AV Un CC de AM rsta n W din or g kfl ow

Editing AVCHD with Adobe CS4

when it counts

TABLE OF CONTENTS
IntroductIon........ 3

SYStEM rEQuIrEMEntS For cS4 Windows.............. 3 Mac.............. 4 Transferring AVCHD Footage To Your Computer................. 4 Copying AVCHD Footage To A Hard Drive................ 5 Transferring AVCHD Footage Directly From The Panasonic.............................................. 6 AG-HMC70 Or AG-HMC150 AVCCAM Cameras To Your Computer................... 6 EdItIng wIth prEMIEr pro................. 7 Editing Directly From Your SD Card Using Media Browser................ 8 Editing Directly From Your SD Card By Using File>Import............. 11 Converting Your AVCHD Files To .mxf Files For Editing................. 12 Using Adobe Dynamic Link.................. 13 output optIonS Outputting To iPod Or iPhone.............. 13 Outputting To YouTube................. 16 Outputting To A Blu-ray Disc Via Adobe Dynamic Link................ 18 Outputting To A DVD Disc Via Adobe Dynamic Link....................... 21 thE AVchd workFlow ArchIVIng 23

Archiving To Hard Drive................ 23 Archiving To Blu-ray Disc................. 23 Archiving To Inexpensive SD Cards .................. 23 Archiving To Digital Linear Tape.................. 23

INTRODUCTION TO EDITINg avChD wITh aDObE Cs4

This paper will discuss a typical AVCHD workflow for editing with and outputting from Adobe Creative Suite 4 (CS4). Besides editing the AVCHD footage, we will examine outputting to Blu-ray, and even creating a Standard DVD disc. We also look at alternative delivery such as outputting to iPod and You Tube. In addition, archiving options including copying your content onto a hard drive, Blu-ray or DVD discs or even back to an SD card are presented. Adobe CS4 contains a wealth of rich applications that allow you to move your project between Premier Pro (for Editing), After Effects (for effect work) and Encore (for DVD and Blu-Ray creation). Note: CS4 supplies native support for AVCHD files, significantly speeding up your workflow. However, CS4 v. 4 only supports 1080/60i footage. Adobe says that future releases will support all PH Modes of AVCHD (1080p/24 and 30, 720p/24, 30 and 60).

sysTEm REqUIREmENTs fOR Cs4 ThE avChD wORkflOw

You can edit your AVCHD footage with Adobe CS4 on either a Mac or Windows based computer. You can even work on the same project on both Mac and Windows computers on the same network. However, each platform has specific system requirements:

wINDOws
* 2GHz oR fASTER PRoCESSoR foR DV; 3.4GHz foR HDV; DuAl 2.8GHz foR HD* * MICRoSofT WInDoWS XP WITH SERVICE PACk 2 (SERVICE PACk 3 RECoMMEnDED) oR WInDoWS VISTA HoME PREMIuM, BuSInESS, ulTIMATE, oR EnTERPRISE WITH SERVICE PACk 1 (CERTIfIED foR 32-BIT WInDoWS XP AnD 32-BIT AnD 64-BIT WInDoWS VISTA) * 2GB of RAM (MoRE RAM RECoMMEnDED WHEn RunnInG MulTIPlE CoMPonEnTS) * 16.3GB of AVAIlABlE HARD-DISk SPACE foR InSTAllATIon; ADDITIonAl fREE SPACE REquIRED DuRInG InSTAllATIon (CAnnoT InSTAll on flASH-BASED SToRAGE DEVICES) * 1,280X900 DISPlAY WITH oPEnGl 2.0CoMPATIBlE GRAPHICS CARD * SoME GPu-ACCElERATED fEATuRES REquIRE GRAPHICS SuPPoRT foR SHADER MoDEl 3.0 * DEDICATED 7200 RPM HARD DRIVE foR DV AnD HDV EDITInG; STRIPED DISk ARRAY SToRAGE (RAID 0) foR HD; SCSI DISk SuBSYSTEM PREfERRED * foR SD/HD WoRkfloWS, An ADoBE-CERTIfIED CARD foR CAPTuRE AnD EXPoRT To TAPE * oHCI-CoMPATIBlE IEEE 1394 PoRT foR DV AnD HDV CAPTuRE, EXPoRT To TAPE, AnD TRAnSMIT To DV DEVICE * DVD-RoM DRIVE (DVD+-R BuRnER REquIRED foR DVD CREATIon) * Blu-RAY BuRnER REquIRED foR Blu-RAY DISC CREATIon * MICRoSofT WInDoWS DRIVER MoDEl oR ASIo-CoMPATIBlE SounD CARD * quICkTIME 7.4.5 SofTWARE REquIRED To uSE quICkTIME fEATuRES * BRoADBAnD InTERnET ConnECTIon REquIRED foR onlInE SERVICES

