[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Richard,

I believe the way your question is phrased may be causing some confusion – a software app has nothing to do with HDMI capture – you need specialized hardware for that. Some people assume that if their computer graphics card has an HDMI port, that it can somehow be used for recording, but those are output only, not sure if that was your angle?

There are HDMI capture cards from Matrox, BlackMagic, AJA, MOTU, but most are PCI-e cards that do not connect to a laptop. Matrox and MOTU have the option to use an ExpressCard34 adapter, and BlackMagic has the Intensity Shuttle with USB 3.0, though that can be finicky about which USB 3.0 chipset it works well with.

But you are correct in theory – with an MXO2 Mini for instance connected to laptop, you CAN take the HDMI out from camera during a live shoot and record direct to the computer with 4:2:2 using a better quality codec than the camera has.

I have done this myself, albeit with a workstation and not a laptop. Hardly portable, but you work with what you have! I had a long weekend shooting 6 dance recital shows and figured I could save about 15 hours by not having to capture all the HDV tapes, so brought my workstation and MXO2 Mini and recorded “live” to PC, and footage was immediately ready for edit then! In fact, between shows I was putting together little highlights of the shows and putting them on the HD display out in the lobby. Didn’t hurt sales!

Thanks

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor

[Jeff Pulera]

Post deleted by user

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi John,

We don’t know what kind of computer hardware you are running, or even what version of Premiere, but what you are seeing means that the computer cannot process the video for realtime playback with the effect applied, so you are getting a reduced frame rate playback.

You should be seeing a red line above the video clip, telling you that the effect requires rendering. Hit the ENTER key to render the segment. It will then turn green and should play back smoothly

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Mike,

Adobe Media Encoder and Encore should produce identical quality as both would use the same encoding engine under the hood, so comes down to personal preference I believe.

I like to use AME to encode for DVD right out of Premiere, since once I finish an edit I’m usually ready for a break and that’s a good time to render! On the PC, exporting to MPEG-2 for DVD results in an .m2v and a .wav file, but Mac might use a different audio codec.

I then create a new project in Encore and Import Assets as Timeline, then move on to menu creation. I like this workflow because once I am ready to proof and burn/test the results, there is very little wait since the video is already encoded! I would hate to get the DVD menus all done then have to wait a long time for transcoding before I could have a DVD in my hand. Just my thing.

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Austin,

Good advice from Danny. I don’t transcode in Encore, I follow Danny’s advice and do that before I get to that stage. In other words, assuming editing in Premiere, use Adobe Media Encoder and export the HD sequence as MPEG-2 for DVD, resulting in a widescreen SD export of .m2v for video and .wav for audio. Check the “Maximum Render Quality” setting when going to from HD to SD for best quality downscaling.

In Encore, use File > Import as import the assets as a Timeline. For menu creation in Photoshop, use 720×480 as suggested, but be sure to set the Pixel Aspect in Photoshop to 1.2 so the results are not distorted on your widescreen DVD.

Do not, I repeat do NOT create a 4:3 “letterboxed” DVD from your HD source! Create a 16:9 DVD to match the source footage. If the viewer happens to have a 4:3 display, their DVD player should add the 4:3 letterboxing to the video output automatically. If you create a 4:3 disc with letterboxing as part of the image, when viewed on a 16:9 display, the entire video will then be surrounded by black, not pretty at all.

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Russell,

Have you tried watching the DVD on a TV set rather than on the computer itself? Computer displays are non-interlaced and this will affect what you see when viewing an interlaced DVD.

Thanks

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Rafael,

Sounds like you are working on a Mac, correct? Please advise – what is your source footage format? Editing sequence settings?

Your issue with the repeating frames could be “pull down” that is added to 24p material to make it 30fps.

Thanks

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Chaz,

What is the source footage – PAL or HD? What is the length of the finished program? It will help to know this to determine best bitrate for encoding.

How are you viewing the completed DVD? Don’t use the computer, try a normal TV and DVD player setup that you would typically watch movies on.

Thanks

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Mike,

Don’t skimp on the processor – definitely go with the i7 over the i5. The GTX 560 will work, just apply the “Studio 1 Hack” so that the Mercury Playback Engine will use it though. Of course if the budget allows, you may want to get an Adobe-approved Nvidia GPU for best results.

Your current hardware is definitely not up to the task for HD editing.

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Volodymyr,

Please excuse the brevity of my last post, I was in too much of a hurry. First, the MAX option on the Matrox MXO2 hardware devices is a hardware H.264 encoding accelerator – it will not speed up any exports to MPEG-2 formats.

That said, your system should export to MPEG-2 MUCH faster than what you are experiencing. I notice you have the GTX 460 graphics card installed. This is NOT on the Adobe-approved list for GPU-accelerated editing using the Mercury Playback Engine. However, you CAN enable this card and get better performance by using the simple instruction here –

https://www.studio1productions.com/Articles/PremiereCS5.htm

Enabling the Nvidia card in Premiere will not only enhance editing performance, but may also help with the exporting speed as well.

Next, regarding export settings in Adobe Media Encoder, when exporting to DVD from an HD source, you would typically want “Maximum Render Quality” checked, as this improves the downscaling quality. The “Max Bit Depth” button is usually NOT checked – no advantage when working with 8-bit video.

With your system, exporting using CBR or 1-Pass VBR, I would expect a 2-hour HD project to export in under 3 hours, much less than the 8 hours you experienced. Note that SD exports to DVD should be almost 10x FASTER than realtime! These times exclude any rendering of red-bar areas of Premiere, which should be reduced or eliminated by enabling your GPU.

Thanks

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers