"If I could generate ONE mpeg file that INCLUDED the AC3 already muxed, then I doubt I would be having this problem with MF6.... but I don't see how this can be done."

Oh, that can be done - but not with Vegas. I rendered an mpeg2 HD stream, and an AC3 5.1 stream - and muxed that with womble. Maybe that is of help for you.

4eyes:
I use a PS3 (has a Blu-Ray Player) & 2 computers ( 1-HDTV & 1-HDTV Monitor, both are Sony HDTV's).
The AVCHD Disks are played on the PS3."
The BDMV disks are played from the computers via HDMI/DVI connections to the HDTV's."

Are the AVCHD and BDMV discs you mention burned using regular dvds (single or DL) but now burned from the Vegas timeline? And then played using either the PS3 or CPU ?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I don't know, we are either the pioneers of this digital age or the puppets......."

Sure makes me feel like a moron at times instead !
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Using Vista makes reading these disks easy, they are using the UDF 2.6 format and XP doesn't easily read them. So Vista makes reading them back and copying the videos back to harddisk very simple. Along with this one also needs a fast computer to process avchd video. In 2 years I'll bet the Q6600 quad will sell for $80.00 US Dollars."

I have a fairly new Vista laptop (dual core, 2GB Ram) that seems really slow compared to my desktop, a challenge to like very much with all the Vista snags, but I am glad to hear it does something better with some formats....gives me some hope before I'm completely tempted to quit Vista and install XP......!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I just burnt an AVCHD DL disk (Memorex), burnt it to the max. Plays perfect in the PS3."

If you were about to purchase something today to play your AVCHD discs would you still chose the PS3 or a STB Blu-Ray player? I am not a gamer so it would be strictly for playing back BD dvds.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
" I already have a problem archiving my HD-Mpeg2 to DVD's. Simply to many of them to catalog & keep track of. Either HD-DVD or Blu-Ray Burners is the solution, because of the difference in the formats (previous post) my choice is Blu-Ray."

Would you be/ are you... willing to pay the current prices for blank HD DVD/BD discs?
It would be a real expense to have a bad burn! So I'm curious if there is a price point that needs to happen before you would consider purchasing the BD burner and blank media.... as it seems right now a collection of hard drives for archiving is the only reasonably priced way to go until those prices drop.. or am I missing something here?
Looks like we are all paddling in new waters here!

Thanks very much for your input,
eileen

Are the AVCHD and BDMV discs you mention burned using regular dvds (single or DL) but now burned from the Vegas timeline? And then played using either the PS3 or CPU ?Regular Dvd's, single or DL burned both in Vegas and MovieFactory 6+.

If you were about to purchase something today to play your AVCHD discs would you still chose the PS3 or a STB Blu-Ray player? I am not a gamer so it would be strictly for playing back BD dvds.Without a doubt a PS3. Besides playing video my PS3 has all the card & usb slots, I put my SD cards from the digial cameras (including microdrives), copy them to the harddisk, displaying them in HighDef, copying them back to other media, print and rename. You can also do this via a server (wireless or hardwired). The PS3 is the best High Def multi-media device on the market.
If you live in my house a PS3 is a mandatory requirement.....SSsss, not so loud, she's right outside the door
Would you be/ are you... willing to pay the current prices for blank HD DVD/BD discs? It would be a real expense to have a bad burn! So I'm curious if there is a price point that needs to happen before you would consider purchasing the BD burner and blank media No, not current prices, same as everyone else, waiting for prices to drop to about $200 for a burner. I'd buy BD-Re (rewriteables) to test burning first. Then after I'm confident burn BD-R's with the master videos & backups. Now that I think about the price of all this DVD's look pretty good!!!
Probably going to take 2 years before we consider this economically feasible, either HD-DVD or Blu-Ray.

Wolfgang S.,"If I could generate ONE mpeg file that INCLUDED the AC3 already muxed, then I doubt I would be having this problem with MF6.... but I don't see how this can be done."This is what I said about the difference in Formats between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. This is possible in Vegas if you follow this example and create an ISO file, either burn a dvd+rw or open the ISO file container (iso_buster), then use the video from the STREAMS folder in MF6+. It will be your HDV video with Dolby Audio multi-plexed in a TS (m2ts) Container, re-useable. If you load this 00000.m2ts file into MF6+ it will not be re-encoded.

