Hello guys. I'm a Mac user and currently edit many forms of video using Final Cut Pro. I've just purchased an Everio JVC MC500 and have tested several ways to convert and edit the video produced by this camcorder.

Here's the scenario as I see it: the .mod files produced by the camera are muxed mpeg-2 files with the audio mixed in a non-standard Dolby Digital Stereo setup. This causes the video to be played (when renamed to .mpg) correctly in QT (and QT Pro) but no audio is played (although present.) The video has to be converted into a format FCP (or iMovie) can use natively. The ideal solution would be to edit the native mpeg-2 file without conversion- but this isn't possible with the present form of Quicktime (this may change in the future.)

I've used a very well lit clip with some sharp edges and subtle graduations to visually scrutinize the video clip and used the raw .mod renamed to .mpg clip as the "bar" conversions would be "up against."
Using Mpeg Streamclip (free download) I converted the .mod files to several presets and checked individual frames for variations to the original mod file. The absolute best quality with NO LOSS in video quality was produced by simply "demuxing" the clip into seperate video/audio files called .m2v and aiff (headed also works but doesn't change quality and is not needed) and these files can be imported into FCP but you'll need to create a custom sequence preset and when you get everything set just right- the clips will need rendering once imported into the sequence ~ FCP uses the QT engine and I haven't been able to produce a sequence preset that DIDN'T need rendering- if someone figures out the parameters- please post them here for us.
...after some variations in Mpeg Streamclip settings- I've found that using the DVCPRO codec produced the best image quality retaining about 97% of the original's quality- which is quite superb. The best part of using the DVCPRO codec is that you gain all the realtime effects and power FCP is capable of and both iMovie and FCP can use the files natively as normal DV! The downside is that the file sizes will be about 3X that of the original mod file. An hour of DV is about 13GB- so your 4GB Microdrive will end up producing 13GB of data on your Mac (no big deal considering todays cheap HD prices.)

Word of caution: some people have been using DropDV and I've tried this software. It produces a blurred conversion and isn't as good as the DV files Mpeg Streamclip produces (which are as sharp as the original mod files)....I urge users to try both free conversion utilities and check the results yourself. I am using an Apple 23" HD Cinema Display and was disappointed with the DropDV files. DropDV has the convenience of allowing "batch" processing by multiple file drop- but the quality isn't worthy in my opinion. If the program changes it's compression to DV- it would be worth a look.

Also note that when using Mpeg Streamclip, it's best to copy the .mod files to the computers HD and create another folder for the Dv conversions, as working from the Microdrive slows the entire conversion process a great deal...you can always delete the source .mod files after the conversion is done.

Another note worth considering is that there are a few variations to the DV codec and that DVCPRO 50 which has much higher data rates and 2X the file size of "normal" DV does indeed produce a 1%-3% better video. The penalty of a 2X file size maybe worth the effort for those trying to extract maximum quality from the original .mod files.

I was going to export stills and create a website showing just the results I've outlined here- but I don't think there are many Mac users using the MC500 and the relatively low postings on this forum led me to believe the effort might not be appreciated by many.

I hope this helps those that might be looking for a Mac solution to editing video from the Everio camcorders. If QT ever gains the ability to play the Dolby Digital Stereo portion of the muxed .mod file- we'll likely be able to edit the .mod files natively within FCP and iMovie.

If anyone cares to drop observations or comments- feel free to post them here.

Thanks everyone.

__________________
Steve Nunez (NYC)
www.stevenunez.com

Here's a quick 3.7mb video shot with the 3CCD Everio MC500 in H.264 codec, quickly edited in FCP using the above procedure.

http://www.stevenunez.com/videos/omantis264.mov

__________________
Steve Nunez (NYC)
www.stevenunez.com

Hi Steve,

When I play this clip using the Quicktime player I only get sound. No video.

Worked fine for me. Using QT 7.0.3 with OS X 10.4.2 here.

