[Ryan Radchenko]

Well Kiki, the .m2t container is the most rediculous thing ever invented. It is compatible with nothing. You have to export your video from avid using the HDV setting and send to quicktime movie. This will give to an above mentioned .m2t which is a bluray file. But do you think you can just get bluray authoring software that will recognize the .m2t? Not a chance. I have to convert the .m2t into H.264 (mp4) to be able to do anything with it. For this I use “Alive HD Video Converter” then to get that HD video on to DVD (not bluray) I transcode the mp4 with multiAVCHD. This is an amazing freeware program that will get your 1080 stuff onto DVD without much quality loss. Download multiAVCHD then follow this tutorial on setting up your computer to use the program. https://adubvideo.net/how-to/setup-proper-playback-chain-windows

For bluray authoring I found Arcsoft Total Media Extreme to be the program. But remember, it still will not recognize stupid .m2t.

I hope that answers some questions for you.

[Ryan Radchenko]

I appreciate all your input but I’m still spinning my wheels. I followed the steps you layed out and I was able to export a qucktime reference but it plays choppy and Avid also created .new files for every clip in the sequence. Do I need all those .new files or can delete them? I still have no idea what target video resolution to choose. I chose DNxHD 145 MXF. I looked at the graph in th help menu but it still gave like 5 different choises. I also selected Convert Audio Sample Rate, Convert Audio Sample Bit Depth and Convert Audio Format. Should I have done that?

Is there anyway I can just use the quicktime movie file that I exported at 16:9? Can you PLEASE suggest something that I can purchase to encode and burn my 16:9 quicktime movie file to DVD. Thank you for your patience and expertise.

[Ryan Radchenko]

I appreciate your feedback but I may need a few more details. When I choose export options in avid there is an “Sorenson Squeeze-Encode for DVD” option I selected that along with a quicktime reference option but I got a message saying “Long GOP media can not be exported using QuickTime Reference” so then I tried to export as a quicktime movie and it said that I can not export using same as source and to choose custom settings. Is this where I should choose the 16:9 aspect ratio or use native dimensions? I exported one of each and they both look bad. Another option is to choose sorenson Squeeze-Encode for DVD along with HDV export seetings and that gave me an .m2t file which looks better but still distorts a little. Is there anything else I can try?

Then when I do get something exported out of AVID can you suggest a program that I can buy that will convert or encode and burn the file to a DVD? You may not be able to suggest a specific brand due to favortism but I need to know what works best.
Thanks again for your help.

[Ryan Radchenko]

Thanks for the depressing information. What I would like to know is, what do the networks do when they need to add effects to their HD or HDV footage? Is there anything I can do?

[Ryan Radchenko]

Hey Kevin. When you say “using compressor” what is that? Is it DVD burning software? What DVD burning software can I use that will give me these options when putting HDV footage on DVD?

[Ryan Radchenko]

So what I gathered from what I read is that AE is useless with my HD camera. I only wish software makers were more up front with this information. Could you suggest a codec I can convert an m2t codec to, that will work well in AE? Possibly one that won’t degrade the footage that much?

I thank you in advance for any ideas you have.

Ryan Radchenko

[Ryan Radchenko]

The HD footage looks good in the quicktime player with a correct aspect ratio of 16:9. Then when I attempt to enlarge the quicktime or re-size it the aspect ratio pops to 4:3. I figured that .mov was for SD only so I tried to export the HD video from Avid as an .m2t file. That worked and my aspect ratio was correct when I played it back using media player. I though my problems were solved and AE would inherit the correct aspect ratio from the .m2t file but when I drop it into the composition it is displayed in 4:3 and when I change the comp settings to HDV it gives me the same square video with lovely black bars on the sides.

Could you tell me what file type to export the HD footage as in the first place. OR figure out how to get the .m2t files to work in AE OR get quicktime to export my HD footage from Avid in 16:9. I would love to hear your thoughts on this, please.

Thanks
Ps What I think was happening in AE with the quicktime was that it was being stretched from 4:3 to fit my HD comp. setting thus making it pixelated. Could this be the case?