AVCHD MPEG2 Camcorder

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AVCHD MPEG2 Camcorder

Postby PhotoMagicCreations » Sun Jul 05, 2009 11:45 am

I am thinking of upgrading our camcorder and was looking at ones that record in AVCHD. If I have done my research correctly, I have come to realize that I would have to have a computer with a lot of ram, disk space and at least a Quad Core processor to load, process and edit this kind of file in a video software program. I also found out that AVCHD format is not a format regular DVD players recognize. Not to mention, Producer does not work with this format either. So I was thinking I should get a camcorder that records in both formats - AVCHD and MPEG2. Since I do not have an HD tv at this time (though we are planning on buying one soon), nor a bluray player, I would use the MPEG2 format until I upgrade my equipment. By then, hopefully, Producer will be able to work with this format and there would be more programs out there to edit this format.

Please give me any thoughts regarding the above. If you have information that does not agree with what I have found out, please let me know.

Thank you for your input.

Kelly

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Re: AVCHD MPEG2 Camcorder

Postby VernonRobinson » Sun Jul 05, 2009 6:42 pm

Kelly,
You are correct in that AVCHD takes a lot of computing horse power. Also, a lot of the Editing Programs struggle with the format. For that reason, I went with the then Canon HV-30. It gives great HD performance, outputs an AVI for my current SD editing. I, like you, have not invested in HD just yet. So I felt it gave me the best of all worlds. It records on mini-DV tape which is found everywhere. Not a lot to not like about it. In fact the price of the HV-40 has gone up a bit from when I bought my HV-30. Take a look, I don't think you will be disappointed.

-Vernon

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Re: AVCHD MPEG2 Camcorder

Postby PhotoMagicCreations » Mon Jul 06, 2009 12:30 pm

Vernon,

Thanks for your reply. I am thinking of buying a camcorder that uses flash memory and/or has a hard disk drive. I have to look into what programs are out there that changes the AVCHD format to MPEG2 and how much memory/ram I need to operate those programs.

Kelly

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Re: AVCHD MPEG2 Camcorder

Postby slideshower » Tue Jul 07, 2009 12:54 am

Hi Kelly,
I have the Sony HDR-SR12 camcorder that records in AVCHD. It comes with Picture Motion Browser where you see thumbnails of your video. If you right-click on the a video thumbnail you can choose: 'Convert to WMV and Save' or 'Convert to MPEG-2 and Save". I hadn't converted any videos yet to use in ProShow so I tried it just now.

'Convert to WMV' produced a file with the extenstion .wmv and 'Convert to MPEG-2' produced a file with the extension .mpg. ProShow accepted the .wmv file but not the .mpg file. Of course, the converted video file is not as sharp as the HD file from the camcorder. Hope this helps a little. I really know very little about video but I'm sure someone more experienced will be able to help you more. Lucie

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Re: AVCHD MPEG2 Camcorder

Postby dnmilikan » Tue Jul 07, 2009 6:43 am

Hi Kelly,
It sounds as if you have done some of your homework regarding changing out your video capabilities.

I would add that I think it is important to determine what your present needs coupled with your perceived future needs are. You have addressed this to some degree in your posts. Sometimes we don't comprehend what our future applications would be and this leads to rebuying equipment. The obverse of this is overbuying equipment that we will never use to it's full potential.

The link below addresses some of the results vs advertising hype in the present marketplace.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=998

Best wishes,
Donald Miller

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Re: AVCHD MPEG2 Camcorder

Postby PhotoMagicCreations » Tue Jul 07, 2009 5:07 pm

Lucie,

Thank you for testing this out for me. I am Also looking at a Sony camcorder. My computer specs are as follows: 200GB Hard Drive, AMD 64x2 Dual Core 4200, 2.19 GHz, 2.0 GB of Ram, Windows XP Media Edition. I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to handle an AVCHD file and then convert it to a MPEG2 or WMV file. Can I ask what your specs are on your computer are.

Also, thanks Donald for your input. I am going to check out the link you provided. I am truly trying to assess exactly what I need now and what I will need in the future.

Thanks, again, for all your help.

Kelly

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Re: AVCHD MPEG2 Camcorder

Postby slideshower » Wed Jul 08, 2009 12:38 pm

Hi Kelly,
My computer is a few years old - it has 189GB Hard Drive, Pentium (R) 4 CPU, 3.2 GHz, 1.00 GB RAM, Windows XP Professional Version.

The extension (in high definition mode) on the movie files from my Sony HDR SR12 camcorder is .m2ts. I only recently learned that I could convert it to a .wmv file by right clicking on the movie file in the Sony Picture Motion Browser. So I was using Pinnacle Studio 11 to convert them to .avi which I then used in ProShow Producer. It worked well.

In Pinnacle Studio I couldn't play the movie if it was more than a few seconds long. However, I could still convert it to .avi. Yet, I can view the entire movie in high definition on my computer if I play it using the Sony Picture Motion Browser utility that comes with the Sony camcorder.

One other thing - I really like the camcorder but one thing I find very frustrating is that one has to use the Picture Motion Browser to view the files on the computer. The folder has to be "registered" using Picture Motion Browser. Hope that makes sense. Lucie

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Re: AVCHD MPEG2 Camcorder

Postby PhotoMagicCreations » Wed Jul 08, 2009 4:21 pm

Hi Lucie,

Thank you for your reply. It would be nice if the HD files would be easier to work with and that Sony would have it record in a universal HD format like a jpeg file is, where any viewer can pull a jpeg file and view it. Thanks for telling me about Pinnacle Studio. I will look in to that.