It doesn't work in QuickTime 6.5.2 and QuickTime complains that the update needed is not on the server.

Get QT 7 then.

cheers Steve,

I'm new to Mac's and the Everio and found this really useful.

Hey Steve,

thanks for doing this post! I'm a mac person, and I've been looking at camcorders to take on a trip around the world... I was leaning towards one of these little cameras despite the complication of trying to sync sound with no external mic input, just because of the ease and portability of a super small camera that uses CF and SD cards. The sample video you put on here pretty much eliminated any reservations I had about mpeg2 vs mini-dv quality. I have final cut pro, but am by no means a power user, so the set up you suggest sounds a little daunting, but I'm going to look into it. I'm a writer, so the 12" powerbook is going with me pretty much everywhere, and should be able to handle the editing fine, even though I'll no doubt be frustrated that I don't have my dual g5 from home.

Have you, or anyone else tried running this camera straight into the computer, and trying to avoid the mpeg2 compression entirely? I can't tell from the site is this is possible, but the reviews for the most part review camera image quality separate from compresson quality, which makes me think that maybe this is possible. If so, could I just run my image straight out of the camera and into the computer, capturing the live footage in FCP? That would elimiate sound problems as well, letting me run a separate mic into the computer, and ignoring the camcorder sound altogether.

Thanks again for your work on the part of all us mac users!

Stephen

Hi There

On a Mac (or pc) for that matter you wont have to capture the video. THis is because the video recorded onto the camera is already in a file format, so there is a 100% file transfer from camera to Mac (just like taking your jpeg stills from your still camera).

You can import the files into FCP, but you will have to demux them to seperate sound and audio files. This I find gets me the very best quality as there is no file compression involved.

Hope that helps.

Problem with demuxing is that you'll eventually need to edit them and this is where "encoding" will be redone- with the penalty of a quality loss (however small it might be)....what these HD cams really need is a selectable "compression" sheme or variable bit rate recording to whatever formats people want- beit mpeg-2 for DVD authoring or DV compression for those wanting to use standard NLE's etc.......until the manufacturers give us a selectable method of saving the video files- we're all gonna have to deal with some form of "re-encoding"- which will always means a loss in video quality.

Sony is soon to release thier internal HD camera and i'm willing to bet it will have better quality than the present Everio series- however we'll still need to convert the clips into an editable format- unless you're using a NLE that supports mpeg-2 editing- and the best ones really don't support that form.

The manufacturers will eventually get this all sorted out but it seems there a trend to produce compressed mpeg-2 files that an average user can dump right onto a blank DVD-R and burn to disc ready to read in most DVD players. Let's hope they figure out a selectable method of compression or that NLE makers can adopt a method of mpeg-2 editing that's frame accurate (problem with HDV right now.)

__________________
Steve Nunez (NYC)
www.stevenunez.com

Steve

You raise some interesting points. My question then is this - why dont the NLE programmers just write an mpeg-2 codec for FCP and Premier ect. Surely that would fix the whole thing. Or better yet, let QUICK TIME write the codec, then the NLEs will automatically accept mpeg2. Ja? Be a whole lot cheeper than buying a new cam...

I have really appreciated your insight into the best way to get my MOD files onto iMovie and keep a decent quality. Saved me hours of testing.

I just got an Everio Gz-MG21, and I am a bit disapointed by the quality of the video, compared to my old DV camcorder. Do you now if the low CCd resolution is to blame or is it the mpg2 compression ? If it where the CCd I wonder if it is worth upgrading for a high Everio model...

Fred Febvre
fred.febvre@virgin.net

I'm just bought the Everio GZ-MG21U 20G HDD camcorder for little around the house or vacation shooting. Nothing fancy. For my needs, I love the camera...hate the .MOD format. I've read every post on this thread and, although pretty decent on FCP HD, I have no idea what heck anyone is talking about with the "demuxing" this and the "MPEG Streamclip" that.

