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.

Video: Bloggers Thoughts on CES 2009

Chris Brogan, Steve Garfield, Ponzi Pirillo, Stacy BeBroff, Vicki Rellas, Melissa Pierce, Greg Verdino, and Joseph Jaffe.

These stills are in the video, Bloggers Thoughts on CES 2009. It's 14:06 minutes long.

John Herman told me that it's the longest video he'd seen me do, and that I should do more. Thanks John. Other people also said that they hadn't seen any video from me other than short live streaming videos.

That's a problem. I've produced a lot of longer form videos. It's just that they are scattered all over. I've got a featured videos page at SteveGarfield.com where you can see videos I've done for Next New Networks, Rocketboom, Spices of Life, and Boston City Councillor John Tobin.

I'm working on a way to better display my archive of videos. When you put your videos in a blog format, it's easy for people to see the most recent, but the archives get burried in the past. I'd love to find a good solution.

There's a shorter version of the CES video here: Panasonic Crayon CES 2009 [ 1:53 ]

@stevegarfield you are hilariously awesome. thanks.

@stevegarfield you are hilariously awesome. thanks., originally uploaded by stevegarfield.

Jimmy Fallon writes on twitter:

"@stevegarfield you are hilariously awesome. thanks."

http://twitter.com/jimmyfallon/status/1126536365

Thank you!

NH MargUp TweetUp 1/15/09

NH MargUp TweetUp 1/15/09, originally uploaded by stevegarfield.

NH MargUp TweetUp
Thursday January 15, 2009 from 6:00pm - 9:00pm
Margarita's
775 Lafayette Road, Rt. 1
Portsmouth, New Hampshire 03801

upcoming.yahoo.com/event/1470773

View the whole 'NH MargUp TweetUp 1/15/09' set on flickr.

Note:
I took these pictures with the Panasonic Lumix G1 that I got on my trip to CES as a guest of Panasonic. Putting that fact aside, I really like taking photos with this camera. Shooting pictures in dimly lit bars is always a problem. The Nokia N95 takes a long time to focus, but it's onboard flash helps. The iPhone needs extra light. I've found the Nikon D80 and Canon Digital Rebel troublesome at times.

The Panasonic G1 has an iA setting that seems to take care of everything for you. Not having had much time to read the manual yet, I left the camera on this iA setting. It has face detection, and it was fun to really just compose, point and shoot. The camera knows where to focus. I removed the protective lens hood since it was casting a shadow. I lightly edited these for exposure, contrast and saturation in iPhoto. Overall, a very nice experience with the Panasonic G1. Oh, and it's a lot smaller and lighter than standard sized digital SLR's, which is a plus.

Official portrait of President-elect Barack Obama

Official portrait of President-elect Barack Obama, originally uploaded by stevegarfield.

Metal Heart - Tilt Shift Time Lapse by Keith Loutit

Metal Heart from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

Acoustibuds - Makes iPhone/iPod ear buds comfy

Acoustibuds.com

Panasonic HDC-SD100 Questions and Answers

I got the Panasonic HDC-SD100 while out in Las Vegas at CES as part of the Panasonic/Crayon bloggers program.


Steve Garfield and Jimmy Fallon by Veronica Belmont, on Flickr CC BY-NC

Joseph Jaffe just wrote up a summary post on his blog, CES La Vie in HD!, and I commented:

I was just telling my wife that from now on, I'm shooting in HD. It just looks so good. I still need to spend some time evaluating the Panasonic HD camera to see if it meets all my needs, but getting a hands on evaluation like this is really the only way for me to determine if something is going to work for me. With so many features and functions, how do companies expect people to make purchase decisions? In the video I say that this was my first experience with a true HD camera. I've been paying around with a Kodak Zi6 I picked up for $178 at Radio Shack because I had no idea what to get for an HD camera. I didn't even know if I wanted one. But after using the Panasonic HD camera, I know I'll never go back to standard definition for my professional work. For one thing, the camera is so small! I have a cart with wheels to bring all my equipment to a shoot. I do have some open questions about the camera that I'll be researching.

