Fz150 - not downloading video to computer

[tmenterprise]

I took a video with my new fz150 and when I downloaded my pictures, the video didn't download. I'm using a Mac. I checked iPhoto and iMovie and it's not there. Any ideas?
Thanks so much. Rich

 

[villho]

Copy the movies directly from the SD card to hard drive and then use VLC player. That should do the trick.

Check this: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1033&message=39833313&changemode=1

Editing is then another thing (and another program).

 

[David247]

I took a video with my new fz150 and when I downloaded my pictures, the video didn't download. I'm using a Mac. I checked iPhoto and iMovie and it's not there. Any ideas?

Hi Rich,

The AVCHD Progressive mode used for HD recording while being a great mode is not widely supported with a lot of computer software as it is primarily designed for playback on HD TVs. If you shot the movie in AVCHD format (HD) then the following should work. Bear with me though I am writing from memory.

While it will not upload automatically, you can import it into iMovie. There appears to be a bit of a trick involved and since I don't yet have the FZ150 I can't confirm the exact process. I am presuming it is similar to video on my old GH1.

With camera connected, or with the memory card inserted in a card reader, open iMovie and got to File > Import from camera. It think that is the one that also works with card readers also.

Select the directory on the card that has the video, (or iMovie may find it automatically if the camera is directly connected) and you should be able to import it. iMove needs to see it in the camera/card directory for some reason. (NOTE: this is the process the last time I did it and there is a chance it could change with later software or OS updates).

From there you should be able to "import" the movie into iTunes for viewing or editing.

AVCHD is the highest resolution format, and is compatible with HD TVs. However you can also shoot in MP4 format (an improvement over the MPEG format as I understand) and it is more natively compatible with computers. If you are going to primarily be watching and editing video for computer or web use, the MP4 format may be more desirable, but isn't as high resolution when viewed on an HD TV. MP4 is directly recognized by iPhoto and many other software programs.

Once you get the video imported into iTunes editing, viewing and saving to various formats should be pretty straight forward, though can be time consuming.

I know it the above is a bit clumsy but that is currently the biggest problem with AVCHD. I'm sure compatibility will improve soon.

Let me know if that works for you.

--
David
Galleries: http://dwrobinson.zenfolio.com

 

[David247]

I had stated that the MP4 mode of filming, which is more compatible with computers is was a lower resolution mode then 1080P AVCHD. I was wrong. Afraid I was thinking of an older technology. The FZ150 in MP4 mode does film in full 1080P HD. The difference is in the storage requirements. An AVCHD file that is 120 megabytes, in size would be more like 200mb in MP4 mode.

So you have both AVCHD mode which is the most storage memory efficient and most compatible with HD TV and the MP4 mode which is more compatible with computer use but requires much higher storage needs. Both will film in full 1080p HD mode.

Apologies for my error. None the less you should be able to load both into iMovie, with the AVCHD mode possibly requiring the use of import function.

--
David
Galleries: http://dwrobinson.zenfolio.com

 

[tmenterprise]

No apology necessary. Thanks to all for suggestions. I'll try it tonight.

I did try iMovie. It seemed to see the movie but didn't allow me to select and download it. I'll try again. Thanks.

 

[tmenterprise]

I downloaded a VLC.
I can now see the picture but it's very choppy.
Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Rich

 

[tmenterprise]

I downloaded VLC but it opens in Parallels o my Mac. & then the movies do open and it appears a little slower. The work flow seems so much tougher than the videos I downloaded when I tested the SX40. I would really appreciate anyone suggestion on how best to work with video as I'm sure there must be a better way. Based on the file size, I would prefer to work with AV format as opposed to MP4. Please help. Thanks.

 

[David247]

Try this. These steps are for iMovie O9 but later versions should be similar.

Using the USB cable that came with the camera, and with the camera turned off, connect the camera to the computer.

Once connected turn the camera on.

