Experiences in MPEG editing

[RJ Johnston]

Ken,

I guess without the HD plugin you can't import HDV, because with it I imported a .m2t from an HV20.

I haven't tried every feature of DMF6+, but it seems to be a DVD burner/ DVD utilities, and authoring type of app with simple editing.

If you want to create your own menus, you would have to use Corel/InterVideo PhotoImpact X3, which I purchased a while ago for about $49, and then again recently for another location when the price dropped to $29.99 ( I actually got it for $19.99 as an upgrade from the other purchase). In PhotoImpact X3 you select from the menu: Effect > DVD menu > DVD Menu Maker.

http://store1.corel.com/corel/product/i ... rod3430246

[Paul LS]

Since DMF6+ can't use HDV files I used DV-AVI files and ----

.... this is because you dont have the plug-in.

You can modify the menus by changing the backgrounds, but to modify existing ones you need the PhotoImpact X3 as Robert said.

[Ken Jarstad]

Here is a summary of my correspondence with Corel customer support:

Customer (Ken Jarstad) 03/11/2010 01:23 AM

Trial DVD Factory will not accept HDV files. It always returns an error message
"[filename] is not accessible." Converting the files to hi-def MPEG2 program stream files gives the same response from DVD MovieFactory.

This product is being evaluated for authoring HDV source files and burning to an AVCHD disk on conventional DVD media. Should I be able to do this with DVDMF?

Product specs do not specify Windows 7. Is this an orphan product?

Question Reference #100311-000010
Product Level 1: DVD MovieFactory
Product Level 2: Version 6

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Response (Robby) 03/11/2010 10:39 AM

Dear Mr/ Ms Jarstad, (apparently they can't tell if Ken is male or female)

Thank you very much for your e-mail.

DVD Movie Factory 6 trial does not have HD capabilities unless you install the HD pack which is sold separately.

Please do not hesitate to contact us for any further questions.

Kind regards,
Robby
Corel Customer Support

------------------------------------------------------------------

Customer (Ken Jarstad) 03/11/2010 12:08 PM

As noted in my original question:
Quote>This product is being evaluated for authoring HDV source files and burning to an AVCHD disk on conventional DVD media.

Apparently, Corel is not interested in making this capability available for evaluation. The ability to burn high definition video to standard definition DVD media costing one-tenth as much as Blu-ray media is a wonderful development. I am currently testing several other products and the resultant video quality of AVCHD codec implementations varies widely.

Also, you did not address the issue of continued market viability of this product. If I was happy with the video quality of the AVCHD disks produced by DVD MovieFactory I would certainly boast to my friends on muvipix.com which has a worldwide audience.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Response (Robby) 03/17/2010 02:13 PM

Dear Mr Jarstad, (Robby finally has it figured out)

I suggest that you try VideoStudio instead. The product supports HD videos without purchasing additional components. (VideoStudio is the solution!!!! Unbelievable!)

Please do not hesitate to contact us for any further questions.

Kind regards,
Robby
Corel Customer Support

[Ken Jarstad]

How about an older version of Sony Vegas Pro - version 8? Still offered for sale at a more acceptable cost than the current version and I think it would edit hi-def without problems. The only unknown for me is DVD Architect Pro version 4.5 which will burn Blu-ray disks but AVCHD disks?

[Paul LS]

Hi Ken, with DVD Architect Pro 5 you can burn Blu-ray to standard DVDs... so they dont call them AVCHD discs. It is simple Blu-ray written to a standard DVD. You can simply upgrade version 4.5 to 5.0, that is what I did when I bought Vegas Pro 8 and DVD Architect Pro 4.5

[RJ Johnston]

Hi Ken, with DVD Architect Pro 5 you can burn Blu-ray to standard DVDs... so they dont call them AVCHD discs. It is simple Blu-ray written to a standard DVD. You can simply upgrade version 4.5 to 5.0, that is what I did when I bought Vegas Pro 8 and DVD Architect Pro 4.5

According to Wikipedia those are called BD-5, and BD-9 if on DVD DL.

[Ken Jarstad]

Hi guys! Spinning around again. I see that Vegas Studio Platinum 9 is enhanced from version 8 in that it supports burning an auto-run Blu-ray disk from the timeline. What we need is a "studio" version of DVD Architect version 5! From what I can see now, I can edit and save in a hi-def format in the studio version editor but will still need an authoring program. Perhaps DVD MovieFactory 6+ HD Pack?

