HOW TO: EDIT Panasonic SDR-SW20 MOD files on a Macintosh

As part of the Panasonic CES 2009 blogger program I got a Panasonic SDR-SW20 video camera to try.

After shooting the video, I had no idea how to get any video editing program to recognize the files.



The manual doesn't help at all since it's geared to a PC user.

Quick answer:

If you copy the files to your computer and try to get them into iMovie, there's no way I can see to do it.

But if you, plug the SD card in the USB slot, THEN open iMovie 08 on a Mac, it sees the movies. Importing them is easy.

You wouldn't know that based on a Google search. Here's a sampling of one page of search results:

macosxhints.com - Convert Panasonic SDR-S10 MOD movies
Problem: Connecting the Panasonic SDR-S10 camcorder via USB works fine on the Mac, but you can't use the MOD files in QuickTime Player or in iMovie HD by ...

Thanks Jexus, I just brought the panasonic sdr h250 and having the same issue with .mod’s on mac. ffmpegx works great but if you have lots of ...

How To Convert .MOD Video Files To MPEG-2 On Mac And PCs - Robin ...
MOD video files on your Mac simply rename them as .MPG or . .... such as the JVC Everio, and the Panasonic D-Snap SD-card camcorders, suffer from a ...

Convert Panasonic Mod - convert Panasonic Mod for your player
To convert Panasonic Mod for your players, you can use Mod video conversion ...

With all this talk about conversion, I went down the path prior to figuring out the simple solution above.

I ended up using Handbrake which converts the MOD files to Mac compatible format. It uses .mv4 iTunes format by default.

LOST VIDEOS
One other issue I had with the camera is that a bunch of videos I shot were missing. I played them back on the camera, but when I went to import them, they were not there. At the same time the camera displayed a message, Check Card.

A recovered the missing video files with a nice utility called Card Raider.



This utility has saved me many times. Even when I deleted files off a memory card by mistake.

Once I recovered the files, CardRaider saves them as .MPG but QuickTime doesn't recognize them, I ran them thorough Handbrake and opened them up in QuickTime.





I combined them, exported as .mov and opened up in Final Cut Pro. You could probably export from Handbrake to mov but I didn't figure that out.

Here's the video I rescued: The Carol and Steve Show - January Cold.

One more tip:
It is suggested that prior to shooting video with a new SD card, you format the card with the camera. I just did that.

Greg Harper says, "If you just put a new card into the camera first it should automatically add the proper folders. If you put the card into a pc first then it may not get the proper folders"


Do you have any experience with the Panasonic SDR-SW20. I'd love to hear your comments.

LIVE Broadcast on Mogulus from CES09

LIVE Broadcast on Mogulus from CES09, originally uploaded by stevegarfield.

I did a live broadcast from the show floor of CES Sands Convention Center with Rainer Cvillink of Mogulus.

It was a great time.

You can see the re-run, in progress, here:

http://www.mogulus.com/stevegarfield

Looking Outside Planet Hollywood

Looking Outside Planet Hollywood, originally uploaded by stevegarfield.

Panasonic Lumix G1 - First Look

Recap: CES DAY 1

I woke up to an interesting view outside my Planet Hollywood Hotel room. I'd have to say, next to the Hard Rock Hotel, this hotel has the coolest music.



Jeff Cutler picked me up and drove me over to the Venetioan. Lots of construction going on in Las Vegas.



I dropped in to the Social Media Jungle and heard Chris Heur speak.



I went ot a bunch of press conferences today, but the most interesting thing of the morning was Jeff Cutler's interview with the Pico Projector people:



Click the photo to watch the video.

Then I met up with Greg Verdino for the Panasonic press conference:



Joe Jaffe was there too:



Crayon brought me out here as a guest of Panasonic and I thank them for that. These two guys were also covering the press conference for Engadget:



The coolest thing was the 1/3" HD TV:



Click the photo to watch the video.