1. Is the absence of Firewire a problem? iMovie 08 seems to require Firewire to capture live video.
2. Can I use this as a live camera via USB? I'm thinking for UStream and/or Mogulus.
3. Do I need to import via iMovie 08, or can Final Cut Pro import AVCHD footage?

I'll be looking into these questions and posting about them on my blog.

If any readers can help with answers, I'd love to hear them.

I'm starting to find out the answers.

1 and 2: Using the Panasonic HDC-SD100 for live video
The only way you can get the camera to operate as a webcam with a Macintosh is to have a Firewire connection. When you plug in the USB cable the camera lens closes. So you can't capture live video, and can't use it as a live camera for sites like UStream or Mogulus.

3. Importing AVCHD
I've been able to import into iMovie 08, then export an XML into FCP. That works fine and I've enjoyed seeing hte quality output of HD footage. Melissa Pierson found out that, "AVCHD support is available only on Intel-based Macintosh computers", so you can't use an older Macintosh. I did find a solution online to convert AVCHD footage into HDV 1080i Apple Intermediate Codec format Quicktime movies over here, How to edit AVCHD footage on Mac OSX? Final Cut Pro 6.0.1 and Voltaic to the rescue! I'll be giving FCP another shot at importing the AVCHD footage.

Pros and Cons
Let's look at the pros and cons.

Pros:
I love the size of the camera, the quality of the output, and the directional mic. It was a lot of fun to carry this camera around at CES.

Cons:
I don't like the fact that you have to remove the battery to plug in the USB cord, and that you have to plug in the power to import footage. The microphone jack is in the front of the camera in an awkward location and my microphone jack size is too big to fit into the jack.

No firewire support might be a deal breaker for me.

What's Next?
I'd like to try out a Canon camera with a Firewire port. Those are also AVCHD. I'd also like to try out an HD camera that saves video in native QuickTime. The $179 Kodak Zi6 does that, why can't a higher priced HD camera do it?

Things I Got at CES

Just cleaned out my bag from CES.

Here's what I got: Pig Headphones, Moster Cable Power Strip, USB Pen, Luggage Scale, Magic Jack, Thirsty Plant Light, SanDisk Mobile Ultra 16GB microSDHC Card with reader. Thanks to all the vendors who gave these out.

What did you get at CES?

Veronica Belmont Photo 007

Veronica Belmont Photo 007, originally uploaded by Lan Bui.

I like the title of this photo.

Bellagio

There was supposed to be audio attached to this post that said, "I can see Paris from here. This looks better than the one in France."

My iPhone is messed up right now. So that didn't work.

You'll just have to imagine what the audio report would have sounded like.

Mobile post sent by stevegarfield using Utterli.  Replies.

Steve Garfield Shares Some Video With Panasonic NA Chairman Yoshi Yamada

Steve Garfield Shares Some Video With Panasonic NA Chairman Yoshi Yamada, originally uploaded by gregverdino.

Greg Verdino reports from CES: Panasonic, plasmas and people.

"Mr. Yamada watching one of Steve's videos -- a clip shot with a Panasonic HD camcorder that was yesterday's most watched vdeo on CNN iReport... The human story behind Panasonic runs much deeper than corporate executives talking to content creators in the hope of garnering some good will and positive buzz. Those were key objectives of this initiative, but Panasonic is committed to engaging directly with consumers in a more profound way."

Thanks to Joseph Jaffe and Greg Verdino of Crayon for hosting us as guests of Panasonic at CES.

Late Night With Jimmy Fallon Co-Producer Gavin Purcell: Live and Uncut

Late Night With Jimmy Fallon Co-Producer Gavin Purcell: Live and Uncut, originally uploaded by stevegarfield.

Late Night With Jimmy Fallon Co-Producer Gavin Purcell talks with Steve Garfield at CES about the opportunities to change the way TV shows interact with the people formerly known as the audience.

Watch the video on Blip.tv:
blip.tv/file/1655012/

Note: Thanks for Panasonic for sending me to CES as their guest. This video was shot with thier SD100 HD camera.

Jimmy Fallon talks with Steve Garfield about his new show, Late Night

Jimmy Fallon talks with Steve Garfield about his new show, Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, at CES, originally uploaded by stevegarfield.

