[Mario Nicotra]

Some test results.

Source: Digitised 4 min video clip 720×576 PAL miniDV format avi

Codec ———————————- Render Time (mm:ss) — File size (KB

MainConcept HDV1080 25 Mb/s & PCM ——- 3:27 ———— 761,822
MainConcept HDV720 18.3 Mb/s & PCM —— 1:43 ———— 573,810

Sony AVCHD 1080 50i 16Mb/s AC3 ———— 18:38 ———– 495,168

So the Sony AVCHD codec does produce a smaller file size and has embedded AC3 audio but at the expense of significnat render time (more than 5x that of the MainConcept codec)

Decision:

PAL 720×576 WS Original – As I have over 50 hrs of original footage to convert and as it is PAL SD native resolution then I will compromise and use the Main Concept HDV720 format which still produces an image comparable to the Sony AVC codec (as far as the eye can see) but at a significantly shorter render time.

PAL 1920×1080 HDV – Although I haven’t performed any test yet on my 1080HDV recorded material, I will most probably use the Sony AVCHD codec to get the most image quality and smaller file sizes. This I will finally decide when I do some actual test.

I welcome any comments or suggestion here…

Thanks

[Mario Nicotra]

Hi Robert,

Thanks for the information.

I am wanting to create a single file containing both Video and Audio streams for playback from a media player and not to create a Bluray disc.

MainConcept MPEG2 HDV 720 and 1080 codecs do this.
Sony AVC/MVC codecs AVCHD 1920×1080 also creates a single file with Video/audio but I can’t seem to find an equivalent 1280×720 format template.

The decision is really do I go 1280×720 or 1920×1080 to render my original format SD 720×576 PAL master tapes?

Is there really any advantage going to the very large file 1080 HD when 720 would suffice?

I am still running render test between Sony and MainConcept codecs ..

[Mario Nicotra]

Excellent information

Many thanks Mike and Robert.

I now will try out some test renders and see which works best for me. I need to determine which is better, the Sony or the MainConcept codec. I would prefer to have audio on the same video file without too much fiddling.

Big drives are so cheap these days. I already have some 5 Terabytes of storage drives connected to a raid NAS to which the media player has access so space is not an issue!

[Mario Nicotra]

Hi Mike

Yes I have been tweaking the MainConcept Custom setting and setup a custom template “DVD PAL Widescreen with Audio”

I have a Netgear EVA9150 HD media player which handles HD very nicely. Yes it does handle mp4. Which Vegas Pro render codec and setting would you recommend?

I wanted to get higher quality but is it worth rendering at a higher resolution even if the original image was recorded at 720×576 SD?

Many thanks