how to burn avchd on dvd-r in high definition for BR set top playback?

[masterpug]

i know would only store about 15min high definition on dvd-r, but interested in doing this..is it possible?

[Baldrick]

You "just" author a blu-ray(see our tools list) and then burn the folder on a dvdr media. But I don't think the current blu-ray players will support it.

[masterpug]

Thanks, but any idea where I might research which, if any, BR players support
BR content on dvd-r?

[racer-x]

Might want to read this. It's right up your alley:
http://www.elurauser.com/articles/avchd_to_bluray.jsp

[ticos2000]

Yes indeed you can do that straight forward just burn the MTS files (be sure you change the extension file as MPEG) using nero or whatever burner software you have (just change to UDF 2.5) and youll be able to play DVD disc with HD content on a bluray player. I have sony bdp-s1 and the files play flawlessly. If you need menus and authoring you will need DVDit pro.

The mts files are the ones cameras as sony HD produce. I have tried that several times and it works perfect

best regards

[RickA]

Greets,

You sure can. Some guys on another forum and jdobbs author of the great program DVD-RB are discussing that here http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=135335 . It starts out as wanting to put several SD DVD's onto a blu-ray disc. Then morphs into putting blu-ray HD content onto a SD DVD in blu-ray format to play back on a blu-ray player. A very interesting idea.

Cheers,
Rick

[jman98]

i know would only store about 15min high definition on dvd-r, but interested in doing this..is it possible?

This is NOT correct. The amount of time stored on DVD+/-R depends on the bit rate. With a bit rate roughly around 11500 Kbps, I can store 45 minutes of 1080i video on DVD+/-R in HD DVD format and play it on my Toshiba HD DVD player. If you use a bit rate of say 30000 Kbps for your video, way overkill in my opinion, then yes, you would be limited to about 15 minutes per disc.

[jehill]

The Picture Motion Browser (PMB) software that comes with the Sony HDR-SR12 includes a "AVCHD Creation" featue that does exactly what you want. See the thread https://forum.videohelp.com/topic350515.html for more information.

[pentode]

Have been playing with this myself, problem 1 is that you cant have sustained high data rates from dvd-r discs ( not on my samsung 1400).
I created a blu-ray file set from an mkv 720p file which was just over 4gig. the ts plays flawless on a pc but the disc stutters on the 1400.
Other mkv files with lower data rates, 1gig for 40 mins tv episode play fine.
Problem 2 was that the audio track from uk based tv rips would not show up in tsmuxer, i had to demux with mkvextract and re-encode with ffmpeg to ac3 before tsmuxer would see it.
problem 3 no menus (yet) thats my next task. theres plenty of guides on vcdhelp have fun..

[kinglerch]

Is there any easier way to do this (BR material on a DVDR) since this thread was started? I have some BR-compatible MPEGs I made using TMPGEnc, but I need a way to author them to a DVDR. No fancy menu or anything, just the 3 short MPEGs.

I tried using Ulead Videostudio, and it created BR folders with the three MPEGs, chapters, etc...but it won't burn it to my DVDR. Can I just follow the instructions above and burn the folders as data to a DVDR? There's no Nero template for BR, or another more foolproof method?

[jman98]

tsmuxer can create BluRay output and it's free. No menus, but it can do what you ask. There are no 100% guarantees that this will work with whatever your player is, but it has a good chance. Note that media quality may also play a role and if you use cheap, crap discs that you might have playback problems. I'd strongly advise using Taiyo Yuden or Verbatim for the best chance of success.

[kinglerch]

Ok, now I have the BD folder structure. I just burn this as a data DVD, or is there some Nero template to use? Also, which programs will recognize this disc? WinDVD?

[jman98]

You HAVE to burn as a data disc with UDF 2.50 format. Nothing else will work for you to be able to play the disc.

I strongly discourage you from using Nero and recommend that you use the free ImgBurn to burn the disc. You can set UDF 2.50 easily in ImgBurn.

Software BluRay players may or may not recognize discs that you burn. Recent version of WinDVD or PowerDVD should theoretically recognize them, but I have no way of testing this as I only have old versions of those programs that don't support BluRay playback.

[jehill]

I routinely copy AVCHD files directly from my HDR-SR12 HandyCam to a BD-RE disc for backup. I can then view the files using CyberLink PowerDVD 8 Ultra without a hitch!

