Bluray quality on DVD. Im a convert now

[coopernatural]

All,

Am fairly gobsmacked after making a first AV for replay through a Sony PS3 with a standard dvdr disc burned as AVCHD.

Filled my 50" HD Plasma screen.Sharp as a pin,no flicker.Stunning,yes Stunning.

Compared to the standard dvd output,no comparison.

Cheapo software used for the AVCHD burning(£12)

OK still early days as it's my first time at this.It is playing on a Sony PS3 and will try it out

on a standard Bluray player and have a go with making menus etc,

but if this works I will be well pleased.I will fire up the HD projector as well tomorrow as a tester.

Davy

[Carol Steele]

................Am fairly gobsmacked.............................

I think that is most folk's reaction to their first HD slideshow after watching a standard definition one on a large TV. I think the reaction becomes less startling if viewed on a smaller screen (say 32" or less), but on a larger screen it blows your socks off as they say.

[coopernatural]

Hi Carol,

I think I was more suprised that it worked first time.The usual for me is to be greeted with a blank screen.

It turned out that I got lucky with the first attempt,as I burned another couple of AVs and got hit

with the flickering screen on playback.

Still,it will keep me out of trouble for a day or so, as I do some tweaking and hopefully learn

something in the process.

The Bluray burning option is always there too.

Davy

[mhwarner]

If you get it working on the BluRay player as well, I would love to hear more specific details on the steps taken and the software used from start to finish. Thanks in advance.

[coopernatural]

Hi Mary,

There may well be existing guides on this and from what I can gather,some who have been there done that.

Maybe someone will volunteer their knowledge/experience.

Getting something to work for everybody might be a challenge.Just so many variables involved.

Things are constantly changing with new software,fimware updates etc.

Protections have been put in place by manufacturers to protect their interests.

They had to leave the back window open with AVCHD for Video/Camcorder users.

We are just exploiting that.

I like the idea of being able to put a disc in a player for family/friends to view on a TV,rather

than have them huddle around a computer monitor.

I will report back when/if I make some headway.

Help from 'Been there Done that' PTE users is welcome.

Davy

[Carol Steele]

If you get it working on the BluRay player as well, I would love to hear more specific details on the steps taken and the software used from start to finish. Thanks in advance.

Hi Mary,

I have found that Pinnacle Studio 14 doesn't like the mp4 files which are produced from PTE, they play back fine through Windows Media Player etc, but once brought into Pinnacle S14 and played back there, I start to get video breakup and stoppages in some of the shows (not all of them though). In the end I resorted to making the slideshows directly in Pinnacle Studio 14 and saving them out from Pinnacle as mp4 files. Not surprisingly, the Pinnacle software decided to play nicely with the mp4 files it had produced itself. I think this is more than likely to be a problem caused by the Pinnacle software rather than by mp4 files rendered out from PTE.

Producing the various slideshows from Pinnacle S14 which are then authored into a Blu-ray HD video is a little more tricky than producing the slideshows in PTE as there is no 'sync slides to music' option like there is in PTE - but it can be done, just not quite as efficiently or easily, but it is not difficult once you have thought through the process of how it can be achieved. However, Studio 14 is a lot more powerful than PTE in other respects (not surprisingly as it is much more expensive and is written from the ground up as a video editing program rather than PTE which was devised initially as a means of viewing still images as a computer slideshow and which evolved from there).

If you simply want to see your slideshow via a BD player onto an HD TV, then you are probably going to be fine just using PTE and then using one of the free applications to create your Blu-ray disk. On the other hand, if you wish to add titles, menus, mix video footage in with slideshows, add transitions between these, add video overlay tracks etc then you have to do this via different software at the moment. Of the two which I have got (Pinnacle Studio 14 Ultimate Collection and Pro Show Gold), both of these will allow you to create menus and titles for Blu-ray, but the Pinnacle software is probably the more powerful and versatile of the two. Pro Show Producer (the grown up brother of ProShow Gold) might be just as capable as Studio 14, but I can't really comment on that as I don't have that program.

If I can be of further help, please let me know and I will try and assist (but please bear in mind that I too, am fairly new to this arena (i.e. HD video authoring and production).

[Ronniebootwest]

Hi Mary,

I have found that Pinnacle Studio 14 doesn't like the mp4 files which are produced from PTE......................

