How to create high definition DVDs from AVCHD source.

TomInJax

You don't "need" an HD DVD or Blu-Ray burner to make 1080 discs. But you need to write the media in the proper format for the high definition DVD player to recognize it.

I regularly make HD DVDs from my .MTS files using Pinnacle 12, that play on my HD DVD player. I believe that you can do the same with a Blu-Ray DVD player (write/burn Blu-Ray format to a dual-layer DVD).

I also burn 720 X 480i, wide-screen format to a standard DVD, and when played on an up-converting DVD player is isn't too bad! I use Sony Vegas to do this (since it is faster and a more stable program).

So here is a summary of DVD formats that you can burn MTS (AVCHD) files to:

• HD DVD on HD DVD discs: You need a burner that can burn HD DVD discs and you will need to find a source for the media (HD DVD discs). The DVD burners are available, but scarce. The media might be even scarcer since Blu-Ray won the HD war. You can use ULead or Pinnacle to burn HD DVDs to play on your HD DVD player in full 1080.
  
• HD DVD on standard or dual layer DVD discs: I do this now and get up to 43 minutes of HD DVD format on a regular dual-layer DVD. It is recognized by my Toshiba HD-A2 player and plays with no visible loss. I use Pinnacle to write and burn the disc. With a standard DVD I get about 24 minutes of HD content.
  
• Blu-Ray on Blu-Ray discs: You can purchase a Blu-Ray burner and burn Blu-Ray content on Blu-Ray DVD discs. This is probably the best way to go if you have a Blu-Ray DVD player. But the media and burners are still expensive. The media is about $15 for 25GB, and $25 for 50GB Blu-Ray blank discs. The burners are around $370 up. You can use Sony Vegas, Pinnacle Studio 12, or Ulead to burn DVD content.
  
• Blu-Ray on standard or dual-layer discs: I believe that this is the same process as I described above for HD DVD discs - except using the Blu-Ray format. So, you should be able to get about 43 minutes of Blu-Ray format on a dual-layer (8.5GB) DVD disc. You don't need a Blu-Ray burner or media using this method. But you will need a program that will burn to the Blu-Ray format: Sony Vegas, Pinnacle Studio 12, or Ulead.
  
• Wide screen 720 X 480i, upconverted: This is a lossy conversion, but doesn't look too bad on an upconverted DVD player. I use Sony Vegas to read my MTS (AVCHD) files to create a standard resolution, wide screen format DVD. This is a great way to share your video with friends that do not have a Blu-Ray or HD DVD player. This format will play on most DVD players, and will fill your wide screen, high resolution TV using a upconverting DVD player.

Regarding software: Sony Vegas is the most stable and fastest HD video editing software that I have found. But it doesn't burn HD DVD format, it only burns standard and Blu-Ray format. I have to use Pinnacle Studio 12 to burn my HD DVD format discs. Pinnacle looked promising when it came out, but crashes a lot when you start adding menus and effects. To use Pinnacle, just make a straight video without effects or menus. It seems to work fine without crashing then. I have heard that Ulead does a good job, but haven't had time to verify this yet.

Let me know if you have anything to add to this analysis. Many people new to AVCHD have been asking questions about this and I thought that I would share my experiences.

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Canon HF S100

1eyedeer

The HD Writer software with my Panasonic SD5 will copy AVCHD files on a DVD-R to the SD card - an edited movie made in Pinnacle 11 can then be played on an HDTV from the camcorder. Movies have a limit of 4 Gb.
I make HD-DVDs from Pinnacle for my Toshiba HD-DVD player, but also make AVCHD DVDs for when I buy a Bluray player. On dual layer, these have 60 mins capacity compared to 48 mins for HD-DVDs.

Nero 8 (with the HD plug-in) also makes HD-DVD and AVCHD disks on DVD-R media, but is not as comprehensive as Pinnacle, and the AVCHD movies contain only the clips (no stills, transitions, titles, etc). Maybe I haven't got the right settings.

TomInJax

My corrections and comments are above in red.

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Canon HF S100

TomInJax

Update:

I spoke with a co-worker about this issue. He has a Blu-Ray burner that he only uses regular 4.7 and 8.5 GB DVDs to burn in Blu-Ray format with Sony Vegas. So the trick is that you must have a Blu-Ray burner, even though you don't use Blu-Ray discs. You have to make sure that you are using the Sony AVC codec when you do this.

He burns AVCHD discs all day with no problem, and watches them on his Blu-Ray player. So, it works like I said about the HD DVD discs, but requires a Blu-Ray burner to do it.

But for HD DVD (the defunct format), you don't need an HD DVD burner with Pinnacle 12 to burn HD DVD readable media.

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Canon HF S100

tbui57

Thanks for the information.
May I ask what Sony Vegas you are using ? the movie studio or the pro (which is a bit more expensive than I can afford).
How is the picture quality ? and if the video capture could cause any drop-out. Thanks again.

TomInJax

I use both versions. I use mostly the studio version because I am trying to find if I really need the pro version.

As to Blu-Ray, both versions will do what I said in an earlier email.

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Canon HF S100

GregorioJSmith

I have just purchased a Canon HF100, which I see is your camcorder. I also got Pinnacle 12 and I can't figure out how to cature video in Pinnacle 12. It does not recognize the camcorder.

How do you capture from the HF100?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

daggad

You can indeed burn blu-ray DVD-r discs on a regular DVD burner. No need to reencode your AVCHD video from a camcorder either.

