What new camcorder will work with Pinnacle?

[blink999]

I bought then returned a Samsung HMX-H104BN Camcorder. The .mp4 files produced were worthless. The quality on TV looked excellent but could not be transferred to a PC and worked with. I tried Sony Vegas Pro, Pinnacle 14, no luck. Is there a camcorder out there that produces video files that can be used OR should I keep working with Mini-DV and forget the new (trendy?) flash memory cameras????

[edDV]

That camera uses a form of h.264 that is not AVCHD. Your CPU isn't up to either.

HDV (MiniDV tape) is 1440x1080i MPeg2 and will work with a 2.5 GHz AMD but it will be slow.

HDV or AVCHD could be used with a conversion to a digital intermediate like Cineform Neoscene.
http://www.cineform.com/neoscene/features.php

[xxiangg]

I still use Pinnacle 9 and I will convert any video format to mjpeg
first using tools like Any Video Converter. Since I am working in
SD video, I also need to size down resolution to 720x480. Since
you are using Pinnacle 14, you probably can keep the original
resolution. But you need to make sure the converted video have
29.97fps. Pinnacle should be able to handle mjpeg files.

[tovli]

Have you thought about abandoning Pinnacle? Try the trial download of PowerDirector8 Ultra and then you may be able to buy what ever camera you want. HD is a mess right now and it takes a bit of experimentation.

I have the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 (TZ7 in Europe) and have been exploring editors. I am completely pleased with CyberLink PowerDirector 8 (trial version at this point). I have a "weak" computer - P4 2.4GHz with 2GB Memory running WinXP SP3. PowerDirector8 reads my ZS3 files directly, has automatic proxy generation, high quality preview (that can move by single frames), and can output AVCHD (H.264) .m2ts 1280x720p, 29.97fps, 17Mbps, AAC (Dolby Digital), 192Kbps using a customized AVC/H.264 template so the final movie is nearly the same format as the input segments, (ZS3 is frame doubled, but otherwise exactly the same).

Vimeo will accept this format.

If you are a pyTivo user (to view your movies and footage on your HDTV via wireless link to TivoHD), the format is transcoded to MPEG2 and the video is simply stunning.

I used Pinnacle for the last six years for DV but Ultimate 14 just wouldn't work for my camera choice and was really slow on my computer.

Beside PowerDirector, I tried:
Pinnacle Studio 14 - too slow and was confused by the ZS3 AVCHD frame doubled format.
Magix Movie Edit Pro 15 - cannot play back smooth at any preview setting. User Interface not intuitive to me. Output files are jerky like the preview.
Corel Video Studio Pro X2 (v12) - weird backward skipping problem, cannot minimize app during render.
Vegas Movie Studio 9.0b Platinum is solid, preview skips three frames, no automatic proxy feature.
Adobe Premiere Elements 8 - immense download, very slow startup on my tired computer, lacks 720p H.264 mode, crashed at 7% "conforming" my AVCHD lite source to 720p HDV.

[blink999]

You guys are smart, that's why I came to this forum. Thanks for the replies! The Samsung camera was brand new, the files from it were .mp4 format. The PC is Athalon quad core, 8 gig of ram, Windows 7 (x64) (tried the same on XP a few weeks ago). Pinnacle 14 would not let me trim the files, the video was jerky in the preview window. I tried video from the basic settings (4:3) to HD and to the highest settings, it didn't seem to make much difference. The Pinnacle folks said my old PC didn't have the power, that's why I made the change to Windows 7. I don't know what I can do to get this PC much faster, the quad core is only about 2.4 gig, there is a 3.2 gig quad that will fit on this motherboard if I need to go all out.

