![]() I haven't had a chance to take it out into the world yet-I've been spending hours trying to figure out what applications can properly handle its FHD 1080i and 1080p files (the 720p clips seem to be okay in software that supports QuickTime files). Updated 5/2/08: As if AVCHD camcorders aren't problem enough, along comes the Casio Exilim Pro EX-F1 sort-of-hybrid still/video camera to bring all sorts of unwanted software excitement to my life. ArcSoft's TotalMedia also provides very nice playback. In any case, if you're looking to edit SD9 files, it looks like Ulead VideoStudio is your software. This also ties in with my theory that many technical problems will simply go away if you leave them alone for a while. Updated 5/2/08: Tried again and it seems to work now. The clips came in okay, but the software crashed soon after I'd imported them. Updated 4/2/08: Per drj444's comments, I revisited VideoStudio and realized I hadn't upgraded to 11.5. I finally got InterVideo WinDVD to consistently play clips, albeit not very smoothly. Panasonic's tech support wanted me to use HD Writer, the horrible home-grown application Panasonic ships with the camcorder. ![]() In short, every application I and our Labs' tester tried-iMovie, Pinnacle Studio, Ulead Video Studio, Sony Vegas and Avid Liquid-at best could open but barely play some clips, and more often simply hung or crashed. ![]() Then I began my attempts to open 1,920x1080 videos shot with the Panasonic HDC-SD9. After a few days of retracing the Web tracks I made last year, I decided to share the current state of AVCHD support with all you potential buyers.Īfter a couple of pain-free AVCHD experiences-notably, footage shot with the new Canon Vixia HF10 and repeat visits to clips from the Sony Handycam SR7-I was beginning to mellow, and even predicted that 2008 would be the year that AVCHD was finally ready for the mass market. That means you can't simply play the files on a computer, much less send them to your friends, without down-converting to SD (which defeats the purpose of spending the extra $500 or so for an HD camcorder). Neither Microsoft Windows Media Player nor Apple QuickTime as yet offer decoders-a reader below claims he plays files in QT, but I think he's confusing the H.264 codec with the AVCHD format, because as far as I can tell, neither QT nor QT Pro recognize the format. Now, as then, the only thing you can easily do with the video is play it on an HDTV, direct from the camcorder. What surprised me was that the situation hasn't changed much since late last year when I reviewed its equally promising predecessor, the SR1. ![]() Worse, RecordNow installs itself deep in the Windows Program Files folder without offering an alternative and the suite installs an extra app, Express Labeler, without asking permission.I just reviewed the Sony Handycam HDR-SR7, a very nice HD camcorder hamstrung by lack of software support. You can't just click Install and walk away, however the process takes several steps. You can install the three main components-MyDVD, for movie authoring and basic editing RecordNow, for mastering and CinePlayer, the DVD movie and video file player-separately or en masse. More ambitious artists should check out Nero 6.0 Ultra instead.Ī full installation of the Sonic MyDVD Studio Deluxe 5.0 suite requires approximately 170MB of drive space (much of which is motion menus and backgrounds) and takes about five minutes, including a system reboot-pretty standard. However, although MyDVD 5.0 can muscle through everyday tasks, power users will find its limitations-you can't mix NTSC and PAL video, freely place menu buttons and text, or back up to a hard drive-frustrating. It's also the friendliest, most intuitive DVD/CD suite on the market unlike many competing packages, we found it to be virtually bug-free. Sonic MyDVD Studio Deluxe 5.0 contains all the tools most users will need for basic movie authoring and editing, burning audio CDs, backing up a system (to CD or DVD), and playing DVD movies.
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