But you can not burn in DVD iso mode. UDF 2.5 is the one. Nero 8 among others support this mode.

daggad

Bringing AVCHD to compliance with Blu-ray
If you have a newer Blu-ray player, then to make a playable backup of your video all you need to do is burn BDMV and AVCHDTN directories with all their content onto a DVD disk and pop the disk into your Blu-ray player. This approach may not work with some players like my Samsung BD-P1200, which accept disks that are created according to Blu-ray spec only.

Here is what I do to make a playable backup of my 4GB memory cards:

Copy BDMV directory off the camcorder onto a computer
Rename INDEX.BDM to index.bdmv
Rename MOVIEOBJ.BDM to MovieObject.bdmv
Change extensions of MPL files to mpls
Change extensions of CPI files to clpi
Change extensions of MTS files to m2ts

I was wary of renaming MTS clips into m2ts. I thought that playlist and info files referred to clip files, so if I rename clip files these links would have been broken. Nope. Clip information files and playlist files in fact refer to non-existing m2ts clips, not to MTS. You can verify this yourself if you have a binary viewer.

To fully bring AVCHD directory into compliance with Blu-ray, continue with the following:

Create BDJO, JAR and AUXDATA directories in the BDMV directory; keep them empty
Create BACKUP directory in the BDMV directory if it does not exist
Copy index.bdmv, MovieObject.bdmv files and PLAYLIST, CLIPINF, BDJO directories into BACKUP directory
Create CERTIFICATE directory in the same directory where you put BDMV directory
Create BACKUP directory in the CERTIFICATE directory; keep these directories empty

Any tool to burn a disk will do, it must be able to burn a DVD using UDF 2.50 file system. Nero Burning ROM can do this starting from version 7. You can also use free tools like ImgBurn.

1eyedeer

I have been using Pinnacle 11 and Nero 8 to make HD-DVD and AVCHD DVDs (plus standard DVDs) on DVD-R and DVD-R dual layer. I've recently purchased the LG Bluray burner/HD-DVD player and am summarising my experiences to date:

Standard DVD burner with Nero 8 - best quality of transcoding, more robust and enough features for my use (holidays and social occasions). Good for HD-DVD on DVDs but loses transitions, chapters, etc, for AVCHD.

Standard DVD burner with Pinnacle - much more convenient to make HD-DVD, AVCHD and SD DVDs on DVD-R and DVD-RDL from the same project but less robust, not too good for longer projects, acceptable high definition quality and easier to learn than Nero.

LG Bluray burner with Nero (not tried Pinnacle yet) - produced a 50 minute wedding on BD disc with identical transitions, menus, text overlays and added audio to the standard DVD wedding video (but a lot more sharpness!).

For the shorter projects, I'll still use standard DVDs and HD-HDV for my Toshiba HD player until Bluray player prices drop some more.
Edit - you have to buy the Bluray/HD DVD plug in for Nero to write a high definition DVDs and BD discs (£14)

tbui57

I have the Sony HC-3 which uses DV tapes. I am planning to buy either ulead, sony vegas, or nero to capture the HDV tapes and making HD (assuming in AVCHD format) on dual layer DVDs.
How is the PQ of the final AVCHD ? Can I assume it has the same quality as if I play the tapes from my HC-3 ? i.e., any degradation in PQ between the tapes and the final AVCHD on DVD ?

What would you suggest to buy: sony vegas, ulead, or nero ? I try the demo sony vegas, but the process was so annoying that I could not get very far with it.

Thanks a bunch.

1eyedeer

tbui57 - you asked for recommendations for editing software. My only experiences are with Pinnacle 11 and Nero 8, but Sony Vegas is recommended in several posts on Video forums. All these programs have learning curves so perhaps you need to try again with Vegas. Pinnacle is easy to learn and will do the job, but HD-DVD and AVCHD quality is inferior to that produced by Nero.

CaTcH21

From what i have learnt here, if i want to burn HD DVD's, i will need Pinnacle Studio 12 right ? There are three packages available in Studio 12, will the entry package work well enough for me ( as a newbie) or do you guys think i should jump straight to the Ultimate package ? Or is this too advanced ?

1eyedeer

CaTcH21 - the middle package, Studio Plus would be fine. Don't think that the entry level will deal with your high definition requirements. Studio Plus 12 will produce high definition videos in either HD-DVD or AVCHD format on both standard DVD and dual layer DVD blank media using a normal DVD burner. To watch on a high def TV,for HD-DVD discs, you'll need an HD-DVD player (now obsolete), and for AVCHD, a modern Bluray player which supports AVCHD playback.
Two things to bear in mind:
To use Pinnacle with high definition footage, you need a powerful PC (dual core Pentium, at least 2 Gb memory and a good graphics card).
Pinnacle (in my experience) gets flaky when you have long projects (45 minutes plus) with lots of effects and transitions.

Tod Daw

I tried to run a demo version of Pinnacle 11 on my 3GHz Pentium D, 2 GB RAM, and a 256MB video card. It was not a pleasant experience, everything was slow and at greatly reduced resolution.

I believe a Core2Duo, or its AMD equivalent is a minimum requirement to start with Piinnacle. It would also help if your motherboard was at least 1066 front side bus, with sata 2 drives. There are some cheap mother boards out there that offer legacy connections (IDE). These are not for HD editing