Which format to record? AVCHD or MP4?

[vid83]

Just got a camcorder and was wondering which format I should record.

1.) AVCHD, 24 Mbps, PF30 (30fps video recorded at 60i)

Or

2.) MP4 24 Mbps, 30p?

The camcorder also does 60p (AVCHD at 28 Mbps and MP4 at 35 Mbps) but I'm not a fan of 60p videos.

[Brad]

On what basis do you expect us to make this decision for you? What is your intended use for the recordings?

[vid83]

On what basis do you expect us to make this decision for you? What is your intended use for the recordings?

I want the best possible quality. I guess for archiving. Some of the video could end up on YouTube, DVD, etc. but I want to record the best quality because you can always downsize it later for YouTube.

[_Al_]

Avchd is a sub category for mpeg4 specs, same stuff, did you compare videos with mediainfo if there is other differences?

That avchd recorded in interlace wrapper might cause some problems while editing or during exporting progressive 30p out of Vegas, editor will interpret it as interlace and treat it the same way. Do you want to set project as 30p progressive and export 30p progressive? Then go with true 30p. Or load avchd into your project and change properties for your clips to 30p from 60i.

Not sure what your videoeditor you use and how Premiere or other editors treat such clips, dvd can be progressive 30p, I use to do it, no problems, but videoeditors might not allow export 30p for DVD. What do you use?

[vid83]

I use Sony Movie Studio Platinum 12 (it's Sony Vegas but they'v dropped "Vegas" from the name in version 12).

[Brad]

I would say if you are going to be doing editing there is no reason to shoot directly to the AVCHD container since you can export it to that once you have your final product. But I am wondering how metadata is handled with MP4. Is the date/time stored in a subtitle?

[vid83]

But I am wondering how metadata is handled with MP4. Is the date/time stored in a subtitle?

I know what metadata is but what do you mean by date/time stamp in the subtitle?

[Brad]

For AVCHD (at least with my camcorder) the date/time of the recording is stored using a subtitle embedded into the MTS.

[yoda313]

But I am wondering how metadata is handled with MP4. Is the date/time stored in a subtitle?

I know what metadata is but what do you mean by date/time stamp in the subtitle?

Check the glossary:

https://www.videohelp.com/glossary?T#Time%20Code

Vaporeon800 provided detail for a camcorder.

[TreeTops]

For VID83..Your computer OS specs listed will not run Vegas Movie Studio 12. It requires at least Vista or Win7. (Microsoft® Windows Vista® 32-bit or 64-bit SP2, Windows® 7 32-bit or 64-bit, or Windows® 8 32-bit or 64-bit operating system). Vegas Movie Studio also requires specific video cards to work properly. Be sure you look at the requirements of that software before attempting to edit AVCHD on your computer listed.

[budwzr]

Of course you should always shoot at the highest quality, in this case 1080p60 AVCHD 28Mbps.

Here's a chart to help decide.

[jagabo]

Interlaced encoding, even of progressive frames, is always inferior to progressive encoding with YV12 (YUV 4:2:0) chroma subsampling.

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/technical-articles-and-editorials/technical-articles-an...a-problem.html

[vid83]

For VID83..Your computer OS specs listed will not run Vegas Movie Studio 12. It requires at least Vista or Win7. (Microsoft® Windows Vista® 32-bit or 64-bit SP2, Windows® 7 32-bit or 64-bit, or Windows® 8 32-bit or 64-bit operating system). Vegas Movie Studio also requires specific video cards to work properly. Be sure you look at the requirements of that software before attempting to edit AVCHD on your computer listed.

That's not my current PC.
It runs on the PC I have now.
My PC is Windows 8 32-bit (upgraded from Windows Vista 32-bit), Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 2.50GHz, 3GB RAM
Played around with AVCHD on my PC and it seems to work fine.

[_Al_]

I use Sony Movie Studio Platinum 12 (it's Sony Vegas but they'v dropped "Vegas" from the name in version 12).

So in Vegas to render for DVD to get DVD video stream (just video) or program stream (video and audio) you should be allowed to set fields to none. So you record 30p, project is set to 30p, export 30p. You just have to test if DVD Architect will not recompress that setting.

As for Youtube settings there should not be any problem. you render as some mpeg4 avc 2pass VBR, you have to choose average bitrate that is optimal for you.
For your archive you go the same way, 2pass VBR, choosing your average bitrate or CBR with certain bitrate, if you do not care about resulting volume.

Sure 60p is better, 30p needs special care while shooting - using ND filter outside (to prevent stutter effect - visible gaps between frames), using longer shutter speeds 1/30 or 1/60, be more disciplined holding camera, follow objects in the frame, good stabilization is handy here. But you probably know this. Going through this "torture" you might get better results on YouTube at the end if that is what you aim for. You tube will not encode 60p, only 30p so far. So you would just drop every other frame to get 30p, or youtube perhaps does the same if you upload 60p. There is some sophisticated methods to encode 30p out of 60p to simulate longer shutter speeds, to kind of smooth out those missing frames, but I never got fully into this, do not shoot 60p yet.