Help: 720 Footage Crashing FCP During Log & Transfer

[Ben Haslup]

Hey guys, need some help.

I'm running FCP 6.0.1

I wanted to do some slo-mo tests today with my new GH1. Shot in AVCHD, Rec Mode SH (for 720 60p).

Opened up FCP, went to log and transfer, and the footage shows up in the clips. I can preview the files, etc. BUT, when I drop them into the queue for capture, FCP crashes.

So, I trash the preferences, repaired permissions, etc. Second try. Another crash.

I then tried my hand at rec modes H & L. Same issue.

Trashed preferences again. Reformatted card, etc.

Still having the same issue with rec modes SH, H, & L. But, FHD (1080i 24p) is still working.

Any ideas as to what's going on here? I'm pretty new to AVCHD, and I've heard some of the FCP gripes with handling AVCHD, but I was hoping not to encounter them. Apparently I should've knocked on wood. Thanks guys.

[Peter Gjevre]

Are you importing as ProRes or some other intermediate codec?

Unless you have an extremely powerful machine (i.e. a quad or octo core Mac Pro), I would recommend against importing as AVCHD, because it will often crash your machine.

If you log and transfer into ProRes, the files will be physically quite large, but much more manageable from a processor perspective.

Cineform is another option that some people find useful.

[Dave Partington]

Any speed Mac can import AVCHD and transcode to ProRes 422. I've done it on a Mac Mini with no problems whatsoever. So, speed of your Mac will not be important.

What are your transcode settings? I use ProRes 422 and have not had any AVCHD problems (actually I've had the odd long clip that won't import - but splitting it got around the problem).

Have you tried transcoding to a different codec?

As long as the file structure is intact, FCP should have no real problems importing/transcoding AVCHD to ProRes (as long as it's Intel).