Blu-ray Novice

[CliveM]

I purchased VideoStudeo 12 a couple of years ago and received some very helpful advice from Ken and BlackLab to get me going and since then have produced some very pleasing results in creating DVD’s. Have just upgraded to VideoStudeo Pro X3 and MovieFactory 7 SE. Am also about to switch from shooting Standard Def video to High Def and thus from producing DVD’s to Blu-ray discs. I guess I’m being lazy, but to no doubt save myself a fair bit of time and grief, can anyone point me in the right direction on the following please:

1) After placing edited clips on the timeline, I’m used to then creating a rendered mpg video file, based on which I then create a DVD. In order to create an equivalent High Def product, I guess I’ll be placing AVCHD m2ts files on the timeline. When I come to Create Video File, should I choose: a) AVCHD PAL 1920 or b) Blu-ray MPEG 2 1920 or c) Blu-ray H.264 1920. Basically, I’m not sure what the difference is.

2) As well as producing Blu-ray discs for our home use, as quite a few people don’t yet have Blu-ray players, then of course I may also want to produce a DVD as well as a Blu-ray disc. Do I need to render a separate video file to create a DVD? Indeed, will I need to convert the original High Def files out of the camera into Standard Def mpg files and have to edit the whole thing a second time as a completely separate project? Can’t believe I’ll need to do this, but comments welcome.

So if anyone can help to set me off in the right direction on the above, be very grateful.

Thanks,
Clive

[Ken Berry]

Re (1), with X3 and MF7SE, you have no choice but to create a Video File first in X3 for later insertion into MF 7. But then, as you say, there is the dilemma of what to produce... And between your choices b and c, it is really 6 of one and half a dozen of the other! Since you are starting off with AVCHD, which is nominally Blu-Ray compatible, it would probably be just as well to stick with c, as long as it reflects the same properties of your original video to minimise loss of quality. I nevertheless, with all HD formats, recommend you *don't* use SmartRender in producing the new file. Too many users have had too many problems going that way with both X2 and X3. But try it for yourself to see.

You will have noted that I said that AVCHD is *nominally* compatible with Blu-Ray and that I did not recommend your choice a. That is because recent changes to the international AVCHD standard have meant that camera manufacturers are now producing cameras which can film at higher bitrates (up to 24 Mbps) than are part of the international Blu-Ray standard (max. 18 Mbps, though I have also seen it suggested they can be up to 20 Mbps). So I guess that is an answer to your question about what the differences are.

Converting your AVCHD mpeg-4 into Blu-Ray mpeg-2 1920 will (or should) still give you superb results, but essentially there is no reason why you should need to if your own AVCHD is 18 Mbps or less and thus Blu-Ray compatible.

In MF 7, remember to check to make sure that the box beside 'Do not convert compliant MPEG video' in the Options cogwheel icon in the bottom left of screen, is ticked.

Re (2): Once you have edited and produced your Blu-Ray compatible video, then with the same project in the timeline, all you do is then choose Share > Create Video File > DVD (if your project is an hour or less as the default uses 8000 kbps which will only allow an hour of video on a single layer DVD). If your project is longer, then you use Share > Create Video File > Custom, and open the Options button. In the compression tab, you lower the bitrate according to rules you will already know i.e. approx. 6000 kbps will allow around 90 minutes of video on a single layer DVD and 4000 will allow around two hours. Your original video will be using Dolby, so maintain that as it will allow about 10 minutes more video per disc than if you used the standard LPCM audio.

[CliveM]

Ken, you're a star! Will give that a test over next week and let you know how I get on. Think I can on;y afford one test though - have just discovered blank blu-ray discs are quite a bit dearer than dvd's! Thanks and will post again once I've experimented. Regards, Clive

[Ken Berry]

Yes they are, aren't they, so if you make a mistake, it will be a costly one!! A couple of cheaper alternatives are available, however. First, if you just want to see how things look, then instead of burning an actual Blu-Ray disc, you can instead choose to burn a Blu-Ray folder. This will give you the exact BDMV folder that would appear on your actual disc. But you can then play it back on Blu-Ray compatible software on your computer to check it out before actually committing it to disc.

Then, of course, if your projects are 20 minutes or less long, instead of using an actual Blu-Ray blank disc, you can burn a "hybrid" disc, which in effect is burning a Blu-Ray folder to a standard DVD blank. They can only be played in Blu-Ray players rated to play such discs (most seem to be these days, though not all the earlier ones were. I use my PlayStation 3...) Using the highest quality settings (bitrate max. 18 Mbps) you can only burn about 20 minutes of video to a single layer DVD. But the quality is true Blu-Ray, and VS will even allow you to burn a menu on such discs. Not all software packages will allow that. And it's an enormous difference in cost from a true Blu-Ray disc. To fit more on the disc, you simply reduce the bitrate, but of course take a quality cut by doing so.

Mind you, I have even given up burning hybrid discs these days. I tend to show my edited HD video at home. To do so, I simply finish editing and produce a new video, either HDV or AVCHD. I have my computer and the PS3 networked (hard-wired not wireless unfortunately), with the latter connected to my HDTV via HDMI. I can thus play my HD video on my computer via server software (Windows Media Player can be configured for this but there are other packages), and watch it on my HDTV via the PS3. Or you can just copy your HD video to a suitably large USB stick or USB external hard drive, plug that into your stand-alone Blu-Ray player and play it that way on your HDTV. Works exceedingly well.

As a footnote, I might add that I am not sure that a wireless network will always be fast enough to transmit Blu-Ray quality video the way described above, particularly if your wireless player is a considerable distance from the wireless modem...