If I can be of further help, please let me know and I will try and assist (but please bear in mind that I too, am fairly new to this arena (i.e. HD video authoring and production).

Hello Carole,

Thanks for all the help that you have given to me (via PM's) but, as you said in your last reply, there will be other forum members who will be interested in the topic that we are discussing. Clearly DavyC is one of those members who has already dippied his toes into this whole scenario (Davy, I hope that you will not mind me adding my questions to your thread).

Carole uses Pinnacle Studio to create her slide shows but I want to try converting my PTE shows to AVCHD because I recenty saw some excellent samples of the quality created. (Samples very kindly provided by Carole). Instead of me floundering around in the deep end, I wonder of you would provide a short 'step by step' tuorial on the steps that you take when converting a slide show to AVCHD.

Thanks,

Ron West

[coopernatural]

Ronnie,

The more the merrier.That is the real value of a forum.

There is a 30 day free trial of Corel Videostudio Pro X3 which can be downloaded.

It will be released for purchase later in the month.

Might be worth a tinker as it seems to make the most of multi-core machines.

Lets see if we can all learn (without the preachy Google Experts)

Davy

[fh1805]

...please bear in mind that I too, am fairly new to this arena (i.e. HD video authoring and production)...

Carole,

Remember, "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king". When it comes to this new technology, you only need to be half-a-step ahead of the rest of us to become an instant "expert" in our eyes.

Although I have no plans to go down the HD-TV+Blu-ray route just yet I do sense that this is the future for home viewing. So I'm following this thread with interest.

regards,

Peter

[Carol Steele]

Carole,

Remember, "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king". When it comes to this new technology, you only need to be half-a-step ahead of the rest of us to become an instant "expert" in our eyes.

Although I have no plans to go down the HD-TV+Blu-ray route just yet I do sense that this is the future for home viewing. So I'm following this thread with interest.

regards,

Peter

Please, everybody note, it is Carol (i.e. without the 'e' at the end)

I'm just about to leave home for the gym - too many hours sat at the computer over the years sure did pile the weight on, but since last year I've managed to slim down from a size 22 back down to a size 10 and there's no way I'm going back there. I will post a PDF tutorial of how I go about things when I get back - it will be later on this afternoon before it gets published though, so hopefully you can hang on until then

[fh1805]

Carol,

My apologies for getting your name wrong.

regards,

Peter

[Ronniebootwest]

Cheapo software used for the AVCHD burning(£12)

Davy

Hi Davy,

As I understand it, the HD (mp4) file produced in PTE, should be converted to AVCHD before burning to disc - which converter do you use please?

Ron

[coopernatural]

Hi Ronnie,

I was using a fairly old bit of software which couldn't open the MP4 file,so I just worked with the AVI file.

There are free softwares available to get the job done,and with better results,but they often have to be used in conjunction with

other free software.Fine once you read through the blurb.

I had used Ulead Videostudio 11 (Ulead is now owned by Corel)It can still be got on a well known auction site,but I would recommend

a trial version with something a bit more up to date,like the new Corel Videostudio pro x3 or Pinnacle 14 that Carol uses.

I have Adobe Encore as well,but it can be buggy.

I went to my workshop today which has an AV room.Put the dvd disc I had burned as AVCHD into a Sony Bluray player (Not a Playstation 3)

and it played back perfectly through a HD widescreen projector (showed as 1080I not 1080P).

Clear as a bell and lots of detail.

The PS3 is mistaken as just being a video games machine.It will upsample normal Dvds to produce a better picture and do the same for Photos as well.

I was able to save a few AVs on it's hardrive last night in both AVI and MP4 and played well in 1920x1080.I just used a pen drive from the PC to transfer them.

Good to hear comments and tips from everyone.

Davy

[coopernatural]

Ronnie/All,

Here's a link to one of the bits of freebie software http://multiavchd.deanbg.com/

Davy

[Carol Steele]

Ok folks, I have completed the first part of the tutorial - it is in draft mode at the moment. Sorry it has taken me longer than I first anticipated, will add to it later on this evening with details of how to go about authoring the content and writing the HD disk, once I have had time to relax a bit and get a bite to eat.

I hope it's at least semi intelligible.

