AVCHD "Capture"

InterceptPoint wrote on 1/12/2008, 8:56 AM

I'm looking for advice on archiving AVCHD footage.

The alternatives seem to be:

Use Sony's Picture Motion Browser (I'm not a fan)
Drag and Drop from the Camera to hard disk.

In particular, is anybody just doing a drag and drop of the full file structure from the camera and then archiving the lot? The best I can tell, the .m2ts files that you get via PMB are simply renamed versions of the .mts files that are native to the camera. In the camera Sony puts these .mts files into a folder structure that looks like this:

AVCHD
BDMV
CLIPINF, PLAYLIST, STREAM + two files (index.bdm and movieobj.bdm)

The video files are in the STREAM folder with names like:
00004.mts, 00005.mts etc.

So I could archive at the STREAM level or the AVCHD level or, alternatively archive the derivative .mt2s files via PMB.

Or is there a better way?

Any inputs would be welcomed.

Comments

Laurence wrote on 1/12/2008, 9:42 AM

I use one of these with my CX7:

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665185948

It works wonderfully well and I can play the discs at full resolution on my BS3 or any other Sony Blu-ray player.

InterceptPoint wrote on 1/12/2008, 9:57 AM

Laurence - Thanks for jogging my memory on this gadget.

Question for you:

When you archive to DVD with your MC5 what do you get file-wise: the full AVCHD file structure as described in my post above or do you get .m2ts files as you would if you used Sony's Picture Motion Browser?

Marco. wrote on 1/13/2008, 6:44 AM

Be careful when just importing the original .mts files from the camera. In case they do not exceed a certain video length you will be fine with them. But for you can't have .mts files over 1 GB on the camera files are automatically splitted then and the splitted files don't have a closed structure then. Such files can make your system crash.
The Sony Picture Motion Browser joins those files and closes the structur so they will play fine and stable.

Marco

Kennymusicman wrote on 1/13/2008, 11:32 AM

(My HDR-SR5e runs AVCHD and slices files at 2gb)

Marco. wrote on 1/13/2008, 11:35 AM

Yes, 2 GB, not 1.

Marco

InterceptPoint wrote on 1/14/2008, 6:51 AM

Thanks for the warning on the 2 GB problem. In my case it is very unlikely that I would shoot a clip that long but of course you never know.

Right now I'm planning on archiving the full Sony AVCHD structure which gives me .mts files in the STREAM folder. I just think that Picture Motion Browser is too flawed to count on as key element in archiving workflow. Maybe someday but not with the current version.

Also a note to Laurence:

I went ahead and ordered a VRDMC5 from Amazon. It does look like a good general purpose backup gadget, particularly on long trips without a laptop.

Laurence wrote on 1/14/2008, 7:00 AM

You'll be happy with it. Remember it also works as a regular DVD recorder and also has the ability to burn stills from flash card to disc. A good investment all around.

Marco. wrote on 1/15/2008, 12:29 PM

Anyway - using the Picture Motion Browser for AVCHD import from the SR cameras is considered kind of must if you want to be sure files will be stable on production.

Marco