High-Def Settings and Motion Menu

[CliveM]

Hello - two questions relating to creating an HD Blu-ray disc in VS X9:

1. To create a rendered HD file (.m2t), choose AVC/H.264. For PAL setting in preferences, default option that comes up in the drop-down is AVC 1920x1080 50i at 18Mbps. There's a 20 Mbps option also available on 50i, or else 50p at 28 Mbps. I want to subsequently burn the file onto a Blu-ray disc to view on an HD TV. Which option likely to be best please?

2. Turning to the disc menu, it seems the number of templates available is much less for BD than for DVD - little odd, but can live with that. What does seems strange though is that once a template has been selected for the main menu (or sub-menu) and go to the "Edit" option, the "Motion Menu" button is greyed out - so if I select a video clip to play, it appears, but sits statically as a still image from the start of the clip. So either there's a good reason for this, or Corel have goofed, or hopefully I'm just being thick and missing a trick somewhere! Anybody got any ideas?

Thanks, Clive

[lata]

Hi Clive

To burn a Bluray Disc we have to use 50i aka 25fps interlaced.
50P is not a standard for Bluray Discs when using 1920 x 1080 frame size.

Your original video I assume is HD mts, m2ts having similar properties to the 1920 x 1080 x 50i should be suitable to create the video file.
Can you give details of your original video file, right click a clip and choose properties what are they?
Share – Same as first clip may be the way to go.

I do not know why the program has provided two similar templates 18mbps and 20mbps when we can customise any template to meet our requirements.

DVD / BD menus
The program provides additional templates, even so more available for DVD ?????
Read this post.
http://forum.corel.com/EN/viewtopic.php ... 17#p331759

Motion Menu,
I have just viewed the gallery and edit tab where motion menu is available and selected by default.
Can you tell us what you have done in accessing the burner module.
I don’t understand why your option is not available.
Are you referring to DVD / Bluray or Avchd dics menus?

[CliveM]

Hi Trevor, thanks for prompt response. Video shot in HD and downloaded into X9 as .m2ts files; properties show as : HDMV Video, H.264, 1920x1080 and 25,000 fps and Upper Field First. Looks like I could go for either of the 50i options on the dropdown, ie either 18 or 20mbps - which would be preferable?
Regarding the DVD/BD menus, I downloaded the additional menus, as per the link you provided - hadn't noticed the orange disc before! I wonder if the problem is I'm selecting the wrong type of media? So under the "Share" in X9, I click on "Disc" and then have three options: DVD, AVCHD and SD Card. I definitely don't want the third and have worked on the basis that "DVD" is for standard def content going onto a DVD, so for Bluray, I need to click on "AVCHD". Maybe I've got this wrong? Note there's no button offered for "Bluray". Certainly, if I select "DVD", I get motion menu available - but this is not the case if I select "AVCHD". So which one do I need to create a Bluray? This is my first time creating a BD in X9 - previously I've been using X3 and Movie Factory, where in the latter, you start off by selecting project type as being Bluray. Thanks Trevor, Clive

[lata]

Hi Clive

First rendering your project via Share, there should be an option for “Same as project Settings”, we can change that for same as first clip, that would use the properties of your video file and probably the best option.

To burn a Bluray Disc we need to purchase a BD-add-on, I think can be accessed from the Help menu??? Although just looked but could not find, also browsed he Corel site, maybe I am looking in the wrong place.
A little concerned that I cannot see it here…………
http://www.videostudiopro.com/en/products/add-ons/

The Add-on is about £6 so does not break the bank.

If you burn a Avchd disc then you are burning a hybrid disc, CD with Hd video but we can only get 30 minutes approx. to one disc.

[Ken Berry]

Just to add, an AVCHD 'hybrid' disc is a mixture of Blu-Ray structure but DVD disc. You end up with exactly the same structure you would get on a Blu-Ray disc but burnt to a DVD blank disc. Importantly, these can only be played on a Blu-Ray player. A standard DVD player will not recognise them. Moreover, given the smaller size of what a DVD can hold, if you want to use the best quality AVCHD (18/20 Mbps), then that explains why you are limited to the amount you can burn to a DVD. Personally, I found that with a menu, the most I could burn to a single layer DVD was around 25 minutes, though if you lower the bitrate, you can burn a bit more.

Another point is that to save space, the Motion Menu option is not available for AVCHD hybrid discs as a motion menu is much larger than a static one.

Getting back to another point, as Trevor noted the international standard for Blu-Ray (and AVCHD) discs limits the video to 1920 x 1080 at 24p, 25p, 30p (actually 29.97p), and interlaced (i) video called 50i and 60i. The only 50p/60p video which is acceptable cannot have a frame format size larger than 1280 x 720 (so that format is usually called 720p).

One thing you never told us in giving the Properties of your video is the bitrate it used. Most modern video cameras use a bitrate much higher than the 18/20 Mbps which is the limit for AVCHD hybrid discs. And Video Studio can accept higher bitrates for proper Blu-Ray discs. But older cameras usually had a maximum bitrate of no more than 18 Mbps, or often 16.8 Mbps. There is no point in trying to improve the quality of video using these lower bitrates by simply setting a higher bitrate for burning a disc. That just uses up more disc space but cannot improve the quality. But that is where using the "Same As Project Settings" option mentioned by Trevor comes in. In Preferences, make sure the box beside "Show message when inserting first video clip into timeline" is ticked (it is by default in X9). Then when you start a new project and insert your first clip, you will get a message asking if you want the Project Properties to match those of the clip. Say yes -- and then your Project Properties will reflect exactly what bitrate your original video has. When you get to Share/Burn and select Same As Project Settings, it also ensures that exactly that same bitrate is used, thus not wasting extra space by artificially (and pointlessly) using a higher bitrate.

[CliveM]

Trevor/Ken - thanks guys. You know what, this video editing lark, every time I think I've gained a decent working knowledge of what to do and how to do it, something else comes along - I'm sure that without the help of this Support Forum over the years, I'd have given up on shooting video a long time ago and reverted to using glove puppets instead!
Anyway, have just parted with $7.99 (oh for the days when sterling was worth more) and now have "BluRay" as an option under "Share"/"Disc" and motion menu back in play when choose that option. Have just started re-rendering the project using "Use Fist Clip" properties, so once that's cooked, will have a go at using it to create a BD.
Thanks again fellas, your help very much appreciated. Cheers, Clive