I've been testing my system's AVCCAM editing ability via CS4, and I've gotten nothing but confused. I've downloaded some raw .mts files and made a sequence with them in Premiere. As expected from the discussions here, I get stuttery playback, and a red bar indicating the need to render. Of course after render all is well, but I understand that it is no longer playing the .mts files, but the rendered previews that it created. Now, I read that using Cineform's Neoscene to convert the AVCCAM files to their proprietary intermediate format will enhance the editing. I download the trial version and give it a shot. First of all, the raw .mts files are 1920x1080, and the resulting Cineform AVI's are 1440x1080. Then, I import theses AVI's into Premiere and drop them on a timeline and voila...red bar. Plus, playback of these files is even more choppy than the original AVCCAM files.

I might also add that we have a JVC GY-HM100, and it's files drop onto a timeline with no red bar...and play back beautifully.

So..what's the deal with using Cineform as an intermediate codec? It actually slows my workflow down by the time required to convert the AVCCAM files to it's format, since I STILL have to render them when on a timeline.

Just askin'...

Steve B

So..what's the deal with using Cineform as an intermediate codec? It actually slows my workflow down by the time required to convert the AVCCAM files to it's format, since I STILL have to render them when on a timeline.

Just askin'...

Steve B
Steve,
It all depends on what you are trying to do.
The Cineform software is still not complete for CS4 (It is complete for CS3). However, it is functional in it's current state of development- I've done 4 projects with CS4/ Cineform Prospect HD v. 4.x
NeoScene may not have 1920x1080 capability- that may be why you are getting the HDV par output of 1440x1080. You may have to upgrade for 1920. Try the trial version Of Prospect HD.
But, the bigger question is what do you need in order to do what you want to do.
If you are doing professional type editing, with filtering, effects, lots of color correction, AE Comps, downstream transcoding to multiple delivery formats, etc.; the big, hunky, near lossless Cineform DI will tolerate all of the tweaking & abuse and provide you with broadcast quality HD results that would be very difficult to achieve by editing in native AVCHD.
If you are doing reletively simple editing, for viewing mostly by family/friends/U Tube, etc., it may be effective to just edit the native AVCHD in CS4, output the final AVCHD movie to a thumb drive to view with the WD HDMI player on HDTV, or burn it to DVD and play as BluRay on BD Player, or Playstation, or watch it on a computer.
The type of editing you plan on doing, and the requirements of the final product & distribution will determine what tools you need to get the job done.

Thanks for the great post. I'm worried about editing AVCHD on my dual-core machine and this lets me know another direction I can head. I've got a couple of eSATA HDD's (750GB and 1.5TB) hard drives so the massive file size won't be a problem. Also, I'm a WDTV HD media player owner as well, those devices ROCK!