How to convert .MOD file into anything acceptable by Adobe Premier ?

Petah

Guest

Hello Tony Wood.

I bought the JVC Everio GZ-MG30 and of course Cyberlink Power Director doesn’t recognise the files. I have rung JVC support and received a "Hints on the Everio and Cyberlink Power Director Express for Windows XP". I explained that i have already tried this, but will do it their way and try again, step by step. No Luck.

I wrote back to JVC who passed my email on to a technician. He sent me the same thing "Hints on the Everio and Cyberlink Power Director Express for Windows XP". No I’m getting frustrated and losing interest.

I wrote back again and asked that the technician read my email which explains the problm I’m having and not to presume that i haven’t already tried it their way.

You said you purchased another version of Cyberlink Power Director Express. Shouldn’t the version that comes with the camera be enough without having to fork out more cash. What was the exact program you puchased and where? I’m a little disheartened and concerned about paying for something that may or may not work.

I’ve tried as others suggested and changed the file extension, but i find the video quality isn’t as clear. Does anyone else?


Petah
Aussie girl

Tony Wood

Guest

Hi Petah

The Power Director I’m using is the full version - has a bit more editing features but still will not "Capture" direct from the camera.

I wrote to Cyberlink but just got a reply advising the cameras that will work with their software. When I wrote to ask whether they are thinking of doing a patch I just got the same info back - as you did with JVC.

I sent an email on the 8th to JVC, similar to your comments and referencing this forum, but haven’t got a reply back yet.

I’m glad I read your post, so I’ll be ready for the bull***t when it arrives.

I see Abrill has posted a method of using Premiere Elements to access the files direct from the camera through the USB port, so I am about to try this.

Tony (Perth)

popeye

Guest

these MOD files are too large can anyone tell me how to compress these into mpeg which can be played over household dvd players

wb

Guest

just rename mod to mpg

dan help

Guest

Remember folks, it’s a hard drive in the camera, it is accessable to any computer via the USB cable... there is no capture involved.. no dropped frames. if you have the ac3 copression driver installed, (for sound) just drag and drop the file to your desktop or anywhere you desire and work with it there. Yes you can just change the .mod to .mpg and nero it to a dvd and if your dvd player is iso960 or greater the file will play. tada... if you dont have the ac3 component. just use the software that came with the camera, or cyberdirector 4 (bitorrent) and convert the file to any thing you want. also winavi works excellent as well.. I am confused at all the rukus about this camera, it has got to be the easiest the to hit this market since the usb drive. lotsa luck
Dano - (jv_ eng ers biomed)

John4089

Guest

i have a JVC MG50EK camcorder which creates MOD files how do i use these files in any other program apart from cyberlink i.e magix movies 4 i have tried renaming the file to mpg this does not work as it says the drive is write protected please can you help me John.

Kurt

Guest

hi John
One or people have recently voiced the same problem about not being able to rename MOD files.I found that when one transfers them into a folder in the pc,then one can easily rename each file to mpg.Wether or not the Adobe Premier will accept mpg I don`t know as I am only a beginner myself.
My camera is a JVC MG20E I have to say that,in my opinion,the video quality is no better than HIGH EIGHT from my old Sony
Kurt

Petah

Guest

dan help

There isn’t a problem accesing the hard drive or accesing any of the files, the problem is that none of the software i have so far tried (incl Nero 7 which supports mod files) is not recognising the files and allowing me to either edit or burn directly to a dvd.

I do have the ac3 driver installed, but if you change to mod file to mpeg, i find that sound and pic quality isn’t the same.

JVC still haven’t help solve my problem for me.

Petah...

Tony Wood

Guest

I’m back, a little wiser after spending a full day frigging around with this everio camera, so here are a few observations.

Cyberlink - I got a reply to my emails saying that the GZ-MG30AA (I assume the AA means it’s the Australian distribution) is not supported by Power Director. I sent a reply saying yes, I know this, I told you that in my email to you, but are there any plans to upgrade the software to include this camera. Reply came back saying it’s not supported by their software. So rather than keep getting annoyed I won’t be going back down that avenue.
Incidentally I bought the full version of Power Director (cost me AUD$70). I find it’s quite easy to use but does have a lot of limitations.
Also, when I play the finished DVD in a DVD player there’s a lot of jerkiness whenever there’s a scene change.
This jerkiness didn’t happen when I used the avi file in Nero and used that to burn the DVD.

Incidentally, I also didn’t have any luck simply renaming the files - my version of Nero told me I needed a plug-in or upgrade to Nero 7 if I wanted to listen to the sound.

JVC - I got a reply back from them with a 9 page pdf file attached explaining how to get your movies from camera to software. Their reply is as follows:

"Hi and thank you for e-mailing JVC Australia.

