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Background: 1920x1080 DD5.1 AVCHD clips from a Sony SR11. Using Pro X2 trial to edit and then create AVCHD discs on standard DVD+R media, keeping the same file resolution and other characteristics as the original video clips. My system is an Intel quad core Q9550 2.83 GHz, 4 gigs RAM, Vista Ultimate 64 bit.

I had success on 2 projects using the MPEG optimizer and smart rendering. These projects had little editing of the clips themselves, but contained fade-to-black transitions between each clip, and a title and ending credits over black color boards. Audio and video were in sync and looked good when the end-product AVCHD disc was played on my Panasonic BD30 Blu-ray player. (This was all before reading advice to avoid the mpeg optimizer and smart rendering with AVCHD.)

Then I started a new project with different clips from the same camcorder. I did some editing (color correction in a couple clips, subtitles in 2 clips, and a title over a black color board, no transitions this time). As with the first two projects, I used the MPEG Optimizer and Smart Rendering to create a file with the same characteristics as the video clips (1920x1080, DD 5.1, upper field first, etc.). Then burned an AVCHD disc on DVD+R from this file. As before, I checked-marked the option to not convert mpeg compliant video, so the burn process was very fast - no conversion took place.

The resulting disc has audio/video sync problems when I play it in the Panasonic Blu-ray player; the further into the disc, the more the audio is ahead of the video. So I figured that the advice to not use the mpeg optimzer and smart render was right.

BUT... then I used Pro X2 to just play the .mpg file that had been created with the mpeg optimizer and with smart render on (and that was out of sync when burned to disc). The file itself played in-sync within Pro X2. As a double check, I also played the file in PowerDVD 8, and it played in sync.

Since the .mpg file itself is in sync, but when burned as an AVCHD disc it is out-of sync, it seems that the out-of-sync condition must have been created during the disc burning step, not during the file creation process (which is where the mpeg optimizer and smart render come into play).

The burning step did not re-render the video. It only took about 2 minutes to create the disc of 5 minutes of video. The burn process went right to the "dispatching ouput" step and never said "converting title" or whatever it says when it is re-rendering. It should just be creating the disc folder structure and coping the video/audio with no alterations (I would think anyway).

I am suspicious of the step that occurs during burning that is labled "Audio/Video multiplexing". Not sure what that does, but by its name, it sounds like an opportunity to introduce sync problems.

I wonder whether there is a bug in Pro X2's AVCHD disc creation process that causes this sync problem, at least under some circumstances? It was OK for 2 projects and a problem with the latest project.

Has anyone else experienced sync problems on AVCHD discs, but checked the underlying file and found it to be in sync?

You might want to compare the AVCHD file on the disc with the one you created from your project and burned to disc. Open the disc in Windows Explorer. You will see a BDMV folder. And in that, among the sub-folders, is one called STREAM. That contains the AVCHD file. Copy that to your hard drive and play it in a AVCHD/Blu-Ray rated software player like WinDVD 9 or PowerDVD8. If it is out of sync, then I suspect you could be correct about the multiplexing part...

Personally, with AVCHD hybrid discs, I have thrown away years of experience with standard definition DVDs which in fact followed your workflow i.e. editing then creating a new file of the project, and then burning that as a separate step.

With AVCHD, I quickly learned not to use SmartRender. I don't use mpeg optimiser anyway, because sometimes it has give strange recommendations with regard to AVCHD linked to the default VS settings for AVCHD which I do not like.

So now my AVCHD workflow is to do my edits. Then I jump immediately to Share > Create Disc > AVCHD i.e. I do not first render a new AVCHD from the edited project. The *project* file is then automatically inserted in the burning timeline. Since it is a project file, you have to accept the fact that the rendering will take place as part of the burning process. However, it also gives you the opportunity to vary the properties if you want using the burning settings box in the middle of the three icons in the bottom left of screen. I don't think SmartRender comes into this picture as the process takes quite some time.

Anyway, I build a menu and burn. I have done this quite a few times now and have not had any problems at all with the result. And the time it takes does not bother me -- I go make dinner, read a book, watch TV or whatever for however long it takes. Given that, using the highest quality AVCHD settings, you can only burn about 20 minutes of video to a single layer DVD, I find that the total render/burn process takes just under an hour. My Quad is only a 6600 so yours might do this a bit faster...

Thanks, Ken. As suggested, I checked the .m2ts file within the STREAM folder of the disc that was burned from the .mpg file and it is out of sync, same as when I play the disc.

I tried burning the project directly to disc and still got the a problem, but with a twist. The file approach that I had been using resulted in audio being ahead of video when the file was burned to disc. The audio showed up before the corresponding video.

Burning the project directly to disc without an interim file resulted in the opposite - the audio is behind the video - about a half second by the end of the 8 min. 44 second disc. When a person is speaking, their lips start moving in the video and a half second later the corresponding audio shows up.

Since sync problems are not being widely reported in the forum, I wonder whether it may have something to do with my camcorder, the Sony SR11. Sony is known for doing things in a proprietary way and maybe the Corel software is not aware of Sony deviations from the norm, perhaps in their implementation of DD 5.1 audio.

I need to look into how to report this problem to Corel (assuming they will accept reports for the trial version of Pro X2. I am a registered owner of VS11.5+. My audio problems were worse in VS11.5+ which I only owned for a week before Pro X2 came out.) Corel would need to have the problematic clips to try to duplicate the sync problem, but do they provide a way to get clips to them and do you think they would actually provide those clips to the software developers for debugging purposes?

I doubt that it is Sony specific, since other users here -- at least of VS11.5+ -- have that same camera, or other Sony AVCHD cameras, and have not reported this problem, at least on this Board... It is, however, true that Sony provides a basic editing program on the disc with the camera which can apparently handle AVCHD without problems. You might thus want to install it and compare.

As for Corel Support, I simply don't know what they might be willing to do. I confess that I have not been in touch with them for 6 years when their predecessor, Ulead Support, gave me one 'reinstall' suggestion too many...

Thanks for your efforts Ken.

Unfortunately the Sony-supplied software is so basic as to be not much use to me other than for importing from the camera.

I'll keep working with Pro X2 trial and try to contact tech support with hope that they take an real interest in the problem rather than sending form letter replies. I will try re-installation since they will probably suggest that anyway.