Guide · Recovery
Recover a Panasonic .MDT file that won't open
A flat battery, a pulled card or a camera that lost power leaves a Panasonic .MDT file that nothing will open. The picture and the sound are usually still on the card. Throughline gets them back and writes the result beside the original, never over it.
macOS 14 or later · Apple silicon · every feature runs twice on your own footage
What an .MDT file is
When a Panasonic camera cannot finish a recording, it leaves an .MDT file on the card instead of a clip. Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve and QuickTime will not open it, and many tools report it as empty. That is why it looks like the take is gone. It is not: the footage is on the card, in a form no editor reads.
Do this first
- Stop using the card. Do not record to it again and do not format it.
- Copy the card before you try anything. Work from the copy, and keep the original card untouched until you have the recovered file in hand.
- Keep the .MDT file. Do not rename it or try to re-save it in another app.
What Throughline does with it
Throughline is a Mac app for video work, and recovery is one of its jobs. Point it at the .MDT and it recovers the picture and all four audio channels into a file that plays. The result is written next to the original. Your .MDT is never modified.
What you need
You need the damaged .MDT, and one clip that plays, shot on the same camera in the same mode. Ten seconds is enough. If you shot anything else on that camera that day, in the same recording mode, you probably already have one.
What it cannot do
- The moment the power went is gone. A battery pull always loses the last instant of the recording. You get everything up to that point, not a promise about the final moments.
- It only handles the formats it has recovered. This page is about the Panasonic .MDT. If your file looks different, send a sample clip to [email protected] and we will tell you honestly whether it is supported.
- Nothing without a matching clip. With no playable clip from the same camera in the same mode, there is nothing to recover from.
- Mac only. macOS 14 or later, Apple silicon.
Try it on your own file
The 14-day free trial runs every feature on your own footage, twice, with no card. Exports in the trial cover the first 60 seconds, and video it writes is a 720p proof with an overlay. That is enough to find out whether your file is one it can handle before you decide.
macOS 14 or later · Apple silicon · every feature runs twice on your own footage
Questions
Will Throughline overwrite my .MDT file?
No. The recovered file is written beside the original. The .MDT is left exactly as it was.
Do I need another clip from the same camera?
Yes. You need one clip that plays, shot on the same camera in the same mode. Ten seconds is enough.
Will I get the whole recording back?
You get everything up to the point the camera lost power. The last moment before the power went is lost, so it is not a guarantee of the final seconds.
Does this work on other cameras?
Yes. Throughline is proven on real files from cameras by Panasonic, Sony, Nikon, Fujifilm and DJI, on Canon Cinema EOS, and on two consumer Canon EOS bodies (the 5D Mark IV and 7D), and the list keeps growing; the full list is on the homepage. Phones, action cameras and battery pulls on consumer Canon EOS R-series bodies are not tested yet.