AVCHD editing quality problem

[tchur]

I have a Panasonic HDC-SD700, a very recent aquisition. If I insert a Mts or a M2ts file on to VS X3 Pro's timeline (with the most recent updates installed) the playback quality is superb. If I then insert a second file onto the timeline, the playback quality is severely degenerated. The first indication is that just before playback starts the contrast drops noticeably and then the playback is as if it is minutely pixelated, or has an overall 'shimmer'. I can then remove the second file, but the playback remains poor, and is only restored by removing all clips and then starting again by inserting one file.

I have tried some limited trials of saving simple projects to various formats, but so far have found the original file formats degraded quite badly in the resultant files. Please bear in mind I am a very recent convert to video.

Has anyone any ideas or experience of this problem?

I apologise if this has come up before, but I have done my best to search for a previous query on the subject.

I have Win 7 Pro 64 with a Core i7 860 and 4Mb memory.

Thanks,

Tim.

[mitchell65]

Hi Tim
I think what you have here is not unusual. When you have one clip in the Timeline it will play fine as you are playing the clip direct. When you have more than one and possibly some effects and maybe a title, in Project Mode VS tries to preview in real time and fit in all the effects as it goes along. It is, as the name says, only a Preview. The preview that you see is only a guide to show the effects etc. it does not effect the quality of the finished video. You don't say what format you have saved you video file to but if you go to Share, Create Video File and then choose "Same as first Video Clip" that should give you the best quality. Try that and let us know what that files looks like.

[tchur]

Thanks for that, I had only edited using SD files before and they look much the same in preview as in the original file.

I have tried a couple of times to produce a short edit to make a file the 'same as the first clip'. In both cases Video Studio X3 Pro rushed through it until it reached 99% at which point it froze and it then took multiple attempts (3 or 4) of Task Manager to close X3 Pro down. It produces an Mpg file of sorts, both times completely missing off the first clip, plays some of the rest with variable results such as freezes and wavy images, though some bits suggest that if it worked the quality would be brilliant.

HD Writer which comes with the Camcorder doesn't recognise the resultant file. Windows Media player plays what there is.

Thanks for any suggestions,

Tim.

[mitchell65]

OK we need to look at this from another angle. Firts can you say how you import the files from the camera to the PC. Do you use the HD writer software? I notce you mention both MTS and M2TS files. That suggest to me that you sometimes just transfer the files from the camera that probably shows as a drive by a drag and drop method. Could you put one of your M2Ts fles in the timeline, right click on it and click "Properties" Then copy all of the file details here. With that single M2TS clip in the timeline, do the Share "Save as first video clip" routine and see what sort of result you get.

[tchur]

Hi John,

With my previous Panasonic SD camcorder the software that came with it didn't work, so I used to just copy the files across using explorer. I started doing that with the new camcorder and then read somewhere on this forum that it was possibble that X3 Pro preferred the M2TS files. (There doesn't appear to be any practical difference that I can see) So I then installed Panasonic's HD Writer and tried that. Not very impressed with it, but it does play the files superbly.

The single file put in the timeline has the following properties:

File Name: E:\Videos\HD Writer copies\20100522\20100521_172209.m2ts
File Format: PAL HDMV
File size: 27,390 KB
Duration: 25.920 seconds

Video type: H.264 Video, Upper field first
Total frames: 648 frames
Attributes: 24 bits, 1920 x 1080, 16:9
Frame rate: 25.000 frames/sec
Data rate: Variable bit rate (Max. 16800 kbps)

Audio type: Dolby Digital Audio
Total Samples: 1,244,160 Samples
Attributes: 48000 Hz, 5.1 Channels
Layer: None
Bit rate: 384 kbps

Processing it 'Same as first video clip' gives the same result as before, a crashed X3 Pro at 99%, except that as there is only one clip there is nothing to play - Windows Media player just brings up a blank window. If I try and insert the resultant file into X3 Pro it doesn't recognise it. Explorer reports its size as 25,660 KB.

Thanks,

Tim.

[mitchell65]

Hi Tim
I have found a most informative post by Ken Berry who I hope doesn't mind me reproducing it here:
As you probably realise, HDMV is the Blu-Ray format of mpeg-2. And there are in fact some default templates for it, for example when you select Share > Create Video File > Blu-Ray, you get two choices of HDMV. But, at least in my version of VS 12, these both use LFF when yours uses UFF.

You can make a custom template the way I assume you have done, using Make Movie Template Manager. But if you are going to make a lot of movies using exactly the same properties of your original video from the camera, then I would use the 'Add' button of Make Movie Template Manager, and not the 'New' button.

When you click that, you get a dialogue box with just two frames -- File Path and Template Name. The latter is obvious -- call it what you want e.g. JVC HDMV. But in the File Path box, click on the '...' button to the right of it, then navigate to a directory when you have a sample of the original video stored. Select that, then click OK. That will take you back to the Make Movie Template Manager box where your new template should be listed, and having the same properties as the original. You can then select that in future.

But note: do NOT try to edit that template. If you do, it will revert to some vanilla preset of standard def mpeg-2.

As for rendering times, I cannot really say. On my own Quad 6600, if SmartRender is not operating, I get not dissimilar times. And I tend to leave SmartRender off in all my HDV/AVCHD editing since I maintain the original high quality settings. I have not been able to detect any visible loss in quality though it may be there microscopically...
The thread is here:
http://forum.corel.com/EN/viewtopic.php ... &view=next

Two things to do:
Turn off "Smart Rendering" Go to settings than click "Smart Proxy Manager" Then uncheck "Enable Smart Proxy"
Then go Download and install the three patches from this thread.
http://forum.corel.com/EN/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=37999
Make sure you Save the 3 patches to your hard drive then double click each exe file in turn and follow the on screen instructions.
Hopefully this will improve the situation. I am out for the rest of today so perhaps someone else will come in to help. If there is a delay don't think you have been forgotten. Most problems are solved in the end

[tchur]

Thanks for all the info, John.

First of all, Smart Rendering is the problem! Turn it off and everything works fine.

To go back a bit, I had already updated (the 3 latest patches) the X3 Pro to the latest version, and 'Enable Smart Proxy' was not enabled. I tried things in stages and created a 'Make Movie Template', which changed nothing. I went back to 'Save As 1st Clip' and noticed if I waited long enough the 99% vanished (2 or 3 minutes) and then there was another very long wait after which a mesage box came up saying "File Format mismatch {16803:1:2}". I thought I was used to the vagaries of progress bars and their percentages, but this one takes the prize for being completely misleading!

Meanwhile I had updated Nero 9 to Nero 10 and found that Nero's Media Hub would play the files that X3 Pro had produced in very high quality video, without leaving off the first clip (which Windows Media Player does) - BUT no sound. I tried various things to get the sound back; set the project for stereo, strip the sound off to a separate track, and other things I can't remember now, all to no avail.

Then I noticed I hadn't turned off the Smart Rendering and (when I found it) did so. The rendering then went a little slower, but no wait at 99% and it was recognised by X3 Pro, Windows Media Player and Nero, all playing with sound.

Again, thanks for all the help. All I have to do now is to find the best quality I can get onto a DVD. We don't have HD TV or Blu Ray facilities!

Tim Churchill.
Lancaster.