I'm very disappointed that the new camera video format is such an issue trying to edit video, it's going to ruin a few Christmas's this year when folks take that new camera and try to do something with the video, I may track down a Mini-DV on Ebay and move on. I have read countless articles and comments (reviews) on new flash camcorders, the news is not good for us video editors. I had heard so much about Sony Vegas 9 Pro, I tried it and the video was choppy. It seems to me the .mp4 files just will not cooperate with the available codecs. Pinnacle 14 Ultimate should work, they have been successful with AVCHD for several years, Sony Vegas says it can do it.

Is it possible that Samsung just doesn't have the codecs available for this type of challenge? If there is a camcorder out there that records HD and will import SUCCESSFULLY to Pinnacle 14, I would like to hear all about it. Thanks again.

[edDV]

Is it possible that Samsung just doesn't have the codecs available for this type of challenge? If there is a camcorder out there that records HD and will import SUCCESSFULLY to Pinnacle 14, I would like to hear all about it. Thanks again.

Samsung decided not to follow the AVCHD standard and went with a generic h.264. Pinnacle, Sony Vegas and others only claim to support AVCHD and in many cases it turns out some AVCHD brands work and others don't. Canon camcorders seem to be the best supported. Read user reviews for the camcorder you are considering before jumping. Find out in advance which editors work with that particular model. Otherwise you may be limited to the packaged software.

Such is the state of the AVCHD format. With a generic h.264 cam you are really on your own. None of the popular editors other than maybe ArcSoft, claim to support exotic formats. The manufacturers position is few consumers ever edit their videos so the packaged software should be enough to dump contents to a DVD.

If you are a prosumer and want to edit with a quality result, then you would use a pro proven format like HDV or experiment with AVCHD transferred to a digital intermediate like Cineform Neoscene. Apple forces both HDV and AVCHD into a size reduced 960x540 AIC digital intermediate for iMovie. Consumers want flash media (they think) and that requires extreme compression which is difficult to edit. HDV (on MiniDV tape) is less compressed and more suited to a Core2Duo level processor.

[tmelo38]

I bought the Samsung HMX-100 November 8.
I have Pinnacle 12 Ultimate and the only clips that Pinnacle had no problem with this camcorder were the 720p/60fps. Worked with them well (as well as the Standard definition clips). The Highest quality clips Pinnacle could only read them at being 14.98 fps when they're supposed to be 29.97 fps.

Shot some video during Thanksgiving, 3 clips totaling 4m 20s.
Used the "combine" feature built in the camera and the audio and video were out of sync. A complete mess. Also any video footage longer then 2 to 3 minutes without using the "combine" feature were also out of sync.

Took it back to Best Buy yesterday and later same day got a call from them saying the camcorder is "unserviceable".
They told I could get a different brand, as they will not be carrying these camcorders anymore, at least in-store anyway.

I'm staying away from this brand and this model of camcorder.
It's a very difficult H.264 file to work with also.

[vhelp]

Hi, I was searching around (unrelated quest) and came to your topic, blink999..

It might be possible to work with your .mp4 videos if your demux them into a raw file.

1. Look into yamb (there are diff vers, try all because some work better than others pending .mp4 file and structure)

2. or, mp4box (again, different version--just try all)

4. or, dgavcindex (dgavc) it can sometimes deal or else you may have to demux (w/ above tools) then feed into dgavc and frameserve into your video timeline.

These issues are usually decoder related. But some software tools or suites can remove or transpose an already same-name file with their own and can be tricky to track down. Sometimes better to reinstall graphics card driver, etc. But have a look at the above first..may help.

-vhelp 5258

[pepegot1]

If you do any editing stay with minDV. Too many problems with this new stuff. If you are an "on the envelope" pusher-that's another story. For good, quick efficient editing stay away.

[Woster]

We have a Panasonic AG-DVC7 Mini DV camera that we all like, plus we have no budget for anything newer. We just received Pinnacle Ultimate Studio Version 12 and are trying to get it set up to work with our camera. We have tried two differnt Firewires that we know are good. Do we need some kind of driver to make our Panasonic talk to Pinnacle & vice versa?