AVCHD and the Apple Final Cut Fiasco
While the AVCHD format is still pretty new, I was disappointed to learn that the version of Final Cut Express HD (3.5) that I purchased in August would not support this new codec. Then I learn that the new version of Final Cut Express 4 supports AVCHD, but actually has less features than v3.5 So this would lead one to believe that it costs $99 to “upgrade but downgrade?!” With this realization (and after researching about and drooling over Final Cut Pro Studio 2), I was all set to purchase the full-feature bundle when I found out that my initial full price investment in Final Cut Express HD would not be applied towards my $1,300 Final Cut Pro Studio 2 purchase. Needless to say, I purchased the $99 upgrade but downgrade so that I could use my new camera. That, unfortunately, would not be the end of the story….
Upon using Final Cut Express 4 for the first time to import video from my new Canon HG10, the software would crash at about the 20% mark. After a few hours of troubleshooting, I uncovered the fact that there’s a legacy Quicktime component called Perian that was causing the crash. Once that component was deleted, everything worked fine.