[kinglerch]

I used ImgBurn to 'build' the DVD-R with the BDMV and Certificate folders in UDF 2.50 (not 2.60, which is also available) format. But I can't tell if it worked because when I put the DVD-R in either of the drives, the computer doesn't recognize it. The DVD-R appears blank or something.

Is this normal, or is there something else I must configure to allow the computer to recognize this DVD-R?

[t0nee1]

As jman98 stated,
"Software BluRay players may or may not recognize discs that you burn."

Stick that sucker in a set top BR player,which is your goal right?, and BTW, the title of this thread...?
I use a PS3 and most of the time, it works great for me.....

[kinglerch]

Yes, the goal is to use it in a BR player. But it would be unfortunate if no computers could view or copy the DVD-Rs...or maybe there is a way.

[t0nee1]

Well since jehill says he "can then view the files using CyberLink PowerDVD 8 Ultra without a hitch! try it...
Also if you have the BDMV and Certificate folders on your HDD,then you'll have access to the stream>.m2ts file, which you can use for playing or converting to other formats if you wish...

[kinglerch]

But he is saving AVCHD files to a BD-RE disc. The topic is saving BD files to a DVD-R. I get the feeling the BD files on the DVD-R is for BD players only, and that the source files would be needed for the computer.

[t0nee1]

Yes you're right, my bad!.......And yes the BD files on DVD-R will/should play with a Bluray player...As mentioned above, I play them with my PS3......

[minidv2dvd]

I used ImgBurn to 'build' the DVD-R with the BDMV and Certificate folders in UDF 2.50 (not 2.60, which is also available) format. But I can't tell if it worked because when I put the DVD-R in either of the drives, the computer doesn't recognize it. The DVD-R appears blank or something.

Is this normal, or is there something else I must configure to allow the computer to recognize this DVD-R?

windows doesn't come with a udf 2.5 file system driver. it's a format you'd have to add. a search will lead you to the toshiba drivers.

[jehill]

I'd like to clarify the following:

1) The "AVCHD Creation" feature that I mentioned creates the BDMV file structure on a blank DVD-RW or DVD-R disc (that's all that I can write with my BR drive) that may be read on any Sony BR player. The disk is UDF 2.01 formated (not UDF 2.50).

2) The BDMV file structure consists of a BDMV folder containing BACKUP, CLIPINF, PLAYLIST and STREAM folders. The BACKUP folder isn't required for playback.

3) When I say that I am copying AVCHD files from my camera to a BD-RE disc, I mean that I am copying any new or updated files in the CLIPINF, PLAYLIST and STREAM folders to the disc. I used Windows Vista Ultimate to UDF 2.50 format (the only format available) my BD-RE discs before use. The BDMV folder on my BD-RE discs is contained in an AVCHD folder only because this is the way it is on the camera. I am pretty sure that it was unnecessary to include the AVCHD folder when I initially copied files, but its there.

4) CyberLink Power DVD 8 Ultimate reads either type disc. A special AVCHD film screen containing "Play" and "Resume" buttons appears to let you know that you are viewing AVCHD film clips.

[amerphy]

I spent considerable amount of time researching this, this thread seems to have touched up on many of the same things I discovered. I thought I'd share my personal experience.

I tried creating the disk with compliant BD file structure, but no matter what I did it did not play in PS3 (but was recognized by my mac)

This is what I tried:
1. Burn a reference disk with the software that came with my sony HDR-CX7 camcorder. This is the only disk that plays back on PS3. (unfortunately sony does not give you any software for mac at this time)
2. Put the disk into a computer and copy all the files to HD

From this point I tried a few different paths

3.1 create a burn folder and burn the files straight up - disk is recognized by PS3 as AVCHD disk but does not play.
3.2 create an udf iso using mkisofs -udf then burn the iso to disk with disk utility - same result, disk recognized but does not play. In both cases PS3 reports some numeric error code.

At this point I am pretty sure that unless the disk is in this coveted udf 2.5 format (which mkisofs does not create yet) it will not play on the PS3.

There are a few methods to make this work that I found. One is using the software that came with the camcorder (windows, no go for me) another is using a free program ImgBurn which supports udf 2.5 (again windows only)
The only options left are commercial tools like Toast9 or Nero.

Anybody can suggest how to create a udf 2.5 iso on linux?

[LIGHTNING UK!]

ImgBurn works fine on linux if you run it via 'wine'.

