Video Experts-I need your experience on a file conversion. Canon FS11

Off-topic
1

Whenever I get stuck on something, I come here, because this place has a huge amount of experience and expertise.

Here’s the deal. I bought a new video camera, the Canon FS 11. It takes amazing video and has several other features that I find very useful for the purposes that I use it.

Here is the issue. It records on a flash drive and the files are .MOD files, which are essentially MPEG2 with and MOI file holding extra info. I have been able to use the MPEG2 files on my Vista system, and on iMovie 8, but I also need to transfer these files through a Windows XP computer at work which ultimately will be edited using Final Cut Express. Apparently this set up is causing problems, and the MPEG2 files are not able to be read on the Final Cut program.

My business partner is the one doing the editing and he is asking that I convert them to .MOV to make it easier for him. Unfortunately, I haven’t found a way to do this that keeps the current quality and is quick. I have tried MPEG StreamClip, SDCopy, and an online service called youconvertit.com. Initially I was just trying to download the MOD file and have it automatically convert to MPEG2. SDCopy worked well on Vista, but I still couldn’t play the file on the XP system. Youconvertit was taking over an hour just for upload on DSL for one file, so that is out of the question.

The program that came with the camera would allow me to download the files, and it converted from MOD to MPEG, but the files were not usable on the XP machine.

I am amazed that this is such a frustrating experience. I LOVE everything else about this camera, I just can’t believe MPEG2 format is such a pain to work with. I was using a Canon SD870 Camera for the same purpose, and for most things it was adequate, it recorded in AVI which was easy to work with and usable on all formats. When it got damaged, I looked for a camera that would excel in the areas I found it lacking.

  1. Macro Video and Zoom
  2. Screen that flips around.
  3. Remote Control
  4. External Mic could be added

And I wanted to keep it small. The FS 11 excels in all these areas. Just these dang unusable files. :angry: I loved iMovie 6, and can’t use it anymore because these files don’t work with it. iMovie 08 is okay in some respects, can’t stand it in others. The one good thing is all I have to do with iMovie 8 is connect the camera and the files download directly into the program.

So in my dreamworld, what I would like to do is connect the camera to ANY platform, have it recognize the camera, and then have it download the files directly into the file type of my choice. AVI, MPEG2, MOV etc… Again something that doesn’t take 4 hours to process, and doesn’t require several steps. Plug and Play.

Is that too much to ask?

2

i dont exactly know what your asking, care to actually ask a real question? than to just elaborate on problems?

sorry, i just really cant find a question anywhere in there minus the too much to ask part.

edit: if your looking for a camera that will be recognized by all computers, plug and play, i have a Sony GC1 net share cam. It records in m4v i think. Which that file isnt compatible to anything on my computer, it only recognizes the audio files for premiere pro cs3. But, it has a quick option that allows you to upload to youtube, or photobucket in a snap. I would actually be able to sell it to you for a little under new sale price when i get all my footage off. Its like new. Anyway, the camera doesnt need to use a firewire card either. and runs on a 2gb SD card.

but, again, i dont know too much on what your asking here.

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I got interrupted about 40 times(no exaggeration) while typing, so I apologize if it wasn’t clear.

I would like a program that will allow me to download directly to any PC with my new FS11 and choose the file type. Preferably MOV for transfer to a Mac for editing in Final Cut. Currently it downloads in MPEG2 format, which is not compatible with the XP machine that I am transferring from, and it is apparently not compatible with Final Cut either. The program just need to be able to download the file from the camera and convert in the process. I don’t need editing software, or a new or used camera. Thanks.

4

ahh… i see. There are a few programs you can buy for like 10-20$ off the internet, a used their free trials, which some work really well. You just plug your cam in, go to whatever file shows the videos on your sd card, and throw them in the converter, and they convert to another folder. I forgot which converters i use, if i find them, i’ll post them.

5

Man! I had your problem and it sucked. MOD files are such crap to use.

When I was recording 2007s Moab, I ended up finding a free converter, made just for MOD files.

I tried finding that a few weeks ago when I got back from the Portland trip, but couldnt find it anymore.

One thing that you can do, is change the .MOD extension to .MPG. Ive heard that works great for people, but its never been perfect for me.

Then I remembered I have SUPER. Very good, free, converter, that can take 99% of all file types and change them to 99% of all other file types. Download this, and load your .MOD files into them, and from there you can change them to MOV, MPG, or AVI. Goes pretty fast, and with the right settings you wont lose quality.

Goodluck.

6

Cool, thanks. I don’t mind spending a few dollars, I do mind spending a few dollars and then having a file conversion take 3 hours. I currently have 16 files some as large as 149 Mb, so if it takes a long time for each file, or I can’t batch convert, It just won’t work. This is pretty much the number of files I will have on a regular basis. 2-3 times a week.

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In SUPER it doesnt take too long really. I had files of 200-500mbs and it goes pretty quick, specially with a faster computer. Mines old!

SUPER also lets you load up all the files you have at once, and will convert them all for you.

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Super is awsome, worth keeping even if it dossn’t solve the problem and the new version is great.