Hi Peter

Yes I did try that when my conversion 'failed', but my poor PC just couldn't cope, which I suspected would be the case - hence the hunt for conversion software. By 'try' I mean that I dragged the files straight onto my timeline and they did appear as both audio and video tracks but, as mentioned, my PC just doesn't have enough grunt.

~Wayne

In what way did it fail? Did it give an error message, and if so what was it?

"Before running the converter process, I selected the .avi option from the dropdown menu in the software and set the options to these:

Video: mpeg2, 720x576, 1200kbps, 25fps, 16:9
Audio: mp3, 2 channels, 44100Hz, 128 kbps"

What are you trying to create? If a DVD, the video bit rate should be about 7000 kbps and the audio should be 48,000 Hz sample rate PCM or AC3 (or MPA aka MP2).

Hi Peter

There was no error message generated in the conversion process, nor by Vegas when I placed the unconverted file on the time line. My poor PC just ground to a halt.

Basically I am trying to generate a 16:9 SD file that I can add to the timeline so that I can do a multi-cam edit prior to spitting out an mpeg2 file suitable for a DVD.

~Wayne

"My poor PC just ground to a halt."

Hmmm

I think you know what you have to do if you are going to do much video editing.

Hi Peter.
"I think you know what you have to do if you are going to do much video editing."

That would be the ideal solution but, unfortunately, the current piggy-bank state doesn't allow for that. I was hoping for a somewhat cheaper work-around.

~Wayne

Then you could while away a few wintry days (in Oz) trying out the host of free and not-free converters out there. I have no experience with them doing what you want to do.

You could try E.M. Total Video Converter HD, NCH Prism Video Converter or AVS4You AVS Video Converter not-free video converters, or take your chances with the free ones (you did want that tool-bar and new home page, didn't you?)

Hi Peter

Yep, I have come to exactly the same conclusion! And a 'Google' reveals more than a few options!

~Wayne

" I had hoped to be able to convert the AVCHD files to SD easily and purchased the Aiseesoft MTS Converter software to do this."

The Aiseesoft converters, like its Many near clones, is based on ffmpeg. Many [most?] use ffmpeg Internal codecs, ignoring whatever codecs you've installed, not installing any codecs itself. Their strong suit is AVC/AAC encoding -- for that ffmpeg uses code from x264 which itself is excellent. They get their speed converting from using QT [code - not Quick Time].

" when I drag the .avi file onto the Vegas timeline it only shows an audio track"

Since your video's in an .avi container it's likely Xvid. It'll play in VLC because VLC has it's own internal decoders -- for apps like Vegas you need to see if whatever will play in Windows Media Player -- that'll tell you if the codecs are installed system-wide. You can also search for tweaks/settings to make Xvid work better in Vegas.

That said, encoding loses quality, so you don't want to encode & re-encode & re-encode & so on. In that respect Xvid itself is a poor choice. You might experiment with Xvid or mpg2 output at the desired frame size but with a much higher bandwidth that your final project render --- that'll let you continue to take advantage of the QT code -- but IMHO you'd be better off outputting to a more lossless codec & importing that into Vegas. It'll likely take longer, but you might also want to try AviSynth for the re-size for a bit more quality, & it'll still be faster than resizing in Vegas, Prem, or most NLEs.

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