I decided to do a second backup of files I took back in January on my first SD card which is also the largest (32GB), however the card didn't show up when inserted into my MacBook Pro's card slot.

Even more worrying is that when inserted back into the camera (Panasonic AVHMC 152) apart from one file they all show up as clear empty thumbnail frames with a little red exclamation mark inside.

When the camera is connected to the laptop I can see in the STREAM folder that I have files 00567.MTS to 00664.MTS and there should be a huge bunch more between that. Where are shots 00001 to 00566???

I know I have not deleted anything and I haven't reformatted it.

Also, I am using the Wondershare Video Converter to randomly pick a clip and see what it is by dragging it into the conversion window but is there a better way of viewing clips individually before using them?

I want to make a showreel next month without having to log and transfer entire folders for the sake of one or two special clips.

I've just copied the contents onto my external terrabyte and to my relief it was copying 15.52GB of data which is the mass I would have expected. The copy took about twenty minutes, however when done - there was nothing at all in the new folder I had assigned on my hard drive.

Hi Cameron

Rule no 1 is to flick over the write protect tab on the card BEFORE it goes into the computer so the data can only be read and no modified in any way. It sounds like the computer has corrupted the card data somehow!

If you still have a problem have you run AVCCAM Restore from the PASS website??? It might just save your bacon!!!

Chris

Cheers Chris I will look into that website.

When you have raw files from several different SD card import folders and you just want to take a couple of clips from each one for a showreel or a 'best of' - is there a better way of viewing the thumbnails?

What do those more experienced than myself do, or should I just log and transfer each folder, select the two or three that I want and ignore the rest?

Hi Cameron

The PASS site also has Panny's AVCCAM viewer which might suit you??? When you bought your camera did you get a free copy of Neo Booster by Grass Valley??? If so they have a neat viewer.

What I do is just import all the clips I think I might need into Vegas and I can identify them pretty quickly via the created thumbnails and if I need to dig deeper I just drag the clip onto the timeline and watch it..if it's not what I want it gets deleted until I find the clips I need for a showreel. After a wedding I normally dump a batch of clips (usually 20 at a time) and have a quick look and this easily allows me to identify what I was shooting ..that goes onto a manual handwritten list ..ie: 0000 - 00025 Bridal Preparation etc etc

Probably the AVCCAM viewer would be quicker looking at the huge number of clips you are working with...the viwer and restorer BTW are free!!

Chris

It's definitely the card, I've re-installed FCP and the Apple store say there's no issue with the software. Perhaps it's because I changed the name of the SD card file from 'PRIVATE' to 'PRIVATE SD#2' - but I had to, because otherwise it would have asked me if I wanted to replace the existing 'PRIVATE' folder.

I have not solved this issue but to continue this edit I will have to convert the raw files in Wondershare video converter and use Quicktime versions. It's for a website video so the difference should be un-noticable to the client.

I have no idea what setting to convert in so I just went for the the highest which was 1280 x 720 and slide up to max quality.

Need to finish this project asap but when the pressure is off I will look into some kind of recovery software, though the clips are obviously there, I just can't get them raw.

Hi Cameron

As long as you win..that's the main thing.

Another golden rule is never write to the card via the reader. You must always format the card in the camera so the correct file structure is created by the camera when it starts recording and knows where the folders are!!

Glad you will be able to sort it out!!

Chris