Hi Steve,

You should expect the same quality as the original. Since essentially the m2ts file wasn't rendered into something else. I have made AVCHD discs and have been pleased with the results. So initially I am not certain of what the problem is that you are experiencing.

Did this happen just once? Have you been able to repeat it? Is it visible when you play it back on your PC?

AVCHD and BLU-Ray are two methods. Some TV's accept memory cards for playback of HD content. My PC is hooked up to my Living Room TV, so it serves as the player. And some members here use a WD Media player device for playing back HD content .

I am sure some other members may have some ideas as well.

Kevin
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Hi,

I'm assuming your original footage was shot in 1920x1080? What mode are you shooting in? The 116 shoots in 24mbps in it's highest mode. However, 24mbps is not compatible with AVCHD DVD - PD8 would have to downscale the footage to 17mbps, hence the reduction in quality. You can only burn 24mbps footage to blu-ray.

If you don't have a blu-ray burner I'd recommend you shoot at 17mbps to avoid PD8 downscaling your work.

You also need to goto the directors chair in the top left of the screen and select edit->preferences->produce and ensure the 'allow svrt...' option is ticked, ignore the warning message.

Cheers,

Andrew

Alienware Aurora ALX R4 - Intel i7-4820 4.2 GHz - 32GB DDR3 RAM - Crucial 512GB SSD - 1TB Seagate HDD - 3TB WD Green HDD - 4TB WD Green HDD - MSI NVIDIA GTX 1070 8GB

Sony HDR-PJ810 and HDR-PJ530

Thank you for prompt responses

I shoot in HDFH which I think is 17M.

Based on first response, I tried a little experiment, and burnt an AVCHD disk of a clip that displeased me, produced in a number of different formats inc the original m2ts file unprocessed.

When the disk is played back there is no noticeable difference between the unprocessed version and any of the AVC edited/processed versions of the clip.

However they are all noticeably less sharp a= than when viewing directly from the camcorder but it seem that the quality drop is in the burning/playback phase rather than anything PD8 does to it. Maybe that is to be expected ?

Could the media be a factor (memorex DVD ) ? PS3 playback settings ?

Thanks again

The only thing I can suggest then is that when producing in the 'Produce' module, ensure SVRT is highlighted and not hardware encoding. Following your initial method and using SVRT should give you the result you require.

Cheers

Andrew Alienware Aurora ALX R4 - Intel i7-4820 4.2 GHz - 32GB DDR3 RAM - Crucial 512GB SSD - 1TB Seagate HDD - 3TB WD Green HDD - 4TB WD Green HDD - MSI NVIDIA GTX 1070 8GB

Sony HDR-PJ810 and HDR-PJ530

Andrew wrote:

The only thing I can suggest then is that when producing in the 'Produce' module, ensure SVRT is highlighted and not hardware encoding. Following your initial method and using SVRT should give you the result you require.

I agree with Andrew, the key element is that PD8 in NOT rendering the m2ts clips when creating the AVCHD disc. PD8 is simply formatting the disc to be playable, and untouched clips to the disc.

Was the SVRT box checked when you went to the PRODUCE for the specific file type you selected? That would be an indication that rendering was not occurring.

Kevin
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Hi,

It's also worth mentioning that you don't have to use the 'Produce' module at all. The 'Produce' module is used mostly for pre-producing footage to be imported onto the timeline at a later date, or for producing a project to a file to be viewed on your PC whenever you want.

If all you want to do is create a disc then:

1. Complete your editing in the 'Edit' module, with your raw footage on the timeline;
2. Open 'Create Disc';
3. Select what menu you require, if any;
4. Select AVCHD with 1920x1080 and burn.

SVRT will work automatically as the settings in part 4 match your footage exactly. The footage on the disc will be as good as that originally shot.

Remember to tick the 'allow SVRT...' box that I mentioned earlier.

Cheers,

Andrew Alienware Aurora ALX R4 - Intel i7-4820 4.2 GHz - 32GB DDR3 RAM - Crucial 512GB SSD - 1TB Seagate HDD - 3TB WD Green HDD - 4TB WD Green HDD - MSI NVIDIA GTX 1070 8GB

Sony HDR-PJ810 and HDR-PJ530

Hi everybody!

I write from Italy. I own PowerDirector 8 Ultra (8.00.3022) and a Panasonic HDC-SD60 PAL video camera. My computer has Windows Seven (Intel Core 2 Duo Quad CPU Q8200 2.33 Ghz, 2Gb RAM).

I have the same problem, when I try to create an AVCHD disk using the AVCHD 1920x1080 profile in Create menu, I always obtain a less quality file, full of artifacts. I followed your previous suggestions, but nothing changed.

I have to say that I can't check the SVRT box in Produce menu, it's always greyed. I also tried to enable it in the preference/produce menù checking the H.264 AVC box, but nothing changed again.

Please, I really need to solve the problem, I like PowerDirector really much, but I really need a full quality when I create AVCHD disk.

Here follows two links to my files:

http://rapidshare.com/files/412553159/ORIGINAL.MTS
this is an original file from my camera.

http://rapidshare.com/files/412554345/00000.m2ts
this is the rendered file

Many thanks in advance!