[jman98]

amerphy - I work as a Unix System Administrator and I am no fan of Microsoft, but the fact is that Windows is what I run at home because the programs I need to use work only in Windows. Lightning UK! is the author of ImgBurn, so you can either run it via Wine as he says or install something like VMware (they have a free server now) and run it in a Windows virtual machine. The most hardcore, anti-Microsoft, pro-Apple (not Linux, I know) guy I know admitted to me that he runs a Windows virtual machine on his Mac Pro at home because you just can't do everything under Apple. It's the same for Linux, so there's no shame in using Wine or a virtual machine.

Yes, you are right that BD format MUST absolutely be in UDF 2.5 format, so mkisofs is useless to you if it can't create that.

[amerphy]

Thank you, I'll check out ImgBurn with wine.

I am currently looking at a new utility in leopard called newfs_udf, If I can make it do what I need I'll post results.

I am hoping the situation around udf 2.5 support on mac and linux improves. Many people are complaining that DVDs they burn on Vista do no read/play on linux or mac. With so many new macs out there and more and more normal users (non-hackers) running linux it is just a matter of time.

[jehill]

I'd like to clarify the following:

1) The "AVCHD Creation" feature that I mentioned creates the BDMV file structure on a blank DVD-RW or DVD-R disc (that's all that I can write with my BR drive) that may be read on any Sony BR player. The disk is UDF 2.01 formated (not UDF 2.50).

Didn't you read this? I am telling you that a DVD created using the "AVCHD Creation" feature is in the UDF 2.01 format, not UDF 2.50. UDF 2.50 is only required for BD-R and BD-RE discs.

[amerphy]

I did read jehill's excellent post and tested it, unfortunately udf 2.01 DVD-R disk I created originally did NOT play in my PS3 which, coincidentally, is the most popular BluRay player out there. It may play in other BD players including BD computer drivers but I have not tested that.

After spending some time on this I was able to successfully create a and burn a udf 2.5 disk image on my mac using only the tools that came with it. After I did that the disk did play in PS3. I must have wasted a whole spindle of DVDs in the process I am wrapping the method I into a bash script which unfortunately only works on a 10.5 mac os x, if somebody finds a way to replicate it on linux we should be set. I will post links when done.

for those that care here is the sequence:

1. convert memory card file structure to DB format (http://www.elurauser.com/articles/avchd_to_bluray.jsp), hopefully you have less then 4.6 gb so it fits on a DVD with udf file system overhead. (i highly recommend getting a bunch of 4gb memory cards instead of larger ones - they are dirt cheap and fit perfectly on a DVD later)

2. create a large file (size must a multiple of 2048 but I would make it a multiple of 1024*1024 to be safe), it does not matter what is inside the file since it will be overwritten. dd utility is useful for this.
4. run

newfs_udf -r 2.5 myfile.img -v volume_label

(this is going to create a udf 2.5 file system in the file)
5. mount the file, for example:

hdiutil mount -nobrowse myfile.img

, this is going to mount by default in /Volumes/volume_label
6. copy your BD compatible file structure to the image using any method you like
7. unmount the image:

hdiutil unmount /Volume/volume_label

8. burn it to disk in disk utility, I did it at 8x and had no problems.

The disk should be readable in the mac, win vista and should play in PS3. As an added bonus for mac users, iMovie or FCP/FCE will be able to use this disk as a "camera" and act as a perfect and cheap backup for the unedited footage. That's what I call gold standard !

Few last notes, It is possible to simply copy AVCHD files from the card without any changes to a reguar DATA dvdr and PS3 will read and play them. However it will not automatically concatenate streams and each clip will need to be started and stopped from the folder-based menu. I record in short clips so I had to do this often enough to be seriously put off. Second problem, until PS3 finishes reading information about each of the clips the playback will stutter. If you wait long enough for the PS3 to display all of the clips in the home screen before playing them the clips will play without stutter.
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[jg0001]

I have the Sony SR7 camcorder (1440x1080i,5.1,AVCHD) and have used the "Picture Motion Browser" software that came with it as indicated by the other user and the DVD discs I've created have played just fine on my PS3 -- and I first did this nearly a year ago and on a first gen PS3. I'm a little surprised you (above) could not get it to work. Have you updated your PS3's firmware? Perhaps try another brand of blank?

[bdmv2]

There is a script that wraps this up nicely posted at:
http://saas-ppm.blogspot.com/2008/11/playing-avcdh-content-on-blu-ray.html

It worked for me on an AVCHD camcorder and Blu-ray player using DVDs