AVCHD video exports as a laggy, out of sync movie

[Arcus]

Hello. I am having problems exporting my AVCHD file to my hard drive. The original file works fine in the preview window,
but then exports as a very jerky video. The program I am using is VSX4 Ultimate, and there are no more updates available.

The video I am trying to export came from a camcorder SD card and has these properties:
File format: NTSC HDMV
Video Type: H.264 Video
Attributes: 24 bits, 1920 x 1080, 16:9
Data Rate: Variable bit rate (Max 26000 kbps)
Audio type: Dolby Digital Audio
Audio Bit rate: 256 kbps

Here are the project properties:
NTSC drop frame (29.97 fps)
MPEG files
24 bits, 720 x 480, 29.97 fps
Upper Field First
(DVD-NTSC), 16:9
Video data rate: Variable (Max. 8000 kbps)
LPCM Audio, 48000 Hz, Stereo

My goal is to export the video to my computer and have it look as good as it does in the preview. I hope there will be an easy solution.

[Trevor Andrew]

Hi
and welcome to the forums
First what are you intending to create . You mention simply saving the file to the hard drive but are you intending to burn a disc? a Standard DVD or a Bluray HD DVD?

After importing the video to the timeline, I assume you have no problems in playing the video within the project.
After editing are you creating a new video file by using Share Create Video File---- you have a choice of templates.
If Same as First Video Clip is available then the new file will be created using the original video files properties.
So what did you choose.
Can you give the properties of the new video file.
A new thumbnail will be placed in the library, right click and select properties……

[teknisyan]

Does the same thing happens when you create a video using SHARE > CREATE VIDEO FILE > AVCHD > AVCHD (1920 x 1080P)?

[Ken Berry]

Looing at your bitrate (max 26 Mbps), I would guess that your camcorder is a recent model that films in full 60 frames per second progressive video. VS X4 unfortunately cannot handle video with either that bitrate or true progessive AVCHD which has a frame size bigger than 1280 x 720. Those cameras were only starting to emerge when X4 was developed. I pressed Corel on the issue during the beta testing process, but they didn't pursue it. We can thus only hope it will be included in the next version of the product.

You can try outputting as AVCHD max 24 Mbps (X4's current limit) and 29.97 (say 30) frames per second, but that will mean X4 is throwing away one frame in two, so that could mean slightly jerky video particularly in fast moving scenes. Or you could gauge the end quality at 1280 x 720 at 60 fps, which would still be pretty good. (Remember that a lot of high def TV in the US is broadcast in that format.)

You can also produce 60 fps video at 1920 x 1080 in X4, but it would be Custom and using AVI as the base format, then one of the avi codecs customised to 1920 x 1080 at 60 fps. But this video is probably limited to playback on a computer since it cannot be burned as such to a Blu-Ray disc or AVCHD hyrbid disc on a DVD blank; and is unlikely to be read directly by a HDTV which accepts video on, say, a USB stick drive or external hard drive.

[Arcus]

Thank you for the responses.

Unfortunately, the camcorder I use does film 60 frames per second progressive, so I guess I will be waiting for it to be supported in a future version.
I would still like to be able to make the best videos possible with X4. The videos that I save will eventually go onto YouTube, so I do not need to worry about making DVDs.

I should point out that I did not do any actual editing yet. I simply dragged in a short video, played it in the preview, and then exported it.
I created video files using several different templates. The data I list below comes from the new video files.

Same as Project Settings - no lag, but the quality of the video is very poor
MPEG-2 Video, Upper Field First
270 frames
24 bits, 720 x 480, 16:9
29.970 frames / sec
Variable bit rate (Max. 8000 kbps)

Same as First Clip - The video quality looks beautiful, but the video lags far behind the audio.
H.264 Video
538 frames
24 bits, 1920 x 1080, 16:9
59.940 frames / sec
Variable bit rate (Max. 26000 kbps)

MPEG Optimizer - identical to the "Same as First Clip" setting

AVCHD (1920 x 1080P) - This is the best one so far without the lag, but the panning from the camcorder makes me dizzy.
H.264 Video
270 frames
24 bits, 1920 x 1080, 16:9
29.970 frames / sec
Variable bit rate (Max. 18000 kbps)

MPEG-4 HD - This looks like the previous one (AVCHD). It looks unpleasant in full screen when it pans.
H.264 Main Profile Video
270 frames
24 bits, 1920 x 1080
30 frames / sec
15000 kbps

I would like to try the settings that Ken suggested, but I am not sure how. AVCHD is not one of the choices when I save as custom.
Also, my options when I save as custom seem to be very limited, such as a max of 8264 kbps and a fixed frame size of 720 x 480.