VideoStudio 11 Plus AVCHD "Capture From DVD/DVD-VR"

Jerry Jones · Post by **Jerry Jones** » Wed May 16, 2007 2:33 pm

Since some individuals do seem to have the "capture from DVD/DVD-VR" plug-in working correctly, I'll run my image file and restore my computer back to the point before I installed any Ulead video editing programs.

Then I'll reinstall VideoStudio 11 Plus in hopes of determining if my previous installation somehow failed.

If my initial installation of VideoStudio 11 Plus did fail, then I suppose I'll have to chalk it up to being another Microsoft Windows "mystery."

This kind of thing is the one aspect of using Microsoft Windows that I loathe.

The eternal mysteries of Windows software installation.

Jerry Jones
http://www.jonesgroup.net

Jerry Jones · Post by **Jerry Jones** » Wed May 16, 2007 2:57 pm

It works now.

So chalk it up to being another eternal Windows "mystery."

The first installation somehow failed and I'll likely never discover the reason.

Man, I loathe Windows.

My next computer will be a Macintosh.

Jerry Jones
http://www.jonesgroup.net

etech6355 · Post by **etech6355** » Wed May 16, 2007 3:17 pm

I've been visiting a studio that uses all Mac's. Very interesting and expensive.
Rather than upgrading to these new Core2's Duo's with Vista I've been considering instead of a Mac Desktop machine to replace my P4-3.2Ghz machines. Problem for me is simple, they are expensive and so is most of the software. I would say almost 2.5 times the cost of a windows machine if you want a fast Mac Desktop. But Mac's run on top of Linux BSD operating system and that's why they are so stable.

I've been using some of them and they don't have a right-click, right mouse button or a scrolling wheel on some. Maybe I missed something.

They do have problems mainly with purchased add-on plug-ins for programs and if their is a system update then all the software on the computer may need to be updated which requires the software writers to compile a new version to match the new Mac Kernel (this is normal for Linux based machines).
But on the overall people sit behind these machines and work all day, they don't have 1/20 the problem of windows users because of the restricted hardware architecture of the mac's. But you can install conflicting codecs just like in windows if you force an installation. This will cause the same problems on the Mac as in Windows.

A few people in my family use the mini-mac's. They leave them on for month's and love them. But they aren't fast enough for video work.
My limitation is in the end the desktops along with video editing software are expensive.

Jerry Jones · Post by **Jerry Jones** » Wed May 16, 2007 3:21 pm

The .M2TS files are native "transport stream" AVCHD H.264 MPEG-4 files.

Those files are the native files recorded by AVCHD camcorders.

When VideoStudio 11 Plus "captures" those files via the "IMPORT FROM DVD/DVD-VR" capture plug-in, the files are automatically converted by VideoStudio 11 Plus into HD MPEG-2 "transport stream" .M2T files.

I suspect this may be a lossless conversion because there doesn't appear to be transcoding.

Is it possible these are H.264 video files that have been put into some kind of MPEG-2 transport stream "wrapper?"

I'm guessing it might be the Windows equivalent of putting H.264 into QuickTime wrappers.

Jerry Jones
http://www.jonesgroup.net

Jerry Jones · Post by **Jerry Jones** » Wed May 16, 2007 3:24 pm

etech6355 wrote:A few people in my family use the mini-mac's. They leave them on for month's and love them. But they aren't fast enough for video work.
My limitation is in the end the desktops along with video editing software are expensive.

My brother has a mini.

He loves it.

And he never goes through the misery that I've experienced with Microsoft Windows platform.

Windows has no mercy on the user.

Everything must be perfect on Windows.

If not, the user must endure a real beating.

Jerry Jones
http://www.jonesgroup.net

etech6355 · Post by **etech6355** » Wed May 16, 2007 3:40 pm

Jerry,
On my PS3 when playing back the .m2t videos that VS11+ has extracted the PS3 displays them a mpeg2, but when playing back in the information windows they display using the H264 codec along with a tag that says "AVC".

After reading about this newer format it's my understanding (correct me if I'm wrong) that these files are being put into a "Mpeg2 TS" container as you stated.
In other words on my HC3 the video is recorded as TS. It looks to me like it's using a mpeg2 TS stream that contains 2 codec's, one being the video & the other being the audio.
Same with H264 I think, it's using the mpeg2 TS spec as a container and in this mpeg2 TS container is the 1-H264 video stream and the 1-Dolby Audio Stream.

I found the avchd spec's on the web it says:
Codecs = 1-H264 & 1-Audio
Container or Transport Format = mpeg2 TS format.

I'm just curious if the .m2ts files are similar to VOB files and can contain more than one H264 video inside of the .m2ts container. This is probably the problem of extracting the videos or converting them to the .m2t files. They may need the index files to know where the videos are split in the container.

I can import from the mini-dvd-rw's but cannot see the directory structure using explorer (like win2000 with the dvd-ram disks, couldn't see them in explorer but I could import them).

Question: Does VS11+ report any fielding with these videos after they are on the timeline?

Jerry Jones · Post by **Jerry Jones** » Wed May 16, 2007 11:35 pm

Yes, I think you may be quite correct on everything you've written.

The reason I suspect this conversion from .M2TS to .M2T may be "lossless" is due to the speed of the conversion.

When I observe the transfer taking place, it seems to be surprisingly quick.

If transcoding from H.264 to MPEG-2 were really happening, then it seems to me that the file transfer would be far slower.

When I get home, I'll take a look at how the fields are being detected by the software and I'll get back to you on that one.

Bear with me; it may take me some time to finish reloading all of the video programs.

While my reinstallation of VideoStudio 11 was successful, it involved uninstalling and reinstalling the program.

I really want to roll back the installation of the system to the point prior to installing any video programs and then reinstall from that point.

One question I am exploring is whether my previous "order of installation" (VideoStudio 11, MediaStudio Pro 8, DVD Workshop 2) had any bearing on why VideoStudio 11's "Import From DVD/DVD-VR" capture plug-in did not install correctly.

One of the things I noticed when the program wasn't working was that the "IMPORT FROM DVD/DVD-VR" plug-in couldn't even see my DVD drive in the drop-down list.

The drop-down list was completely blank.

You could click the button and then browse to the drive, but that -- of course -- resulted in the error message I originally reported.

When I uninstalled/reinstalled VideoStudio 11, the drop-down list of the plug-in could finally see my drive.

I'm wondering if installing Ulead programs in any particular order might somehow affect each other; or -- perhaps -- is a faulty installation just something one might attribute to a processor error or an operating system glitch or whatever.

Anyway your question about how the software sees the fields is quite interesting and I'll let you know what I discover.

Jerry Jones
http://www.jonesgroup.net

etech6355 wrote:After reading about this newer format it's my understanding (correct me if I'm wrong) that these files are being put into a "Mpeg2 TS" container as you stated.
In other words on my HC3 the video is recorded as TS. It looks to me like it's using a mpeg2 TS stream that contains 2 codec's, one being the video & the other being the audio.
Same with H264 I think, it's using the mpeg2 TS spec as a container and in this mpeg2 TS container is the 1-H264 video stream and the 1-Dolby Audio Stream.

I found the avchd spec's on the web it says:
Codecs = 1-H264 & 1-Audio
Container or Transport Format = mpeg2 TS format.

I'm just curious if the .m2ts files are similar to VOB files and can contain more than one H264 video inside of the .m2ts container. This is probably the problem of extracting the videos or converting them to the .m2t files. They may need the index files to know where the videos are split in the container.

I can import from the mini-dvd-rw's but cannot see the directory structure using explorer (like win2000 with the dvd-ram disks, couldn't see them in explorer but I could import them).

Question: Does VS11+ report any fielding with these videos after they are on the timeline?

etech6355 · Post by **etech6355** » Thu May 17, 2007 12:19 am

One question I am exploring is whether my previous "order of installation" (VideoStudio 11, MediaStudio Pro 8, DVD Workshop 2) had any bearing on why VideoStudio 11's "Import From DVD/DVD-VR" capture plug-in did not install correctly.