On the computer LCD it should show a window with the message, "Please select USB Mode"

Select PC and press the OK/Menu button. In a few moments the camera will show up on the desktop as a drive called NO NAME

Start iMovie. Got to FILE IMPORT from Camera.

An import window should open and the movie clips on the camera should show. You can select the "movie clips" you want to import or just move the switch at the bottom from manual to auto to import all. Then click the button that says Import All, in the lower right corner.

You now have a choice to create a "New Event" or "Add to an Existing Event". If you are adding to another move chose Existing Event, if you are creating a new movie choose New Event. Give it a name or use the date provided.

Under Optimize Video make sure Full - Original Size is selected. Then Click import.

The new film should now show in the Event Library. Now you can create a new project (edited movie) and begin working.

DO NO Use VLC, Do NOT have Parallels running (sounds like VLC is running under Parallels not the native Mac OS) Turn off any other software that isn't needed. (Movies are memory intensive) If you have a fairly recent Mac it should run very smoothly.

Use the iMovie tutorials on apples website to learn how to use the software, though it is pretty intuitive once you get started.

Any other problems I will need to know your computer model, amount of RAM memory, processor type and if possible the graphics card or chip and if it is laptop or desktop because if it is choppy then it may be a hardware issue.

And I performed the exact steps above with my FZ150 using AVCHD movie quality in iTunes and it worked fine.

If you are using a card reader instead of connecting the camera directly, the only change is that instead of selecting "Import from Camera" you select "Import and then Movies" and point it towards the SD card in the card reader.

--
David
Galleries: http://dwrobinson.zenfolio.com

 

[tmenterprise]

Thanks for the detailed feedback. I'll give it a try tomorrow and let you know.

 

[David247]

Thanks for the detailed feedback. I'll give it a try tomorrow and let you know.

You're welcome. It should work.

--
David
Galleries: http://dwrobinson.zenfolio.com

 

[tmenterprise]

Hi, I seem to be half way there. I took videos in both AVCHD PSH & FSH. Using the process you suggested, Imovie would only allow me to import the video shot in FSH. Fro the PSH it showed an icon of 60 with a line through it and wouldn't allow me to download or view it. As an FYI, I'm using a MaBook Pro that is just over one year old. Thoughts?

 

[David247]

Hi, I seem to be half way there. I took videos in both AVCHD PSH & FSH. Using the process you suggested, Imovie would only allow me to import the video shot in FSH. Fro the PSH it showed an icon of 60 with a line through it and wouldn't allow me to download or view it. As an FYI, I'm using a MaBook Pro that is just over one year old. Thoughts?

Your computer is current and not the problem. After some research (learn to use google and apples online resources, it will save you a lot of time) I found that 1080p (PSH) is not supported by iMovie, Final Cut or Adobe Premier at this time. This codec for AVCHD is not yet fully supported by a lot of computer software This applies to all cameras, not just Panasonic or FZ150. There are convertors available but they only convert the 1080p codec to 1080i, mp4 or another format.

Found by searching "iMovie supported cameras". Took me to apple support which specifically indicated in their charts that 1080p is not supported and this seemed to be the case for all brands of cameras not just Panasonic.

Shoot in FSH or mp4 then. YouTube for instance recommends mp4 or converts other formats to either .mp4 or .flv.

Here are some links that provide you a summary of video formats including the very complex AVCHD
http://www.w3schools.com/html/html_media.asp
http://camcorders.about.com/od/camcorders101/a/AVCHD_Camcorder_Format.htm

It looks as though Panasonic has attempted to "future proof" the FZ150 by including AVCHD PSH or 1080p and it will play directly to an HDMI capable TV.

You can shoot PSH or 1080p and there are converters for it but all they are doing is converting it to 1080i (FSH) or mpeg4 (MP4).

--
David
Galleries: http://dwrobinson.zenfolio.com

 

[tmenterprise]

Thanks so much really appreciate it. i had been deciding between the Sx40 and FZ150. I really like the FZ150 better but it seems more difficult to work with from a work flow perspective. Since i have always been a Canon guy, maybe i just need to get used to it. Thanks again for all of the effort that you put into this.