maC Os
* MulTICoRE InTEl PRoCESSoR * MAC oS X V10.4.1110.5.4 * 2GB of RAM (MoRE RAM RECoMMEnDED WHEn RunnInG MulTIPlE CoMPonEnTS) * 20.6GB of AVAIlABlE HARD-DISk SPACE foR InSTAllATIon; ADDITIonAl HARD-DISk SPACE REquIRED DuRInG InSTAllATIon (CAnnoT InSTAll on A VoluME THAT uSES A CASE-SEnSITIVE fIlE SYSTEM oR on flASH-BASED SToRAGE DEVICES) * 1,280X900 DISPlAY WITH oPEnGl 2.0CoMPATIBlE GRAPHICS CARD * SoME GPu-ACCElERATED fEATuRES REquIRE GRAPHICS SuPPoRT foR SHADER MoDEl 3.0 * DEDICATED 7200 RPM HARD DRIVE foR DV AnD HDV EDITInG; STRIPED DISk ARRAY SToRAGE (RAID 0) foR HD; SCSI DISk SuBSYSTEM PREfERRED * DVD-RoM DRIVE (SuPERDRIVE REquIRED foR DVD CREATIon) * Blu-RAY BuRnER REquIRED foR Blu-RAY DISC CREATIon * CoRE AuDIoCoMPATIBlE SounD CARD * quICkTIME 7.4.5 SofTWARE REquIRED To uSE quICkTIME fEATuRES * BRoADBAnD InTERnET ConnECTIon REquIRED foR onlInE SERVICES

TRaNsfERRINg avChD fOOTagE TO yOUR COmpUTER.

When you are ready to transfer your AVCHD footage from your camera to your computer, the easiest method is to simply remove your SD card from the camera.

kEy pOINT: COpy pROTECT yOUR sD CaRD. Your SD card has a small little slider on the left hand side of the card. Push this slider down to write protect the data on your card. This is a critical step to protect your footage before you insert the SD card into your computer. Many PCs have a SD card slot. If this is the case, simply insert the SD card into your computer. Some PCs and Mac computers do not have a SD card slot. In this case, use a SD to uSB reader/writer. Just insert your SD card into the reader and connect it to a uSB port on your computer. It will appear as a hard drive volume on your computer. You will now be ready to open Premier Pro and begin editing.

COpyINg avChD fOOTagE TO a haRD DRIvE

sTEp #1 mOUNT ThE sD CaRD ON yOUR COmpUTER.
Many people prefer to copy their footage to a hard drive before editing. This frees up the SD card so that you can immediately use it again. Many PCs have SD Card slots. If so, just insert your SD card. If your PC does not have a SD card slot, or you are editing on a Mac, use the SD to uSB reader. once your SD card is mounted on your computer, it will appear as a no name Hard Drive on your desktop (on a Mac) or a removable hard drive under my computer (on a PC).

sTEp #2 OpEN ThE sD CaRD fIlEs. In either case, open up the hard drive. You will see a folder named Private. Simply drag and drop that folder to your hard drive. It will then copy all your footage. Do not try to copy from any other folder.

TRaNsfERRINg avChD fOOTagE DIRECTly fROm ThE paNasONIC hmC70 OR hmC150 avCCam CamERa TO yOUR COmpUTER.
You can, of course, transfer your AVCHD footage directly from your camera. The next few steps will show you how to do this. unfortunately, this ties up your camera and precludes you from shooting with it while you are transferring. note: AVCCAM cameras do not have a fire Wire output, only uSB. sTEp 1 CONNECT yOUR paNasONIC CamERa vIa a Usb CablE TO yOUR COmpUTER. Note: you will need to also connect your camera to an aC power supply. sTEp 2 - TURN ThE CamERa TO ThE pC ON pOsITION

on the AG-HMC70 camera this is accomplished by moving the record button to PC.

on the AG-HMC150 camera you must push the mode button on the back of the camera. The light will change from Cam to PB for playback, push again and the PC light will turn on.

sTEp #3 TRaNsfER ThE fIlEs.

