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Encoding Sony HDR-HC1 footage
I have a project involving several dozen tapes shot with a Sony HDR-HC1 NTSC video camera. Some of you might recall it was one of the first comsumer-level HD cams to hit the market back in 2005. It doesn’t shoot full HD, rather it shoots 1080i 1440×1080.
I have captured several tapes and started editing and authoring them to blu-ray. When I insert the video into the timeline, I have been clicking on yes when asked “Do you want to set your project video settings to match the media?” When I’m ready to encode, I have been selecting MainConcept MPEG-2 as an output format, and Vegas Pro 12 tells me there are three options that match my project settings:
HDV 1080-60i
Blu-ray 1440×1080-60i, 8 Mbps video stream
Blu-ray 1440×1080-60i, 25 Mbps video streamI always like to go with 2-pass VBR using my own calculated bitrates to maximize the space on the blu-ray disk; and I never actually go with exactly 8 Mbps or 25 Mbps. However, whether I choose HDV 1080-60i or Blu-ray 1440×1080-60i and then encode the video, DVD Architect Pro v6 always wants to re-encode the video. I find this to be really frustrating from both a time aspect as well as the fact the video ends up getting encoded twice.
The only thing I’ve been changing in the default settings when I click on the “Customize Template” button is that I opt for 2-pass VBR and I set my own bitrates in the three boxes.
The default settings I get for Blu-ray 1440×1080-60i are:
Include video stream (checked)
Output type: MPEG-2
Width: 1440 Height: 1080
Frame rate: 29.970
Aspect ratio: 16:9 display
I-frames: 15 B-frames: 2
Insert I-frames at markers (checked)
Profile: Main
Level: High
Field Order: Upper field first
Prioritize quality over speed (checked)
Video quality: halfway between low and high (15)
Insert sequence header before each GOP (checked)The project properties I use in DVD Architect are:
Disc format: Blu-ray Disc
Target Media Size(GB): 25.00
Video defaults
Video format: MPEG-2
Bit rate (Mbps): 25.000
Aspect ratio: 16:9
Resolution: 1440×1080
Frame rate: 29.970 interlaced
Progressive: No (greyed out)I would sincerely appreciate some guidance on where I’m going wrong. Thanks.
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4 Replies
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[Nick Frankiewitz] “The only thing I’ve been changing in the default settings when I click on the “Customize Template” button is that I opt for 2-pass VBR and I set my own bitrates in the three boxes.”
Try using the DVD Architect template unaltered and see if it still wants to re-encode the video. Your camera shoots 25Mbps HDV and the template is producing 25Mbps HDV. There is no reason for you to tweak anything.
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com -
John – thanks for your response. Actually, I don’t change any of the default settings in DVD Architect. My reference to making changes in the default settings was aimed at changing the bitrates in Vegas Video (the maximum, average, and minimum bitrates) when I do a 2-pass VBR encoding.
Note: I have often wondered if it would be appropriate to change the bitrate in DVD Architect to the bitrate at which I encoded the video in Vegas Video, i.e., if the average bitrate I used in the 2-pass VBR encoding was 20K, would it be appropriate to change the bitrate in DVD Architect to 20K? Or would this only work if I use a CBR in Vegas Video?
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[Nick Frankiewitz] “John – thanks for your response. Actually, I don’t change any of the default settings in DVD Architect. My reference to making changes in the default settings was aimed at changing the bitrates in Vegas Video (the maximum, average, and minimum bitrates) when I do a 2-pass VBR encoding.”
I’m sorry if I wasn’t clear. This is exactly what I was talking about so let me rephrase:
Try using the Main Concept MPEG-2 DVD Architect template in Vegas Pro unchanged. Obviously something you are doing to this template is causing the video that it produces to be non-compliant. There is no reason to tweak the Vegas Pro render templates for DVD Architect. They are designed specifically for use in DVD Architect without re-encoding providing that you don’t mess with them.
[Nick Frankiewitz] “Note: I have often wondered if it would be appropriate to change the bitrate in DVD Architect to the bitrate at which I encoded the video in Vegas Video, i.e., if the average bitrate I used in the 2-pass VBR encoding was 20K, would it be appropriate to change the bitrate in DVD Architect to 20K? Or would this only work if I use a CBR in Vegas Video?”
There is no reason to change anything in DVD Architect. Those settings will only be used to encode the menus and any non-compliant video. Any complaint video will be burned to disc unaltered.
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com -
Yup. Keep in mind that HDV is MPEG-2 video encoded CBR… it’s always 25Mb/s, no variable bitrate (I still have an HVR-A1, the “Sony Professional” sibling of the HDR-HC1, though it’s been awhile since I used it). I’m not always sure what magic I need to do to invoke MPEG-2 smart rendering.. BUT taking a CBR source and rendering VBR will always cause a re-encode, in my experience.
-Dave
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