Converting mpeg2 to wmv

[Matthew Max]

Steve, I put a small clip in the gallery, but now it won't let me see it till it's approved, and so I don't know how to link to it. But it is named "AVCHD to WMV".

My camcorder is a Sony XR550V and I shot the footage in the HQ mode. I thought I did. The files are .mts. I'm sorry I may have given wrong information on this earlier.

The manual says:

Movies are recorded with AVCHD 1920 
1080/60i format when the FX or FH mode
of the high definition image quality (HD) is
selected. And when the HQ or LP mode of the
high definition image quality (HD) is selected,
movies are recorded with AVCHD 1440 
1080/60i format. Movies are recorded with
MPEG-2 format when the standard image
quality (STD) is selected.
You can select the following high definition
image quality (HD) recording mode. “24M”
of [HD FX] is the maximum bit-rate, and the
value other than of [HD FX], such as “17M,” is
an average bit-rate.
[HD FX] (AVC HD 24M (FX))
[HD FH] (AVC HD 17M (FH))
[HD HQ] (AVC HD 9M (HQ)) (the default
setting)
[HD LP] (AVC HD 5M (LP))
The recording mode of the standard image
quality (STD) is limited to the following value.
“9M” is an average bit-rate.
[STD HQ] (STD 9M (HQ))
“M,” such as in “24M,” means “Mbps.”

My project settings are:

NTSC-AVCHD
HD1080i
29.97 fps
48000Hz
1440 1080
HD Anamorphic 1080

Gracias for looking at this. I can't wait to hear the solution or diagnosis.

[Chuck Engels]

Here it is Matthew
[wmvvideo1]http://muvipix.com/cpg/albums/userpics/19083/birthday_clip_muvipix.wmv[/wmvvideo1]

You uploaded to the shared album and not your own. If you would have created your own album it would not have needed approval.

Here is the direct link to the gallery page
http://muvipix.com/cpg/displayimage.php?pos=-3699

[Matthew Max]

Hey, thanks for helping me "put it all together", Chuck!

Also, I should've said that ALMOST everything I make is wmv to be delivered over the internet. However, now that you guys have guided me through the steps to making good Blu Ray and such, my wife now just wants those. I only make about five videos a year for her. The hundreds of videos that I make are for students.

[Ron]

[OT]

I'm no expert, but I would suggest shying away from wmv and looking into H.264/MP4. I believe, it not only gives you more bang (compression) for the buck (quality), it's also designed for hi-def video in general and can be delivered to the web as well as your PC and media players. I think the quality is far superior.

Just my 2 cents!

[/OT]

[Steve Grisetti]

Good call, Ron!

In my experience, Premiere Elements doesn't do the cleanest job of creating WMVs anyway. (The best workaround is to use MovieMaker or a Microsoft's free encoder -- but I don't want to take Max another direction at this point.)

But an MOV output using the H.264 codec should produce excellent results! Especially with that camcorder, which clearly has some great clarity and color reproduction!

[Matthew Max]

There's a little bit of jargon going on here. Can someone point me in the right direction to get thing going?

[Steve Grisetti]

Again, Max. If you're clear on what you're trying to accomplish, we can send you in the right direction.

Is your ultimate plan to post your video to YouTube? If so, we can make recommendations that will get you the best results.

But, if you're planning to post to your own personal web site, we'd likely make other recommendations.

As I've said, you really have to start at the end to get to the beginning with this stuff. Where and how exactly do you plan to deliver this video to your audience? Once we figure that out, we'll be able to tell you the best format and workflow for doing it.

[Matthew Max]

Okay, good.

1. I deliver all my stuff to schools in the form of downloads.

2. I deliver it to homes in the form of online viewing. So schools download, and homes view online in our own system.

3. Samples on our website are viewed via YouTube. Otherwise, we do not use YouTube.

And everything should be good enough for full-screen viewing.
The screen-recorded lessons are great in wmv. They don't need any extra help, unless there's something I don't know about.

[Steve Grisetti]

Well, that may be the problem there -- trying to find a single solution for all those delivery formats!

Okay, here's my recommendation:
1) Edit your video in AVCHD.
2)Use Share/Computer/AVI with the NTSC DV preset to create a DV-AVI of your video.
3) Download the free Expression Encoder from Microsoft.
http://www.microsoft.com/expression/pro ... rview.aspx
4) Use File/Import to open the AVI in Expression Encoder.
5) Go to the Presets panel on the Encoder. Set Encoding Quality to Balanced. Set Encoding for Silverlight to VC-1/Constant Bitrate/512 DSL CBR (although it might be worth trying VC-1Broadband CBR, just to see if it streams fast enough for you).
6) Click the Encode button in the bottom left of the Encoder's interface.

Sorry it's such a complicated solution, Max -- but a one-size-fits-all solution tends to be pretty complicated.

Though it's not as hard to do as you'd think, and the results are well worth the little extra effort!

[Matthew Max]

Steve, thanks for this. It doesn't look complicated to me, but the 512 bit rate looks too low for full screen. But doubling the bit rate wouldn't really have anything to do with your recommendation, would it?

Homes don't mind the higher bit rate. They can let it load up and enjoy a good full screen view. So it doesn't matter to me that the video is delivered in two ways. Homes see EXACTLY what schools see.

Also, the expression encoder limits you to 10 minutes. So I was going to ask what encoder I should use going forward and which version or whatever I should buy.

[Steve Grisetti]

Sorry, Max. That's all I've got.

If someone else knows more about encoding media, please feel free to chime in.

Otherwise, you may just have to experiment and see what works best for you. But you've definitely got all the tools to get the job done right!

[Matthew Max]

I don't wanna brag, but when I actually listen and do what I'm told, things turn out great.

1. I exported AVHCD to DV AVI

2. I played the DV AVI just to see how it turned out. It was jittery. I thought it was bad.

3. Later I ran the DV AVI through the Windows Movie Maker as I was first told to do, and it TURNED OUT A PERFECT WMV!!!!!!

I am sooooo happy. Who do I kiss? Who do I kiss?

max

[Steve Grisetti]

Uh, a simple handshake will do, Max.

Glad you're up and running again!

[Chuck Engels]

I tried for hours today to get Premiere Elements to produce a WMV file that was deinterlaced, not possible.
At least I could not find a way to produce a deinterlaced WMV with Premeire Elements 9.

I did the standard export of an AVI file from Premiere Elements and then imported into Windows Movie Maker.
Exported a 640 x 480 WMV that was perfect except I needed the file to be 480 x 320 to match my other videos on the web page.
Then I remembered Super. Super did a super job and created a very nice deinterlaced wmv at 480 x 320

These are for my Aunt's TV appearances in the 60's and 70's
http://carpentersville.chuckengels.com/ ... urtis.html