Rendering HD files from a Sony TG3 AVCHD camcorder

chrisf wrote on 12/16/2009, 12:36 AM

I've had the TG3 for just over a year now, and have been happily editing and rendering content to DVD using Vegas Pro 8.0c. However, I'm now thinking about re-rendering to HD (720p). Rather than purchasing a Blu-ray burner, I was thinking about rendering the content just to files that can then be played on a PS3 or on PC/Mac.

Can anyone advise me on what the best format would be to use for rendering that can be played on all these devices? I have tried rendering using MainConcept AVC/AAC, creating a custom template of

Frame size: 1280x720
Profile: Main
Frame rate: 25
Field order: None
CBR 16,000,000

Whilst a small 1 minute clip was playable on my Win 7 PC & PS3, a larger 30 minute clip won't play on either device (Windows Media Player errors with a 'the player might not support the codec' error).

Thanks,
Chris

Comments

warriorking wrote on 12/16/2009, 5:00 PM

Since you already have a PS3 why not just edit render and burn your AVCHD footage straight to a regular DVD...Your PS3 will play AVCHD DVD discs without any problems, you have zero quality lose, and you can fit up to 35 minutes on a regualr DVD or a little over an hour on a dual-layer.....no need to buy a Blu-ray burner....

chrisf wrote on 12/17/2009, 12:19 AM

Thanks. I had thought about rendering back to AVCHD, but I was just trying to settle on a file format that's playable on most platforms (am I right in thinking AVCHD files are not playable on OS X?).

I also had a quick play with WMVHD last night - unfortunately it seems the PS3 cannot play the audio track from these files.