The camera will appear as a hard drive on your computer. Simply copy the contents of the Private folder as shown earlier. You will now be ready to open Premier Pro and begin editing.

EDITINg wITh pREmIER pRO

Premier Pro is an extremely powerful editor with impressive output capabilities. one of the nicest advantages of using Premier Pro and all of the CS4 applications, is that they support native AVCHD files! This means that there is no transcoding of the data (like many other edit systems). By treating the data as native files, you can edit AVCHD very rapidly.

sTEp #1 OpEN pREmIERE pRO.

sTEp #2 CREaTE a NEw pROJECT once Premiere Pro has loaded you will be asked to either create a new project or open an existing project. for the purposes of this white paper, we will create a new project. sTEp #3 sET yOUR sCRaTCh DIsCs aND NamE yOUR pROJECT. You will then be asked to set up your project and designate your scratch discs.

sTEp #4 sET yOUR pREsETs.

Here you will set the preset for your sequence. Click on the AVCHD folder. You will find three folders inside the AVCHD folder: 1080i, 1080p and 720p. Click on the format and frame rate that matches your project. for this paper we will choose 720p24. note: in CS4 you can create multiple sequences with different settings and group them together into a single sequence. This means you can have a sequence that contains 720p settings and 1080i settings and so on. The real time playback operation and smoothness will depend on the robustness of your system hardware.

sTEp #5 NamE yOUR sEqUENCE.

After you have selected your sequence settings, you should name it and then click ok.

EDITINg DIRECTly fROm yOUR sD CaRD UsINg mEDIa bROwsER

footage can be edited directly from the SD card (this is the fastest workflow) or from a hard disc drive.

sTEp #1 fIND yOUR avChD ClIps IN ThE mEDIa bROwsER.

When you open your project at the lower right of the window, youll find the Media Browser. At this point, we have the SD Card mounted in the uSB reader and it appears as a Hard Drive. Make sure the View as is clicked to AVCHD. Your clips will appear in the Browser.

sTEp #2 vIEw ClIp IN sOURCE vIEwER.

Click on an AVCHD clip in the Media Browser and it will appear in the Source Viewer.

sTEp #3 sET ROUgh IN aND OUT pOINTs.

You can play the clip and even set some rough in and out points.

sTEp #4 DRag ClIp TO ThE TImElINE.

Drag this clip directly onto the time line and edit directly from the SD card.

You will notice that once you have done this, the clip now appears in your Project Bin. As noted above, AVCHD footage can be dropped onto the timeline without any transcoding or rendering. Continue to add the clips that you want and edit normally.

NOTE: It is possible that a red bar will appear above the footage. This occurs when the footage does not conform to the Sequence setting and it will have to be rendered on final output. In this case, I have added a clip

10

that is 1920x1080/30p to my 720/24/p timeline. So, my last clip has a red line over it indicating that it does not conform to the timeline. However, you can still playback and edit this footage on the timeline. Again, the strength of your computer will dictate whether you will see full quality playback. You might experience dropped frames.

EDITINg DIRECTly fROm yOUR sD CaRD by UsINg fIlE>ImpORT

sTEp #1 Click on file and then Import.

sTEp #2 fIND yOUR avChD fOOTagE.

This will open a window where you will indicate where your footage is currently located either on the SD Card in a uSB reader or on a hard drive. The file folder structure of AVCHD clips are as follows: PRIVATE>AVCHD>BDMV>STREAM.

11

sTEp #3 COpy yOUR ClIps

open the STREAM folder and copy individual or multiple clips. once the clips open they will appear in your Project Bin Window.

sTEp #4 EDIT NORmally.

You can view individual clips in the Source Window and/or drag and drop the clips to your timeline. Remember you can mix various formats and frame rates on the same timeline in one project. However, you will see that red line over some of the clips and you will need to render on final output. And again, the playback of these clips will depend on the robustness of your computer. At this point, you are editing your native AVCHD footage just like you would any other project in Adobe Premier Pro. for more info on editing with Adobe Premier Pro, visit Adobes website: http://www.adobe.com/support/premiere

CONvERTINg yOUR avChD fIlEs TO .mxf fIlEs fOR EDITINg

While it is true that CS4 reads and edits native AVCHD files, editing a long group of pictures (GoP) MPEG-4 format can be somewhat tedious. And in fact, AVCHD as a format, was created as a high quality, bandwidth efficient camcorder codec. Panasonics DVCPRoHD codec (used in the popular P2 format) is an excellent and very efficient editing codec. If your current workflow uses P2 files (which are .mxf files) it is very easy to transcode your AVCHD footage to .mxf. CS4 works very well with .mxf files.