I don’t know if you are aware or not but you can use other programs but
initially you must use Cyberlink Power Director to convert the MOD files to
a AVI file and then you can import them into Adobe and most other programs
as they all should understand AVI files.

With the Cyberlink Power Director Express software provided you can
capture,edit and burn to DVD, refer to pdf below for the easiest way.
Cyberlink also gives you the option of converting the MOD files to a AVI
file by clicking on produce once you have dragged down the clips to the
video time line. Then you select AVI and it will then convert and save the
AVI files in C drive in a folder called My Works. Once the conversion has
been completed then import it to Adobe premier.

(See attached file: Hints on the Everio and Cyberlink Power Director
Express for Windows XP.pdf)

Regards,

Sal
JVC Australia
Ph: 1300 728 225"

I will be sending a reply back asking why JVC didn’t put any thought into the essential aspect of editing the videos - a 9-page very restrictive work-around is not what I expect when buying a mid to high range DVC
Secondly, they are wrong in saying Power Director will "capture" clips from the camera - I think we are all agreed on that!!
Thirdly, why design a camera which records images in raw format when the first thing you have to do is compress it into an mpg file, with the consequent loss of quality.
If anyone wants a copy of the pdf file, email me at refptony@bigpond.com (remove "ref" from the address - I included it here to stop spam).

Finally, Adobe Premiere Elements 2.
I bought a full copy of this for AUD$176 by mail order from Harris Technology - it was $220 in Harvey Norman; this means something to those of you in Australia.
I have PE1 but cannot find an upgrade path in Australia - the US upgrade is equivalent to AU$100.
Anyway, the.mod format imports into PE2 with absolutely no problems whatever, using the "Add Media" button. No file conversions, no saving to disk first (the software finds the camera connected through the USB port).
And of course the software is fantastically superior to Power Director, with no shortage of help, assistance and tutorials through magazine articles and web pages. (None of that with Power Director)
The only downside is that when reviewing clips to include in a project there are no thumbnails available. (I assume that with most digital cameras a thumbnail of the first image in the clip can be seen, similar to browding bmp etc images), so you have to import all the clips before you know which ones you’ll use.

So that’s the path I’m going down now - PE2 - it’s certainly taken a lot of stress out of my life!

(Although it’s not going to stop me keeping on JVC’s case - being the whingeing Pommie bastard that I am).

Now go make a coffee, you’ve earned it if you’ve read through this lot.

Regards

Tony Wood
Perth, Australia

rhett7660

Guest

Wow.... When you say capture, are you talking about having the video camera going and having it in real time playing on your computer? Or are you talking about taking the video files from your camcorder to your hard drive then bringing them into powerdirect?

I have had no problems editing and making videos using the software they provided with the camera. Powerdirector express/Powerproducer/and PowerDVD. I don’t know if this is different then the AA version, but I have had no problem doing this.

I have had no problem converting the file to m2v or avi WITHOUT any loss of quality. Once I installed the a3c filter I was able to edit the video with sound in both adobe premiere pro and after effects.

The directions are pretty straight forward when it comes to bringing in the video from your camcorder and editing them.

Sorry to hear you are having trouble.

R~

Tony Wood

Guest

Hi Rett

The Cyberlink Power Director Software (PD4) of which I have got the full version, has a “capture” button on its opening screen.

When you click on this you go to a “Capture” screen, which allows you, using one of seven buttons, to capture different kinds of media directly from any source connected to the computer which is detected by PD4.

If the source is not detected by PD4 then the button is greyed out.

For instance, if you don’t have a CD in the computer’s CD tray then that button is greyed out, but if you put a CD in then the button lights up and all the controls appear to enable you to select a track and start recording; the recorded clip then appears in the media pane of the Edit window, from where you can drag it to the timeline.

The point is, no matter what you do, PD4 will not recognise your JVC GZ-MG camera, so you can’t review what’s on the camera’s Hard Drive and skip over the clips you don’t need.

The only way to get clips into the media pane is to use the drop-down “Import Media File(s)" button. But when you navigate to the folder the clips are in there is no way of getting a thumbnail view so you have to import heaps of irrelevant clips and then delete (from the pane, not the Hard Drive) the ones you don’t need

This is because when you copy the clips into your computer’s hard drive they appear numbered, and you can’t get a thumbnail view to enable you to get an idea of what’s on the clip - so when you’ve got a few hundred clips it’s a real pain tying to find the one you’re after.

I understand that the thumbnail view is available for cameras downloading other formats.

Also, users of other cameras can actually control their camera from the software - this is denied to us because the geniuses at JVC decided to use USB instead of firewire.

On a final note - using PD4 to convert the clip to .avi format. avi is a compressed format so you’re going to lose some definition - why buy a higher priced camera which records in mpeg2 format, only to lose that higher definition when you want to start editing?

