AVCHD Video to DVD

[glenpinn]

hi everyone, i know this has probably been asked so many times, but i want to seek advice for the following task for a friend, as i dont do these types of conversion myself.

he shoots using a JVC Everio GZ-HM650 camera in 1080 avchd, and he currently uses some program called Aiseesoft Total Video Converter to edit the video and do other things like add audio tracks, transitions etc, but i dont know what resolution or format he is outputting the files to.

then for some reason he is importing that file into Windows Live Movie Maker to output to DVD.

he says the video from the DVD is pretty awful quality, and it plays back jerky and stutters.

i have no idea about these programs, but i suggested to him that i try and find him one program (preferably free) that will do all this for him, and do it right.

i believe that his Aiseesoft Total Video Converter is capable of doing everything he neds, including outputting to DVD, so why he uses windows movie maker i have no idea, and it may be that he is going about this all wrong, and is inputting incorrect settings into the program that results in his current playback problems.

can someone please suggest a tool that can output 1080 avchd to dvd.

cheers

[Baldrick]

Windows movie maker can't output dvd. It's probably windows dvd maker.

No, you wont find any free tool that can do all that, edit, audio tracks, transitions, etc. I would considering getting tmpgenc authoring works.

But Aiseesoft crap Total Video Converter can output dvd-video according to, http://www.aiseesoft.com/total-video-converter.html . But it might just be a vob file and not the complete dvd folder structure.

[glenpinn]

Windows movie maker can't output dvd. It's probably windows dvd maker.

No, you wont find any free tool that can do all that, edit, audio tracks, transitions, etc. I would considering getting tmpgenc authoring works.

But Aiseesoft crap Total Video Converter can output dvd-video according to, http://www.aiseesoft.com/total-video-converter.html . But it might just be a vob file and not the complete dvd folder structure.

yep sorry i just checked and it is windows dvd maker that he uses, and i see now why he may have to do that if Aiseesoft cant author and burn his file to a dvd.

it makes me wonder where all these video programs come from, i never heard of this Aiseesoft program before, certainly not my cup of tea.

i was going to suggest TMPGEnc Video Mastering Works 5, but that only edits and converts files, where TMPGEnc Authoring Works 5 is the one he needs.

cheers.

[glenpinn]

just a heads up on the AVCHD to DVD output process being used here, and he uses 3 programs.

1. he is importing the AVCHD file into that Aiseesoft Total Video Converter program and editing it, then he is outputting it to HD-Avi.
2. importing that file into windows movie maker and doing something else, and outputting it to WMV
3. importing the WMV file into windows dvd maker to output/burn to dvd.

somewhere along the way he tells me he also outputs the HD-Avi file @ 60p, but how or why i am not sure of.

needless to say, it is little wonder his output dvd is pretty crappy.

cheers

[smrpix]

One thing I'll say for Aiseesoft, it sure seems to be bringing a lot of new members here looking for help.

[Baldrick]

2. Maybe try output as dv-avi in windows movie maker. And be sure to use same framerate everywhere.

But one conversion would be much better....

[jman98]

One thing I'll say for Aiseesoft, it sure seems to be bringing a lot of new members here looking for help.

Yeah. There's another thread going where some newbie used it to generate VOB output but he can't produce a playable DVD out of it. It must be showing up in web searches. I did two generic searches in Google and it didn't show up in the first 2 pages of anything I found, but then again I am extremely good at web searches so maybe what I used for my search was too specific and these newbies are using badly worded queries that are finding Aiseesoft. For example, maybe someone is searching for "easy video to DVD converter" where to my way of thinking I would NEVER use "easy" as part of a search criteria because it's completely irrelevant (you could find something that is easy to use but is a POS, for example).

[glenpinn]

absolutely there should only be one conversion from avchd to dvd format, and if his camera shoots 1080/50p then the software he uses to convert the file to dvd format should output the file to an mpeg2 program stream, which has to be 25p (pal) or 30p (ntsc) so the software should automatically alter the framerate during the conversion process.

i use Video ReDo myself, and if i had to convert my 1080/50p avchd files to dvd format (mpeg2 ps) for any reason, i create a custom dvd profile and i select to change the framerate to "standard definition" and i have to set the audio to mpeg layer2 48,000/256 to make it pal dvd compliant, then it can be authored and burnt to dvd disc.

if the avchd to dvd conversion software is any good, i would have thought that it should have built in presets for different output formats, you just select the one you want, and it should complete the task, and if it is dvd format, should produce the mpeg2 ps file, then author it and burn it to dvd.

i was pretty sure TMPGEnc Authoring Works has some sort of dvd output preset to make the job a lot easier, then again it may require some user input.

cheers

BTW i love the new look of the website, nice upgrade from the drab looking old one

[racer-x]

1080 50p is not compliant, but if he resizes to 720 50p, he can use multiavchd (free) to make an avchd disk that should play on a blu-ray player.
Just keep bitrate under 20 mb/s.