This is what happens on my system(s). Starting from a clean install and the system does not have a C:\Program Files\Common Files\Ulead Systems Folder at all.

I'll install VS11+ and it works (working with it's common files), then install maybe another ulead app, seems to overwrite the files in this common\ulead folder, then I'll have problems with the program I first installed. Not always, but there are conflicts.

Last year installed VS10+ and I could capture HDV with my HC3 cam. Installed MF5+ and MF5+ could capture HDV but VS10+ was broke for HDV capturing. Other minor quirks. I isolated the VS10+ and MF5+ installation common files and VS10+ could then capture HDV.

This probably doesn't sound correct but when I installed VS11+ before installation I backed up the OS partition, renamed the \Common Files\Ulead Systems to another name. Then installed VS11+, this way VS11+ creates the new folder and works with it's distribution files that it was compiled to work with. I do this because I have had conflicts with this common files folder method that ulead uses. If someone has a lot of ulead software installed this is next to impossible to keep track of. It works for me because I have had issues with all the programs sharing these common files.

Sounds to me on your system maybe DVD Workshop 2 overwrote the files in the common files directory that VS11+ uses for importing dvd's.

Maybe the best method would be to install the oldest program first and the newest program last. I don't have an answer except isolating the common files better.

markk655 · Post by **markk655** » Thu May 17, 2007 1:10 am

Jerry,

If it doesn't work, there may be a registry issue with your DVD burner. I had the exact same poblem (not seeing my burner) after installing a beta for Vista on my computer. It is an easy fix, and in my case seemed to occur becauseI also had Nero installed....Let m eknow if it doesn't fix your issue and I'll find the solution for you.

Jerry Jones · Post by **Jerry Jones** » Fri May 18, 2007 12:08 am

Indeed, I've just finished with this experiment and it works!

I'm not certain if it was DVD Workshop 2.0 or Kaspersky Internet Security 6.0.

The reason for my uncertainty is that I made the typical mistake of "assuming."

Here's how my second test went...

First, I installed VideoStudio 11 Plus (plug-in worked!)
Second, I installed MediaStudio Pro 8. (plug-in still worked!)

At this point, I made the mistake of "assuming." I assumed the plug-in would continue to work if I installed any more programs because I thought maybe the first installation had just been a "mysterious" fluke.

So I assumed -- and I installed DVD Workshop 2.0 -- and I didn't test the VideoStudio 11 Plus plug-in because I thought it was probably still working.

Then I installed Kaspersky Internet Security 6.0 -- with service packs and updates -- and I then tested VideoStudio 11 Plus's plug-in and -- BAM! -- it was broken.

This was precisely the order of installation I followed the first time around.

So the culprit would seem to be either DVD Workshop 2.0 or Kaspersky.

While your suggestion about the "common" files may indeed be correct, I'm suspicious of Kaspersky because it is known to be rather aggressive security software.

So -- using an image file -- I rolled back my system to the point prior to installing any video programs.

Finally, I installed in this order:

A. KASPERSKY (temporarily turned OFF)
B. SONY PICTURE MOTION BROWSER
C. DVD WORKSHOP 2 + PATCHES
D. MEDIASTUDIO PRO 8 + PATCHES
E. VIDEO TOOLBOX
F. VIDEOSTUDIO 11 PLUS

Now my installation seems to be working properly.

I'm really happy that I decided to image my system -- with Acronis -- prior to installing any video programs.

That was a really smart move because it gave me an absolutely clean base upon which to build my video software installations.

I'm really happy with this Acronis True Image 10 Home software.

For people who are constantly wrestling with consumer video editing software and all of its complexity, this product is essential... at least for me.

And its interface seems easier than that of Norton Ghost, which gave me a lot of trouble.

Jerry Jones
http://www.jonesgroup.net

etech6355 wrote:Maybe the best method would be to install the oldest program first and the newest program last. I don't have an answer except isolating the common files better.