Sony HVR-M15 with iMovie

HDR-FX1000 / HVR-Z5 (2008). HVR-Z7 / HVR-S270 (2007). HDR-FX7 / HVR-V1 (2006). HDR-FX1 / HVR-Z1 (2004).
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grahamat
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Joined: 08 Apr 2013 13:29
Location: London

Sony HVR-M15 with iMovie

Post by grahamat »

Hi all. Newbie here.
I really hope someone can help me with a problem I am having.
I have 1080/50i footage recorded on a Sony HVR-M15E which I need to edit in iMovie 09.
The footage plays back fine through the component outputs so I know that I have HD footage.
I can import into iMovie with no problem and iMovie controls the deck with no issues.
The problem is the footage saved looks like it's composite! That is either the iMovie event .mov or the shared .mov when shared at full res.
I have checked all the menu settings on the HVR-M15E and they are all correct for outputting HD through the iLink connection.
I am importing into iMovie at full image size and the saved footage shows as 1920X1080.
I have also imported into iMovie 11, FCP-X and Quicktime Pro and they all look more or less the same but still show as 1920X1080 except
the Quicktime Pro import shows as 1440X1080.
This being the case I can only assume that a setting on the Sony HVR is wrong.
If anyone is running a similar system could you please, please tell me what settings you are using?
I am going crazy with this.
Thank you all
acgold7
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Re: Sony HVR-M15 with iMovie

Post by acgold7 »

This feels familiar. Have we had this discussion before? Are you shooting with the FX7 but recording onto the M15?

Yes, found it. Last month on the other forum I asked if you would be so kind as to post a screen grab of your settings on your NLE. Without seeing those we cannot hazard a guess as to what the problem is.

If you are absolutely dead certain that you are shooting HDV on your FX7 and that i.Link CONV is OFF on both your cam and the Deck, then the only likely culprit left, if there is indeed a problem and not just a display issue, is your NLE and the settings within. Hence my request.

It is certainly possible you are having an issue during the conversion from m2t to mov.
Adam
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Stephan
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Re: Sony HVR-M15 with iMovie

Post by Stephan »

iMovie doesn't do native codec editing, it will instead transcode to Apple Intermediate Codec. What's worse is, in many cases iMovie 09 will downgrade your HD video to lower resolution as explained in this thread: Importing in HD to iMovie 09 and also investigated apparently by Steve Mullen (search for it in google).

I wouldn't invest time working around the limitations of the obsolete iMovie 09. As you have FCP X (?) why don't you use it instead and do native HDV editing? Works like a breeze. I've never used iMovie, personally.

Or with FCP X you have the Pro codecs installed as a side bonus, so try transcoding into ProRes 422 instead of AIC. But even that is like splitting hairs.
grahamat
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Joined: 08 Apr 2013 13:29
Location: London

Re: Sony HVR-M15 with iMovie

Post by grahamat »

Hi again.
I've just done a test on the system and found the following;
I recorded footage onto the Sony HVR-M15 using the Sony HDR-FX7 camera as the source onto a small DV tape.
I then imported this into iMovie at full resolution using the FX7 to import into the Mac.
The captured footage didn't look HD but was slightly better quality than importing from the HVR-M15.
I then captured more footage directly onto the FX7 and then imported this into iMovie with the camera without changing any settings.
The footage from the FX7 was substantially better quality than anything imported from the HVR deck.
This leads me to believe that it is the HVR-M15 causing the issue.
Footage imported into iMovie from the HVR-M15 shows in Get Info as full HD but it doesn't look like it.
All of the settings on the HVR-M15 are as they should be according to the manual.
I am going to try all the various other settings to see if this makes any improvement.
I will post screenshots of the various settings for info.
Any comments or advice gratefully received.
acgold7
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Joined: 14 May 2010 23:03
Location: Woodinville, WA, USA
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Re: Sony HVR-M15 with iMovie

Post by acgold7 »

We'll wait for the screenshots and then you won't be able to shut us up.

Having used the M15 with hundreds of hours of tape from dozens of different HDV cams, I can say it's highly unlikely it's the deck. Not impossible, just unlikely. It won't downrez unless you tell it to. It's digital, Jake.
Adam
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