Messages posted by Mark

Thank you, Dafyyd. So, I'm still learning this stuff (and will need to research the options available for me to save in a lossless fashion) but I am still curious to know why - with all the other rich functionality built into PowerDirector 8 - why a "split file" capability (or even better, split-by-scene) isn't available.

It seems like a reasonably simple addition and also doesn't seem too outlandish a scenario (on long clip, with some scenes that are not of interest). The workaround you mention is probably OK but it seems like a lot of work for a simple task.

Thanks again.

Mark

By the way, I'm curious to know if there's a bug in the forum software. For this thread, the Last Message is currently column indicating that Dafydd has responded - some time ago in fact - but when clicking on the thread I see just my initial question (no responses).

Thanks.

Mark

I have had PowerDirector for a year or so but never really had the time/equipment to really get sucked into learning it in detail, at least for HD content. However, I've - finally! - just ordered my first HD TV (Samsung 8500) - and that's increased my motivation to drill down on PowerDirector 8 and make the most of its features. I've been recording in HD with my camcorder for a year or so now, with a view to being ready when I get my TV. I'm pretty excited about this whole thing...

Anyway, I'm facing one issue that I just can't seem to resolve. Specifically, I have this very large HD file (20 mins) and, while a lot of it is unnecessary, I have a few important scenes I want to keep and edit. Scene detection working great so I am looking at these scenes in PowerDirector. I now want them in a seperate file I can use. So, what I want to do is select specific scenes (as detected by Scene Detection) and save to seperate files. But, much as I search, I can't find such a feature anywhere.

The frustrating thing is that of the 20 minutes (1.2 GB) file, I'd guess I need no more than about 3-4 minutes. So, I really don't want to have to keep a 1.2 Gb file just for this small amount of content. I guess I could split the file but, given that Scene Detection has neatly identified the parts I want to save that seems a pretty cumbersome way to do this.

A per-scene Save option seems such an obvious thing (especially for a mature product like PowerDirector) that I'm hoping I am just missing this.

Thoughts?

Thanks.

Mark

Quote: http://www.buy.com/prod/acer-aspire-5920-6329-notebook-intel-centrino-duo-core-2-duo-t9300-2/q/loc/101/207469222.html

You need to compromise a bit. This is just another 15", but I'll bet if you look around...

Thanks. So, is the collective sense that this sort of laptop would generally do the trick? If so, we're down to about $1450. Frankly, if I got some confidence that this is an effective specification for HD editing then I think we're in the ballpark (I don't think I have ever bought consumer electronics that ended up being within my original "budget"

).

Looking promising and a lot better than $3,000 - $4,000, assuming it will do the job.

Thanks.

Mark

I did some very quick button pushing on Dell's site (have not fine tuned yet in any way yet) and came in around $2,200 for...

Core 2 Duo T9500 2.6 Ghz
4GM Ram
512MB NVidia GeForce 8700M
320GB Disk

Admittedly this was with a pokey 15" screen.

Still to slow for any HD editing?

Thanks.

Mark

Quote: Anything is feasible, how much cabbage ya' have? $1,200?
C,mon guys/gals, you can find the machine! How about a little project?
Laptops that can handle it for under $1,000. Maybe I'LL buy one.
It's got to have the right connections, need a webcam? Is refurbished ok?
Good thread, no?

Not entirely sure how much of this is in jest but I'll bite since I started the thread... :

I want a laptop I can use for general use around the house, integrated wireless (802.11n preferably), no need for a web cam, want brand new/full warranty, plenty of disk space (300GB?), at least 3GB RAM (this is primarily driven by having a good amount for the HD editing), at least 17" screen (probably bigger) and Vista / Windows 7 capable. I also want a "trusted" manufacturer (this almost gets religious, regretfully, but for me that is Dell, HP, maybe Lenovo and not Sony or Toshiba - but let's not rathole on that!). And I want all this for $1,200 delivered.

What I don't yet know is what connections I'd need (HDMI, right?) and where to start in looking for a GPU.

Oh, and this all needs to be "quick", which let's say means rendoring HD content in real (or near real) time :

Dreaming?

Thanks.

Mark

Quote: Unfortunately not many laptops come with suitable GPUs, but if you can find one then this might be the way to go.

Thank you, David. Although I am technically pretty comfortable, I don't have any particular experience/awareness of what might be an appropriate GPU. Any pointers as to the brands/versions I might look for?

Also, I'd be interested to know whether anyone else here is activel using a laptop today that supports real time (or close to real time) rendering of HD content. I'm still trying to work out whether this is a bit if a pipedream to me or whether it's feasible with today's laptops.

Thanks again.

