Alludo USER to USER Web Board

Hi guys I am new around here and since I am the only person in our local video group using HD I therefore I need some advice.

We make film clips of around 6 to 15 minutes for the local or citizen TV channel. One or two chanels that airs special things and they get their contributions from all around the country.
At the moment clips are taken, edited and then put on a mini-tape and given to the TV studio for transmission.

If I use high-def and edit it in hi-def using VideoStudio what output formats do I use so I can give it to the studio on a DVD with the minimum loss of quality? I'll have to buy a Blue Ray disc to keep the high-def quality for personal use, and for when the station can accept high-def in the future.

At the moment the only way I can looad HD into VideoStudio is by drag and drop. Isn't there another way I can do it using the menus?

Thanks
Mike

Well, it depends on what camera you are using, and thus what kind of HD video it uses. You refer to copying things to mini-tapes, by which I assume you mean mini-DV tapes. Does that mean you are using a camera which uses the HDV format? (I have one of those -- a Canon HV20). It is excellent quality, and easily editable in all versions of VS since VS10. But you capture that using Firewire, and that is the only way of transferring HDV in its original quality to your computer. In fact, I don't think it is possible to use drag-and-drop with HDV.

So that makes me wonder whether your camera is an AVCHD model filming to an SD card (from which you transfer like you would from any SD card, in effect by drag and drop or Copy/Paste). AVCHD is by far and away the most demanding of all video formats at the moment -- you have to have a fairly powerful computer to edit it. Its original format is high definition mpeg-4 (whereas HDV is mpeg-2).

But then you further confuse me by saying that after editing, the video is put on mini-tape, so again I can only ask what format the original video is edited in or into? Does the TV station broadcast in digital (and HD digital?) format? What is their preferred format?

If you are putting it on a standard definition DVD, then you will be automatically losing more than half its original quality, regardless of whether the original was HDV or AVCHD. But if a standard definition DVD is all you can burn (or the TV station can play), then you would need to use Upper Field First and a bitrate of 8000 kbps to get the best quality on a standard DVD.

If the TV station can accept it, however, then again regardless of whether your original video is HDV or AVCHD, you could also edit it in the original HD format, then go to Share > Create Disc > AVCHD and burn what is called an AVCHD hybrid disc, which uses a Blu-Ray folder structure but is burned to a standard DVD. However, it can only be played in a player rated to play hybrid/Blu-Ray discs. But it is high definition, and excellent quality. (I do this all the time.) The downside is that, to create a hybrid disc with the best quality, you need to use a bitrate of 18 Mbps, and this means you cannot fit more than 20 minutes of video onto a single layer DVD.

The hybrid disc is the current cheap way of avoiding to have to buy a Blu-Ray burner and discs. But to play them you (and the TV channel) have to have a player capable of playing them. Not all Blu-Ray players are rated to play hybrid discs, so you have to check that when you buy one. I personally use my Sony PlayStation 3 which is both an excellent Blu-Ray player that is rated to play hybrid discs, and also an excellent standard definition DVD player (which upscales standard DVDs to near Blu-Ray quality). And I use Video Studio for all of this!!! The end quality is fantastic!!

Hi Ken, Wow 8,748 posts that would be 8,747 more than me.
I am supposed to be a tech writer and I seem to have made my post as confusing as possible. Let me try and fix things.

I was thinking of the Canon (something)20 (and even 10) but bought the Panasonic HDC HS300 because after reading reviews for two months I was so confused I just decided to buy the camera that won the same awards Canon got the year before - for your camera or one like it.
The HS300 records in AVCHD format as you say mpeg-4. Since it has a 120GB hard disk (and card (optional)) I download the video as a file using a simple USB 2.0 connection with the Panasonic supplied HD Writer to disk. I then drag and drop the files from the PC into VS.

This is the thing. I am 68 years old and until now never really managed to find something that I believe I can "do" without feeling any real pain. I think about scripts and things to shoot all the time. In fact I am driving people crazy and I am sorry I didn't fall into the film/video business 30 years ago. But then again it was a different ballgame then and only now has technology really begun to be amazing.

Thanks for the education on one-leg, you have saved me at least a light year in searching for information.

As I thought I mentioned the group all use mini-DV tapes and actually play the clips from a tape or DVD. Hybrid disks seems to be the way to go. I am only now beginning to realise (real English spelling for down under) how expensive the camera was. So much so I'll have to wait to get a real heavy duty tripod - the ones I have are too flimsy.