The reason I post this is to give you a template so Vegas doesn't re-encode your HDV video, otherwise the default templates & bit-rates will cause a re-encode in Vegas, so first make this customized HDV template.
How to make a Blu-Ray Disc with Mpeg2 & Dolby Audio without re-encoding a compliant HDV 1440x1080i source video, no video quality loss
First under “Options -> Preferences” make sure “Enable no re-compress long gop rendering” is checked ON.

Create a new template to be used in the “Tools -> Burn Blu-Ray Disc” Process.
File -> Render_As
"Save as type " = MainConcept MPEG-2(*.mpg, *.m2v,*.mpv)
"Template" = Default Template -> Custom
"System Tab" = "Save as separate elementary streams" = Checked ON
"Audio Tab" = "Include audio stream" = Checked OFF
"Video Tab" = "Output Type" = HDV (Click OK when prompted to change settings)
Double Check the audio & system tabs are set as per above.
Name the template "HDV No-Recompress 1440x1080" (close enough to remember) and save this template with this new name (or your name).
Exit back to the timeline.

Use this template in the Burn Blu-Ray Disc Screen.
"Tools -> Burn Disk -> Blu-Ray Disc
Video Format = MainConcept MPEG-2(*.mpg, *.m2v, *.m2t, *.mpa)
Video template = "HDV No-Recompress 1440x1080" (the custom template you made above)
For the audio format you to export Dolby 5.1 you must have your Project Settings set to 5.1 audio.
Select your audio, assign a directory to build the ISO image file.
When you click on OK to start the process during encoding the video your preview screen will display "No Recompression Required" IF your source video is compliant.
Problem with doing this on dvd is:
20 Minutes for Single layer dvd, 40 minutes for Dual-layer dvds
Either burn a dvd+rw or mount the ISO file & grab the video from the ISO file (The video is located under the "BDMV -> STREAMS Folder, 00000.m2ts"). Mounting the ISO file is tricky but not impossible. Use this video in your authoring program, it will not be re-encoded.

Burning a DVD-R is actually a good thing, reason being:
#1 Your video is archived HD-Mpeg2 w/Dolby Audio.
#2 You can re-use this video again in Vegas, simply load it back into the timeline.
#3 Your video is ready for Blu-Ray when HD-DVD ............................

Sure, that is a possible way that utilizes both the smart render capabilities of Vegas. It is new for me that this works also for the Print-to-Disk function.

One drawback is that you have to generate an iso, to be able to extract the m2ts container, as start file for MF6. That could be easier. Iso_buster is a cheep tool, but not freeware, as far as I have seen.

Blink3times says:
"If I could generate ONE mpeg file that INCLUDED the AC3 already muxed, then I doubt I would be having this problem with MF6.... but I don't see how this can be done."

Wolfgang says:
Oh, that can be done - but not with Vegas. I rendered an mpeg2 HD stream, and an AC3 5.1 stream - and muxed that with womble. Maybe that is of help for you.
==============================================================

Thanks Wolfgang.
I may give that a try when I get some time but it's no big deal. Pinnacle studio will mux and smartrender at the same time so I already have a reasonable workflow. Pinnacle's downfall however is that it can not IMPORT ac3. So you have to import the individual WAV files and construct the AC3 through Pinnacle.

I was merely looking for a way to do the complete audio in Vegas because Vegas gives more flexibility in creating DD5.1 sound than Pinnacle does.

Either you use the suggestion of 4eyes, or my idea with womble. I think both works fine and would allow you to perform the audio editing in Vegas.

4eyes:
Thanks so much for writing us all a simple recipe for making the Blu-Ray discs. I can't wait to give it a try!

"Either burn a dvd+rw or mount the ISO file & grab the video from the ISO file (The video is located under the "BDMV -> STREAMS Folder, 00000.m2ts"). Mounting the ISO file is tricky but not impossible. Use this video in your authoring program, it will not be re-encoded"

Just for clarification, what does it mean to "mount the ISO file" ?

And are you using Vegas, Nero 8, MF6, or something else to actually burn the disc?


Thanks again for all your help with understanding this, writing down the steps involved, settings, etc. Much appreciated !

Eileen

teaktart, Just for clarification, what does it mean to "mount the ISO file" ? An ISO image file contains all the information (files & folders) on the cd/dvd including the format of the cd/dvd.

When you mount an ISO file you can view & access the contents within the ISO file without having to burn the actual disk. The program Isobuster can do this, costs about $30 dollars.