Mark

Quote: Why not invest in a high-powered desktop like an i7, instead. Put it in a closet somewhere. Use your laptop to remote connect to the desktop (Use windows XP Remote Desktop software already on your computer).

Thanks for the suggestion but I would think that would just move the bottleneck to the network connection. Indeed, I just tried to run PowerDirector remotely and before I even got to loading a file I received a message:

"PowerDirector does not support some important features when working in the Remote Desktop environment"

I am not sure what those missing features are but I would still be interested to know whether it's even feasible to edit HD content on a suitably powered laptop. I dismissed the startup warning and the display of even standard video was jumpy (I have a 130Mb network connection).

We need a new laptop anyway (for other reasons) and having to buy a desktop and a laptop would be overkill for us.

Thanks again.

Mark

I am considering a new laptop for video editing purposes. I have a Sanyo HD1010 camcorder and have used this with PowerDirector just fine. However, I am using a pretty old (2+ years, 3Ghz single core with 2Gb RAM) laptop and it's pretty painful especially when trying to edit/play HD video.

I am not too familiar with the various CPU's that are available right now but know there are a ton of good deals around (I will purchase either Dell or HP). Can someone give me some guidance as to what I should consider if I want to "effortlessly" edit HD content.

I'd like a screen of at least 17" and want a laptop just because of the way we use our current machine (move it around the living room, while watching TV, etc).

If I give myself a budget of, say, $1,200 is this doable?

Thanks.

Mark

Quote:
The solution would be to trim the section you want to keep and then produce that. By producing it, you will make a file that will be auto-added to your media library for the project you're on. Then you can delete the original file from your library and from the timeline.

Thank you for the response, Walker. I am somewhat surprised that a (relatively) cumbersome workaround like this is necessary in what is now a pretty mature video editing application. It would seem to me not that uncommon a task (and presumably not a technically complex implementation) so I am a little disappointed that this isn't supported in a more intuitive way ("trim clip" agains the original).

Thanks again for the response.

Mark

I have a feeling this is a bit of a FAQ but I haven't been able to locate an answer in researching this. Any help would be appreciated.

Let's say I have a clip of, say, 1 minute but only the first 10 seconds is of interest. Obviously it's pretty simple to trim that when I place it on the timeline. But I still have a rather hefty file taking up real estate on my hard disk (the useless 50 seconds). Is there a way to trim the original (on disk) clip itself, rather than just what would be brought into the timeline.

I have a tendency to take a bunch of video and then throw a bunch out when editing. It would be a shame to have to retain a 1 minute clip on disk when only 10 seconds is of interest.

Thanks.

Mark

Thank you, Dreven. So maybe I am missing the point here. My scenario is a pretty simple one - and I assume a common one. I captured a DV tape with scene detection turned on. I now have about 100 files in a single directory. To build my movie I want to work on chapters one at a time. So, I want to move (say) the first three clips into a directory so that I can concentrate on those while I create that part of my timeline.

While doing this I really don't want to be seeing the other 97 clips. This is especially important since clips are not in numerical order - capture(1) is followed by capture(11) and capture(12), etc, not capture(2).

So, am I crazy for trying to do it this way or is there a better workflow/feature I should know about?

Just to reiterate, unless I am in PowerDirector I can't see what each clip is so I can't organize the clips into folders outside of PowerDirector.

Thanks.

Mark

I copied a bunch of clips into a single directory (actually, they were created with the capability to detect scenes on capture). As I review each clip I want to drag and drop them into folders I have created in the Edit screen (for example, the first four clips might be about a birthday so I'll create a subdirectory called Birthday and want to place the clips in there for organisational purposes).

But I can't find such an option. I hope I am wrong - it seems strange to allow me to create folders from within PowerDirector but not to drop clips into these folders. I know I can do this with Windows Explorer but then I am into remembering file names, etc. With the preview of the clip available from within PowerDirector I just want to grab a clip and move it.

I can do this - right?

Thanks.

Mark

Quote: Mark:
On material that has been shot on HDV or AVCHD I have done the following: Captured HDV (or copied over the .MTS files) and edited, adding titles, transitions, voice overs, and music.

When done produced (rendered) to regular DVD for any distribution I've had to do, and then taken the same project and rendered (produced) to hi definition WMV files that play back using Windows Media Player (and look great, too).

Thank you Bif. I appreciate the detailed response. It won't surprise you that I have some follow up questions... :

I am not clear on what an .mts file is. My Camcorder (Sanyo HD1010) produces .mp4 files that I copy over. What am I missing here? Also, the capture option is not available when I connect my camcorder - I need to copy over files using Windows Explorer. That's not a big deal but I don't have the ability to capture sections of the camcorder's file as I would in Capture mode.

