Converting AVCHD - Best formats for quality

[deefadog]

Hi all, I have Just purchased a Panasonic HDC-SD1 (second hand) and I am really impressed with it. When plugged directly in via HDMI to my LCD TV or via MY Media player (WDTV as it plays .mts without converting) The quality is stunning.

I work with a Macbookpro and only currently have Imovie 06 which can't cope with the HD (Imovie 09 on order). So i am using handbrake to convert, but i am having problems with the quality after conversion.

Here is what option i have and need to know which container & codec will produce the best quality.:

Containers:

AVI
MP4
MKV
OGM

Codecs:

H.264 (x264)
Mpeg-4 (FFMprg)
Mpeg-4 (XviD)
VP3 (Theora)

Audio:

MP3 (lame)
AC3 Passthru (best as i have an amp that takes AC3?)

I find a 2-pass transcode produces better results.

Any help most appreciated on this as it's driving me insane

Thanks

[StevieBuck]

Two factors affecting the output quality of your video is the video bitrate, and the video resolution.

In order to keep the HD quality, you will need to make sure the resolution is large enough (1280x720 for 720p video, etc). What resolution settings have you used so far for your encodes?

If you set the bitrate too low, then you will get a poor quality output regardless of the resolution you choose. There may be presets available for HD video quality in Handbrake, but to be honest I've never actually used it.

[mmace]

for the best quality, don't convert it

if you're editing and exporting then hat's different, but if you're just converting then what's the reason for this?

[deefadog]

Hi Steve, thanks for the info.

Basically i have kept the ratio the same which is - 1440 x 1080. It's a funny res they use, maybe that's my problem?

Here is what i found on the matter:

All Canon and Sony HDV camcorders record 1440 x 1080 using rectangular pixels.

Upon playback the image is properly scaled to 1920 x 1080 using square pixels.


On the bitrate i have tried to stick to around 18mps, as my WDTV media player has problems over 20mps. I have not tested these yet as i am in work.

The .mts files direct from the CamCorder are H.264/AVC 1440 x 1080, 25 fps - Audio DD 5.1 48000 Hz

So would it make sense to stick to the same H.264 codec along with all other settings, only the container would change, but whcih would be the best or does it not really matter?

mmace - My media player can play .mts files directly, but yes i will be editing them in imovie 09 (when i can afford it), not sure if i can save it back out as that, i will have to see. But for the time being i need to convert it to edit it, keeping the quality as best as i can close to the original.

Thanks

[A n d r e w]

If you're converting the video in order to edit in iMovie HD, then if you can output as HDV, you'll not only maintain the same resolution as the native AVCHD files on the SD1, but you'll find that iMovie has an import preset for HDV.

I'm assuming that by iMovie 06 you mean imovie 06 HD - which can, as the name suggests, edit high definition video, just not AVCHD.

You might also want to google Voltaic HD, which will also give you a bunch of options for conversion.

[mmace]

AVI is a container and can contain any number of codecs, 99.9% of which are compressed (like DV, DiVX, XviD etc)

[deefadog]

Thanks for the tips! I have checked out Voltaic & HD Video Converter. Had a few glitches with both regarding fails, bad quality etc - maybe have to play more. But i will hang fire until i get iMovie 09.

Does anyone know if with iMovie 09 you can export or save to .mts?

[A n d r e w]

Originally Posted by deefadog

Does anyone know if with iMovie 09 you can export or save to .mts?

Yes. You can't.

[deefadog]

Thanks! Great information - much appreciated!

One more thing, more about the camcorder, does any capacity SD card work with this? As i am thinking of getting a 16GB or 32GB card, no issues?

Cheers

[A n d r e w]

Should be fine - though a number of smaller cards is cheaper than one large card (and less grief if you have a card go belly up).

[deefadog]

That's very true, although the Play have the 16Gb Cards for £17.99 delivered!

Thanks

[deefadog]

Afternoon all!

Well ilife 09 arrived on the weekend and i have been playing around with imovie 09.

So i have many questions still, but thought i'd go through each individually.

One thing i would like cleared up is that the Panasonic SD1 records in 1440 x 1080 anamorphic. And from this quote i found on a review site:

"The HDC-SD5 and HDC-SX5 both record in 1920 x 1080 “full HD,” while the HDC-SD1 and HDC-DX1 top out at 1440 x 1080 anamorphic with a 1920 x 1080 output signal."

So does this mean when i import from the camera to imovie i am indeed importing a 1920 x 1080 video?

Thanks

[A n d r e w]

Originally Posted by deefadog

does this mean when i import from the camera to imovie i am indeed importing a 1920 x 1080 video?

I expect so, given that the output signal is listed as 1920x1080. You'll soon find out when you import a clip or two: if the picture looks squashed, then there's a problem. I imagine it'll work, though.

[deefadog]

Thanks, no the picture does not look squashed - it looks fine! Reason i ask is that on imovie o6 you could "apple i" each clip and it would tell you the dimensions, i can't find it on the 09 version

Also, as they state the output as 1920 x 1080 i was not sure they meant when imported from the camera or when outputted via hdmi to a TV. But as you say it would looked squashed otherwise then it must be outputted by both at 1920 x 1080.

I am still having problems exporting the movie to play correctly on my WDTV player, now this maybe the WDTV players fault. I have tried out putting using the "quicktime" option and have choosen a full quality avi, mpeg4, mov and still i get jumpy video or blurred edges or interlaced, when the imported video is as we have now established 1920 x 1080i and my HDTV is 1080i then i should not have the interlaced edging problem no?

EDIT

Well, I just found on the apple support site (imovie 09 compatibility chart) that -

"Panasonic HDC-SD1 - AVCHD - Memory - 1440 x 1080 will be imported as 960 x 540"

You can however change this to full - original size - but i get the warning - Selecting full on this computer may result in degraded video playback.

I have just got the info on the AIC / mov files that imovie transcodes to (which i imported as full) and they are 1440 x 1080.

So i must assume when we talked about the output being 1920 x 1080 it must be for play back to a TV via the HDMI cable?

Can anyone confirm any of this? think i am more lost LoL

[A n d r e w]

Originally Posted by deefadog

"Panasonic HDC-SD1 - AVCHD - Memory - 1440 x 1080 will be imported as 960 x 540" You can however change this to full - original size - but i get the warning - Selecting full on this computer may result in degraded video playback.

Ignore that and import as "full - original size" unless you find the clips just won't play back. Chances are they'll be fine.

Originally Posted by deefadog

I have just got the info on the AIC / mov files that imovie transcodes to (which i imported as full) and they are 1440 x 1080. So i must assume when we talked about the output being 1920 x 1080 it must be for play back to a TV via the HDMI cable?

Ah, of course, the 1440x1080 video will be using rectangular pixels at a ratio of 1.3:1, whereas 1920x1080 uses square pixels - hence your clips are still 16x9. I suppose that means that it's just when you hook your SD1 up to an HDTV that it outputs 1920x1080. Interesting.

Have you tried exporting using the H.264 codec, and seeing whether that looks okay played back on your WDTV?