Blu-Ray Burner Not Needed

[boxy]

Finally broke down and bought a plasma TV, Panasonic 42" G25. When I burn an AVCHD hybrid disc on a standard DVD disc and play it on this new TV... It is magnificent!

Maybe a blu-ray burner will be purchased down the line but for right now, I am completely satisfied! By the way, I am getting a lot more than 20 minutes of video at 15000 kbs on a disc, too. I have a 35-minute band performance on one and looking at the underside of the disc I can see it is maybe 2/3 to 3/4 full.

[Ken Berry]

Glad it works to your satisfaction.

That 20 minute business, by the way, only applies if you are using the highest bitrate permissible for an AVCHD hybrid disc, which is 18 Mbps. Lowering the bitrate allows more video to be burnt to disc. I have even gotten around 56 min of video on a hybrid disc using an average bitrate of around 12 Mbps, but I didn't really like the quality. It was better than SD, yes, but nothing like the original HD from the camcorder. So I figured that since I paid only around 30 cents for a DVD, and since most of my projects were under 20 minutes, I would go for the highest quality.

But of course, if your HD original video uses a lower bitrate, then of course use that on the hybrid disc. You will not get any better quality by upping the bitrate in that case.

[Jerry S]

So you guys are saying that I can create a video file from X3 or X4 in avchd format, then burn onto a regular dvd and play it in a dvd player with HD quality? Would that be the procedure?

[Ken Berry]

Not quite -- those discs can only be played on a Blu-Ray player rated to play such hybrid discs. So I am assuming that Boxy has a Blu-Ray player though not a Blu-Ray burner at the moment. (They can be burned with an ordinary DVD burner.) I, for instance, use my PlayStation 3 which, apart from its gaming, is an excellent Blu-Ray player.

But if you have a Blu-Ray player, hybric discs are a much cheaper alternative to actual Blu-Ray discs, even if they hold only limited quantities of video.

[Jerry S]

Thanks for the explanation Ken. I'm new to this high-def stuff.

[boxy]

Yes, burn it on standard DVD disc in a standard burner. Then play back in blu-ray player.

I'm using VS X2 Pro and render the file at 16,000, then burn AVCHD at 16,000. Very impressed and pleased!

[teknisyan]

I'm glad that you're liking it.

[boxy]

Not sure if this is some sort of record but I was able to burn a 54 minute performance in AVCHD on one DVD hybrid! It barely fit but it's all there.

Seems like my only problem now is the lack of menu options. Very little when compared to standard disc burning.

Of course, if I had used any sort of menu on this specific disc the aforementioned video would not have fit.

[Trevor Andrew]

The bit rate is the main determining factor for file size.
VS uses 15000kbps as its default size, this produces a file at approx 100 Mb per minute.
Or 18000kbps for full HD at 133Mb per minute (approx)

For standard video using a bit rate of 8000kbps will practically fill a 4.3 Gb disc, leaving a bit over for the menu.

What bit rate did the program use to create the final file?
Did you use a Duel Layer disc?

[boxy]

What bit rate did the program use to create the final file?
Did you use a Duel Layer disc?

The bit rate was 16,000 for the file and I customized it to 16,000 for burning as well but it may have been 15,000.

Single-sided disc! 4.7 GB. That's why I was amazed it fit!

I think the file was 5,000+ but I thought I'd give it a try and throw it in the save as AVCHD and see what happens. Opened it up and it was sitting at 4.6 GB. Maybe I left it like that, the 15,000 bit rate. It gave me the "There may not be enough room on the disc" prompt when I clicked BURN but I've had that warning before and the content has fit so I gave it a try.

Maybe because the bit rate is "Variable" is why it all fit. Also it should be noted that the original files from the camera are Max. 17,000 so making the bit rate any higher would not improve the quality, correct?

[Ken Berry]

Correct. And because the bitrate is variable with AVCHD, the 15000 you used is only the *maximum* bitrate. The average bitrate was probably a good deal lower -- 12,000 or below that. Moreover, if there was not much fast action in the video, the bitrate used is also kept lower as higher bitrates are not necessary. And the lower the average bitrate, the more video you can fit on a disc. As I noted way above, I once fit about 57 minutes on a single layer DVD, but I was not particularly pleased by the resulting quality. So now I stick to the highest quality settings and happily accept less video fitting on a DVD... My projects in any case are usually 20 minutes or less. Don't want to bore the audience!!

[boxy]

Okay, I know I'm beating a dead horse here but I just uploaded this 50 minute file and it fit. Attached is the file properties and what the editor looked like after the burned disc was ejected.

The original footage was from an HV30 at 25,000 kbs. Not sure what else I can add....

Would it look better burned to a blu-ray disc at 25,000 kbs? Maybe. Probably a slight bit. For now, though, I am doing quite well with this method of viewing homemade HD video on my HD TV via blu-ray player.

[less2008]

-
Weird, my previous post vanished??

OK, the short version: How are you making a hybrid disk?

Do you create an AVCHD file first then copy it to a standard DVD?
Is it something done in Moviefactory 7?

Not to sound too dense, but can you walk me through the process (Project settings, when or how a file is created, when or how to get the video to a standard DVD with Blu-ray format)?

I have some HD (720+) clips that I think would look better in a Blu-ray environment.

Thanks

[less2008]

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Follow on from above...
When in MF 7, and I try to burn a file (Created from a project using file output as AVCHD) to disk with a std DVD+R a VS warning window says "DVD+R" not supported, if I load a DVD-R, I get the same message but the DVD-R not supported.

[Trevor Andrew]

Hi less2008

Like you I have yet to progress into the world of HD, I do however have some HD clips recorded by my Panasonic TZ9. These are 1280 x 720 mov files.
I have kept the HD format for internet use but not used for AVCHD hybrid discs basically cos I do not have a Bluray Player.

I assume you own a Bluray player?

The hybrid disc uses Avchd video burned to a standard DVD.

Using X3 you have to complete your project by Share Create Video File-Avchd 1440 x 1080.
This creates your avchd video file.
From DVD Movie Factory 7SE. from the first page I see three options, Cd, DVD, and Bluray.
Below this I see a box “More Formats”, this allowed me to select “Avchd.”
(I assume you may have selected the Bluray option)

Next, from the second window I add my Avchd video file.

Under the “options cogwheel “ I see the Mpeg properties for conversion.
These should be the same as your avchd file. However if Do not convert Compliant Mpeg files is selected, then there will be no further conversion of your video.

Set the navigation controls for your menu.
Close the window

Create your menu and burn the disc to a standard DVD.