JVC Everio HD editing on a Mac: Pt III

Small update to previous articles:

See:
Editing JVC Everio .TOD files on Mac I
Editing JVC Everio .TOD files on Mac II

I am still seeking a solution to the problem of misbehaving JVC .TOD files on Mac OS X computers. I contacted JVC again since they never got back to me with any answers to my earlier questions and was told something along the lines of "I'm sorry but this has absolutely nothing to do with us".

Of course that's not actually the reply I got but it might as well have been. Their suggestion was to try some of the freeware/shareware software converters floating around the place - you know, the one's made by people who don't work for JVC and who aren't remotely responsible for the problem. I was advised some of these third-party utilities might work.

Alternatively, I was told, contact Apple and see if they'll sort it out! Yes, it might be Apple's fault that JVC used some idiotic proprietary file format without bothering to offer a working conversion utility for Mac.

I continue to look for freeware solutions since JVC apparently don't give a toss about me now they've got my money.

A while ago I downloaded a little utility called iSquint. I tried it last night and it will read and convert the TOD files but it only saves at iPod or TV resolution (standard definition). I don't know if it handles the file-limit glitch any better than iMovie. I believe iSquint is no longer available but an open source variation called PunyVid can be found. I suspect PunyVid won't currently handle TOD files though since its big brother, FilmRedux (below) doesn't.

Visual Hub was another (non-free) suggestion but it too is no longer available. An open source variation called FilmRedux is now in production. I downloaded an early versionbut it doesn't appear to read TOD files yet (latest version requires OS10.5 - not sure if it solves the problem).

Some sites claim that MPEG Streamclip will do the job (The JVC representative also suggested trying it) but it won't open TOD video without Apple's MPEG2 playback component - it will load and convert the audio track however. Yay! I don't know if it will solve the problem even if you buy the Apple component and I'm not about to start spending money on this issue to find out.

Handbrake might work but it's OS 10.5+ only as far as I can tell and I'm still on OS 10.4.11.

Today I discovered what appeared to be the solution - a FREE way to convert TOD to Quicktime-compatible formats. The iSkysoft Video Converter comes in Intel and PPC versions and is a fairly small download. Unfortunately the free version is crippleware that will corrupt the output with a watermark and/or butchered audio. To see if it really works you'll need to pay.

Another promising pay-for solution is Video Pier HD but its demo version only converts ten seconds of video. Naturally this gives no indication of how it handles the Everio TOD problem with large files. I downloaded it but because of the limitation I didn't even bother to try it. If it works as advertised it looks like the perfect, all-round solution because it will supposedly read files directly from the camera - like iMovie used to with Firewire cams. Perhaps JVC should do a BULK licence and send us all a copy.

I had hoped Blender would do the job but it chokes on big TOD files.

So far, ffmpegx is the best I can find but it's a very complex way to solve a seemingly simple problem (ffmpegx and I do not see eye to eye most of the time).

UPDATE: Dec 2010

I've just got my hands on a brand new Mac with iMovie '11. This software is just one month old and includes USB support for camera input. But... the Everio HD30 does not appear in the supported MPEG2 devices list, so it seems JVC (TOD) and Apple are still having trouble playing nice with each other.

This has been a very expensive lesson in terms of both money and nerve. I will be contacting JVC again for an update on their progress on this failure and will report back with any response. Until then, my recommendation to Mac users thinking of investing in a JVC camcorder (not included in the "supported" list) remains the same...

Until a guaranteed solution is found my advice is not to buy a JVC camcorder if you plan to do your editing on a Mac - and don't have access to compatible software, whatever that might be. It is literally depressing - and I use the term "literally" literally, with full knowledge of what it implies.