Convert WMV-HD to SD-DVD?

[Edward Troxel]

It’s generally preferable that you go back to the original project when possible. Just re-open the project and render to MPEG2.

Edward Troxel

[Bob Ridge]

Well, just for kicks, I’ve tried that since my original post. In fact, I tried a simple five-second .m2t clip, rendered it just about every way possible, using every tip I could find online. It would take forever to summarize all the things I tried, but the result was always the same, very blocky artifacts in the final DVD burn, especially noticeable on straight edges. Far worse than all the DV projects I’ve ever done.

I’m about to migrate everything to a new PC and start using Vegas 7.0, so I’ll wait until I give it a try there before I start wasting all of your time trying to help me troubleshoot. But in the mean time, could anyone recommend a definitive, step-by-step guide in these boards or elsewhere to getting an HDV project onto standard DVD in the best quality possible using Vegas 7.0 and Architect 4.0? Especially any custom settings required in the Render As step, but also in the timeline, Project Properties, Architect, and anywhere else it could be tweaked. I’ve searched to the point of going cross-eyed and found nothing definitive, just tidbits here and there that haven’t worked. Thanks in advance!

[Kert]

Buy Cineform Connect HD ($199, Google Cineform). Convert your m2t (or other type of files) file to Cineform put it on Vegas timeline. EDit it, the you can render the cineform timeline to anything Vegas allows, including ntsc DVD and HD, or m2t back to tape.
I have done it many times. The result is unbelievable both in HD and SD.
JK

[Bob Ridge]

I’ve heard a lot of good things about Connect HD. However, I’ve already sprung for a new PC with Core 2 Duo and Vegas 7.0, which so far seems to move through m2t files on the timeline as smoothly as AVI files. So shouldn’t I already be able to render out decent-looking standard DVD video? I mean, surely, Connect HD users can’t be the ONLY ones getting good quality, right?

Here’s a little more detail about what I’ve tried. I put 10 seconds of an exterior building shot in m2t format on the timeline. (It has lots of bold, straight edges, and I tilt up and down several times to get the right movement.) I have Project Properties set to HDV 1080-60i. Then I click Render As, choose the MPEG2 DVD Arch NTSC Wide format, even going into Custom to select Best quality. Am I missing anything so far?

Then I open DVD Arch, start a New project, choose Single Video, keep the NTSC DVD default (also tried NTSC DVD Wide – same result), load the MPEG file and Make DVD. The resulting DVD shows very jagged lines throughout the movements, far worse than anything shot in DV. Going back to Vegas, I’ve reduced interlace flicker, changed field orders, rendered to WMV instead of MPEG, rendered in Good quality, done just about everything. Interestingly, only when I reduce flicker, or render to WMV, do those files play perfectly in Windows Media Player and preview just as well in DVD Arch. But once they’re burned to DVD, they’re just as jagged as the other variations.

I’ll give Connect HD a try since it’s a free trial anyway. But I’m hard pressed to believe that a nice video can’t be had without it. (I mean, this is Sony freaking Vegas!) Plus, isn’t the m2t file encoded in a Cineform codec anyway? Has no one here ever produced a smooth SD-DVD without Connect HD??? I just want to make sure I’m not screwing up a simple step above, at the very least. Thanks in advance for your thoughts while I try Connect HD…

PS – Really not liking Vista so far. But I had all the same results above with or without it.