Best setting to convert Canon AVCHD to DVD mpeg2

kraz wrote on 6/3/2009, 12:30 AM
OK .. After so many thoughts about how to work with AVCHD - and if I would buy a new PC and Vegas 9 - or use Gearshift ... or Upshift or even AVS video converter.

I decided I want to do the following
- take ALL on my clips from a particular day (since each time I click the record button it is a new file)
- bring them into either Studio or PRO9
- put them all on the time line in order (do you sometimes bring in a lot of clips and the first and last clips for some reason are out of order?)
-make sure I do NOT have any automatic overlap crossfade
- "Save the clips as a single mpeg2"
- Use those Mpeg files as my basis for doing work - yes I will admit I am not a pro and the extra effort for the extra fidelity is not noticable on what I am doing today
-hold onto my .mts etc files for another day when (I have Blue Ray or other way that the extra quality would matter and I have a PC where I can work with them as easily as I can SD)

Now comes my Question. - I am using the "standard default" format for my Canon HF10 recording. And I assume I want fairly standard NTSC MPEG2 as my result.
- What should be the format of my project?
-What should be the format of my output?
-How should I deal with the fact that my source is 16*9 - just make the result 16*9 (add bars?)

Let me know if you have any other ideas..

-including if I should be using a different default on my camera I don't really understand the different P's and I's and wrappers etc.
- Any reason to think Upshift would be better than Vegas ? (time quality etc.) - does Upshift allow many files to merge into one.

Thanks
Allen

Comments

JohnnyRoy wrote on 6/3/2009, 4:02 AM
> - What should be the format of my project?

Video: HD 1080-60i (1920x1080, 29.970 fps)
Audio: 5.1 Surround

> -What should be the format of my output?

Video: MainConcept MPEG-2 - DVD Architect NTSC Widescreen video stream
Audio: Digital Dolby AC3 - 5.1 Surround

> -How should I deal with the fact that my source is 16*9 - just make the result 16*9 (add bars?)

Absolutely make the result 16:9. 4:3 is dead... may it rest in peace. No bars!!! (you'll thank me later when you own a widescreen TV)

> Let me know if you have any other ideas..

Why not shoot in MPEG2 to begin with since you are obviously not authoring to Blu-ray? My Sony HDR-CX12 shoots AVCHD amd MPEG2 and at 9Mbps the MPEG2 recording is pretty darn good.

> - Any reason to think Upshift would be better than Vegas ? (time quality etc.) - does Upshift allow many files to merge into one.

UpShift is just a file conversion utility to make HDV out of AVCHD because HDV is easier to edit and retains the full quality of AVCHD. It has no capability to merge files.

~jr
kraz wrote on 6/3/2009, 7:40 AM
Thanks on All counts -

Does anyone know if the Canon H10 will capture in MPG@ format - I am pretty sure not.

What is the "correct" format I should be recording in - I am a hobbiest and just want it to work ..

thanks again
reberclark wrote on 6/3/2009, 8:26 AM
I use the Canon HF 100 and use the 30p setting to record. The only catch seems to be - when you bring the mts files into Vegas they are in a 60i wrapper - so you have to re-set the properties to "progressive" from "lower field first." I shot quite a few experiments on all settings and for myself I concluded that 30p FXP mode was what looked and worked best for me under most conditions (still camera, camera in motion, subject in motion, panning slow, panning fast etc.).

My destination is an SD DVD so I convert my mts files to AVI progressive for editing then render the project out as MPEG2. The quality in SD is way superior, in my opinion, to standard SD and it does what I need it to do. Hope that helped!
Terje wrote on 6/3/2009, 8:36 AM
What is the "correct" format I should be recording in

The one that your camera uses. If you are a hobbyist the camera probably doesn't have more than one option.
reberclark wrote on 6/3/2009, 3:19 PM
The HF 10 and the HF 100 are pretty much the same camera. I couldn't find an "H 10" just the HF 10. The HF 10 (like the HF 100)will shoot 60i, 30p and 24p in several modes the highest of which is FXP.
kraz wrote on 6/3/2009, 9:26 PM
yes ..
my bad HF10 - it was a typo ....

