Play movies via SD card slot on Panny blu-ray player
 

I want my Panny blu-ray player to play finished movies via the SD card slot. It plays .mts files that my panny camcorder records.

I've got CS5.

Can this be done?

I haven't found anything that makes me think Premiere will export to .mts. But what if you export to m2t and just change the extension?

You can make it export m2t by selecting MPEG2 as your format and then changing Multiplexing to TS.

Edit: Didn't work on mine. Didn't even see the file, but there may be some special directory structure that you have to do.

A little further research reveals that, according to other threads on the web, the Panny BD players will play video from an SD card only if that video is original video recorded in a camcorder. (The manual sort of alludes to this but isn't very definitive.) Not sure how accurate this is, but these other resources say there is currently no software that can replicate the file structure and format on an SD card in a way that the Panny BD players will see. Would love to find out if this is indeed possible.

My solution is to use a Sony Blu Ray player. I have a Panny but it has been regated to the guest bedroom.

My PS3 isn't seeing the files either, no matter what directory they're in. Maybe it's only newer Sony BD players that work with video on SD cards.

Charles, can you tell us what type of file/extension you have on your cards, what the directory structure is and where the files are? Are these original video files recorded in a camcorder or exported finished movies from your NLE?

A way to get your exported files as m2ts is to make a BD-folder in Encore of the edited timeline and copy/cut the m2ts files from STREAM directory in that BD-folder.

Excellent idea, Ann. The m2ts files are indeed there. But I still couldn't get either BD player to see them.

I would love to know if someone has been able to get this to work.

Edit: Spoke too soon re: my trusty little PS3. While the unit doesn't see any "titles" on the card, if you go into the Options menu you can navigate through all the folders on the card and you can see and play all the files, regardless of format: mts, m2ts, m2t, and mpg. This little box really does do everything.

But no happy news on the Panny front, I'm afraid. No way to navigate the SD card in that fashion on my Panny player (that I've found).

Unfortunately the Panny BR player refuses to read any BR movies I've made via CS5, and won't read a friend's BR movie either. A firmware update didn't help.

So I've had to swap it for a Sony S360 player and forget the SD card possibility.

We do have a Sony HDV player at the video club that has an Duo Pro card reader - maybe I can put movies onto that to show there ...

Thanks everyone.

I think that I have found a method that works. I have just played a 20 second video, edited in P-Pro cs4, exported to Encore, and built to a blu ray folder (no menu). Transferred to sd card and played in my Panasonic player.
The card has to be formatted with Panasonics own program (free) download from:
SD Memory Card Formatting Software | SD Memory Card | Digital AV | Consumer Products | Support | Panasonic Global
I used the beta version.
There is a very useful free piece of software (donations welcome, it states) multiAVCHD available from:
::: multiAVCHD home :::
I took the m2ts files from STREAM directory in the BD-folder as suggested by Ann and put that into multiAVCHD. Click START and select the option for Panasonic.
Transfer the resulting AVCHD folder to PRIVATE folder that you will have to create on your sd card.

Quote from multiAVCHD help file:

"- SD Card (card should be formatted correctly - not with MS Windows build-in format,
but with panasonic's utility -> (sdfv2003.exe). AVCHD folder should be put INSIDE \PRIVATE\ folder
i.e. if F:\ is your SD card, then AVCHD folder should be copied inside F:\PRIVATE (create it first)."

Maybe this Panasonic formatting is the key to it?

I am only a beginner at this so please be gentle if I have made some silly mistakes. I have used multiAVCHD to make AVCHD discs from Encore (with basic menus) and have been very pleased with the results.

Ken

Ken, thanks for the info and I can confirm that this works, at least on my cheap Costco Panny 605. The key seems to be multiAVCHD, which creates this incredibly complex file structure, with lots of supplementary folders and files, and which seems to be exactly what the player needs in order to see and play all this stuff.

Interestingly, the PS3 also now sees the files as titles you can quickly play instead of having to navigate through a series of subfolders. Ironically, using the PS3 preset didn't work for me.

Now that we have it working, the question occurs to me, why? A blank BD-R costs about one-tenth of what an SD card of the same size costs. I guess if you don't have a BD burner..... but not, I suppose, for client delivery.

Below is a screen grab of the file structure created by multiAVCHD. You manually create the PRIVATE directory and point to it as your destination, and it does the rest.

Adam,

Pleased that it worked. I have found multiAvchd an extremely useful program. Most of my dvds are only 10 - 15 minutes and prior to buying a blu ray burner I was able to produce a high def video on a standard dvd by dropping the encore blu ray file structure into multiAVCHD. (encoding limited to18000). Even though I now have a blu ray burner I still use this method for my own home videos. Saves a pound or two! (or a couple of dollars).
multiAVCHD can also link automatically to ImgBurn which makes the whole process very straightforward

Good to be able to contribute something in return for all the help I have had from this forum. Thank you.

Ken

Adam, sorry for the late response, I've been traveling.

Here is what I do. I export to mpeg2, and then place the .mpg file in a folder named VIDEO on the SD card. I use a SanDisk MicroMate SD to USB adapter so that I can use the USB port on any Sony player. This works great; I have tried it on three different Sony BD players and on my PS3.

This will NOT work on a Panasonic and I have not tried the Panasonic formatting method.