Later, we had a nice dinner with Panasonic executives. They are really interested in listening. I liked that. I also like PF Changs. I'd never been there and these cucumbers were AMAZING:



I also got all these cameras to try out:



They all have a different way of charging. I hope the electronics community standardizes on one way soon:



I'm looking forward to using these camera's tomorrow. I grabbed Greg's camera and took some amazing shots with it. I told him to put them up on hos flickr account. The Panasonic Lumix G1 has a 14 mm lens so I'm excited to head out to the show floor tomorrow nad shoot some photos with it.

I wish we were able to try the newer HD video camera, since I heard it shoots MPEG-4 H.264. I'll report back on the process of shooting HD video and editing with the SD 100. The SW20 works under water too, not sure how I might test that.

See you tomorrow.

Look for me at CES wearing this Liquid Image HD Video Underwater Camera

Liquid Image's HD Video Underwater Camera Mask, originally uploaded by stevegarfield.

I'm heading out to CES tomorrow morning as a guest of Panasonic.



At least I hope to be heading out, the Boston Twitter Storm Report says "Snow develops across the region this evening to a wintry mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain after midnight."

Perfect, freezing rain.





Panasonic had planned to send out five bloggers, but one just had to have emergency gall bladder surgery. Get well soon Cliff.

Greg Verdino explains everything about the trip on his blog. Basically, Panasonic is covering my flight and hotel, and taking us out to dinner, letting us use their products, and showing us what they are up to.

There's no requirement for us to blog about Panasonic, just to make one post a day and one after CES. So if you see the tag LIHD on my post, that's for Panasonic and means Living in HD.

Upcoming Events I'll Be At
Panasonic Presents... A CES Tweet-Up in High Definition - Thursday January 8, 2009 from 6:30pm - 8:00pm
2009 "It Won't Stay in Vegas" Blogger Party -Friday January 9, 2009 from 5:00pm - 8:00pm. Pre-registration required.

On Thursday, sometime between 12 and 2 I'll be at the Intel booth with Sarah Austin doing a video streaming broadcast over WiMax.

Follow Me
Check out SteveGarfield.com for updates. The main page will show my most recent Qik and blip.tv videos, my Friendfeed stream and flickr photos.

You can also follow me on twitter.

What I'm Looking Forward To

People. Although there are going to be 2,700 vendors at CES, there are also going to be 120,000 people there. CES IS PEOPLE!

The last time I went to CES was in 2006.



Back then there wasn't any twitter. We had to walk five miles to school, up a hill, with no shoes.

This year there are a lot of bloggers and social media people headed to CES. So although there are going to be thousands of peope there, I think it's going to feel a lot like a mini-SXSW.

HP is sponsoring a CntrStg bloggers lounge at the Wynn January 7, 2009 - Sunday January 11, 2009 from 4:00pm - 12:00pm. I'll make sure I stop by to hang out over there. You'll need to register for that.

So I'm looking forward to seeing lots of people that I only get to see a few times a year.

I'm also looking forward to shooting some fun video projects. You'll see those when they happen!

I want to wear that Liquid Image HD contraption and shoot some video. Isn't it the perfect looking device for a videoblogger?

Vendors I'm looking forward to meeting up with include Mogulus, Qik, TiVo, Nokia, and Kodak.

I'm very interested in seeing how the Panasonic HDC-SD100 HD camcorder works. The only HD I've had a chance to work with is the Kodak Zi6.

If you are going to CES, drop a note in the comments and let me know what you are looking forward to.

If you aren't going, leave me a note about what you want me to go check out for you.

I'll be Panasonic's guest at CES09

Greg Verdino writes What happens at CES, happens courtesy of Panasonic and explains that Panasonic "has invited five social media guests to document and share their CES experiences with their communities".

He goes on to explain:

Panasonic has invited a handful of guest content creators, culled from the social media rank and file, to join them at CES 2009. They're flying them out and giving them front row seats at press conferences, new product announcements, exhibit hall presentations and more. They're putting some of the latest and greatest Panasonic gear -- digital cameras, standard- and high definition camcorders, and more -- in their hands. They're setting them loose to document their CES experiences.

Check out his post for all the details.

Disclosure: I'll be Panasonic's guest at #CES09.