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Re: AVCHD MPEG2 Camcorder

Postby Tarafrost » Thu Jul 09, 2009 1:33 pm

I have a Sony SR12 as well....great cameras, and highly recommended.

The Sony Picture Motion Viewer software sucks big time...but that is typical of most hardware manufacturers (Nikon and Canon are not much better, IMO). But it does work (sort of) and does play AVCHD videos for the most part, plus as the Lucie mentioned, it will do simple conversions easily, so it can be used on older hardware.

Video editing, and doubly so HD editing is hugely compute intensive, due to the massive volumes of data that need to be processed. If you want to do anything more than simple edits, then plan to buy some very serious computer hardware. The movies you see from Hollywood are rendered on 1000+ mega-server rendering farms that are worth 10's of millions of dollars for a reason.

The easiest bet, for most home camcorder use, is to just use your computer to copy the particular vid segments to a DVD, using Sony's simple software. That's doable on most modern hardware. If you want better output quality, then invest in a BluRay player for your living room, and burn full HD disks.

Anything more than that is stretching beyond the capabilities (both computer and between keyboard/chair) for the average home user, IMO.
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Re: AVCHD MPEG2 Camcorder

Postby PhotoMagicCreations » Sun Jul 12, 2009 1:39 pm

Tarafrost,

Thank you for your input. I do agree that in order to work with AVCHD files, and watch them, I would have to upgrade everything I have. I purchased the Sony HDR-XR500V video camera and am now trying to see if I can find a program that will work on my computer to make simple edit changes, add transitions and burn to dvd. I am looking at two programs: AVS and Magix Movie Edit Pro 15. I have downloaded their trials and am now going to see if I can burn an AVCHD file on a DVD disk and play it in a bluray player. My sister has a HD television with a bluray player. I am going to see if these work. I can't play the AVCHD files at HD quality on my computer, as my computer graphics card doesn't keep up. The play is very choppy.

And the search goes on....

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Re: AVCHD MPEG2 Camcorder

Postby Tarafrost » Sun Jul 12, 2009 3:15 pm

kelly wrote: I am looking at two programs: AVS and Magix Movie Edit Pro 15. I have downloaded their trials and am now going to see if I can burn an AVCHD file on a DVD disk and play it in a bluray player. M


I have a licensed copy of Magix Movie Edit (v14 I believe)...I thought it was garbage....the UI sucked and it installed a lot of crap I didn't like. It's now gone. Unfortunately, with video editing, you get what you pay for. Never should have bothered.

For simple conversions/playing, I now use the Sony software. For serious editing I have Adobe Premiere (part of my CS4 Master Suite).

That'll do me for the two ends of the spectrum.

Though I am looking hungrily at a 3.2GHZ Quad Core mega processor, with new motherboard and tons of ultra-fast memory not too far down the road. ;-)
....Andrzej (aka: the curmudgeon)

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Re: AVCHD MPEG2 Camcorder

Postby PhotoMagicCreations » Mon Jul 13, 2009 8:25 am

When I burned my M2ts files to a DVD, the two programs burned in two different formats. AVS burned the files to AVI and it took about 2 hours to burn a 13 min video. Magix Pro 15 burned the files to WMV and it took 4 hours to burn the 13 min video. Which format is better, AVI or WMV?

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Re: AVCHD MPEG2 Camcorder

Postby Tarafrost » Mon Jul 13, 2009 10:42 am

PhotoMagicCreations wrote:When I burned my M2ts files to a DVD, the two programs burned in two different formats. AVS burned the files to AVI and it took about 2 hours to burn a 13 min video. Magix Pro 15 burned the files to WMV and it took 4 hours to burn the 13 min video. Which format is better, AVI or WMV?


I don't much like either AVI or WMV...both are old and bloated formats.

Better bet would be some variant of MPEG2 or 4.

Or burn 'em using VOB's (which use MPEG2 if I recall, under the covers), that is, in a native DVD format so that you can play it on any standard DVD player.
....Andrzej (aka: the curmudgeon)

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Re: AVCHD MPEG2 Camcorder

Postby PhotoMagicCreations » Mon Jul 13, 2009 11:56 am

Thanks, Tarafrost. I will check into VOBs.

Kelly

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Re: AVCHD MPEG2 Camcorder

Postby PhotoMill » Mon Jul 13, 2009 4:57 pm

Oh boy! If you only knew how many forums are condemning the Sony for it's .m2ts format and the inability to do anything with the video after you put it on your HD.

The SmugMug forum is ripe with material regarding the hardship that everyone is having trying to do anything with video files made in the .m2ts format. Converters that work with some computers and so many that do not. The need for "Sony only" software, the endless streams of suggestions on "how to" get it done.

A year ago, we rented the Sony HD camera (11, I believe) at considerable expense for a 3 day event. In the end, I would have needed to purchase Sony's conversion program to get my desired results for the organizers of the event. Needless to say, I was not going to buy the $450. software and ultimately the video never did get to it's destination. This year, we will probably give the Canon or Panasonic a whirl. There seems to be little problem getting the desired HD results, at least by all reports so far.

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