I would appreciate any help in what to read or links to visit to get myself up to speed. Video is definately not easy and I'll have to keep my hair short for fear of pulling it out while I am learning the basics. Important is anything you can add about hybrid disks. What would be the one to buy? Anything I need to know about buying DVD blanks? My wife is a really good camera operator and thank goodness the camera doesn't weigh enough to kill me when I say inappropriate things from time to time. Some cameras could kill you.

Thanks again Ken and hopefully I managed to salvage the familly name this time around.
Mike

I'll have to wait to get a real heavy duty tripod - the ones I have are too flimsy.

I just recently purchased the Velbon 607 tripod for my Canon XH-A1 and love it. Don't be fooled by the price!
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/control ... eadReviews

Nice camera, and your computer is certainly up to the task of editing AVCHD which, as I suggested above, is not the easiest format to handle.

Now, the hybrid disc is a great idea as a half-way house to a true Blu-Ray disc. You don't need the Blu-Ray burner or Blu-Ray blanks. Though the price of those is gradually falling, they are still far too expensive in my view. So using a standard DVD and burner, to burn full high definition quality and on a standard DVD burner, is useful -- particularly as the cost of DVD blanks is now so cheap. I pay around 25 cents each for my preferred brand of single layer DVD (Ritek 8x).

And there is no magic in the type of DVD blank you buy -- whatever burns standard DVDs on your computer should also work as hybrid discs. Just keep the burn speed low, as I suggested.

No magic with your original AVCHD either. Instead of dragging and dropping, which is fine, you could also right click in the library window or timeline of VS and select Insert Video. Then you navigate to where your video files are stored and select those you want. But it's six of one and half a dozen of the other -- both methods take about the same time and produce exactly the same results.

Note that along with the hefty price and demanding format, there is a significant bug in VS in dealing with AVCHD -- though it also apparently happens in most other amateur video editing programs. And that is when you use transitions, the rendered final file shows a brief blip where the action actually goes backwards for a couple of frames. Very brief but very annoying. It was reported to Corel months ago, and they claim to be working on it, but we have not seen a fix so far. The Panasonic software which came with your camera produces smooth final videos, but unfortunately is incredibly simple so that you can't produce the same 'sophisticated' look you get with VS.

By the way, download the patch to X2 which *has* been issued, as it fixed a couple of issues some users were having with AVCHD.

Now the downside of AVCHD hybrid discs is that that -- as I said -- they can only be played on a Blu-Ray player rated to play hybrid discs. So you need one of those yourself if you want to play the discs on your HDTV; and of course your friends and family sharing the video will also need such a player... Otherwise, you will be limited to downconverting the AVCHD mpeg-4 to standard definition mpeg-2, editing that and then producing a standard definition DVD; OR downconverting to DV/AVI, editing that and then exporting that back to a mini-DVD tape.

That is interesting. You seem to know wherecmy mind has gone and answer the question before the thought comes to a shaky halt. So I need a blue ray player that can read hybrid disks - interesting.
I already updated VS with the new update. Now all I have to do is try it all.
Mike

One thing you could think about is the Sony PlayStation 3 I mentioned in my first reply. It is a great Blu-Ray and standard DVD player, and can play hybrid discs. In addition, you can network it to your computer either via LAN cable, or if you get a wireless model, by WLAN. Then use either Nero Media Home or Windows Media Player as the media server. And you can stream your high definition, edited videos vis the PS3 from your computer to your HDTV. The quality is superb, and if you are like me, you will find it almost impossible ever to produce anything standard definition ever again!!!

Good Luck!!

Thanks for all the advice - yes a playstation would be a good solution.
After watching HD I doubt anyone could go back to SD. It also seems a long walk in the dark before it is going to be the standard. It would seem that you cannot get a VelBon tripod here locally - that really surprises me. They sell here Slik and Manfrotto.
It is going to be fun having you guys to talk to.
Thanks again
Mike

It would seem that you cannot get a VelBon tripod here locally - that really surprises me. They sell here Slik and Manfrotto.

B & H delivers!

Mikel, you may be interested in reading this about tripods:

http://www.videomaker.com/article/14139 ... gn=traffic

Thanks another interesting piece of information for which I thanks you.
Just got a call from the VELBON agent but the line died before I got to speak to the sales person. So now I'll take the camera shopping and get it a proper head and legs to go with it.

Another excellent tip from the forum.

I shudder to think of the advice I'll need when I actually try and join the dots. This is not an easy way to spend the day - but it is getting my blood moving around a bit.

Mike

Hi Mike
I recently found a profound statement on this Board. It was from one of our learned breathren and it read:
"Life and Video Editing were never meant to be easy"
I think that fits well
John