One for JCHunter - Re: HD Video Studio 10+ Tutorial

Peewee · Post by **Peewee** » Sun Aug 27, 2006 4:08 pm

John's tutorial on HD editing in Video Studio 10+ is EXCELLENT. I don't know how I would have got by with just the lame Ulead instruction book alone. Great work and thanks John for the time you've taken to put this together.

I must however admit that I'm a little confused....if you go to the section, "CREATING DIVX HIGH DEFINITION VIDEO FILES", step 4 talks about saving as a Microsoft AVI file however the screen dumps and instructions in step 11 talk about encoding to an MPEG file and the screen dumps refer to settings for MPEG.

Was this a slight boo boo or am I missing something here?

I suppose I'm struggling a little becuase my Samsung DVD-R121 recorder/player doesn't seem to like the HD AVI files I'm getting out of VS10+, despite downloading the Divx 6.2 encoder. I'm clutching at straws for solutions here.

Any help / feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Peewee

jchunter · Post by **jchunter** » Sun Aug 27, 2006 6:11 pm

Peewee,

You are correct - there is a boo boo with the picture links.

Step 11 should show the AVI File Save dialog boxes. The ones that are shown are incorrect. I will fix this ASAP!

I don't know much about the Samsung DVD-R121 but if it is "Divx Certified" it only has to be able to decode 1280x720 line video. Note the the Divx codec setup screen has a High Definition profile that does not include 1440x1080 or 1920x1080. That is why I always use the Unconstrained profile. The reasons for this bit of nonsense escape me.

IMO, Divx Certified devices should playback the complete set of HD standards.

jchunter · Post by **jchunter** » Sun Aug 27, 2006 8:38 pm

Peewee,
When I checked the Samsung website for the DVD-R121, the specifications say nothing about Divx certification. It mentions Mpeg4 compatibility - close relative but not quite the same as Divx. OTOH, several vendor websites list Divx as a supported format. So Divx compatibility seems to be questionable.

I suggest transcoding a short section of mpeg2 HDV to Divx @1280x720p (deinterlaced), 4 Mbps Variable bitrate and see if that will playback. If so, that may be the best that this DVD player can do.

Bill Meck · Post by **Bill Meck** » Sun Aug 27, 2006 10:11 pm

John, have you tried using the upscaling of SD to HD that VideoStudio 10+ offers? I haven't read anything about this by actual users. If you have, how does the upscaled output compare to HD native footage? If it is reasonably good, then I could put off buying an HD camcorder.

Thanks,
Bill

jchunter · Post by **jchunter** » Sun Aug 27, 2006 11:30 pm

Bill,
I have tried upscaling some older SD video projects to HD and the digital stills automatically become MUCH sharper, as long as they were inserted into the timeline at full resolution (e.g. 2048x1536).

The bad news is that SD video doesn't look any better, especially in comparison to the sharper still images.

I guess this is one of those unintended consequences. I haven't given up yet, though.

I have tried the opposite, downrezing HD to SD so that I can distribute them to family members, who are "HDTV-challenged," and these look better than my SD DVDs. This is probably because I use a higher video bitrate (9800kbps), which lets some of the HD picture quality shine through.

As for upgrading to HD, I'm guessing that Sony is going to aggressively lower the price on the HC3, to choke off competition, around Chrismas time and you might be able to get one for close to $1000.

Peewee · Post by **Peewee** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 2:45 am

Thanks heaps John,

After scouring through my Samsung user manual it says:-

This DVD Recorder can play the following video compression formats.
- MPEG4 Codec format : DivX 3.11 DivX4.x DivX 5.x DivX-Pro Xvid
- Motion Compensation : QPEL, GMC
- Audio format : “MP3”, “MPEG1 Audio Layer2”, “LPCM”, “AC3”, “DTS”,
“MS ADPCM”

It also says in another section:

MPEG4 File with following extensions can be Played:
.avi, .divx, .AVI, .DIVX

● MPEG4 Codec format : DivX 3.11 DivX 4.x DivX 5.x
DivX-Pro Xvid

Sounds like this unit can't play a Divx .avi file unless it's in MPEG4 format. Does this make sense? If so then how can they stick the Divx certified logo on the front?

Sounds like a warning for us all here.

jchunter · Post by **jchunter** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 3:03 am

Peewee,
These guys are great at specsmanship BS. But the only way to find out is to create a short Divx clip at 1280x720p (which Divx Certified units should handle), burn it as a data file on a R/W DVD and see if it will play.

Post by **Ken Berry** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 3:06 am

DivX *IS* an mpeg-4 codec. But it just happens to use the .avi carrier format extension...

Peewee · Post by **Peewee** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 2:45 pm

Hey John (and others of course!),

Thanks once again for all the advice and feedback. After hours of searching and testing I think I've found the answers to why my Samsung DVD-R121 doesn't like my Divx output. If you go to the Divx website: http://www.divx.com/products/products.php you'll find a list of Divx certified products, as well as the highest Divx profile they're capable of handling. (BTW, the DVD-R121 IS listed.)

My player is only capable of handling the Home Theatre profile - 720 x 448. As soon as it tries to play a higher resolution file it spits the dummy.

As a relative novice to this game I'd be interested in someone with a little more experience verifying my suspicions. If there's any way of achieving higher screen res or better picture quality on my player then I'd love to know.

(And John, if this is the best that many players will do then perhaps this info needs to find it's way into the HD - VS10 instructions - most DVD players on the Divx list could only handle Home Theatre Profile)

Cheers from Oz,

Pete.....

jchunter · Post by **jchunter** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 3:08 pm

Peewee,
As I pointed out in the Tutorial, the Link players such as IOData AVLP2 ($250), play most of the HD formats well (Mpeg2, Divx, Xvid, ..), either from a conventional DVD or an external USB2 hard drive and will drive an HDTV through a component video interface. Their firmware upgrades are a bit of a PITA, but all in all, its the best game in town, until Blu-Ray and HD-DVDs get reasonably priced.

Peewee · Post by **Peewee** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 3:30 pm

Sounds like I'm stuck with what I've got.

Link Players aren't yet available in Oz.

Cheers anyway,

Pete.....

jchunter · Post by **jchunter** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 6:03 pm

AFAIK, IOData ships worldwide. Try this link - they might ship to Australia but make sure it will be compatible with your TV sets down there... http://shop.iodata.com/shopping/product ... P2%2FDVDLA

Peewee · Post by **Peewee** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 10:58 pm

No such luck I'm afraid. Here's the message that appears on the link:

"Shop.iodata.com is currently available to residents living in the United States. We are in the process of developing our Online Store for the greater European and UK markets.
Your IP Address 220.245.177.134 is listed as coming from Australia

If you live in the United States and are seeing this message, please click here to email us, and we will add your IP address to our database."

Thanks anyway. I'll wait another few years before the technology finally gets here!