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Rendering AVCHD Lite from Lumix ZS3 Solution
Hopefully this will help some folks with this file format, as I had a lot of trouble with it. I found the solution from posts here (thanks John), other sites and trial and error-just bringing it all together. [Doing from memory, will clean up when i get to home PC]
*Use 32-bit version (I am using Vegas Pro 9c, on 64 bit OS) — as mentioned in another thread, Sony AVC codec seems to have a bug/is not made for 64 bit yet.
*Set project properties. ‘Media Match’ to file- 1280×720 -then set frame rate to 29.97 NTSC (I am in USA). I set quality to best. Save template for future use.
*Select clip(s) and right-click -> properties -> disable resampling
*Render as->Sony AVC. Select custom, and using base of Internet HD 16:9 30p, I click both checkboxes and set bit rate to 10,000k (trying to find a way to put in own value rather than presets).
*I save to a seperate hard drive, and get smooth, clear output. -
13 Replies
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Excellent! Why the disable resample step?
BTW, with all of the different formats of HD floating about, the Match Media to a file is absolutely essential if you are not shooting one of the standard HD, HDV, or AVCHD formats that the standard Vegas project templates support.
It is critical to understand that Vegas will silently conform your media on-the-fly. So if your project settings don’t match your media attributes, Vegas will be doing a lot of work just to display each frame. Your best performance will always be when you match your project and media so that Vegas can just render the file to the preview without doing any unnecessary conversions.
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com -
I am no expert, but the ZS3 identifies with a 59.94 frame rate, but it does not really record this way. By disabling it should cut out any ghosting etc.
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Almost forgot my favorite part – adding a date (time) stamp. Cant believe this is not built in. After frantic search, I found this great plug-in: https://www.elisanet.fi/paavo.jurvelin/. Thanks to the author who I have seen has posted here.
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Oh yea, I forgot that the Lumix ZS3 sets a 59.94 flag that isn’t true. So it’s not really 59.94 and disabling resampling makes Vegas ignore the flag and render it as the 29.97 that it is. Cool!
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com -
Hi,
I saw this post and was thinking this was exactly what I need! I am evaluating Vegas 9 (not pro) to edit video from a Panasonic ZS3 that records in AVCHD Lite (720P). I followed your steps until I realized that there is no Internet HD preset in the non-Pro version. I am a novice at this stuff. Is there an way someone can tell me how to create this in the non-Pro version? If that isn’t possible, can someone post the AVCHD lite template somewhere and tell me how I can add it to Vegas?Thanks for any help,
Rob -
Hi, I am not familiar with the non-pro version. I imagine anything that will get you 1280x720p 30fps should do. The setting is
Video format: AVC
Frame size: 1280×720
Profile: Baseline
Entropy coding: CAVLC
Frame rate: 29.970 NTSC (US)
Field order: none (progressive scan)
pixel aspect ratio: 1.0
Bit rate: 6,000,000Hope this helps
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Thanks for the reply.
Do you know why I can’t pick the file format of m2ts with these settings? Anytime I choose m2ts, I can’t set a resolution of 1280 x 720 (or any custom resolutin for that matter). I can do mp4. Is one better than the other?
There were a couple settings that you had that differ from other AVC template settings. Can you explain to me why please? I am new at this.
Profile: Baseline (default avc has high)
Entropy coding: CAVLC (default avc has CAVAC)
Bit rate: 6,000,000 my camera uses 17 mbps, shouldn’t I want to keep this qualityThanks again,
Rob -
> Do you know why I can’t pick the file format of m2ts with these settings? Anytime I choose m2ts, I can’t set a resolution of 1280 x 720 (or any custom resolution for that matter).
Vegas doesn’t support AVCHD Lite. Regular AVCHD is only 1920×1080 or 1440×1080. Perhaps they will in a future version but right now, you’ll have to use an mp4 container to save your video at 720p.
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com -
Thank you.
I don’t know if I am blind, dumb, or both, but I haven’t been able to find the answer to my problem. Lots of nice people have let me know that they like Sony Vegas and it is by far more stable than Pinnacle Studio. From using the trial software I would agree. I have had some crashing / odd behavior in Pinnacle 14. So here is my question …
1) If I shoot video in AVCHD lite in 720p and use Sony Vegas (non-Pro) for my editing, what is the easiest way to put that footage on an AVCHD DVD without losing any quality to watch in my blu ray player?
2) If I created a blu ray disk instead (1080p), would the video quality be worse because it would have to scale the resolution? Would an AVCHD DVD actually look better?
I’m sorry if I am dense on this topis, but I would appreciate any help I can get on this. I don’t want to have the better video editing software but then not be able to put it in a usable format to watch on my blu ray player.
Thank you once again,
Rob -
> 1) If I shoot video in AVCHD lite in 720p and use Sony Vegas (non-Pro) for my editing, what is the easiest way to put that footage on an AVCHD DVD without losing any quality to watch in my blu ray player?
Your first problem will be finding a Blu-ray player that supports AVCHD Lite. Since it’s a Sony/Panasonic format, you should ask them which of their models support it. I understand that some Samsung players do not.
This is kind of a moot point since Vegas doesn’t support it anyway so you can’t render it even if you wanted to. The AVCHD DVD’s that I have made have all been 1920×1080. You could try just making a an AVCHD DVD 1080 disc and see how it looks.
> 2) If I created a blu ray disk instead (1080p), would the video quality be worse because it would have to scale the resolution?
Yes it would be somewhat worse because it will be up-scaled from 720 to 1080. How much worse is hard to say. Usually up-scaling softens the image a bit.
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com
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