie d2 Quadra connected via Firewire 800 - RAID-0 (2x500) 1TB Total

Final Cut Pro 6.0.5 - Log and Transfer - Apple Pro Res Codec

Problem: when looking at the footage seems like its in a Proxy mode version or lower quality after it has been transferred into Final Cut Pro. We thought this would look much better since we shot in "PH Mode". Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Note: look at the lettering on the building, faces and movement. There seems to be "stepping" in the footage similar to what some first generation DV cameras use to do.

Transferred footage: http://www.skyhighsports.com/HMC/Clip154.mov (Please Right Click and "Save As" for viewing)

I'm on a PC, so I can't help you. But I have to use Neo Scene, or the AVCHD files won't play or render ideally.

How are you viewing the footage after capture? It should look very clean, especially if you're transcoding to ProRes 422. It could be your settings in FCP that is causing the 'low res' look so try bumping that up to High. Otherwise try opening the file directly through QT and see how it looks. 1080i60 is a big file and watching it at HQ in realtime in a FCP timeline will usually require a 'lower quality' playback.

Did you try using toast to see if there was a difference in quality? Try transcoding with toast to see if that alleviates your issue. I would take a look at the footage, but sorry... 566MB is WAY too big to download. Try cutting it into something smaller or maybe show some screenshots. You'll get much more response because we can see the issue.

laters

Sorry about the larger file. Wanted to leave transcoded material unaffected. The codec is set to Pro Res and I am viewing the footage on a full 1920x1080 monitor through a AJA Kona 3 card. Actually I tried the Intermediate codec when transcoding and it seems to look a little better for some reason.

After reading more about the formats, it seems 1080i 60 is not the best shooting format for this camera. Most suggest 1080p then 720p and finally 1080i for preference.

I have not tried Toast, maybe I'll give that a shot and see what results come from it.

Here's a frame I captured from the footage. Notice the shopping carts on the right and the faces on the left. All seem to be soft and jagged. I've seen better results from this camera.

http://skyhighsports.com/HMC/Clip154.pct - Make sure to view in full resolution otherwise it doesn't look as bad.