Hi,

Sorry but SVRT is currently only compatible with certain Sony and Canon cameras. Considerable effort has gone into collecting footage from Panasonic cameras and so we are hopeful that Panasonics will also become compatible.

Cheers,

Andrew Alienware Aurora ALX R4 - Intel i7-4820 4.2 GHz - 32GB DDR3 RAM - Crucial 512GB SSD - 1TB Seagate HDD - 3TB WD Green HDD - 4TB WD Green HDD - MSI NVIDIA GTX 1070 8GB

Sony HDR-PJ810 and HDR-PJ530

Thank you for the quick answer!

Please, can you tell me how to create a personal profile, maybe changing some parameters to improve the rendering quality?

Maybe another kind of file, I own a multimedia player...

Thanks!

Thanks Andrew.
The hint on SVRT certainly speeds up the Produce phase dramatically. I dont think I could select this option prior to upgrading from build 1930. Will this still work if I include titles/colourboards/PiP in the edit , or will the source need rendering.

I hadnt realised that the Produce phase was not required. I will try that in future, but I think I have convinced myself now that the degradation happens through the burn/playback. I mean its not bad, just not as good as direct from the camera.

Hi,

Yes you'll definitely see a difference in production time with SVRT because the only parts of the project that are rendered are the joins between the clips themselves, the rest of the footage is left as it is. Re-rendering only occurs if a video enhancement is applied, so including a PiP track would lead to some re-rendering although only at the specific points where the PiP occurs.

A useful tool is the SVRT checker. Once you've completed your editing in the 'Edit' module goto the directors chair in the top left of the screen, select 'View' then 'SVRT Info', then enter your production settings. So for you it would be PAL (assuming you're in PAL land), H.264, and 1920x1080. Coloured bars will then appear above your timeline indicating what does and does not need to be re-rendered.

Is your PS3 connected to your TV with an HDMI cable? If not then (now you know how to use SVRT) that would be why you are seeing a reduction in quality.

Pierpaolo - In terms of modifying profiles, I would certainly recommend using CBR (constant bit rate) within a profile as opposed to CVBR (variable bit rate) and I would ensure the quality slider is on the highest setting. If I ever have to pre-produce a clip from a camera that is not SVRT compatible I always use those settings. Base your modified profile on the AVCHD 1920x1080 profile, and just adjust those two settings.

Cheers,

Andrew Alienware Aurora ALX R4 - Intel i7-4820 4.2 GHz - 32GB DDR3 RAM - Crucial 512GB SSD - 1TB Seagate HDD - 3TB WD Green HDD - 4TB WD Green HDD - MSI NVIDIA GTX 1070 8GB

Sony HDR-PJ810 and HDR-PJ530

Andrew (and Kevin)
Excellent answers throughout, certainly got me to read everything.

You can both have a sherbet lemon.



Dafydd

Quote:
Pierpaolo - In terms of modifying profiles, I would certainly recommend using CBR (constant bit rate) within a profile as opposed to CVBR (variable bit rate) and I would ensure the quality slider is on the highest setting. If I ever have to pre-produce a clip from a camera that is not SVRT compatible I always use those settings. Base your modified profile on the AVCHD 1920x1080 profile, and just adjust those two settings.

Cheers,

Andrew

Hi Andrew,

I created a new H.264 AVC profile as you told me. Here are my settings:

Resolution 1920x1080

Duration 15

B-Frame 3

Entropy CABAC

CBR

22500 Kbps

Quality 7

deblocking checked


But I still obtain a really bad renderized clip, full of artifact.

I'm really sorry to say that I tried Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD platinum (demo) and I obtained a really good AVCHD file in just a few minutes, a couple of clicks!

Hi PIERPAOLO,

I just wanted to say that I downloaded your original clip from your camera. I created a AVCHD file and the result was not very good. Since SVRT could not be enabled the file had to be rendered. I also think the quality was also reduced because being that it was in PAL format (25fps) and the video clip was a fairly quick pan from left to right...the quality dropped even more due to the panning. But if I am seeing what you are seeing, I wouldn't be happy with the results either.

I use a Sony video camera and fortunately for me I am able to utilize the SVRT feature, so no rendering is required when producing an AVCHD video file or disc.

I'm really sorry to say that I tried Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD platinum (demo) and I obtained a really good AVCHD file in just a few minutes, a couple of clicks!

Maybe you could PM me what the profile was that you selected in Sony Vegas and I will try to duplicate it. I am curious to try this myself to compare the differences. But we should keep this comparison off of the public part of this forum, as that is not its purpose.



Regards,

Kevin




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I must say, I too have experienced poor encoding results with PD8, all my projects are output to H264. Although my use is to specifically combine various types of files, .ts, m2ts, wmv, mp4. I find the Cyberlink H264 encoder quite a bit less than some of the other encoders out their (X264_64 for example).

PD8 has it's place for sure in editing high quality home videos captured. My high quality .ts and m2ts files output are ok, but they are by no means excellent and burning to blu ray was a bonus back when I purchased PD8. I'm hoping Cyberlink can come up with a better encoder in future release's.

I have tried the 3GPP encoder, but it's limited in file size and complains with an error if the produced file happen to exceed 1hr.

cwh