AVCHD import results from Panasonic HDC-SD9

[phxazmacaddict]

Hello all...

I'm not sure if it was a post buried in these forums somewhere, or if it was a different forum, but I figured I'd post this to give some of you a little real-world observation about importing AVCHD video... (at least from my humble Panasonic HDC-SD9, which has been nice so far...)

First off, I recollect someone posting (somewhere!) that NON-24p video importing would cause iMovie 08 to crash. Thus far, here's the skinny:

The Panasonic has four modes for video, all of which are 1080 (full HD). They are: HA - highest quality 1920x1080; HG - medium quality; HX - standard quality; and HE - economy/1440x1080 "HD".

What I'd been seeing posted was that any mode that was non-24p (film/cinema mode) was crashing iMovie 08. To this end, I have imported a 24p clip with no difficulty (iMovie detects the camcorder after about 10 or 15 seconds, then shows a single thumbnail of each video clip). What I'm going to do over the next day or two is attempt each setting (HA through HE) and in both 24p *AND* 60i (standard video framerate) and post the results here.

For now, this is going to solely be results of compatibility of the camera to iMovie 08. Once it is done, I will do the same for FCE4, and post my results as well.

Cheers!

 

[phxazmacaddict]

EDIT/UPDATE: After shooting a series of short (15 seconds each) clips to import, I found that the camera does not shoot 24p in the two lowest (HX - standard HD quality, and HE - "economy" 1440x1080 HD) settings. So there will be a total of six clips imported: highest quality 1920x1080/60i; medium - same rez/frames; standard, same; and economy, same; THEN highest quality 24p and medium quality 24p. Now, to the results: (either Yes, they imported without crashing, or No, they did not):

1. max quality 60i: Yes
2. med quality 60i: Yes
3. std quality 60i: Yes
4. econ quality 60i: Yes
5. max quality 24p: Yes
6. med quality 24p: Yes

The results are this: all import types for AVCHD for this Panasonic model will import with no problems into iMovie 08, ver. 7.1.4 (most recent update from System Update). If you have any questions, let me know.

Cheers!