I cannot see on the Sony website any opportunity to upgrade DVD Architect Studio 4.5 to DVD Architect Pro 5.0 It seems to be bundled just like Adobe does now with their pro authoring app. And buying the version 9 studio package gets me another copy of DVDAS 4.5 with no upgrade to its capability at all.

I saw the article in Wikipedia but also saw this:

Despite the fact that the BD9 format has been adopted as part of the BD-ROM basic format, none of existing Blu-ray player models supports it explicitly. As such, the discs recorded in BD9 and BD5 formats are not guaranteed to play on standard Blu-ray Disc players.

AVCHD and AVCREC also use inexpensive media like DVD discs, but unlike BD9 and BD5 these formats have limited interactivity, codec types, and data rates.

[Ken Jarstad]

I uninstalled my existing copy of Sony Vegas Movie Studio 8, downloaded the current version 9, installed it and put together an 18 minute test video that I have been using for the other editors I'm testing. It took about 90 minutes to crunch and burn to an AVCHD disk. The video looked gorgeous!

I put three named markers on the timeline and my player was able to navigate to each one even though there was no menu. Version eight would not do this. Version nine, under Blu-ray disk burning had several presets for AVCHD of various resolutions. The bitrate was preselected as 15,000 bits per second which seems optimum for high-def on conventional media. Looks like we have a winner here! Next is selecting the authoring package.

[RJ Johnston]

I thought I should let you know, Ken, that Corel released MovieFactory 7 SE, which is only available to users of VideoStudio Pro X3. This is Corel's attempt at redemption for the mess they made with DVD Factory 2010.

MF7-SE has some additional features over MF6+HD, but dropped the HD-DVD disc burning, and has 10 fewer DVD menus. There's also a BD 7.5 GB option in addition to 25 GB and 50 GB disc.

If you had a Blu-ray burner you wouldn't even need to convert the HV20 .m2t files. In VideoStudio you could do your editing and then export using "smart rendering" to the same format as the first clip on the timeline (HD MPEG-2) and then import that into MF7SE to create a Blu-ray disc with the mpeg-2 format without converting.

[Ken Jarstad]

If you had a Blu-ray burner you wouldn't even need to convert the HV20 .m2t files.

Very nice. Should make pristine video. The Blu-ray burner will come, likely about the time of my granddaughter's wedding the end of June. They are available for about $160 usd now. It's the price of the media that is still outrageous. That wedding video will be worth it. But short home videos will be burned on inexpensive media. Even DVD-9 is a quarter the cost of Blu-ray.

[RJ Johnston]

I was looking for those Blu-ray 7.5GB discs (do they really exist?) when I happened to find that you can get Blu-ray 25GB discs by Verbatim for about $2 USD each from NewEgg. Of course you have to make sure you get a Blu-ray burner that can burn on these new discs. You will also need to get a new Blu-ray player that can play them.

http://www.verbatim.com/products/detail ... 4C27793D81

EDIT: Okay, I see that Blu-ray 7.5GB discs are the camcorder mini-discs that go for $20 USD each. Forget that.

[Ken Jarstad]

Interesting development, Robert! I just found an LG Blu-ray drive at NewEgg for $150 usd but that model was not on the Verbatim compatibility list. It looks as though the support comes via a firmware update. Perhaps it is better to wait a while until this capability is more mainstream. Expensive media has been the chief problem for widespread acceptance of consumer Blu-ray burners. If this is the answer to high Blu-ray media costs it will likely be trumpeted from the housetops.

Blu-ray burners and media thus far have avoided the abominable problems of the early DVD burners and media. AFAIC, DVD burning has become reliable only in the last two years and I still use T-Y media as insurance. Burning my 16x media at 16x always results in some rejects so I burn them at 12x or 8x. Let's hope this new lower cost Verbatim Blu-ray media avoids those problems.

[RJ Johnston]

I read that the Sony PS3 will play that LTH media after a firmware update.

[John 'twosheds' McDonald]

I have been using Verbatim BDs with my LG BluRay burner for over two years now without a problem.

[Ken Jarstad]

John, did you follow the link? This is a new formulation for BD media which will drive the manufacturing costs down. The BD drives need to be updated to support it. We can hope it will be more reliable than DVD drives/media.