OK so you recommend the 30p -
I will give it a try ...
Can anyone give me an idiots explanation of 60i vs 30p
(progressive and interlace I know :) )

Thanks
Allen
reberclark wrote on 6/3/2009, 9:38 PM
Well, as you know the "i" means interlaced and the "p" means progressive. Interlacing (and those more expert than I can correct me here) means that there is a back and forth between two "fields" (upper and lower) that are interlaced to bring the whole picture to view. Progressive eliminates this and for me has less problems with image artifacts and "combing" among other problems. For an excellent book on this and many other Vegas subjects take a look at Douglas Spotted Eagle's "Vegas Pro 8 Editing Workshop." This is a fine text for beginners as well as intermediates and helped me quite a bit when I was starting out in Vegas. "Spot" is on this forum alot and is a very knowledgable and helpful guy, too.
Rory Cooper wrote on 6/3/2009, 9:58 PM
This is only my personal opinion for HD PAL countries 24p

Shoot progressive…work progressive…output progressive

I get footage from guys all the time shooting interlaced. ask them why …and not one can give you an answer except
Everybody shoots interlaced…or it’s for movement…well then stand still when you shoot my buddy.

So you get 50 incorrect or 24 proper
kraz wrote on 6/4/2009, 5:52 AM
If I do the 30p instead of the 60i should I then
set up my project format differently?
(or keep it the 60i format?)
kairosmatt wrote on 6/4/2009, 7:18 AM
If you shoot 30p, edit 30p.

If you are outputting to web formats, render 30p.

If you are outputting to DVD, render with 60i DVDA templates.
owlsroost wrote on 6/4/2009, 9:52 AM
The choice of shooting in 60i or 30p should be based on the subject matter - if it's got a lot of fast motion, shoot in 60i otherwise the motion stutter will be annoying....

IMHO, the de-interlacers in modern TV's (and PC video cards) are getting so good that for fairly static video the resolution loss from de-interlacing 60i to 60p (compared to original 30p) is minimal anyway.

Tony
kraz wrote on 6/5/2009, 6:53 AM
I did as JonnyRoy suggested above .. and realized this gives me 2 streams .. which is fine if I will then burn to DVD - in this case I want to be able to watch and then maybe edit the mpeg ....

I would rather not do the strema but do a regular mpeg - I notice though that:
custom is greyed out in the stream (to add audio)
there is no widescreen option with regular mpeg creation.

also a bit confused hwo both widescreen and non-widescreen are both 740 * 480.

Thanks
Allen
farss wrote on 6/5/2009, 6:59 AM
"also a bit confused hwo both widescreen and non-widescreen are both 740 * 480"

Both 4:3 and 16:9 use the same number of pixels. All that changes is how the pixels are stretched horizontally to fill the screen. This is what Pixel Aspect Ratio refers to. Screen Aspect Ratio on the other hand is what the 16:9 and 4:3 numbers refer to.

Bob.
Hulk wrote on 6/5/2009, 7:25 AM
Here is my suggestion and this is what I'm doing as I have a Canon HF100.

Import all the clips you will need for a specific project into Vegas and do all of the editing you will be doing for that project.

"Save As" the project and include the media in the save as function, also have Vegas trim the clips when that dialog appears. Now you have "packaged" the entire project with only the parts of the clips you actually want.

Archive all such projects on a separate drive. For $90 you can buy a 1TB drive these days and that's a lot of video.

Now if you want DVD you can set the render options of Vegas for DVD's. If at a later date you want to create BD's just use different render options. Plus you have the ability to tweak the editing of the projects.

- Mark
MattAdamson wrote on 6/6/2009, 8:41 AM
Hi Hulk ( Mark )

Which setting do you use in Save As then for the file type and template?

Cheers

Matt
warriorking wrote on 6/6/2009, 8:56 AM
With my projects I do as advised above, Mpeg 2, Widescreen 60i, since my projects have panning during the footage...My recent project included footage from 2 Canon HG10's, and 1 Canon HG21..I still film at max quality on my camcorders...Vegas does a good job keeping the quality very good once its converted to DVD Mpeg 2....
kraz wrote on 6/6/2009, 11:18 AM
any way to get regular mpeg (not split stream) as widescreen?

thanks
Allen
owlsroost wrote on 6/6/2009, 4:20 PM
Just create a custom render template - use the DVD NTSC template as a starting point and change the aspect ratio to 16:9 (on the Video tab) - save it under a new name.

Tony