Skilled in making AVCHD (mini-bluray) disks?

[dizzie]

Hey,

Would anybody be willing to download a 4.3 GB h.264/ AC3 mp4 or mkv file from my home server and then create an AVCHD image that I can download from your server? I want to burn it to disk so it will play like an authored bluray disk in most bluray players.

I've made several coasters trying to author an avchd disk using verious applications and command line tools. I have a mac and an LG BD390 Bluray player. I'm trying to avoid shelling out $90 for Toast and the Bluray plugin.

Fyi, it is an HD recording of a church service from TV. I can't guarantee that the h.264 and AC3 streams are AVCHD compliant, so if your software checks the streams and can re-transcode if necessary, it would be best. If you require a few bucks for your time, I could consider it; just let me know.

Thanks for considering!

P.S. If it is of interest, I started with a Mpeg2/ AC3 stream from the cable box, converted to mp4 with Handbrake, transferred to mkv container with mkvtoolnix so it could be read by tsmuxer, which created the AVCHD folders, and then created a UDF2.5 with newfs_udf. The LG BD390 saw it as a Bluray disk, but then gave a disk error/ check disk message and ejected it each time.

[poisondeathray]

if you used handbrake, and didn't alter any settings, it's definitely not compliant

use multiavchd to re-encode your original mpeg2 video and author , another option is avchdcoder, but multiavchd has more options for menus

[dizzie]

if you used handbrake, and didn't alter any settings, it's definitely not compliant

use multiavchd to re-encode and author , another option is avchdcoder, but multiavchd has more options for menus

I would - I've seen multiavchd before, but I'm on a mac with no windows. I used the high profile setting on Handbrake which does h.264 with a couple of optimizations like lookahead.

Thanks, though!

[poisondeathray]

you need very specific settings for blu-ray compliance , and they vary according to destination format (e.g. a 1920x1080p23.976 would use different values than a 1920x1080i60 disc)

strict blu-ray and avchd compliance imposes many restrictions on GOP size, b-frames, slices, buffer values , and many other parameters. Here is a reference chart for some of the parameters
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=154533

avchd on dvd5/9 media has additional restrictions, because of rotation and transfer speeds are much lower than blu-ray

I can help you with some of the settings if you give more details on the source format and destination format, but I'm not willing to download/upload 8-9 GB. (e.g. Use mediainfo on the source, and list what kind of blu-ray disc you plan on making)

tsmuxer actually overwrites buffer values, and doesn't make 100% compliant muxed streams (it may play in some players, but not in others). So if this is for home use, you might not care, but if it's for professional use for example, you should care.

Unfortunately Mac users don't have access to a lot of excellent applications/programs. Hopefully someone on a Mac can suggest some other better options

[dizzie]

you need very specific settings for blu-ray compliance , and they vary according to destination format (e.g. a 1920x1080p23.976 would use different values than a 1920x1080i60 disc)

strict blu-ray and avchd compliance imposes many restrictions on GOP size, b-frames, slices, buffer values , and many other parameters. Here is a reference chart for some of the parameters
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=154533

avchd on dvd5/9 media has additional restrictions, because of rotation and transfer speeds are much lower than blu-ray

I can help you with some of the settings if you give more details on the source format and destination format, but I'm not willing to download/upload 8-9 GB. (e.g. Use mediainfo on the source, and list what kind of blu-ray disc you plan on making)

tsmuxer actually overwrites buffer values, and doesn't make 100% compliant muxed streams (it may play in some players, but not in others). So if this is for home use, you might not care, but if it's for professional use for example, you should care.

Unfortunately Mac users don't have access to a lot of excellent applications/programs. Hopefully someone on a Mac can suggest some other better options

Very interesting! I wish the grid had the AVCHD disk spec as well. Here are screenshots of the details on the original ts file and the mkv I transcoded to. My intended use is to make a disk that will play in my friend's Sony BD player, and hopefully my LG BD390 as well.

Again, thanks!

[poisondeathray]

transport streams have much more overhead (like 7-8%) ,so you will often overshoot if you don't calculate bitrate correctly

there is a mac version of avchd calculator to find the bitrate
http://tools.twanwintjes.nl/index.php?page=avchdcalc

it looks like you are using 720p60 . Since you are using <15Mb/s you don't need 4 slices, and can use Level 4.0. You would have to translate these values into the handbrake gui - I don't use handbrake).

there are many optional settings you can use (like changing motion estimation , deblocking strength etc...), but the key things you NEED to add or change in addition to the bitrate
--bitrate xxx
--profile high
--level 4.0
--keyint 60 (you can use up to 120, or "2 sec GOP" since you are <15Mb/s which will help compression)
--ref 4 (you can use up to 6, which will help compression)
--min-keyint 1
--vbv-bufsize 15000
--vbv-maxrate 15000
--b-pyramid none (you can use b-pyramid strict instead, but none is safer)
--b-frames 3
--aud
--nal-hrd vbr
--sar 1:1
--weightp 0 (this isn't strictly necessary, but some players have incompatible decoder chips, and I would recommend it)


You may have to use a nightly build for handbrake, I'm not sure if the current release has the patches required for blu-ray compliance.

Beware some players require slightly modified folder structure when authoring, and some can be "finicky" with certain firmware versions, and I already mentioned potential issues if you are using tsmuxer, and not other authoring applications.

[yoda313]

You might be better off trying to get a copy of xp off ebay or something. Than do boot camp to get into it assuming you have a mactel. If you can get xp for less than the software you are trying to avoid using you'll be ahead of the game. Than you'll be able to use all of the excellent freeware and shareware windows software that's out there for hd video.

[dizzie]

@poisondeathray - Wow... thanks - great info. You must be a professional! I may tinker with some of this.

@Yoda313 - Point well taken. I may explore this. Ugh, I hate to bow to Windoze...

To anyone else - I'd still be tremendously appreciative if anyone were willing to do this as a favor, assuming it would not be a lot of trouble. Sorry to mooch and beg...

Thanks!

[yoda313]

@Yoda313 - Point well taken. I may explore this. Ugh, I hate to bow to Windoze...

Well in everything in life there is always a lessor of two evils. Easy/free video apps or pay through the nose? You're choice.

[dizzie]

Btw, here is the Info on my actual AVCHD stream (m2ts) created by TSmuxer.

[poisondeathray]

For example, your last screenshot shows a way too large gop size 60-600 , and no vbv buffer values. Hardware players require this buffer to prevent stuttering and smooth playback. Large out of spec GOP sizes can cause stuttering, black screen, or issues with FFD/RWD

As mentioned earlier, one problem with tsmuxer is that it overwrites HRD values, so even if you have a compliant stream , it can MAKE them not compliant. Some streams may work, some may not, it will vary because if the values it writes "fit" with that particular stream - you might get lucky. Note, the majority of hardware players can play out of spec streams, but it might be something you don't want to risk. For example, the PS3 could probably play your stream there