Watch on my video blog, or on blip.tv

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

Report from CES09

Mobile post sent by stevegarfield using Utterli.  Replies.  mp3

HD Video Recorder Snorkle Mask with Lights

Taking a look at the Liquid Image Snorkle mask that's also an HD video recorder with lights! It also allows HD playback.

Liquid Image

This video was the most popular on CNN iReport and was featured ON CNN.

Did you see it on TV?

CES 2009 - Jimmy Fallon, David Ortiz, Veronica Belmont and Ponzi Pirillo!

Here's a slideshow from CES 1/08/2009. There are some great highlights in here including behind the scenes shots from my time broadcasting LIVE from Intel booth for techku using Mogulus. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 (Interview with Jeff Cutler).


There are also some great shots of David Ortiz, Veronica Belmont, Ponzi Pirillo, and my good friend Jimmy Fallon.


Jimmy Fallon Behind the Scenes - YouTube Video
Watch this Behind the Scenes video I shot of Jimmy and his team producing Late Night With Jimmy Fallon for 1/08/09.

Disclosure:
I'm at CES as a guest of Panasonic and they gave me the Lumix G1 that these photos were shot with. I'm really enjoying the small size of the camera and the 14mm wide angle lens on it. The camera is very pleasant too. If you need to add a flash, a message comes up and says something like, "Please open the flash." I hope it's not Skynet in there. It's also got face detection, which when you are using it, is very cool.

Sometimes the display is in the wrong mode when I turn it on, it's probably just a user issue. Let me know what you think about the shots. There's a lot more to explore with this camera. I'm going to try to get a lesson on it at the booth today.

Panasonic SD 100 - First Look

Recorded a short clip with the Panasonic SD 100, right out of the box.

Very easy to figure out, not so easy though was trying to figure out where to plug in the USB cable.



You must remove the battery. The USB port is on the back of the battery. Then you have to plug in the power cable and power adapter. This whole process seemed convoluted to me. The USB post needs to be somewhere other thatn BEHIND the battery.

Next up I connected the camera to the USB and took a look at the files. They are AVCHD files. First time I'd seen them.



Do not like. I had no idea what to do with them. I mean, NO IDEA. So I did a Google search adn started seeing all kinds of converters you could buy to convert AVCHD to Quicktime and such. After searching for a while I decided to open up iMovie 08 to see if it could import the files. It did.

Turns out that iMovie actually converts the AVCHD files into something it can edit.

Here's more information from Wikipedia:

"Apple's Final Cut Express 4, Final Cut 6.0.1, and iMovie '08 (Bundled with all new macs) do not support editing of AVCHD clips directly. Imported AVCHD clips are auto-converted into the Apple Intermediate Codec format, (MAC OSX 10.5 or greater and intel mac)."

Would have been nice if iPhoto recognized the camera right away and let me know this. Maybe I did something wrong.

Next, I opened up iMovie 08 and it recognized it and imported it. After cropping the length slightly, I exported at 960 x 540.

Then I posted to a bunch of sites to see how they'd handle the HD video. The embedded video above if from Facebook, which does a very nice job of embedding HD on blogs. I also posted it on my video blog via blip.tv and on YouTube.

I'll be trying it out some more today...

Disclosure:

Panasonic flew me out, and put me up at the Planet Hollywood Hotel. Nice place. I'm in a room with a Tarzan theme. All the rooms have themes. They treated invited bloggers to dinner at PF Changs. I'd never been and thought it was just another chain. Not so.

If you missed my earlier post about them, I'll repeat, I had the most amazing marinated cucumbers I've ever had. I also enjoyed the 14 Trees Merlot. We all had a nice time. Looking forward to the show today.

I plan on seeing that HD Scuba mask, Sarah Austin between 12 and 2 at the Intel booth, and Red Soz player David “Big Papi” Ortiz at the Sharp Electronics, LVCC, Central Hall, Booth #11024 between 2 and 3.

Tonight I'll be at the Panasonic Tweetup. You are invited. Yes. You. It's at the Panasonic CES booth #9405 in the Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center -- and begins after the exhibit hall closes for the evening, 6:30 - 8:00. You need to have a CES pass to get into the convention center.

