AVCHD Quality Q's

markymarkNY wrote on 6/12/2008, 7:22 PM
I have the Vegas Pro 8 trial version, and I was able to import mts files from my Canon HF10 directly into the timeline. Previews are a bit choppy but not bad.

I don't have a blu-ray burner. I was planning on getting as much video as possible onto DL DVD's.

What file type should I render the video's in order to playback video quality that is as good as the original 1920x1080 AVCHD? Is this even possible without rendering back to AVCHD using another program like Ulead's Movie Studio?

Does anyone know if Sony plans on adding AVCHD output in an upcoming version?

I've been using Vegas for many years with SD footage and now I have an HD camcorder but I'm bummed that I may not be able to use Vegas for AVCHD output in the near future.

Comments

Terje wrote on 6/12/2008, 7:35 PM
Not quite sure what you are getting at here. Vegas supports AVCHD output just fine.
michaelshive wrote on 6/12/2008, 7:37 PM
What exactly do you mean "output to AVCHD"? Vegas can render to MPEG-4 now either using the Mainconcept encoder or Sony AVC. As far as editing, my understanding is that if you want to edit AVCHD right now doing it natively is very difficult. Everyone has a workaround for it - the main one being transcoding to a more friendly editing format (Cineform in Vegas, Prores in Final Cut, etc.). You could also use Gearshift to edit proxies.
markymarkNY wrote on 6/12/2008, 7:58 PM
well, if I want to render as an AVCHD file, what settings do I use?

Do I go to the Sony AVC and customize it to the 1920 x 1080 frame size? And 17Mbps bitrate, etc?

The output .mp4 can then be burned onto a DL DVD and played back on a Blu-ray player?
Terje wrote on 6/12/2008, 8:04 PM
well, if I want to render as an AVCHD file, what settings do I use?

Use Main Conced AVC/AAC, not the Sony one. Set the output to match what you want, 1920x1080 for example, at a 15M/s bitrate or similar.

The output .mp4 can then be burned onto a DL DVD and played back on a Blu-ray player?

Not if you want menus etc. DVD Architect 5, a free upgrade to current DVDA users, will ship some time this month and it supports menus and all. If you just want the movie, go to the Tools -> Burn Disc -> Blu-Ray disc... I can't remember if that supports DVDs, give it a shot. I have a Blu-Ray burner only so I can't check.

If this doesn't work you have two options, wait for DVD-A 5 (and hope it supports AVCHD disks, I'd be surprised if it didn't) or get Ulead DVD Movie Factory with the HD pack, that supports DVDs for sure.
markymarkNY wrote on 6/12/2008, 8:14 PM
thanks for the help terje...

now when you customize the mp4 settings, I don't see an option for frame rates greater than 24fps, so what if the footage is in 60i?
markymarkNY wrote on 6/12/2008, 8:21 PM
i made a sample mp4. i used ulead movie studio to import the file and make an AVCHD DVD, but it said that the file type is a mismatch.

looks like i'll have to wait for dvd architect 5