Canon Legria HF20 - iMovie 09 Compatibility

[ejolson]

Leopard 10.5.6

Here is an improved version of

http://www.hv20.com/showthread.php?p=262011#post262011

that includes instructions how to install ffmpeg and a working command tested on Mac OS X 10.5.8. The version of ffmpeg installed here may not have all the usual encoding options because it has not been linked with the external encoders usually done with precompiled versions of ffmpeg. This basic install will decode AVCHD and encode mjpeg just fine, which is all that is needed here.

1. If you don't already have Xcode installed, then insert Mac OS X Install Disk 1, go to Optional Installs Xcode Tools and install XcodeTools.mpkg.

2. Download the ffmpeg program

http://ffmpeg.org/releases/ffmpeg-0.5.tar.bz2

3. Open a terminal window and install ffmpeg using the commands

$ mkdir ~/work
$ cd ~/work
$ cp ~/Downloads/ffmpeg-0.5.tar.bz2 .
$ tar jxf ffmpeg-0.5.tar.bz2
$ cd ffmpeg-0.5
$ ./configure --prefix=/usr/local --enable-gpl --enable-nonfree
$ make
$ sudo make install

The last three commands take a while and give lots of output. The last command will ask for your password to confirm the install.

4. Check that ffmpeg is installed.

$ ffmpeg
FFmpeg version 0.5, Copyright (c) 2000-2009 Fabrice Bellard, et al.
  configuration: --prefix=/usr/local --enable-gpl --enable-nonfree
  libavutil     49.15. 0 / 49.15. 0
  libavcodec    52.20. 0 / 52.20. 0
  libavformat   52.31. 0 / 52.31. 0
  libavdevice   52. 1. 0 / 52. 1. 0
  built on Oct 21 2009 14:54:34, gcc: 4.0.1 (Apple Inc. build 5465)
At least one output file must be specified

5. Change to the directory where the mts files are and type

$ ffmpeg -i 00045.mts -r 30000/1001 -acodec pcm_s16le \
    -vcodec mjpeg -b 100Mb -f mov -y 00045.mov

Note the bitrate -b 148Mb was too large and -flags +ildct has to be left out in the command from the previous post. Note also if you are transcoding AVCHD from a PAL camcorder use -r 25 instead of -r 30000/1001.

[Janke]

Thanks - this is now bookmarked!

I'll try it - some day, when I'm desperate again...

At the moment, I don't have to, since I was able to get the files directly from the camera into FCE. (Wonder why FCE cant capture from the very same file copied to the Mac's HD?)

Next time I need it, maybe there's an update available of the pre-installed GUI'ed version... one can always hope!

(BTW, I assume that 00045 should be changed to the actual filename, right?)

[cgbier]

Did you copy the complete file structure from the card to your hard drive?

[Janke]

Nope - and AFAIK, that's the problem. I was originally given only the .MTS files by the videographer, and we both assumed that would be enough.

What surprises me though, is that the file is supposedly readable with a new version of FFmpeg, without the file structure...

Happily, my own camera is a HV30, and my FireWire port has worked well, after I got a good-quality cable (the first one I got was wonky).

So, it's unlikely that I'll run into this again, soon.

Thanks everybody for your help - I have downloaded the new FFmpeg just in case, and bookmarked this thread for future use.