(This guide may also work for newer Panasonic cameras that shoot in 1080p50/60, but I haven’t tested it. If you want to buy me one so I can update this guide, please feel free.)
Panasonic’s new 700-series cameras shoot in amazing 1080p50. (In the USA, 1080p60. I’ll be using the “1080p50″ term in this article but everything will work the same for the 1080p60 version.) This format is slightly non-standard and difficult to use on the Mac. The following is the result of my experiments in getting it to work.
Note: Please, no tech support questions. This is a technical article and I don’t have time to help you. Please ask elsewhere.
Step 1: Converting the video to be usable
You can use ffmpeg to convert the files into a usable format. I get ffmpeg from MacPorts but you can build it yourself if you’re into that kind of thing.
The correct command to convert the video is:
ffmpeg -i video_from_camera.MTS -acodec copy -vcodec copy fixed_video.m4v
Replace “video_from_camera” and “fixed_video” with the names of the video file from the card, and the name you want to save as, respectively. You’ll find the videos on the card in the folder PRIVATE/AVCHD/BDMV/STREAM.
I wrote the following bash script to automatically convert all the files from the card into a folder on my hard disk:
#!/bin/bash
mkdir -p ~/Movies/Camera
cd /Volumes/CAM_SD/PRIVATE/AVCHD/BDMV/STREAM
for f in *.MTS; do
echo $f
ffmpeg -i $f -acodec copy -vcodec copy "$HOME/Movies/Camera/$(basename $f .MTS).m4v"
done
Change “CAM_SD” to be the name of your card or camera.
The converted files end up in a folder called “Camera” inside your “Movies” folder. Make sure you rename the Camera folder before you run the script again, or it will overwrite the movies already there.
2. Editing the video
2a. Using Final Cut Express
Final Cut Express does not support any video greater than 30fps. You can import the video and edit it, but you will end up with 25 or 30fps upon export. The quality will still be higher than shooting in 1080i, however, so you may be happy to go this route.
Note: I’m not rich enough to own a copy of Final Cut Pro or Final Cut Pro X, so I don’t know anything about it, sorry. Again, if you’d like to buy me a copy of Final Cut Pro X I would be happy to update this page.
2b. Using iMovie ’11
It is possible to keep the 50fps frame rate using iMovie 11.
Import the converted video into iMovie, and turn on the “Optimize” option, setting it to “Full – Original Size”.
If you want to preserve the high frame rate on export, you’ll need to use “Export using QuickTime” to export to MP4 and manually choose 50 (or 60) fps, or iMovie will default to 25/30.
If you don’t care about the frame rate, you can use iMovie’s other “Share” menu options, but these will convert to 25 or 30fps. You’ll still get better quality than you would if you’d shot in 1080i, so you may be happy with this.
Wow, an emotional mine field of options ……….
Just about to get a TM700 and I have read lots of user comments regarding the lack of Mac support. I am coming from the world of Standard Definition MiniDV, so have had a fairly sheltered life until now, and was going to take the shorter step to HDV but it seems its days are numbered. Can you confirm / deny my thoughts and beliefs based on what I have read so far…….
Mac right now does not support AVCHD 1080p but quite likely may soon enough – Either way, ffMpeg will be able to import and convert the raw AVCHD footage to enable iMovie 09 to read it – Correct ? Any chance with iMovieHD which I still prefer for just getting together and ordering a batch of clips?
I’m assuming that no matter what, (data storage constraints aside) I am best off recording in the highest quality (ie 1080p/50) and then downsizing for editing – In the future I will always be able to go back to my high quality source, but my question is, does down-converting 1080p to 1080i or 720p (25 or 30fps) produce a lower quality than filming in those resolutions in the first place ??
My current TV is only 720p so I would be quite happy to sick with that format (although I am aware the TM700 has no native option to record 720) – I take it ‘upscaling’ or increasing the frame rate will always involve interpolation and therefore loss of quality. I’m not making feature films, just home movies – In your experience, is all this converting, deinterlacing, changing of frame rates producing a noticable deterioration in quality – ie. beyond what might be considered minimal.
Macs support 1080p AVCHD just fine, the problem is that the Panasonic camera don’t record standard AVCHD when you turn on the p50 mode, it’s a custom format.
You can always use ffmpeg to convert the format. You don’t even have to convert it to mjpeg, you can use it to “fix” the format by doing “-acodec copy -vcodec copy fixed_video.m4v”, which will make the video readable by iMovie without transcoding it. The problem with this approach is that editing the video in its native format is incredibly processor intensive, and therefore slow.
And yes, you are always best off recording in the highest quality possible.
Thanks for the useful info David, just got me the TM700 and will be using both FCE & iMovie to play with the results.
Appreciate you taking the time to scribe your findings :)
Instead of using ffmpeg, can a person use the Rewrap2M4V automator script and get the same result?
David,
I have the Panasonic TM900 and iMovie09 (cannot upgrade to 11 as I have a non-Intel mac).
I’ve dived into the ffmpeg installation. However, your script using “-acodec copy -vcodec copy” produces m4v movies without sound on my machine. I am able to extract the sound to .wav but not jointly to an m4v movie. Do you have an idea ?
(configuration is : –enable-gpl –enable-libmp3lame –enable-libfaac –enable-shared –enable-nonfree)
Thanks Andreas
(Input #0, mpegts, from ’00005.MTS’:
Duration: 00:02:02.41, start: 0.801678, bitrate: 24845 kb/s
Program 1
Stream #0.0[0x1011]: Video: h264 (High), yuv420p, 1920×1080 [PAR 1:1 DAR 16:9], 50 fps, 50 tbr, 90k tbn, 100 tbc
Stream #0.1[0x1100]: Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, 5.1, s16, 384 kb/s
Stream #0.2[0x1200]: Subtitle: pgssub
Output #0, ipod, to ‘/Volumes/Data/Filme/Familie/Camera/Test/00005.m4v’:
Metadata:
encoder : Lavf53.4.0
Stream #0.0: Video: avc1 / 0×31637661, yuv420p, 1920×1080 [PAR 1:1 DAR 16:9], q=2-31, 50 tbn, 50 tbc
Stream #0.1: Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, 5.1, 384 kb/s
Stream mapping:
Stream #0.0 -> #0.0
Stream #0.1 -> #0.1
)
You need to install Perian in order to get sound working.
Hi,
if i use ffmpeg -i test.mts -ab 256k -vcodec copy -acodec aac -strict experimental test.m4v i will get the sound and afterwards i can import it to imovie 11.
i also use 1080p/50. The files imovie makes are 4 to 5 times larger then the original.