sTEp #1 DOwNlOaD ThE whITE papER aND fREE TRaNsCODER

Go to the Panasonic website www.panasonic.com/avccam. under the resource center, you will find the MainConcept AVCHD to DVCPRo transcoder white paper which will give you detailed instructions on how to use the transcoder. Immediately below the white paper is the AVCHD to P2 DVCPRo HD transcoder software. Download both of these to your PC. Note: the avChD to p2 DvCpRO Transcoder software is for pC only. At this time there is no Mac version. If you are running CS4 on a Mac and wish to edit your AVCHD files in a DVCRPo HD format, you will need to do your transcoding on a PC and then transfer the .mxf files to your Mac.

12

UsINg aDObE DyNamIC lINk

CS4 includes Adobe Dynamic link. This allows you to send your Premier Pro Project to After Effects or Encore.

sTEp #1. ClICk ON fIlE>aDObE>DyNamIC lINk.

Then click on Send to Encore or new After Effects Composition. Your Premier Pro Project will be sent to the new application. Any changes you make to the project in Premier Pro will be reflected in the other applications.

Output options

When your project is finished, CS4 gives you a host of options for outputting your media.

OUTpUTTINg TO IpOD OR IphONE

sTEp #1 ClICk ON fIlE>ExpORT>mEDIa

CS4 makes it easy to output your finished movie to a variety of devices and in a multitude of formats. Here are the steps to output your movie to play back on an iPod.

13

This will open the Adobe Media Encoder Window.

sTEp #2 sET yOUR fORmaT.

on the right hand side under export settings, click on the format drop down and choose H.264

14

sTEp #3 sElECT yOUR pREsET ThEN ClICk Ok.

next set your preset to Apple iPod and choose Video large or Small. Then click ok.

sTEp #4 sTaRT qUEUE

Adobe Media Encoder opens. Click Start queue at lower right of the screen

Your clip will now start to encode. You can watch the progress bar on the bottom of the screen. When finished your clip can be added to your library in iTunes and displayed on your iPod or iPhone.

15

OUTpUTTINg TO yOUTUbE
You might want to share your movie with the world on YouTube. This is easy to do. note: You must, of course, have a YouTube account, in order to upload your movie. Also remember that YouTube specifies that your movie be less than 10 minutes in duration and smaller than 100MB. You Tube will accept the following formats: .AVI, .MoV, .WMV and .MPG. To prepare your movie for YouTube uploading, follow these simple steps.

sTEp #1 ClICk ON fIlE>ExpORT>mEDIa

This will open the Adobe Media Encoder Window.

16

sTEp #2 sET yOUR fORmaT.

on the right hand side under export settings, click on the format drop down and choose H.264.

sTEp #3 sElECT yOUR pREsET ThEN ClICk Ok.

next, set your preset to YouTube and click ok at bottom of the screen.

17

sTEp #4 sTaRT qUEUE

Adobe Media Encoder opens. Click Start queue at lower right of the screen

Your clip will now start to encode. You can watch the progress bar on the bottom of the screen. When finished your clip can be uploaded to your You Tube account.

OUTpUTTINg TO a blU-Ray DIsC vIa aDObE DyNamIC lINk

The easiest way to transfer your Premier Pro project to Encore to create a Blu-ray disc via Adobe Dynamic link. Encore, like all of CS4, works on either a Windows or Mac platform.
Note: Even if you have edited your project in Final Cut Pro, you could still import it in Encore and create a Blu-ray disc.

sTEp #1 ClICk ON flIE>aDObE DyNamIC lINk> sEND TO ENCORE

18

Adobe Encore will open.

A new Project window opens.

sTEp #2 NamE yOUR pROJECT aND sElECT yOUR aUThORINg mODE, IN ThIs CasE blU-Ray.

sTEp #3 sElECT yOUR CODEC aND DImENsIONs.

for this project, the codec should be H.264 and the dimensions must match your project. Since this project was 720/24p, I have selected 1280x720. Click ok.