I have spent 9 hours so far trying to simply edit my video. The garbage "Capty MPEG Edit Ex For Everio" that comes with the camera is utterly useless and takes FOREVER to combine clips or create Quicktime movies.

I have seen some advice on this and other threads and have tried what I can understand and make sense of. In any event, I dragged/dropped a .MOD file to my desktop where I renamed it .MPG and it worked...sort of. The video works but not the audio. I downloaded this AC3 audio codec for mac and installed it but it doesn't do any good and to my understanding according to the website I downloaded it from is that the AC3 audio codec is for an .AVI file only, at least on a mac.

Now here is my problem. I edit using Final Cut Pro HD. By changing the extension from .MOD to .MPG, I can import the file into FCPHD successfully, but again, without the audio. I'm so close I can taste it. If someone could let me in on the trick I need to perform to get this audio working (in a simple to understand, step by step kind of guide, and in english 8-), that would make my friggin' year. Apple offers MPG2 playback as an add-on for $20. WTF is that? I have Quicktime Pro and that is an add-on!? Would this even help? All I want to do is drag my .MOD files from my camera and drop them into FCP and edit it. What is the big hassle with all these renaming and demuxing and all this other stuff? If I would've know I had to take 101 additional steps between the dragging off the camera and the dropping into FCP I would've never bought the camera. If I have to use iMovie, fine! Ugh!!!

Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!!!!!

MiiRo,

I know you're a bit frustrated but you're just about there.
In a nutshell- you're going to have to get MpegStreamclip (free on the net) and open the mod files with it then output to DV for hassel free iMovie and FCP editing. The mod files are modified mpeg-2 files with audio in a non-standard Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound setup- which FCP and most other NLE's can't import natively- by converting the files using Streamclip you'll end up with a 100% DV conversion at the cost of a slight quality loss- nothing too bad maybe 3-5% quality loss (i've examined tons of detailed clips exports).....my biggest issue is that the MC500 is a good camcorder but not a GREAT one- it's biggest +'s are it's 3CCD's but they don't produce footage as nice as other lower cost 3CCD camcorders. Of course my observations are subjective and can be refuted to no end- but I own tons of MiniDV camcorders as well as Sony's new FX1 and JVC's HD10U and Canon XL1S, GL2 etc......the MC500 simply doesn't produce the footage those camcorders do- or to be fair can't rival the footage from a 1-chip Canon Optura 400 (and up)....so to me the biggest draw to the Everio MC500 is it's internal HD recording eliminating tapes altogether.....but rest assured we will begin to see some high quality internal HD camcorders flooding the market soon!
The MC500 is a nice camcorder nonetheless, it's just down on video quality and has a propensity to blow out highlights rather easily (you can verify this using FCP's Vectorscope and you'll see whites in excess of 100% luminence)......if the MC500 was $699 or so it'd be the killer camera considering it's function.....it has dropped from $1599 to $999 on B&H's website- so I'm guessing the newer MC505 is just about ready for public sale (but not much improved from the spec sheets.)
Have fun with the MC500- I know I did!!!!

Here are some simple videos I edited with FCP HD using the Everio MC500....I'm a custom painter so of course the subject is my paintwork....(the 2nd and 4th 2 are with the Everio- the rest are other camcorders)

http://stevenunez.com/videos.html

__________________
Steve Nunez (NYC)
www.stevenunez.com

Steve,

Thanks for clarifying. I downloaded the StreamClip and it works fine. Are there any hidden settings I need to manipulate to lessen quality loss? I demux to aiff and m2v and then import into FCP and it works. Is it that simple? I didn't mess around with any preferences in StreamClip or FCP. Also, when I import the m2v file, it's got both audio and visual so do I even need the aiff?

I guess my last question is...I have about five hundred clips that I need to run through this conversion. Is there a way to do multiple clips and let them convert overnight or do I have to do each one by hand?

Thanks!

MiRo