Let's say I have copied a file across from the camcorder and imported into PowerDirector. At that point I assume I still have the full resolution of the file available to me and any trimming, splitting, etc I do in the editing mode is just setting pointers to the content in the clips. It's only when I Produce that I have to make my decisions about the quality of the target format (and potentially lose resolution). Is that all correct?

WMV is very interesting to me, because everything I do is with Microsoft technology (Windows, XBox, etc). I know XBox 360 supports HD but do you know if I can produce WMV HD files and then stream that to the XBox? That would be a pretty flexible solution, if so.

The final question (for now!) relates to a title page and chapters. I like the ability to create chapters on a title page but it seems to me that this is really only available for a DVD (presumably including Blu Ray). My perfect solution here involves being able to produce to "some" format where XBox can recognize a title page and allow me to browse around the content, as if I had placed a DVD in its tray. I effectively want "DVD on a server". If this feasible in any way?

Thanks again. This thread has been immensely useful.

Mark

Quote: To maintain the original data you need to use the SVRT function. It works for some AVCHD cameras and not others. Place a .mts clip into your timeline and go Directors Chair>view>SVRT info and then select the corresponding format and see in PD will render or not. If it is all green or yellow then in theory no rendering happens and the frames are copied intact to the new file.

I think I have some reading to do. I am not familar with SVRT but I will hunt it down. Thanks for the pointer.

One thing (of many) that isn't clear to me is how AVCHD and MPEG4 relate. I see .mp4 files on my camcorder. What are .mts clips - is this another format that I should be seeing from my camera? Also, there's some confusion on my part about exactly what "AVCHD editing" actually means. For example, I have an AVCHD camera and - at its highest resolution - I can copy the .mp4 files and see them in PowerDirector. My machine grinds pretty slowly but they are at least playable. Is that what one would mean by "AVCHD support"?

Finally, if I take the clip in PowerDirector, move to the timeline and produce to (say) an MPEG4 file, is that lossless? Assuming it is, does the SVRT support mean that it won't be lossless?

Thanks.

Mark

Thanks for the responses to date. So, to continue my education...

One benefit I like with the DV approach is that it's lossless (as many times as I copy/edit it on my Pioneer DVD Recorder I keep the original qaulity intact). Putting aside the "target" format for a second (the format I will eventually produce), what options are available to me with the combination of the Sanyo HD1010 and PowerDirector if I want to maintain a lossless format for the actual editing of my content? My understanding is that if I move to MPEG2 or MPEG4 then I am not at a lossy format - is that true?

What I am thinking here is that I should at least get my content from the camcorder onto my PC and edited (removing unwanted scenes, etc). Then, at a later time, I can make the call about the target format (DVD, Blu Ray, streaming, etc). Does my logic make sense?

Thanks again, everyone. This is very helpful.

Mark

For many years I have been quite happy editing from my DV camcorder using a Pioneer DVD Recorder, with hard disk. Slow but effective. Now I have a) bought a Sanyo HD1010 and b) downloaded a trial version of PowerDirector. And I like what I see! But I have some basic questions as I move into PC-based editing. Specifically...

I am interested in moving to a "server" based way to watch my home video's, rather than physical DVD. I have a machine that will serve video's via Windows Media Player (Vista) and an XBox 360. What format should I use for my video's if I want to retain the best quality? As a start I created an AVI file from some DV footage I had using PowerDirector - and the results were competely unwatchable (like watching a scene through water!). My guess is that this was a streaming rather than a format issue (does XBox download/buffer/play AVI content or is it real-time streaming)?

If I want to watch my HD content via XBox 360, what is the most effective format?

Can I produce "virtual DVD's" to place on the server, such that I have the traditional DVD chapters, etc at my disposal.

Eventually, I want to burn to Blu Ray. Does that impact the format in which I should save, short term?

I would like to send a Blu Ray DVD to my brother in the UK (PAL). Is that feasible and how would I go about that?

Overall, is there some recommendation about the most agile way to edit/format my content? I'd like to go through the editing process (cutting scenes, etc) just once and then convert into "format x". Then I'd like to be able to convert that to regular (non Blu Ray) DVD, Blu Ray (NTSC and PAL), stream to Xbox 360 and upload to YouTube, as required. I understand that I will have to convert "format x" to the appropriate format for each of these needs but at least it will have the edited footage. And I want to retain the best possible quality initially for my existing DV content but soon for my new HD content. What is the recommendation for "format x"?

By the way, I have neither a Blu Ray burner or a Blu Ray player at this point but just want to know my options in the future.

Thanks.

Mark