Creating 1440 x 1080 mpeg2 video file in X4

[maxfrost01]

Hi,

I'm struggling to create a 1440 x 1080 mpeg 2 video file with a variable data rate.

The original HD footage is 1440 x 1080 but I can't find this option when I try to create a video file from my project. I am sure that I had many more options when rendering a video file in X2.

If I try using Create Video File/Same as Project Settings I can only get a 720 x 576 file.
If I try using Create Video File/Same as First Video Clip it looks like it's doing the job but I think I'm getting a file with a fixed data rate of 25,000 kbps which is too much for playback on my Western Digital TV gizmo (whereas a variable data rate of 25,000 kbps would play okay).
If I try Create Video File/Custom I can only get what I want by switching from mpeg2 to MPEG Transport-Stream Files (whatever they may be) but when I try playback on my Western Digital TV player I get the message "no audio channel" although the image is very good.

So how can I get a Video File the same as my original footage but with a variable data rate?

Help!!

[maxfrost01]

I've just saved a copy of my project as an X2 file then gone to 'Create Video File/Custom/Compression' where the drop down menu gives me an MPEG2 option which does not appear in X4. Once I've selected this option I can then click on the General tab and select a 1440 x 1080 frame size which is (again) not available in X4.

This seems to play okay on the WDTV.

So I guess I have a workaround but surely there must be a way to do this in X4?

[Ron P.]

Going the Custom route and selecting M2TS (which are MPEG-2 video files, Transport Stream). The default is H.264, but can be changed to MPEG-2. With MPEG-2 you can set the bitrate which must be Variable, up to 25000. The H.264 will only allow up to 18000, and you select either AVCHD or AVREC. Below all that is the Audio settings. What audio compression settings are you seeing and using? The default is Dolby Digital Audio 2/0(L,R). You should have the options of Dolby or LPCM. You might try using the LPCM to see if you get audio.

You might also check the Data Track setting on the General tab, just to make sure it somehow didn't get changed to Video Only.

Edited
Here's where you change the settings to MPEG-2.

[maxfrost01]

Hi, Ron

Many thanks for your quick response.
I think the route you suggest is one of the routes I tried (the one where I don't get the audio). This file shows on my computer as an AVCHD file type whereas when I work in X2 I am creating an MPEG-2 file. I suspect the problem I have with an AVCHD file may be very simple - namely that my several-years-old WDTV media player does not support that file type.
Which is why all I want to do is create the same file type that I was able to create in X2 - namely an MPEG-2 files that calls itself and MPEG-2 file and then plays nicely on my TV using my WDTV media player.

But can that be done?

[Ken Berry]

Ron has already showed you it can be done. On that image he posted, and as he explained, you can choose either H.264 as the codec, which produces AVCHD mpeg-4, or else you choose mpeg-2 which is what you are after. If you choose that, it has nothing to do with AVCHD, and the AVCHD option is grayed out...

[maxfrost01]

Ken, you say that but I'm looking at the file type right now and it says 'AVCHD video' and, yes, I did select the mpeg2 drop down menu as per Ron's graphic! The file extension is .m2t

[Ron P.]

I haven't tried this but it works with VOB files... Have you tried just renaming the extension from M2T to MPG? Here's why I suggest trying.
http://www.fileinfo.com/extension/m2t

High-definition video recording format used by many HD camcorders; commonly referred to as "HDV;" uses MPEG-2 compression to store HD video data on DV or MiniDV tapes; supports resolutions of 720p and 1080i.

Also I've read on other forums, where this was tried and worked, when you're playing the video using a software player, like WMP to view them.

[Ken Berry]

The two AVCHD extensions (apart from .mpg) are .mts and .m2ts. High def mpeg-2 uses the .m2t extension (and also in some circumstances .mpg). So if you have a file with .m2t as the extension, you have mpeg-2 regardless of what its heading might say... Have a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDV and down at the specifications chart at the bottom.

I use .m2t video all the time, although mine is international standard HDV, whereas that which is produced in VS as described above uses a variable bitrate which you can set below 20 Mbps. Standard HDV uses a constant bitrate fixed at 25 Mbps.

I just ran a test using the workflow described above. I left the bitrate alone at 25 Mbps, but you will note that it is variable, not constant, and can be lowered if you wish. But look at this image and you will see it is clearly described as mpeg-2 with HD properties.

[maxfrost01]

Hi, Ron/Ken

Success! I now have a video file rendered in X4 that will play on my WDTV media player. Just in case others have similar issues here is what I tried and what worked.

Ron - I tried renaming the file by changing the extension to .mpg. This immediately changes the file type (shown in Windows Explorer) from AVCHD to Movie Clip (the same as any other .mpg file). Looked promising, but when I tried to play through my WDTV media player I get the "No Audio Channel" message and the result is a high quality video with no sound.

Ken - I compared the properties of the file I had rendered with the properties you have shown on the test (see earlier posting) and they are identical with the exception of Audio Type where you have Dolby and I had LPCM. I rendered a new file with Dolby and 'Bingo' I have a file that plays on the WDTV and has sound. Why changing to Dolby should make the difference I do not know, but it apparently does.

Out of interest, I looked at the properties of the mpeg file I had rendered using X2 (and which worked on my WDTV) and the audio type is 'MPEG Audio Layer 2 Files'.

If you have any insight as to why changing the audio type might be affecting playability of the file then please share with me!

Thanks, as ever, to you two and to the others that support this forum.
You are what keeps me with VS.