[glenpinn]

1080 50p is not compliant, but if he resizes to 720 50p, he can use multiavchd (free) to make an avchd disk that should play on a blu-ray player.
Just keep bitrate under 20 mb/s.

yes i understand 50p is not bluray compliant, but he doesnt want to do bluray or create avchd discs, he just shoots random stuff and just puts it on dvd to give to people, and those people only have dvd players (old school stuff)

remember he is shooting in 1080/50p or 25p but then taking that video and creating a dvd from it, using transitions, adding sound tracks, and then authoring it to dvd.

he currently uses 3 programs, each program he is using for a specific task, but by doing this, he is taking the avchd file to HD-Avi, then to WMV, then to dvd, which has to be an mpeg2 program stream with specific audio for it to be dvd compliant and to burn it to a disc.

i figure windows dvd maker is the one that he is using to convert the WMV file (created using windows movie maker) to mpeg2 and authors it to dvd.

he is going to send me one of his AVCHD files, plus a copy of that file converted to HD-Avi and WMV, and the finished video burnt to dvd, then i can take a look at all 4 outputs and see just what a mess these files really are.

sadly with these AVCHD cameras, the people buying them are shooting full HD video, but because most people still have their old dvd players, these people are converting their files to dvd format, and the process is very daunting unless you know exactly what you are doing, and many people are buying software that they believe will do what they want, only to find that it doesnt, so they then find another program that will complete the task.

that Aiseesoft program says it will output files to VOB format, so i would have thought it would allow you to edit the video, convert it to a compliant mpeg2 ps, then author it, then burn it to dvd, but apparently it doesnt, hence why he thought he needed those other programs, however i still dont understand why he introduced windows movie maker to convert the edited file to WMV ?

next time i email him, or talk on the phone, i will ask him to go over his precise workflow so i can understand it much better, but it seems that TMPGEnc Authoring Works 5 will be the right program, as long as he understands the process involved in converting his 1080 avchd file to standard def dvd format.

[Cornucopia]

For stuff with motion, going from 1080p50 to 480i50 would look smoother than going to 480p25. For lo/no-motion stuff, going to 480p would probably look better.
Conversion would best be done with AVIsynth scripts loading into a good encoder, such as HCEnc. TMPGEnc is not bad at all as an all-in-one alternative, unlike this Aiseesoft.

Rule #1 of Compression: Try to keep the quality as good as possible by minimizing the number of conversion/compression generations!

Scott

[glenpinn]

For stuff with motion, going from 1080p50 to 480i50 would look smoother than going to 480p25. For lo/no-motion stuff, going to 480p would probably look better.
Conversion would best be done with AVIsynth scripts loading into a good encoder, such as HCEnc. TMPGEnc is not bad at all as an all-in-one alternative, unlike this Aiseesoft.

Rule #1 of Compression: Try to keep the quality as good as possible by minimizing the number of conversion/compression generations!

Scott

totally agree with you, which is why i was shocked to find this person using 3 programs and outputting to 3 different formats before it was burnt to dvd.

i cant wait to get the samples from him, my curiosity is really getting the better of me now.

also, i do understand that Avisynth loaded into a good encoder may offer the best option, but this person is a total home video maker and needs a decent program that can do it all in one go, so TMPGEnc should fit the bill at $99.

cheers

[Cornucopia]

Some people change their tune if they saw back-to-back comparisons...

Good luck,

Scott

[glenpinn]

i just tried converting a 1080/50p avchd file from my HD camera to a dvd compliant mpeg2 ps file using the TMPGEnc Mastering Works 5 and it does it beautifully, it outputs to 720x576 pal at 16x9, drops the framerate to 25fps, and outputs to the correct mpeg layer2 audio.

it plays back as smooth as butter, even panning scenes are as smooth as the original.

i will output it to a dvd using Authoring Works 5 and see what its like on my 50" Plasma.