need to save AVCHD into another format using DNxHD

dmehling wrote on 12/21/2010, 5:46 PM
I'm trying to edit some videos from my camcorder which are in the AVCHD format. I'm wanting to save it with the Avid DNxHD codec. I have installed the Avid codec, but now I'm not sure what to do now. How do I save into that format? When I try to render it and select the format I want to use, I don't see any listed that appear to be based on the Avid codec. What kind of file extension what I need to choose?

Comments

musicvid10 wrote on 12/21/2010, 5:48 PM
Avid saves to the MOV wrapper.
You'll find the choices under the Custom render tab.
dmehling wrote on 12/22/2010, 4:08 PM
Thanks for your help in explaining that. However, things did not quite go as expected when I saved into the mov format. My original three-minute video went from a little more than 200 MB to a whopping 50 GB. I thought the purpose of the Avid codec was to provide a smaller file that was easier to work with then AVCHD. Am I doing something wrong?
musicvid10 wrote on 12/22/2010, 6:23 PM
Something's wrong with your math.

3 minutes for 50 GB would give 2275 Mbs, which is physically impossible given your setup (that would be in the 2K 4:4:4 range).

If you mean you got a 5 GB file, and you have rendered to DNxHD 220 Mbs, that would be about right . . .

But you should be rendering to something more appropriate to your source, like DNxHd 8-bit 145Mbs. That would give you a little over 1GB per minute of video.

I thought the purpose of the Avid codec was to provide a smaller file that was easier to work with then AVCHD.

Smaller file? No. A file without interframe compression, yes. That means larger. Your other figures (if accurate) indicate you shot your footage at 9Mbs.
An intermediate codec, of which DNxHD is one, serves two purposes; to give you something a little easier to work with on the timeline, and as a visually lossless reference from which to render, avoiding the use of a low resolution proxy file.

Lots of good tutorials out there on the internet.
;?)