 

[ireno]

David--I appreciate your answer about FZ150 videos. I just got mine and took a bunch of trial videos and found that on my quad core Vista PC the AVCHD PSH will not play with VLC, KMPlayer, Picasa or WMP. They will also not play on my new Sony LED TV. The FSH videos play just fine. However, here is my question--PSH Videos play just fine on Vista in Power Director 8 program. They look real good, even better than the FSH so they do seem real. If they play with Power Director, why is there not a way to get them to play the other programs????
--
ireno

 

[David247]

David--I appreciate your answer about FZ150 videos. I just got mine and took a bunch of trial videos and found that on my quad core Vista PC the AVCHD PSH will not play with VLC, KMPlayer, Picasa or WMP. They will also not play on my new Sony LED TV. The FSH videos play just fine. However, here is my question--PSH Videos play just fine on Vista in Power Director 8 program. They look real good, even better than the FSH so they do seem real. If they play with Power Director, why is there not a way to get them to play the other programs????

It's all in the program code. Windows or Mac, doesn't matter. Power Director apparently incorporates the latest codec (piece of code) for AVCHD PSH.

Expect other programs to be updated in time. Keep in mind that much of what exists was written for older codecs and for lower power computers, but technology constantly changes. That Panasonic had the foresight to provide AVCHD PSH to "future proof" their camera is good. Probably within the year we will see most if not all updated software support it.

--
David
Galleries: http://dwrobinson.zenfolio.com

 

[VadymA]

Hi David, you mentioned that there are programs available to convert AVCHD to MPEG4. In this case, would it make more sense to shoot in AVCHD even though it is not supported by many programs yet? In this case, I will have a high-def copy for the future and use converted MPEG4 copies for now. If I shoot in MPEG4, I will alvays have MPEG4 only.

David--I appreciate your answer about FZ150 videos. I just got mine and took a bunch of trial videos and found that on my quad core Vista PC the AVCHD PSH will not play with VLC, KMPlayer, Picasa or WMP. They will also not play on my new Sony LED TV. The FSH videos play just fine. However, here is my question--PSH Videos play just fine on Vista in Power Director 8 program. They look real good, even better than the FSH so they do seem real. If they play with Power Director, why is there not a way to get them to play the other programs????

It's all in the program code. Windows or Mac, doesn't matter. Power Director apparently incorporates the latest codec (piece of code) for AVCHD PSH.

Expect other programs to be updated in time. Keep in mind that much of what exists was written for older codecs and for lower power computers, but technology constantly changes. That Panasonic had the foresight to provide AVCHD PSH to "future proof" their camera is good. Probably within the year we will see most if not all updated software support it.

--
David
Galleries: http://dwrobinson.zenfolio.com

--
When everyone is artist, nobody is.

 

[David247]

Hi David, you mentioned that there are programs available to convert AVCHD to MPEG4. In this case, would it make more sense to shoot in AVCHD even though it is not supported by many programs yet? In this case, I will have a high-def copy for the future and use converted MPEG4 copies for now. If I shoot in MPEG4, I will alvays have MPEG4 only.

Well I'm no video guru, have probably not shot more then 30 minutes of video in my life to date, but yeah that does make sense, just like shooting RAW for stills. It gives you something higher quality that you can go back to later.

I do hope to shoot more video now with my FZ150 when it is appropriate but am a still photographer at heart.

--

David
Galleries: http://dwrobinson.zenfolio.com

 

[JML54]

iFFmpeg will convert AVCHD to other video formats. It's a free GUI front-end to the command line ffmpeg. Works better than anything I found for video conversion on Macs.

Just search for it via Google.

 

[aditya12]

Here are some links that provide you a summary of video formats including the very complex AVCHD

https://www.welookups.com/html/html_media.html