Premiere Elements 2 allows you to edit in the mpeg2 format, although you still can’t “Capture” direct from the camera’s HD.

Now I’m off to learn how to use Premiere Elements 2, but will keep checking back here.

Don’t forget to email me if you want the 9 page workaround sent to me by JVC (my email address is in my previous post).

Best wishes, and see you at Cannes.

Tony Wood
Perth, Australia

rhett7660

Guest

Tony...

I see....... Hmmmm.. Instead of reading it from the camera directly have you tried to bring it to your hard drive and then bring in the video from your hard drive? This way you take the camera/hd out of the equation. You are correct about the AVI.. I have been using mpeg2..... if I want to use another editor, if not I use the .mov file in PD4.

Heck I only got the express version of PD4 not the full version. Maybe that is the differance..lol....

R~

Entree
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Joined: 19 Jan 2006
Posts: 3
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Tony..

Disregard my previous post...........

R~

Kurt

Guest

Hi Tony Wood,
Thanks for letting us know about the outcome of your fruitless endeavours with regards to the Cyberlink&Jvc People.It seems all they are interested in, is selling their cameras and overpriced accessories.However,we all live and learn,next time round we might stay clear of JVC,me for certain!
With regards to importing files from the camera I have found that I can now easily import them into a folder on my HD,then select them according to their number and date and import them into POWER DIRECTOR where they appear as thumbnails.Conversly,I can rename them in my folder into mpg which gives me visual access to the files.Like I mentioned before,I`m only a Rookie,willing to learn.
All the best,having a WHISKEY now to steady my nerves
regards Kurt from Lancashire

Entree
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Joined: 20 Jan 2006
Posts: 2
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Has anyone figured out what information the .moi has? Can I delete these files?

Tried to search google but all I can find is other people asking the same question with no answers.

By the way, I can’t see what all the fuss is about the .mod files. My windows media player (version 9) opens them no problem. I just set up a new file association for .MOD files so I can just double click to view them.

What would be nice though is having some sort of thumbnail view in windows explorer so you can easily sort out the rubbish files.

Steve

Tony Wood

Guest

Yes, Steve, now that I’m on the PE2 learning curve, and settled down a bit with the camera, being able to see thumbnails in Windows Explorer wold make my life complete (I lead a very sad life!).

Please post any results of your efforts.

Tony Wood

Guest 2

Guest

DJ E-Bam

I have Premiere Pro 1.5. It will not recognise my mod files when I import. It says it is a not supported file format.

How do I “associate” .mod files with Premiere 1.5 ? It is not listed under “all supported media”.

KevinZ

Guest

I have the JVC Everio GZ-MG70U and i want to use Pinnacle Liquid 6 to edit my clips. i tried renaming them, but it doesn’t work. Pinnacle says: Cannot import. Format or compression is not supported. In MV2Player the video codec comes up as YUY2. That’s just raw...so what the camera does really, is capture raw video format on its microdrive. Now, my question is, how the heck do i get the Pinnacle to recognize the codecs? (I have installed Indeo 5.11 which is supposed to decode the YUY2 movies). JVC gives us the Cyberlink PowerDirector NE to work with, but its features are very poor. I don’t want to convert my MOD files because i need the same quality. I have tried several convertors which take the MOD as a MPEG2 video... but they lower the quality too much. thanks

KevinZ

Guest

Damn, i really hate JVC now. I was so happy about being able to record 7 hours without changing tapes, thus without loosing any precious seconds, but now i realize that every conversion means quality loss. What the hell is going on? Why do you have to loose the quality of the video if you convert the MOD files? JVC better come up with some tool, or i’ll ask my refund right away. Better go back to miniDVs than lay around with useless MOD files.

KevinZ

Guest

Guys, check this out. For the people out there that need a good, free of quality loss convertion of the MOD files:

First step: Rename your files to .MPEG (change extension of the files)

Second step: Get a copy of Roxio Media Creator Suite version 8. One dirty way to do it is by torrenting:
http://www.torrentspy.com/torrent/518186/Roxio_Easy_Media_Creator_8_Suite_2CD_Images_With_Keygen

In order to download that torrent, use uTorrent - http://www.utorrent.com/.

After installing the Roxio, open Video editor, Add Photo/Video, load your renamed MPEG clip, Clicl File, then Output As..., (you don’t have to save your project unless you need to), and finally select the “DV Camera” button in the Destination. There you go! You get a nicely done AVI file which you can later use in any of your favourite Video Editor. I use Pinnacle.

Sorry i freaked out for nothing earlier. ) I know my solution can be considered theft but it’s one way to do your stuff. Other is to buy it. I am planning to buy Roxio. It’s under $100. Alright, have fun guys!