avchd playback

[Terfyn]

In that case they have updated the 920 version from the 900, the option to set 50P seems to be part of your on screen menu, record mode.
I see HA1920, HG1920, HX1920, HE1920 and iFrames.

PH was introduced in the post 700-900 range of Panasonic cameras so the 920 and, in my case the 750 - 850 include PH above HA in quality. The 1080/50p is still the top quality.

[lata]

Hi Ken

5 /
Does this mean that I will have probs playing back the 1080/50p video that was test recorded onto the SDHC card and in now in a VS project ?

(To burn a disc you will have to render the project to 25fps.)

Ken I mentioned in an earlier post that I had problems in smooth playback using 50P, but that may be my DVD Player, maybe the USB device.
You should try playing your video files via usb to see if they play ok. You can save them to the usb before editing in VS,
If you have problems playing 50P then rendering your project to Share Create Video File AVCHD will use 25 fps, (aka 50i) try playing those .

Otherwise do a new test recording in HA 1920 x 1080.

One thing to note, if I record to 25fps, then record to 50P onto the same card the files are saved to the same stream folder, when you save to the pc and insert to VS they all import, you cannot see any difference until you view the properties. So you could have a mix of 25fps and 50P in the same project. Its not a big problem so don’t worry about it, just be aware it can happen.

So you can happily record to 25fps on an existing card, importing the last recorded files.

[Ken Veal]

So, if I import the new files into VS with the new rec mode settings via the PC hard drive,from the same card, everything on that card will show up and the only option is to delete unwanted files when they are in the project.This will change when I format the card and start afresh as regards files of different rec modes, but I assume the same issue applies even when all the files have the same properties when taken from the card but they are wanted in a different project and they cannot be selected and sorted before in VS

[BrianCee]

Once you have transferred the Video clips from the SD card to you computer they can be treated EXACTLY the same as you used to treat your clips when they originated from tape. Once they are on your computer they are just the same as any other computer file.

when they are on your hard drive you can :-

MOVE them to any other folder on your HDD and create a thumbnail in any number of library panes (or library folders as it appears Corel are now calling them)

COPY them to any other folder on your HDD and create a thumbnail in any number of library panes

RENAME any of them to make finding them easier - including renaming the thumbnail in the library pane (folder) - and if you have made a copy of the video file you can give that a different name to the original

DELETE any you no longer need

EDIT them exactly as you did your tape based videos

EXTRACT sections from any video file and save the extraction as a new video clip.

RENDER a new video from the compilation and editing of numerous video files etc.

[lata]

Hi Ken

First all recordings are in chronological order, so the new test recordings will be at the end of the list.

Importing files from your cameras SD card.
Two options

1 / Use Windows Explorer to copy and paste the clips to your PC, then insert to VS.
You can select which files to copy and paste, generally you would do all, but if you know you have a mix of recordings then you can copy some to one folder and more to another folder. I generally copy all giving the name a description and maybe card id?

You are best viewing the SD card in Detail view, then you will be able to identify the recording date.
I see this, notice the “date modified” column showing the record date.

2 / You can use Video Studio to import the files from the SD card, this is a similar procedure for importing DVD Discs

a / right click timeline “Import Digital Media”
b / this opens a window Select Import Media Source, find the SD card Stream folder, place a Tick in the Stream folder, click ok
c / the following window should show the folder location, sometimes it may display other locations, select the one you need, then press start.
d / Now you should see a window showing the video files as thumbnails, may take a while to generate the thumbnail view.
e / select the clips you require. (one of the icons top right is "select All" )

The imported clips will have names showing the recorded date and time similar to :- 140306_220312_import.MTS


So yes they can be sorted before using in VS, but I would opt to import all to a dedicated folder, create a new folder for each card.
Then insert what you need to use in your VS project/s

[Davidk]

An interesting thread, covers lots of ground. The one I'm going to address is the issue of filetype recognition during playback - Brian Trevor and others have all mentioned changing the filetype from say mts to mpg. I came across an explanation for that in a video mag, and copy it here FYI (text in blue).


It is also worth noting that not all stand-alone devices (DVD players, television sets etc.) support all codecs/containers, and not equally.
What is important to remember is that, on a computer (be it a Windows PC, or a Mac) appropriate codecs can be installed as required, and processing speed is a non-issue! As in - even if the video playback is choppy beyond reason - this is still the user's problem. It's up to them to lower the quality (or find a lower-quality file), or upgrade their machine.

But! Not so with stand-alone players! These devices usually can't be upgraded, and certainly their hardware can NOT be refreshed, except by buying an entirely new unit. They don't have the kind of structure a PC does. Instead, all decoding is done in specialized chips that do nothing else. And as it is, the more calculation-intense an operation is, the more advanced a chip it requires - and the more pricey it becomes. In the interest of keeping design simple and prices competetive, corners are cut. Enough to say that way back in 2006 you would be hard-pressed to find a device that supports even a hint of h.264 - it was too intensive to process back then, and everything was DVD really (h.262).

As such, support for many options within the codecs is usually dropped. Many older codecs are also dropped (to simplify things). It's a closed environment that nobody except the maker can modify. And even though the companies try hard to deliver robust devices, there will always be gaps - by necessity.

And even today, with the widespread adoption of h.264 as a standard -- h.264 still has many options that have not been explored by device manufacturers. Why? Simple - they provide little gain in image quality, and require a lot of processing power in exchange. Of course, these little tricks that h.264 can do are the little details that set the mark between "great" and "awesome" video quality.

But the fact is that especially when delivering to stand-alone playback devices, it is of utmost importance to first and foremost keep the final device in mind when compressing, and compress for it. Finding out the exact specs can be an issue (esp. with the cheaper models) -- manufacturers all tend to boast support for many codecs, but when they're up against the wall about exactly which options and variations they support, they fall silent for some reason. A file encoded in h.264 that plays on one device may or MAY NOT play on another. And that's where the problem is.

I've personally had experience of this (a large LCD HD display would not play an X6 rendered movie from a USB stick inserted into an auxiliary port. It should have played - the manual declared the device supported that type. But no, the specific variant I had was not). And when I queried the manufacturer why, the foregoing was basically the answer supplied.

So my only option was to re-render and change the project properties. It took a few cycles to jag - meaning, successful wild *** guess at properties which would play, not just changing the filetype - a result. And I suggest that is going to be what you will have to do too.

Davidk

[BrianCee]

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