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The reason I was asking about the source of the 50p video is that some devices output 50p but only read the sensor 25 times per second - so you've got doubled frames at the outset, and you don't lose anything going to 25fps.
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Ah - the rest of us are discussing "Re:Could this be true? no 50p AVCHD?" and I now realise you're discussing something else.
With so many people having the same problems with this product and HD/AVCHD, don't you think it is about time that CYBERLINK gets involved in stating their anticipated path of addressing this matter??
thought you meant that many people were having the same problem with no 50p AVCHD output. You're just talking in general terms I think.
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Fred, may I ask the origin of your 50fps files? In other words, what device is producing them?
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I don't know if this will help or not but you have the option of altering the Profiles for .wmv format.
I don't see that option in PD8 - in the Produce > File > WMV section there is no provision for user profile creation, unlike in MPEG-2 etc.
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I don't WANT to move to another application and haven't indicated the desire.
I have tried many other applications, also.
What I'm saying is that I'm unaware of any app that does as you request, unless perhaps among the very costly pro apps that personally I'm not even going to test let alone buy. I don't think Cyberlink can be said to be lagging behind the field in this respect. But if someone can prove me wrong, go for it!
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I've just done a quick check in one of PD8's rival applications and great! - it offers configuration that allows 50p output. But when I export a 50p clip, then step through the result frame by frame, every other frame is the same... so all it's doing is frame duplication.
Another rival app doesn't offer the option and doesn't even reliably open the 50p footage in the first place.
I would strongly advise anyone wanting such a feature to check any software they have in mind very carefully before purchase, to see whether the option is there, and if so, whether the output really is what it's supposed to be - and whether whatever you are playing it on really plays it at that rate.
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I have to agree with the majority of people on here. The quality of re-encoded AVCHD is shocking in PD8!
Isn't it dependent on the source? Aren't the 'majority of people on here' with whom you are agreeing all using Canon camcorders with a higher bit rate than PD8 outputs? I do think that while clearly some people have a problem, others don't - and it's the nature of an internet forum that people tend to post about what they don't like, or are having problems with - sadly not many go to the trouble to report that they're pleased.
Their seems to be a different flavor of AVCHD for every camera manufacture so I don't know if the perfect solution is available or not.
That indeed is a large part of the problem.
I need to go find something 'simple' like PD8 now that works well with AVCHD.
Good luck. There's no single good solution else we'd all be using it. Here I have a variety of different AVCHD editors and to get the best results it's necessary to use a bit of several of them, according to the task in hand.
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Workarounds include simply burning with no menu - which for my purposes is actually fine most of the time, as you still get chapters you can skip to, and you don't have to do the extra button pushing to get the DVD to play - or, produce a file in the right format for burning (in my case, AVCHD) then put that into a new project, create chapter markers, create menu, and you'll probably find that burns with no errors. And here at least it seems to take no longer that way than the normal way. The file you produced should be accepted by SVRT for no-render burning.
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See http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/7514.page for instance.
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See the several other threads on this - contact Cyberlink support and they will sort you out pretty quickly.
You can enter the serial number in the demo version if you want. It's the content pack that you are chiefly needing.
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There are no options in the Espresso version to set PAL as the video type. In another thread it has been suggested that Windows region settings are used by the program, but mine are correct (Australia) but I still get NTSC output. Hey ho, funny things, computers.
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Heh, I have the opposite problem and all my videos get output at 30fps, and indeed there's no way to change that. I'm in Australia too. I downloaded from the US and UK sites and both downloads act the same way.
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Same problem here with a 22 minute project with four or five chapters.
While on the subject of DVD menus, there seem to be only about five or six menu styles built in - is that correct?
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There are preview quality settings - you need to pick the best setting that doesn't bog down your PC. But part of the way that PD8 gives good AVCHD performance is by providing reduced quality preview (imho it's adequate for the task but I can imagine some wanting it absolutely pristine).
The dissatisfaction with PD8 seems linked to people using high bit rates and/or Canon users.
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I was a new purchaser and MediaShow Espresso was bundled with that - presumably not with the upgrade.
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Please check this comparison posted by pjc:
That appears to show that an AVCHD render (presumably in some version of PowerDirector? If so, which?) of an AVCHD source file is different from an original. Well of course it is! Of more interest would be a comparison between the output of different editing apps, under level-playing-field conditions, using source files from different camcorders, so that one could judge which app suits which source files. Without such a comparison, we're reduced to stating opinions without the backup of examples.
It's also generally held that while one can pixel-peep at stills from renders, overall picture quality can only be judged with running video.
First, when you have a camera like Canon HF-10/HF100 or the newer models you don't need to use any of those filters/tools. What you want is to preserve the quality of the original video. IMO if you are altering the source more than 30% of the time you are not doing a good job editing, but that just my opinion.
That's simply ignoring the whole creative gamut available from, for instance, colour grading of the footage for desired effect on the viewer, which is a large part of a professional video editor's work. If you read a little on the pro video forums you will see almost no emphasis on smart rendering - it's meaningless in the context of other than basic point-and-shoot video.
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Woah, helpful reply with new download links from Cyberlink already. Now that's better.
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Dafydd posted twice in one thread that Digital River were responsible for downloads rather than Cyberlink, but as they are not responding, I too have followed the lead of others in this thread and I've emailed Cyberlink support.
Meanwhile I've managed to install the "free" copy of MediaShow Espresso, and to begin with I thought that was a pup - it said my AVCHD files were incompatible with playback, and only did conversions with no sound. However, I then realised I had an audio editing app running in the background, and having closed that, all was well - which goes to show that it's best to suspect oneself as being to blame first when things go wrong rather than blaming the software first!
The problem is that it seems to be geared for NTSC (30fps output, no setting to change that) but I'll see if I can get hold of a PAL version.
[Edit - hmmm, a download from the UK site is also fixed at 30fps - not much use for anything...]
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Aha! I clicked on the "Support Tickets" button in the Customer Support section of the members area, and there's then a "My order history" tab there, which DOES list my orders.
But it doesn't have a download link.
Still, at least the evidence is there that I've ordered and paid for the program.
Also in that general area I found a downloadable user's guide - http://www.cyberlink.com/downloads/support/powerdirector/userguide_en_US.html - which I didn't realise is available.
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Exactly what happens here. It shouldn't be this hard! I've never had any trouble with downloading internet purchased software before.
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Their email response hasn't reached me yet but it's a long way from there to Australia!
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