19

Encore will place your project on its time line.

sTEp #4 aUThOR yOUR blU-Ray DIsC

from this point, you can author and burn a Blu-Ray disc in Encore. for more information on Encore and Blu-ray authoring and disc burning, please visit the Adobe Website at: http://www.adobe.com/support/encore/

sTEp #5 REmEmbER TO sET yOUR bUIlD DIsC paRamETERs.

In the Project Window at the top left of your screen, click on Build and Select Blu-ray as your format.

Note: to burn a Blu-ray disc, you must have a Blu-ray burner and Blu-ray media. To play back your Blu-ray movie, we recommend the Panasonic DMP BD35K Blu-ray player (or equivalent).

20

OUTpUTTINg TO sTaNDaRD DEfINITION DvD vIa aDObE DyNamIC lINk

Even though you have shot your material on high definition and edited it in HD, you still might need to down convert it to standard definition to show your movie. AVCHD footage will make dazzling standard definition DVDs. Adobe Encore can easily make a Standard Definition DVD from your AVCHD footage.

sTEp #1 ClICk ON flIE>aDObE DyNamIC lINk> sEND TO ENCORE

Adobe Encore will open.

A new Project window opens.

21

sTEp #2 NamE yOUR pROJECT aND sElECT yOUR aUThORINg mODE, IN ThIs CasE DvD.

Encore will place your project on its time line.

sTEp #3 aUThOR yOUR DvD DIsC

from this point, you can author and burn a DVD disc in Encore. for more information on Encore and DVD authoring and disc burning, please visit the Adobe Website at: http://www.adobe.com/support/encore/

22

sTEp #4 REmEmbER TO sET yOUR bUIlD DIsC paRamETERs.

In the Project Window at the top left of your screen, click on Build and Select DVD as your format.

ThE avChD wORkflOw aRChIvINg

once your project is finished, you will want to archive your High Definition AVCHD footage. There are a number of options available at this time, depending on your budget and how long you want to keep the footage. kEY PoInT: THE SECRET To SuCCESSful ARCHIVInG of AnY fIlE-BASED MEDIA IS REDunDAnCY AnD MIGRATIon. Make multiple copies and move your data as technology advances.

aRChIvINg TO haRD DRIvE

The quickest and least expensive way to archive your AVCHD footage is to copy your files to a hard drive. This is accomplished in the same way as copying any other data to a hard drive. Copy the Private folder of your AVCHD to your drive. The key thing to remember is that you want to check that you have enough hard drive space. There are a number of manufacturers who make inexpensive uSB hard drives. I suggest copying to two different hard drives (See redundancy note above). Also, these hard drives should not be considered permanent long-term storage. The lubricant in hard drives will dry out over time. Create a regular schedule to move your data to newer hard drives. (See migration note above).

aRChIvINg TO blU-Ray DIsC

To archive to a Blu-ray, you will basically be making a Blu-ray RoM data disc. To do this, you will need a Blu-ray burner, Blu-ray media, and Adobe Encore (part of CS4 suite). Remember, in order to retrieve your data from this archive in the future, you will need a Blu-ray drive. keep your eye on how technology advances and migrate your data to new storage technology as needed.

aRChIvINg TO sTaNDaRD DvD DIsCs

Although DVD-R media is technically not specified as archival media, you can archive your data onto standard DVD discs. Since these discs do not hold high amounts of data, this is very time consuming and requires a lot of discs. Remember, in order to retrieve your data from this archive in the future, you will need a DVD drive.

aRChIvINg TO INExpENsIvE sD CaRDs

As the price continues to drop on SD cards, they are now becoming a viable archival media. Simply copy your data onto the SD card, label the card and store it. Remember, in order to retrieve your data in the future, you will need some way to read the SD card.

aRChIvINg TO DIgITal lINEaR TapE (DlT)

If you have to store your footage for a very long time and want absolute confidence in your archival media, do what financial and medical institutions have been doing for years, back up your data on Digital linear Tape. This is a more expensive option than those listed above, but it is time tested. A number of companies, such at quantum (www. quantum.com), make DlT tape drives and media.

sImplE, qUICk, flExIblE aND INExpENsIvE! ThaT Is ThE avChD pRO EDITINg wORkflOw.
about the author:

Please see the AVCHD WoRkfloW ACquISITIon White Paper. You will find that shooting and transferring AVCHD material is again simple, quick, flexible and inexpensive. Bernie Mitchell is an Emmy nominated Producer/Director, a Multimedia Person of the Year and member of the DVD Association Hall of Fame. He is president of Silver Platter Productions, Inc.

23