Mmmm - for some reason it won't let me upload the file as an attachment - I have reduced the size down to 1.75Mb to fit in with the forum requirements, but it still doesn't upload.

I'll try again in another message.

[Carol Steele]

Let's try adding that attachment again

The draft version has now been removed and you can find the finished tutorial in the Tutorials sub forum

[coopernatural]

Hi Carol,

(Yes I always got your spelling right)

I was hoping we could coax you to do a walkthrough of your process.

Had a nosey at your web site.Impressive.Well done with that and your Gym work/weight loss.

All I can say is 'Triple chocolate Black Forest Gateau'

If reading your guide helps me miss 'Wheelchairs on Ice' or whatever nonsense BBC and ITV can come up with,I will be pleased

semi-intelligible or not.

I hope you did not take my reference to the 'Google Experts' as meaning you.

Experts are often declared as such by themselves.Failing that,praise comes from the partially sighted.

Of course they are not experts at all.

A blind man can see that.

Keep up the good work.

Regards,

Davy

[Carol Steele]

............All I can say is 'Triple chocolate Black Forest Gateau' ......................

Regards,

Davy

That's completely unfair, but it doesn't bother me at all these days (I'm glad to say) I just picture myself as I was at the beginning of last year and it's enough to dispel any yearnings for those types of food .

Does anybody know if there Is there any way to get round the 2Mb file attachment limit as I fear that the final version will come in at around 4 or 5Mb, .........moderators?? .......Igor??

[coopernatural]

Hi Carol,

Thanks for taking the trouble to make and post this.

Very slick.

Well done.

Cheers,

Davy

[Ken Cox]

Carol

likely simpler to put up to mediafire

then maybe we set up a pinned are for blueray in the video section

ken

[Ken Cox]

Carol

possibly you could move the new link to the

tutorial section

http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showforum=8

with an appropriate title and we could pin it so it would not get lost

ken

[Carol Steele]

Carol

possibly you could move the new link to the

tutorial section

http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showforum=8

with an appropriate title and we could pin it so it would not get lost

ken

OK Ken, the file has been uploaded to MediaFire and I have created a new topic in theTutorials sub forum with a link to the finished article.

[coopernatural]

A bit of success burning a dvdr disc with freebie only software in AVCHD 1920x1080.

Using the MP4 file from PTE, the MultiAVCHD software I linked to earlier and the best bit of burning software on the planet,ImgBurn.

It was just a single AV with no menu created.The AV was one I had trouble with before while using the Ulead software.

No skipping or jumping with the disc.Played on the PS3,but it should be compatible with almost any Bluray player.

I will have another go with a higher quality AV source,but this is turning interesting.

Davy

[Ken Cox]

OK Ken, the file has been uploaded to MediaFire and I have created a new topic in theTutorials sub forum with a link to the finished article.

Carol

thks much - and i have pinned it

ken

[Carol Steele]

A bit of success burning a dvdr disc with freebie only software in AVCHD 1920x1080.

Using the MP4 file from PTE, the MultiAVCHD software I linked to earlier and the best bit of burning software on the planet,ImgBurn.

It was just a single AV with no menu created.The AV was one I had trouble with before while using the Ulead software.

No skipping or jumping with the disc.Played on the PS3,but it should be compatible with almost any Bluray player.

I will have another go with a higher quality AV source,but this is turning interesting.

Davy

I tried it this morning Davy with my Wedding Sampler mp4 files from PTE - but unfortunately the file size was far too large to fit onto a standard 4.7GB DVD and so I used a DL 8.5GB DVD. The video quality was really excellent but it suffered from breakup of the sound (it stuttered in many different places). I was also not very keen on menu it generated.

However, on the brighter side, it would be ideal as a starter for people to be able to jump in and test the water as it is free so they can create their HD shows without a financial penalty. I will probably try again later and output my mp4 from PTE using a lower bitrate to see if this helps with respect to the audio stutter.

If anybody else wants to try this, I found I had to download and install another program (Avisynth version 2.58 which I installed into its own folder, then I could get the menu produced, but like I said, it wasn't anywhere near as good as the menus which can be made in Pinnacle Studio. Also, when you make the video, make sure you go into the 'Author' tab and switch it from NTSC to PAL otherwise the generation of the requisite files will fail.