Interesting! The Platinum Edition box has “HD and Capture and Edit DV and HDV” all over it, not to mention all documentation makes reference to capturing and editing HD. I assumed that HD was Sony’s generic verbiage for High Def (i.e. 1080 format) so I assumed I’d be able to capture, edit and burn 1080 format to a standard DVD. Now, you make a good point that the Pro version highlights its ability to burn “Blu-Ray” from the Time Line. I’m just confused, if my Sony camcorder captures 1080i, which I assume to be HD, and Platinum is able to capture and edit HD, then, I should be able to burn HD DVD’s and play back on Sony Blu Ray player

Yes, you are ready to go, but you need to use these tutorials to make this happen:
http://eugenia.gnomefiles.org/2008/02/23/create-blu-ray-video-in-plain-dvds-for-free/
http://eugenia.gnomefiles.org/2008/02/19/creating-an-hd-disc-in-plain-dvds-for-free/
HD-DVD disks don't play on Blu-Ray, or vice versa, so you will have to try the above methods to have 80% of the work be the same for both formats, but the final burning is different.

Vegas Platinum can't burn such discs.

Hey Longboarder.

Sony makes good on it's claim that it can capture and edit HDV (AVCHD is another issue). Sony did not claim that it can burn HD-DVD (which is not the same as HDV), and they make it clear that BluRay discs can be burned only by the Pro version.

To make a parallel - you can edit MPEG-2 video, but just placing an MPEG-2 file on a blank DVD doesn't make it a standards compliant DVD that would play on a consumer DVD player.

Similarly you can capture and edit HDV with SVMS8 PE, but putting such a file on a DVD doesn't make it an HD-DVD or BluRay compliant disc. That's another piece of the puzzle which needs to be answered as part of your original question, that do you have a start-to-end workflow for producing HD video?

So can you buy DVDA 4.5, not the Studio version that came with Movie Studio 8.0 Plat, but the version that comes with the full Vegas program? I don't see it on the Sony site, although I do see the Studio version as a stand alone purchase.

Or... how about using Nero 8 Ultra to burn Blu_Ray disks after you have prepared them with DVDA Studio? Would that work?

Thanks in advance...

I believe you can save some money on minDV tapes. The HC3 captures fantastic video on standard miniDV tapes. Good online price for Sony Premium MiniDV is a little under $2.50 a tape.

So, Eugenia,

I have a HDTV and a HD camera.
If I upgrade to Vegas Pro, install a $350 blu-ray burner on my computer, buy a $200 blu-ray set top player for my TV, would I be good to go for making/playing my self-made blu-ray disks?

Or is there some little nit that would bring this whole process to a stop or make the results disappointing after spending the time and money?

Thanks,

Dave

Eugenia,

I think I answered my own question by going to the Vegas Pro forum and reading some of the postings there. Looks like big problems wtih Vegas/Architect and blu-ray. Think I'll wait until next year before considering jumping in.

Dave

Good news! (for the board) I am getting ready to give up trying to understand HD. I have tried every resource I could find for months, and I know less now than when I started :/ I would like to truly congratulate everyone here who understands it, and marvel at your knowledge. Way to go! I would like to just finish up by confirming just how much I don't know :O If I had a Canon HV30 and shot in HD, I brought it into VMSP8 and edited it, how would I watch it? Can you burn a Hi Def video on a regular DVD or would you need a special BluRay or HD DVD DVD? Would you then need a special burner for them?Can you watch a Hi Def DVD on a regular DVD player, or do you need a BluRay or HD DVD player or an XBOX, or PS3? What if you have a SD TV, but a High Def video and the correct player? What if you shoot in HD (so I would have it for later, in case God should take pity on me ;) and let me understand this someday), and then convert and burn to SD? Or, would the conversion from HD to SD be a big loss in quality? Should I ever understand this, which apparently I won't :/ I would make a tutorial at about a 3rd grade level for challenged people such as myself, so that they might be able to understand far better, and easier than myself. I see from this, and other boards, that I'm not the only one who doesn't understand all of this (unless it's just the same guy with lots of screen names! LOL Thanks as always to everyone who has helped along the way :) Cin

Cin - I found it's hard to understand sitting on the fence / observing from the outside. Once you actually have some HD capturing gear, things begin to actually make sense as you can play with stuff and experiment. HD is not so bad once you get used to it - it's just the same as SD really, in terms of options, only those options are different. Different codec, different res, and different bandwidth - but still essentially just a mixture of the 3.