does it matter if I save my 50p footage as upper field first

[alexleominster]

My camcorder records 50fps at 1080p (which I want for slowing motion) .I'm using vs3 and the best I can save is,,
Mt2S
25fps
1080
but I can only choose uper or lower frame first...not frame based.

I can choose frame based in mpeg4HD but its 30fps...

Any Ideas what I should be saving as?
Thanks
Alex

[Ken Berry]

I continued to press Corel on this, even though I don't have a camcorder which produces 50/60p video clips. At last, I got an answer which was straight to the point. X4 can accept 1080p clips at 50/60p for editing. However, it cannot output the edited video at 1080p at 50/60p. The most it can produce is 1280 x 720p at 50/60p.

The reason for this is that it is limited to the international AVCHD standard which currently specifies that the maximum frame format for progressive scan 50/60p videos is 1280 x 720p. You can check the international standard Specifications in Wikipedia, and you will be able to confirm this: see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AVCHD#1080p

Wikipedia also provides the following information about AVCHD in general and 1080p in particular: "In 2010, Panasonic introduced a new lineup of consumer AVCHD camcorders (HDC-HS700, HDC-TM700, HDC-SD700, HDC-HS600, HDC-SD600) with 1080-line 50p/60p progressive-scan mode (frame rate depending on region). While this mode is not compliant with current AVCHD specification, it uses the same compression schemes for video and audio, the same container files and the same folder structure as AVCHD-compliant recordings. Panasonic advised that not all players that support AVCHD playback could play 1080-line 50p/60p video."

In other words, the camcorder manufacturers have gotten ahead of the internationally agreed standards. And I assume Corel and other software manufacturers will have some justification in arguing that until there is some international agreement on a new standard, it will be difficult for them to adjust their software. A rather legalistic argument, I admit (but then I am a lawyer myself! ), particularly since the reality of 50/60 1080p camcorders is already with us. However it is a situation not dissimilar to the very arrival of AVCHD as a format. It was largely developed, separately, by Panasonic and Sony and each tweaked the format in specific ways, and used slightly different codecs. It was impossible for the software manufacturers to keep up, and indeed other camera makers have added their own twists to the saga. The last change to the international AVCHD standard was to raise the maximum allowable bitrate to 24 Mbps, although even there things are not fixed since the maximum allowable bitrate on an AVCHD hybrid disc is only 18 Mbps, the old standard maximum! But the good news is that the standard is regularly monitored and can apparently be changed fairly quickly. Software manufacturers will then ignore the new standard at their peril.

In the meantime, all I can suggest is that owners of 50/60p camcorders let their feelings be known to Corel direct. Just to remind you, this is a user-to-user Board with only limited Corel intervention.
ideo File, your new template should be there at the bottom of the drop down menu.

If you are able to use true 1280 x 720p video (i.e. full progressive 50 fps (PAL) or 60 fps (NTSC)), you can make a template for it in both X3 and X4 as follows:

1. Go to Settings > Make Movie Template Manager and select "MPEG Transport Stream (.m2t) as the format, and give it a name. Then click OK.

2. In the new dialogue box which appears, go to the Compression tab. Change the 'Video Format' to 'H.264 Video'. That is your mpeg-4, of course. Assign a bitrate below 20000. I use 18000. Tick the AVCHD box.

3. Go to the General tab. In the 'Frame Rate' box, select 50 (or 60/59.94 if you are in an NTSC country).

4. You will notice that the 'Frame Size' then defaults to 1280 x 720. You cannot change that as that is the only currently agreed international standard frame size for full progressive video -- despite the fact that more and more camcorders are appearing which film true progessive video at 1920 x 1080p.

5. Click OK then Close, to get out of the dialogue boxes. Next time you go to Share > Create Video File, your new template should be there at the bottom of the drop down menu.

If you only want to do this for one burn, then simply select Share > Create Video File > Custom, then select 'MPEG Transport Stream (.m2t)', and proceed as outlined above.