AVCHD - Panasonic HDC-SD5 or AG-HSC1U -compatible?

DataMeister wrote on 10/9/2007, 12:47 AM

Has anyone had a chance to test the AVCHD file compatibility of the Panasonic HDC-SD5 or Panasonic AG-HSC1U with Vegas 8?

Comments

Wolfgang S. wrote on 10/9/2007, 1:41 AM

I have been able to test some PD5 1080 50i material in Vegas 8 - can be imported.

Guy Bruner wrote on 10/9/2007, 5:03 AM

Vegas 8 will now allow import and editing of Panasonic and Canon AVCHD files. I have tested it with HDC-SD1 and HG10 files. The HSC1U is simply a rebadged SD1 so there is no reason to believe its files won't work as well.

DataMeister wrote on 10/10/2007, 11:24 AM

"The HSC1U is simply a rebadged SD1"

I didn't pay close attention to the SD1 before it was replaced by the SD5, but I wondered why that HSC1U "pro" branded camera had less resolution than the SD5 consumer version. That would explain it. And given that deduction, I wonder how long before Panasonic rebadges the SD5 to the pro side.

Guy Bruner wrote on 10/10/2007, 4:34 PM

I don't think that is likely. More likely is that they keep the 1/4" CCDs and put them into a new shoulder mount housing with better IO for the Pro cams.

timtak wrote on 10/18/2007, 7:56 PM

Is the ability to edit *Panasonic* HDC-SD video new in Vegas 8?

I heard that a patch was released for Vegas 7 that allowed one to edit HDC SD type video produced by the SONY camera only.

Is Vegas 7 still unable to edit Panasonic created HDC SD video?

Is the ability to edit SD video in Vegas 8 Dependent upon the model number of the Panasonic camera? I am thinking of purchasing an SD1 since they are cheap now.

Tim

Wolfgang S. wrote on 10/19/2007, 1:01 AM

Vegas 7e can only import Sony-AVCHD footage; Vegas 8 can import also some Panasonic AVCHD material - works fine.

Guy Bruner wrote on 10/19/2007, 6:59 AM

Sony improved the ability to work with non-Sony HD video in the recently released version 8.0a. Although they don't say so in their list of compatibility and features, 8.0 will edit AVCHD from Canon and Panasonic. I have not tested every model but there is no reason to believe that Panasonic or Canon has changed their encoding algorithm among the models. Yes, Panasonic went from all anamorphic to full HD on their highest bitrate setting. But, that shouldn't affect the encoding algorithm. It was primarily a chipset issue. To my knowledge, there was never an update for Vegas version 7 that would work with those files. (And I tested all the version updates.)

timtak wrote on 10/19/2007, 6:39 PM

Dear GUy Bruner

Thank you very much indeed. I guess that I am going to upgrade to Vegas 8a, if I buy a Panasonic. SD1 can be had for about 600 USD form Yahoo auctions Japan.

By the way, how fast or slow is it when editing? I have a dual core intel chip running at 3GHz with 2GB of ram?

Tim

Guy Bruner wrote on 10/20/2007, 5:47 AM

I have found VP8 to be very responsive with AVCHD when editing. I'm using a Q6600 quad core processor but I see no reason why you should not expect decent responsiveness. Now, if you want to preview in Full, things might slow down a bit.

xberk wrote on 10/20/2007, 10:17 AM

For anyone else interested in the Panasonic SD5 for home use or a B camera, I found a full review done in the UK.

They loved it. It's hard to understand, but the reviewer claims the picture quality more or less matches SD1 which has better specs: