Hi,

I'm having persistent issues with AVCHD (H.264, C100 footage) files in MC 2021.5.0

• Attempting to load the linked clips into source monitor instantlly CRASHES AVID
• Attempting to transcode the linked clips to any resolution instantly CRASHES AVID
• Attempting to import the AVCHD file(s) instantly CRASHES AVID
• Attempting a workaround suggested in the forums of unlinking, deselcted audio tracks and relinking CRASHES AVID

This is happening on a number of machines in a higher education intitution. All of the machines are i7 8-Core Intel iMacs running MacOS 11.6.1 (Big Sur). There seems to be no ryhme or reason to which machines have the issue with AVCD files and which don't. It also makes no difference if you're linking to footage on a external HD or the Mac HD.

Avid is linking to the footage using the AVCHD MSP plugin.  Tests were done on all of the machines a few months ago when MC and machines were given a clean install, with no issues. Any ideas, or input from Avid types greatly appreciated. The issue is becoming a real pain.

Nicholas Ogden:

Avid is linking to the footage using the AVCHD MSP plugin.  Tests were done on all of the machines a few months ago when MC and machines were given a clean install, with no issues. Any ideas, or input from Avid types greatly appreciated. The issue is becoming a real pain.

Hello, 

Could anything have possibly changed since you factory re-set the machines? I'm trying to understand why it was working perfectly some time ago, and all of the sudden it's not working now.

What's the raster size of the AVCHD clips that you're trying to link to? 

Thanks Philip,

The thing is, the machines were all given a clean install of the OS and MC 2021.5.0 and THEN the tests were done. Yielding no errors / crashes. The machines have been used a fair bit since then but only recently seem to be producing this error. As far as I know nothing substantial on the machines has changed.

The AVCHD clips are boring old 1920 x 1080 progressive.

 

Nicholas Ogden:

Thanks Philip,

The thing is, the machines were all given a clean install of the OS and MC 2021.5.0 and THEN the tests were done. Yielding no errors / crashes. The machines have been used a fair bit since then but only recently seem to be producing this error. As far as I know nothing substantial on the machines has changed.

The AVCHD clips are boring old 1920 x 1080 progressive.

 

That's odd, So once upon a time this worked and then this issue just "developed".

Does this only happen when linking AVCHD clips from the C100 camera system? You could try shooting AVCHD on another camera and try to ingest that? 

I found this info:

Some manufacturers use non-standard variable GOPs for AVCHD. These are not supported by Media Composer. With older versions of the AVCHD plugin this would cause MC to crash. The newer version v1.2 has been updated to inform the user that these files are not supported in the console and thus avoiding the crash. 

Nicholas Ogden:

Thanks Philip,

The thing is, the machines were all given a clean install of the OS and MC 2021.5.0 and THEN the tests were done. Yielding no errors / crashes. The machines have been used a fair bit since then but only recently seem to be producing this error. As far as I know nothing substantial on the machines has changed.

The AVCHD clips are boring old 1920 x 1080 progressive.

 

That's odd, So once upon a time this worked and then this issue just "developed".

Does this only happen when linking AVCHD clips from the C100 camera system? You could try shooting AVCHD on another camera and try to ingest that? 

I found this info:

Some manufacturers use non-standard variable GOPs for AVCHD. These are not supported by Media Composer. With older versions of the AVCHD plugin this would cause MC to crash. The newer version v1.2 has been updated to inform the user that these files are not supported in the console and thus avoiding the crash. 

Thanks Phillip,

I tested some AVCHD footage from different source. Essentially it just seems to be a bit of a crap-shoot what combination of machine and AVCHD file will crash Avid. Not much consistency. The AVCHD plugin being used is AVCHD MSP 1.5.11 so I'll assume that isn't what is causing the crash.

An Avid support rep made the good point that the OS we're using (Big Sur 11.X) isn't supported by MC 2021.5 which may be causing the issue. Darn.

Any other suggestions that don't involve updating the OS and/or Media Composer on 150+ machines with a creaky IT department very much appreciated.

Nicholas Ogden:

An Avid support rep made the good point that the OS we're using (Big Sur 11.X) isn't supported by MC 2021.5 which may be causing the issue. Darn.

I mean, you can expect all sorts of problems with an unsupported operating system. I'd seriously look into upgrading your OS  on one machine at least to see if that's really the issue. 

I've never seen a facility with more than 150 machines running an unsupported OS! You really should have done some more research.