I want to document my final end of year project for Uni and I'm about to buy a HD camcorder. Does iMovie support AVCHD? Or do I go for the likes of a Final Cut Pro software?
iMovie '08 (part of the latest version of iLife) supports AVCHD, but only if you have an Intel processor.
The same is true for Final Cut Express HD and Final Cut Pro - Intel only.
And, interestingly, it seems that Final Cut Pro can't use AVCHD files directly. You need to convert them to Apple Pro Res or AIC files in order to use the footage.
I edited some 1080i stuff yesterday on my MacBook Black 2.0ghz Core2Duo 4GB (3GB actual) RAM. Sweet.
Just make sure you have at least Core2Duo 2.0ghz or more, 2GB RAM or more for HD stuff, and check forums for AVCHD Camcorder compatibilities with iMovie 08.
iMovie 08 is like, just different. I know some people hate it but it really takes you out of that usual "edit teh t1meline" mentality, if you know what I mean.
It's kinda like you're just more focused on trimming things down to the best shots, and then tweaking the visuals here and there (ala iPhoto but for video)...
iMovie '08 (part of the latest version of iLife) supports AVCHD, but only if you have an Intel processor.
The same is true for Final Cut Express HD and Final Cut Pro - Intel only.
And, interestingly, it seems that Final Cut Pro can't use AVCHD files directly. You need to convert them to Apple Pro Res or AIC files in order to use the footage.
I'm not surprised, AVCHD is incredibly processor intensive. As it is, there is a negative advantage for tapeless in this situation because it takes longer to convert to AIC than the footage took to record, and this is on a 3GHz quad. I am using Final Cut Express, maybe Studio is actually optimized or something, FCE just doesn't use much more than two cores. Simultanously importing and exporting video doesn't take more than 60% CPU power.
Comments
The same is true for Final Cut Express HD and Final Cut Pro - Intel only.
And, interestingly, it seems that Final Cut Pro can't use AVCHD files directly. You need to convert them to Apple Pro Res or AIC files in order to use the footage.
I edited some 1080i stuff yesterday on my MacBook Black 2.0ghz Core2Duo 4GB (3GB actual) RAM. Sweet.
Just make sure you have at least Core2Duo 2.0ghz or more, 2GB RAM or more for HD stuff, and check forums for AVCHD Camcorder compatibilities with iMovie 08.
iMovie 08 is like, just different. I know some people hate it but it really takes you out of that usual "edit teh t1meline" mentality, if you know what I mean.
It's kinda like you're just more focused on trimming things down to the best shots, and then tweaking the visuals here and there (ala iPhoto but for video)...
iMovie '08 (part of the latest version of iLife) supports AVCHD, but only if you have an Intel processor.
The same is true for Final Cut Express HD and Final Cut Pro - Intel only.
And, interestingly, it seems that Final Cut Pro can't use AVCHD files directly. You need to convert them to Apple Pro Res or AIC files in order to use the footage.
I'm not surprised, AVCHD is incredibly processor intensive. As it is, there is a negative advantage for tapeless in this situation because it takes longer to convert to AIC than the footage took to record, and this is on a 3GHz quad. I am using Final Cut Express, maybe Studio is actually optimized or something, FCE just doesn't use much more than two cores. Simultanously importing and exporting video doesn't take more than 60% CPU power.