Editing AVCHD in Premiere without intermediate codec.

[racer-x]

Here's a tip for all of you that bought an AVCHD Camcorder and want to edit the footage in Premiere without first rendering it to an intermediate codec.

Tools nedded:
Avisynth - Intsall
PremiereAVSplugin - Copy the "IM-Avisynth.prm" in to the Premiere plugins folder. For Premiere Pro 2, thats: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0\Plug-ins\en_US

*You'll also need an AVCHD directshow codec installed. If you don't have one, you can use the latest QTalternative
* You'll also need to install Haali Media Splitter.

1) Create a script like this:
DirectShowSource("myclip.MTS") #use the name of the clip

2) Import the AVS script into Premiere just like any other asset. It will show as Sqare pixels by default. Just Right-click on the AVS script and choose "Interpert Footage" Change to "anamorphic 1440 x 1080".

3) Edit at will.............

I tried it with some downloaded clips from a Panasonic AVCHD Camera. It works fine on my AMD 3800x2. Slight stuttering, but nothing major.............

[nouveaunails]

Hello, Maybe Im misunderstanding your entry. I installed the Avisynth but I cant find the file "IM-Avisynth.prm"

I own a panasonic HD Cam and Id like to edit my content in Premiere CS3.

[Baldrick]

I guess you have found it by now but you download the PremiereAVSplugin from http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=105017&package_id=116722

[gecko672]

Using premiere cs3

Almost have it working I think but have a few problems with this article maybe someone can help.
I followed the above info installed Avisynth installed PremiereAVSplugin and the IM-Avisynth.prm installed Haali media splitter. Only part that didnt make sence and I couldnt find more info on was the AVCHD direct show codec install.
Where can I find this?

It didnt quite work.
I made a script to my shot with AVSedit and imported it. I got an error message:

Avisynth configuration error
old avisynth version please do a fresh install at a recent version of avysynth


I close the error message and the clip comes in black I right click and interpret footage and the only option is HD anomorphic 1080 (1:33)
The clip is still blank although it shows up in premiere. Uneditable.

1st question: When I set the project I have a HD folder but no presets for it. Do I need to set a custom setting for the project. the only presets that I have are the standard NTSC PAL standard stuff. Are there presets out there for the AVCHD projects

2nd Question: What is the error message? did I miss a step or forget a plugin

3rd question: If all goes well one day and this works and I edit some stuff what are the options now for exporting, burning to disc, etc etc.

4th question: my clips are m2ts clips does this change anything?


As you can tell Im a newbie at this but willing to learn.
Thanks in advance for the help.

[tonygil]

tested above method with CS3 and it worked like a charm. About version problem (question number 1 above), reinstall avisynth with newer version (i used aug08) and it disapears.

very good solution for those who dont want to work with vegas and dont want to go thru all the conversion problems (space and time).

tks!

[thepartyguy]

What is the point of the Haali Media Splitter? every time a play a video it opens and there is no way of controlling it.

[jagabo]

DirectShow needs an MTS file reader/splitter to open MTS files. That's what Haali Media Splitter is for.

You should be able to use ffdshow to decode the AVC video data. Or CoreAVC if you want to spend a few dollars.

[Soopafresh]

There's also the option of DGavcdecNV , which (if you have an Nvidia card) will use the GPU on the video card for decoding the AVCHD file. This could work pretty well for the original subject of feeding Avisynth files to Premiere. See this post for specifics:

https://forum.videohelp.com/topic357041.html

CS4 of Premiere is supposed to support AVCHD natively.

[thepartyguy]

maybe its not working because i don't have the AVCHD directshow codec installed. can any one post a link to it?

cheers

[jagabo]

I already gave links to two DirectShow AVC decoders: CoreAVC Pro, ffdshow. You can also use a player with a built in AVC decoder: MPCHC, VLC, KMPlayer, etc.

[thepartyguy]

k, i finally got it working. thanks a lot for your help guys but i have one other question. the quality if the imported video is very shitty and interlaced looking. is there any way i can import the video the same quality as it was filmed? or do i just have to export is in a cretin format to get the best quality?

thanks a million

[jagabo]

I think what you have is exactly what was filmed -- interlaced video. You should shoot in progressive mode (if your camcorder has it) if you don't want interlaced video.

[freecorvette]

For some reason, I can't seem to make the AviSynth import filter in Premiere CS4. Anybody else having the same problem? Thanks.

[wrazoru]

Using premiere cs3

4th question: my clips are m2ts clips does this change anything?

I think my situation is the same as gecko's....I've got m2ts files too & cannot yet see it.

I've followed the instructions from the 1st post. All works fine except the script file only has the audio component & not the video.

As well, the "Interpret Footage" command on the script file is greyed out.

What's missing or is it coz its an m2ts & not an mts file?

Currently, i've got the script file in the same folder as teh media files which is a subfolder of the Premiere files. Does this make a difference?

Alex

[wrazoru]

Well....to some degree this explains my problem....

HDD camcorders don't record in MPEG2. They record in AVCHD (aka MPEG4 part 10 aka H.264).
I think the "m2ts" file extension is throwing you off...
The format of the file is "MPEG2 Terrestrial Stream" (thus M2 T S). This is a capsule, the same way as AVI and MOV are. Inside that capsule are two steams - the Video (H.264) and the Audio (MPEG1-part 2 I think).

So no, you can't directly edit the video stream inside the m2ts file because it's H.264 and H.264 isn't supported in Premiere (if you don't have the Main Concept plugin).

