Have you gotten the Add function in the Make Template feature work for MOV files? I get an error message if I try.
FWIW, I too get an error message ('File Format Mismatch') when I try to use a .mov file in the Add function. In fact, the .mov files only show up in the Path window when I select 'All Files". If I select 'All formats', VS does not even list .mov files.
As Trevor has said, I find that Add works best with HD Transport Stream mpeg-2/AVCHD files which are above the VS norms when it comes to either bitrate or 50/60 P frame rate.
And again FWIW, I almost never alter the Quality slider up from its 70% default since I have never noticed any real difference in the final quality when raised higher. I take Trevor's point about fast computers these days, though, and perhaps should try things again, now that I am using an i7. But in the bad old days, some people even found that their less powerful computers keeled over when setting that slider to 100%. Reducing it to, say, 90 or 95% seemed to cure most of them, though...
That's the same error message I get when I try to Add a MOV or MP4 file. I don't see why VS can't be updated to do it. I haven't worked with Transport Stream files yet, but it's good to know it will work if it's needed.
The Quality slider on the Quicktime template does nothing for me. Even on 100% the output is poor. During the next week, I'm going to try to upload a small MOV file and my output and maybe someone can take my MOV file and try it with the same template settings to see if their output is better than mine. Right now, I'm circumventing the issue by converted my MOVs to MP4, which works out a lot better for me (see my next post).
Well, I still haven't figured out exactly how and when SR works. It's a puzzle. I wish Corel would spell it out.
It's strange. I can connect two MOV-converted-to-friendly-MP4 format clips with a single transition. Then I output to Same As First Clip (SAFC) with SR on. It flies through the first clip, then slows down as it renders the transition and second clip. OK, then I output to SAFC again but this time it renders the ENTIRE clip from scratch. Where is SMART render?? Go figure! Then I output to SAFC again and it flies through the entire clip in 2 seconds. Subsequent outputs using SAFC all go just as fast. It seems that once the entire clip has been rendered in its entirety, no more rendering can be done, and there is just straight-forward copying. So, SR is kind of a mystery.
I also think that SR does not create any temporary files, like I believe that SR does in other programs like Final Cut Pro. I say this because I couldn't find any. But more directly, if I take a single MOV clip and output it to a MOV it takes time to render. If I immediately repeat the render, it outputs in less than a second. SR at work! So where's the SR file? It's the previous output file, I believe. Because if I delete the output file created from the first (slow) render (from the hard drive and the thumbnail in VS), then output again, it takes the original amount of time to render, instead of less than a second.
If I join two of the same resolution clips from the same camera with a simple transition, sometimes it just renders the transition and sometimes it has to render the transition AND the entire second clip. And as I've just discussed, subsequent renders often result in the entire project having to be rendered before SR doesn't render subsequent outputs to the same format anymore. Of course, if you make an edit, then anything goes. Sometimes you are lucky and SR renders only the changes, like it is advertised to do, but usually it needs to render some part or all of one or more clips, too. I've tried so many different things that I don't remember all the circumstances, but again you are just at the mercy of SR.
I still believe that friendly clips are the best to use. I'm guessing that the preset outputs were designed using friendly clips and will result in the best quality output?
Right now, I have figured out how to convert all my clips except two into friendly format. My conversion format of choice for MOV is MP4. I erred when I said in my last post that my Nikon 1920 x 1080 29.97 fps clips were not friendly when converted to MP4. They are. I made the mistake of accidentally testing a clip I had converted using MP4box instead of QT Pro. I thought it weird that the converted 1280 x 720 clips worked but that they 1920 x 1080 clips didn't so I rechecked it.
The one size I can't convert to friendly MP4 is 1440 x 1080 from my camcorder, which is really 1920 x 1080 when accounting for the non-square pixels. I can't get that into a friendly format, so I will try to avoid using that setting.
If you don't have QT Pro, and want me to convert a few clips of your Canon MOV clips to MP4 for you to experiment with, upload them and I will I will upload the converted files back. It would be best to keep them at about 20-30 MB or so because my upload speeds are slooowww.
I'm going to ask in a new post if anyone knows of program (preferably free) that can batch convert MOV files into standardized MP4 like QT Pro does.
Sorry for any delay in replying, Converting my Canon mov H264 video to a more friendly variety I choose mts files as this was heading in the right direction of creating a DVD.
I tried some options using AVS converter but were unable to set H264, the software only provided templates with no means to tweak.
I reverted to video studio using these settings which are typical properties from a Panasonic 700 series camcorder.
MPEG Transport-Stream Files
24 bits, 1920 x 1080, 25 fps
Upper Field First
(HDMV-PAL), 16:9
H.264 Video
Video data rate: Variable (Max. 16800 kbps)
Audio data rate: 256 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio, 48 KHz, 2/0(L,R)
The resultant file was reduced in size from 170Mb to 60 Mb
I would class these types as being friendly, much easier to play in the timeline, can use same as first clip, add to the templates manager and set for batch convert. Will burn to Bluray without further conversions.
New forum for PSP and VS users, register if you need help
Thanks for giving the template settings you use for your Canon clips. I tried them and they give a great output. I noticed that the bitrate is capped at 20Mbps, which is only slightly below my 21.6 Mbps bitrate but I can't see a difference in the output file.
With AVS Video Converter you can choose to output "To Blu-ray" and convert to m2ts files having H.264 compression and 24000 kpbs bitrate. There's no tweaking of the output settings possible. You also get all the other files needed to create a Blu-ray disk. The only problem is, it looks like you have to convert one file at a time. If you put more than one input file into the list, you don't get seperate output files. All the input files are processed into one output file. Also, the output file is larger than the input. It went from 38MB to 48MB.
Thanks again, pretty soon I'll actually be able to start using my clips and make a video.
