AVCHD DVD Troubles (also posted in Pro section)

David Laine wrote on 7/6/2009, 5:52 AM
Hi everyone

A short while ago, I treated myself to a Canon HG10 AVCHD Camcorder. I got it to take films of the birth of my cat's first litter. The pictures really are fantastic, but - how to put them to disc ?

The Canon came with some software, but it's not much good though, so i looked around for something better. I thought I'd found it - Sony Vegas 9, platinum pro

So easy to edit with, but will it make an AVCHD - no chance

So I tried Vegas Pro 9 - no chance. The architect software that came with platinum doesn't do high def, but the demo of architect pro says it does AVCHD, which is what I want

There's an instruction in the Sony 'How To' section on this site that says burn it as a BluRay, but onto a DVD. What comes out plays in my computer, but not in my BluRay stand alone player (Panasonic BD 35)

I've seen in other forums that the BD35 doesn't really like AVCHDs, so it looked like I was out of luck, but then, just to make sure I tried the demos of the latest versions of editing programmes from Pinnacle, Corel and Magix and surprise, surprise, they can all make an AVCHD that my BD35 can play

So, it looks like it's the Sony software that's not quite right

All the other programmes let you choose from DVD, BluRay or AVCHD, not so Sony, only DVD or BluRay. There is a template for AVCHD but that only appears in the multi-media CD burn option

I have found a way to make it work, make the disc in Sony as a BluRay, then take it into TSMuxer, (this freeware allows you to chose AVCHD as an output) then burn those files as a DVD using UDF2.5. I used imageburn and - Voila !! I got a AVCHD that plays in my BD35

Not what I expext though from a piece of software that's cost me £70, and certainly not what I'd expect from pro software costing over £500, new

Some of you may wonder what TXMuxer does. well, it doesn't re-code anything, all it does is change the index plus 2 other files on the BluRay disc to contain the number 100, rather than the 200 that the Sony makes

You can see this in a hex editor.

And, Yes, I did try making BluRay in the other editing programmes. Surprise, surprise, those files contain 200

When I made AVCHDs with them, the index files etc contained 100

I've already raised this matter with Sony Technical, but I'd be interested to hear what other users make of the problem

Dave

Comments

Ivan Lietaert wrote on 7/6/2009, 9:35 AM
You should be able to burn the timeline to a Blu-ray disc directly in VMS. You will not have a menu, but at least you should be able to play the disc.
David Laine wrote on 7/6/2009, 9:46 AM
Hi

Yes I can burn from the time line but the disk will not play in my BD 35 but if it is re muxed in tsMuxer and i sellect AVCHD option in it and make a new disc then it will then play in my BD 35

The sony software does not have a AVCHD option just bluray

Other much less expensive software does have a AVCHD or Bluray option
Ivan Lietaert wrote on 7/6/2009, 10:22 AM
I agree with you: though Sony pushed the high def BD standard, their own software completely missed the BD authoring train. Incomprehensible, really.
David Laine wrote on 7/6/2009, 10:30 AM
I wonder if there will be an upgrade to solve the AVCHD problem anytime soon

To be honest if Sony would get it right I would right away upgrade to pro 9

Dave
M_Matt wrote on 7/7/2009, 4:59 AM
All my videos are for my own viewing pleasure, and since as you aptly demonstrated the ability to create and play Blu Ray media is not as far along as say, DVD technology, I use the Western Digitial HD Media Player for all my viewing needs. I don't foresee myself ever buying a blank Blu Ray disk nor a Blu Ray player, unless they come bundled with something else.
gogiants wrote on 7/7/2009, 2:57 PM
Ditto here on the "WD TV" from Western Digital. Absolutely no reason to mess with Blu Ray thanks to that product. Not to mention, not all that many people have Blu Ray players, so you don't get much in terms of universal playability with Blu Ray.

Like M_Matt, most of my editing is for stuff in my own house. But, in a few recent cases, I've shown things at friend's houses, and the WD TV is so small and plug and play thanks to HDMI, it was very easy to take it along.