[jagabo]

When using DirectShowSource() AviSynth is asking Windows' DirectShow subsystem to do all the file parsing, stream splitting, and audio/video decompression. If you can open your M2TS (or whatever) file with Windows Media Player then you have everything necessary for DirectShowSource() to work. If WMP will not play the file then you need to find and install the appropriate file reader, file splitter, and/or codecs.

Since you are getting sound but no picture you probably just need a DirectShow decoder for the video. ffdshow includes MPEG 2 and h.264 decoders.

If you can't get DirectShowSource() working you should try DgMpgDec (MPEG 2) or DgAvcDec (h.264). Run DgIndex or DgAvcIndex, and then use Mpeg2Source() or AvcSource() in the Avisynth script.

[wrazoru]

hI Jagabo,

Thanks for the reply. I've actually already downloaded & installed ffdshow along w/ the instructions given.

Is there something specific i have to do w/ ffdshow? With no instructions on configuration of it, i installed it & left the defaults as installed.

The AVIsync script that i used is in a file named *.avs....is this correct?

The contents are: "DirectShowSource("1st night dive.m2ts")"

...without the 1st set of quotes & where the file name is: 1st night dive.m2ts

[jagabo]

I've actually already downloaded & installed ffdshow along w/ the instructions given.

Is there something specific i have to do w/ ffdshow? With no instructions on configuration of it, i installed it & left the defaults as installed.

You should use MediaInfo to determine the exact contents of your video. Assuming it's h.264 video select Start -> All Programs -> ffdshow -> Video Decoder Configuration. In the left pane select Codecs. In the right pane locate H.264/AVC and make sure it is enabled (libavcodec).

I have seen instances where even though the h.264 video plays with WMP AviSynth's DirectShowSource() still doesn't work correctly. This is usually caused by an incompatibility between the file splitter and the h.264 decoder. This is much harder to fix as you have to determine what file splitter and decoders are being used, disable one or both, and locate different ones to use in their place.

The AVIsync script that i used is in a file named *.avs....is this correct?

Yes.

The contents are: "DirectShowSource("1st night dive.m2ts")"

That will work fine as long as the M2TS file is in the same folder as the AVS script. The fact that you are getting something (sound) rather than an error message indicates the script name and file name are correct.

[wrazoru]

Hi Jagabo,

Great news....all is working now.

What you posted was just what i needed i guess. i had to reinstall the same version of AVIsync to get rid of 1 error message & then I could see both my video & audio files. & i can now choose "Interpret Footage" to 1080(1.33)

THe video files run really really slow tho....guess that could be coz of the high pixel data & plus i'm running off a Duo 1.8GHz cpu w/ only 3Gb of RAM.

Less anyone can shed some light on that...

Thanks again Jagabo!!

[jagabo]

What you posted was just what i needed i guess. i had to reinstall the same version of AVIsync to get rid of 1 error message & then I could see both my video & audio files. & i can now choose "Interpret Footage" to 1080(1.33)

THe video files run really really slow tho....guess that could be coz of the high pixel data & plus i'm running off a Duo 1.8GHz cpu w/ only 3Gb of RAM.

If you mean seeking within Premiere is slow, that's to be expected with h.264 and long GOPs. Playback of the AVS script in a media players is likely to be poor too.

[tangosalon]

Hi there!

I'm new using Premiere CS3 and I'm trying to import some AVCHD files, I own a Sony SR-11 camcoder. I followed all your instructios with the avisynth but I get lost when I have to create the script. How do I do that?

Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks!

[jagabo]

I get lost when I have to create the script. How do I do that?

Start Notepad. Type in the script text. Save as... FileName.AVS.

Or:

Start AvsP. Drag your source file to the AvsP window. Add any other script commands you want. Save Script As... FileName.AVS.

If you put the script in the same folder as the source video you don't need to specify the entire path:

DirectShowSource("filename.m2ts")

If the script is in a different folder you have to specify the entire path:

DirectShowSource("c:\path\to\my\videos\filename.m2ts")

AvsP will include the full path so you can put the AVS script created by it anywhere you want.

[tangosalon]

I'm doing my best here, but still I can't make it work, when I try to import the AVS file, Adobe premiere stops working and automatically quits.
Any suggestions?
Thanks for all your help, as I said, I'm a newbie...

[jagabo]

Try opening your script with VirtualDub or one of the better media players (MPC, MPCHC, VLC, KMPlayer -- NOT MWP). Can you see the video? (Media players probably won't play smoothly but you should be able to see the image.)

[tangosalon]

Yes, I can see the image with the VirtualDub, although there is no sound. The audio is not working.
So...what should I do?

[jagabo]

Yes, I can see the image with the VirtualDub, although there is no sound. The audio is not working.
So...what should I do?

Are you using DirectShowSource() to read your AVCHD file? In order for DirectShowSource() to read the file you will need all the appropriate DirectShow filters. You are getting video now which means you have the source splitter and an appropriate video (h.264?) decoder. Now you need an audio decoder. What is the audio? AAC? AC3? Ffdshow includes a AAC and AC3 decoders.

[Louie_Case]

@ racer-x,

thank you!
I have been going crazy on the net searching for this.

[Louie_Case]

Can someone help? I tried the instructions in the first post and is like chineese I can't understand. Nothing is working for me.

Like it says "Copy the "IM-Avisynth.prm" in to the Premiere plugins folder" but where do I get this from?

[jagabo]

Like it says "Copy the "IM-Avisynth.prm" in to the Premiere plugins folder" but where do I get this from?

http://videoeditorskit.sourceforge.net/
Follow the link to the SourceForge page

[Louie_Case]

Thanks jagabo, it's working but it's so red line that I have to render everytime to do anything. It's too sluggish and latent. I will have to go another route. Thanks for all your help.