Canon HF10: AVCHD editing under Win2k, SD conversion

[artm]

Well, I'm purchasing a Canon HF10 for its future non-obsolescence and could use some help with basic questions:

1. editing: My editing needs will be basic. I'll be mostly shooting sports so simple cutting and audio mixing is good for now. I'm still running Win2k for its stability but it appears there is little out there that can do AVCHD on this OS. Perhaps an older version of Vegas?

2. conversion: Initially I will not require HD viewing. I would also like to upload to the web movies watchable by most so SD is fine. Can I convert from the 1920x1080/60i/30P to any format with reasonable quality? Any recommended formats for web and non-web use?

Also, if AVCHD editing isn't possible in Win2k can I simply convert to another format that is more universally editable? Any software recommendations or tradeoffs going this route?

[Baldrick]

I doubt that older versions of vegas has any avchd support.

You could use something like VoltaicHD(if it support win2k then) and convert to avi and edit in most editors like wmm.

[Soopafresh]

Vegas 8 can handle AVCHD natively, if the camera is a Sony. Otherwise, you have to convert to an intermediate format for editing.

[markm75]

I have the Canon HF10...

I have tried Vegas 8.0b, Pinnacle 12..

So far i've found that Vegas 8.0b can handle the mts files (or m2ts if you have renamed them)..

It DOESNT have a Sony AVC output option for the full 1920x1080. Only 1440x1080. It does have the mainconcept ability, but i had found that codec to be inferior and pixelated. You can also do the "render as" to mp4, this seems to work, but when you try to import this into DVDArchitect, architect complains and says it will have to recode the whole thing (again) as its not mpeg2 compliant for some reason.

I think its possible to use a tool like VideoDubMod to edit the mts files and not have to recode, but i havent figured out how yet.

In pinnacle, as mentioned, the AVCHD codec with AVCHD image type, results in a format of 1440x1080.. while the AVCHD codec with AVC BD type image, results in the full 1920x1080, but unless i had a setting wrong, the result was a little more pixelated than the original.
**Update here, double checked that first avchd image with pinnacle, it is 1920x1080 but i swear it still has more pixelation in the one scene than the original. The bd type with mpeg2 looked better.

I then tried the Bluray type again on the first menu, with MPEG2 on the image type.. this resulted in nearly identical quality to the original. I still saw very minor pixelation in the one scene compared to the original, but not much.. the downside is that the file size for avc was 160, for the mpeg2 it was 260.

When editing and rendering, i've found the avg time on a quad core 2.4ghz for a 1 min clip to re-render is about 8 minutes maybe 10 depending.

If you just import m2ts files into DVDarchitect and even have a menu, it will NOT require a recode which is nice.

Has anyone played with Vegas more to find a "render as" option which is the full 1920x1080 in AVC type somehow and wont cause dvd architect to re-render?

I'm also trying the other BD format codec in Pinnacle and will see if this helps.. (update: same pixelation here as well)


Just tried Nero Vision 8.0.. it took 3 minutes to do the original m2ts file (didnt try editing it in here yet) on the quad core..

I first tried AVCHD, but the bit rate only went to 14mbps.. i played the resultant file and noticed the same pixelation in the one scene..

Then i tried BDisc type, custom set it to 17mbps.. the resultant file was 192mb, vs 160 for avchd, but i thought it looked really close to the original in quality.

I'm guessing i wouldnt want to choose the "use progressive encoding" option in pinnacle, as the original canon mts file is 29.970 fps? (60i?) I know i had it set to 60i, but the file says 29.970, so i'm a bit confused on this part.. What would the file have said if it were set to 30p (30fps?), using mediainfo...



Cheers