AVCHD Workflow - Two Questions

[NorBro]

Hello,

I've recently have been working with AVCHD footage and I have two general questions about my workflow. (FYI: I'm working in FCS 3 and shooting in 720p/60)

(1) After I log and transfer my footage, edit and export my work as a self-contained or reference movie, I bring that into Compressor. I usually use the best quality droplet and tweak the settings:

Two Pass VBR
Average BR: 7.5
Maximum BR: 7.5

Frame Controls ON
Resize Filter - Best
Output - Same as Source
Deinterlace - Better
Adaptive Details (Checked)

For 60 minutes of footage...those settings give me just below 4gb, which I think is using a good amount of the DVD while keeping it pretty safe with the bitrate to work on most DVD players without playback issues.

Regardless, with my Quad-Core 2.66ghz Mac Pro with 16GB RAM....it takes about 8-9 hours to process the video. (FYI: I'm using one 7200rpm 2TB SATA Drive as storage and writing the files to another 7200rpm 2TB SATA Drive. Both are less than half full.

MY QUESTION: Is it normal for it to take this long?


(2) The video looks amazing when I create a file for the web and I know that it should, but the DVDs look like garbage. I see lots of artifacting and can see the compression problems when looking up close. Maybe just a critical eye?

Personally, I think it's because I'm playing the DVDs on a 16x9 HD Television? I'm thinking they would look better on a 4x3 SD Television...

MY QUESTION: Any thoughts on this quality issue?

I appreciate any feedback very much.

Thank you.

[David Saraceno]

Why are you deinterlacing if you started with 60p footage?

[Nethfel]

Another question I'd have is why are you setting your average and maximum bit rate to be the same - have you tried setting an average to say 5.5 and max to 7.5 and see what the results are? Also, you mention DVD playback, so I assume that you're outputting for DVD? So, you should have an m2v file, have you played that file (quicktime 7 w/ mpeg2 plugin, vlc, movist, etc.) to see what it looks like on your computer prior to actually making the DVD?

[NorBro]

David S. - You bring up a great point. Should I then have Frame Controls off? Truthfully, I've never even thought about it because I've always used the same Compressor droplet for all 60i SD footage and it would make no sense to deinterlace progressive footage. What settings would you recommend?

Nethfel - There was a typo...I had the average to 6.5 and the maximum to 7.5. I am outputting to DVD and if I open the .m2v file in QT or Mpeg Streamclip, it looks much better than how it looks on the dvd. I'm almost positive it's because I'm playing an SD DVD on an HDTV. I remember reading somewhere here that it will look worse because it's blowing up the image and you're losing quality...but I'd just like to see what others think..

[David Saraceno]

Use the stock settings. No need to any frame controls when going to DVD using a progressive source.

Drop your maximum bit rate to about 7.2 and your average or target to about 6.5

Use Dolby2/ac3 audio, not aiff.

Use a QuickCluster, encoding 60 minutes should take about 80 minutes max.

And how are you viewing the footage? HDMI out from uprezzing DVD set top?

[NorBro]

I actually checked again, and I have my maximum up to 8.3 and average at 7.5. This fits most of the DVD and I'd like to keep it like that because if I have room on the DVD, why not use it?

But I will use the stock settings...I'm viewing the footage on a PS3 via HDMI on a 40-inch HD TV.

[David Saraceno]

I actually checked again, and I have my maximum up to 8.3 and average at 7.5. This fits most of the DVD and I'd like to keep it like that because if I have room on the DVD, why not use it?

Because some set top DVD players cannot play at that combined audio/video mbps range, and will produce artifacting and stuttered playback.

Higher bit rate is necessarily better when encoding for DVD authoring

I challenge you to objectively see the difference between encoding at 8 mbps and encoding at 7 mbps.

And if you do not encode your audio to dolby2/ac3 and use aiff with a 8.3 maximum, you are pushing the maximum specs for combined audio and video on a DVD R.

And pushing the maximum isn't wise for many set tops that can handle DVD R media reliably and efficiently. PS3 may be one

[NorBro]

Truthfully, I probably will not be able to see the difference between 7 and 8.

I've been using a high bitrate and .ac3 audio for a year or so and there has never been any playback issues. We film sports games for parents and sometimes at least 30-40 different households receive copies and surprisingly no one has ever had any issues.

[David Saraceno]

Sounds good.

Turn off the the frame based deinterlacing, and see if things improve

good luck