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.

Very very small iPhone movie projector

Very very small iPhone movie projector, originally uploaded by stevegarfield.

Pico Pocket Projector
http://optomausa.com

VIDEO:
Jeff Cutler interviews Jon Grodem

My Custom 2009 Apple iPhoto Calendar Just Arrived

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.

Boston Media Makers by Jay Groccia

Boston Media Makers by Jay Groccia, originally uploaded by stevegarfield.

Sunday's Boston Media Makers meeting at Doyle's in Jamacia Plain was great. We had lots of new people. Maybe 60 - 70%. Wow.

Click here to see a 360 degree stitched image of this month's Boston Media Makers meeting at Doyle's that Jay Groccia put together

Here's a video on Qik showing how Jay makes the panoramic video from a still camera.

There are New Hampshire and NYC Media Makers meetings this Sunday. Our next Boston Media Makers meeting is Sunday February 1st.

Image © 2008 Granite Communications, Inc. Photographed by Gerald Jay Groccia www.OnSiteStudios.com.

Apple Introduces The MacBook Wheel, A Laptop Without a Keyboard

Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

I'm not sure how this news got out.

via [ laughing squid ]

Boston Media Makers

Boston Media Makers, originally uploaded by stevegarfield.

Boston Media Makers meetings are the first Sunday of every month at 10 AM at Doyle's Cafe in Jamaica Plain, MA

Join us this morning!

Download Speed: 19,329 or 30,499 Which is it?

http://www.speedtest.net/


http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/

The difference in these two speed tests is pretty high - 11,170 kbps.

Can you run the tests and share your results?

30 Favorite Flickr Photos from 2008

30 Favorite Flickr Photos from 2008, originally uploaded by stevegarfield.

Thirty of my favorite flickr photos from 2008.

www.flickr.com/photos/stevegarfield/sets/72157611995189804/

3 Words as Goals for 2009: Change. Story. Funny.

tiny micro adventure - 3rd floor by hokkey, on Flickr CC BY

Chris Brogan asks you to Set Three Words as Goals for 2009:

If you want to try the process, it works something like this: think of how you want to be successful in 2009. Then, try to think in even broader terms. Extrapolate on the broader terms, and find one word to hang the idea on.

Meaning, don’t think as much “I want to lose 50 pounds and get back into my high school pants.” Try thinking “Fitness means I’ll be able to cover more ground.” From there, you can say “ground” might be your word. And then, when you look at that as a word, you see how it can open you up to even more meanings. “Ground” can remind you to get fit so you can cover more ground. It can mean to be “grounded,” like someone who feels calm and at rest.

Look for three words that will help you frame your challenges and opportunities for 2009. Don’t think about where you are this exact moment. If you’re without a job, setting a goal in 09 to get a job might not be very useful. Once you’ve got the job, then what? Instead, you could think about setting the goal of “Alignment,” where you ask yourself, “does this fit with everything else I intend for myself in this year?”

Try setting your three words far out on the horizon, but such that they can lead you to your goals every day. Meaning, can you use the same word to get you started, but have it still be relevant when you’re almost at the big goal?

Here are my three words:

1. Change.

2. Story.

3. Funny.

Great start to 2009.

I'll expand on each in it's own post.

What are yours?

2009's New Buzzword: The Real-Time Web

louisgray.com: 10 Predictions for 2009 In the World of Tech:

1) The Real-Time Web Will Become Critical for News and Information Discovery

Delayed news will no longer be acceptable for early adopters, who will gravitate to the quickest sources of news, wherever they may be. As tools like Twitter Search and FriendFeed real-time offer people to rapidly broadcast their updates, reactions and news with true immediacy, a segment of the population will adopt these real-time sources and favor them ahead of delayed or filtered engines, including RSS, and of course, edited mass media. At the same time, while many of us early adopters may be fairly noisy about this development, we will remain in the significant minority, even as the mainstream becomes more aware of these options.

Louis Gray's Real-Time Friend Feed Stream

Steve Garfield's Real-Time Friend Feed Stream

Robert Scoble's Real-Time Friend Feed Stream