Captured from my HC-1 to Vegas. Now what?
 

I've captured all my HD video into Vegas but am so confused how to get a decent quality video onto DVD. (NTSC) Since there is no way yet to burn a hi-def DVD I am trying to get the final product onto a standard DVD through "DVD Architect." After dragging my video into the timeline in Vegas what should the "properties" be? There are so many choices! Then there are the rendering choices. So many to choose from it's so confusing. I've experimented with a lot of different combinations and have yet to see any of the benefits of downsizing from HD to standard so I just shoot in DV mode. I've downloaded a few amazing sample videos that were shot using the HC-1 but can't get anywhere near that quality. A step by step procedure would be greatly appreciated as I am not that proficient with Vegas Video. Thanks.

Here's what I do.

Capture all M2T files form your HC1. These are the transports of the raw HD.
Start a new project using the 1080i 60i HD template in the project Properties under File/Properties.
Put the M2T file in your timeline.
Convert it to AVI using Windows AVI and the Cineform Connect HD codec - VERY IMPORTANT.
Once this is done you will have very large AVI files that you can use in your timeline to edit as you want.
Once edited you can print to tape in HD directly from the AVI files. Some will tell you to do a replace on the files with the originaly M2T versions. This process is called proxy editing. But - the PDF of the manual for Vegas that I printed says that replacing the AVIs with the M2Ts is not necessary if you use the Cineform Codec.

I ran a brief test of this process and everything worked fine. Plus now I can print HD to tape in 1080i format AND choose to save to NTSC DVD Architect Widescreen mpg for authoring to DVD.

phil

I just don't understand why anyone shooting HDV for personal use would be satisfied with so many steps to the process, never mind that you are burning the project to NTSC DVD video.

For simple edits, can't you just do it losslessly on the native mt2 stream? You can with Womble MPG Video Wizard. Its smart rendering only re-encodes a few frames on either side of the edit point for transistions, and re-encodes not at all if it's just simple cuts and joins. It's fast, and because you edit losslessly right on the mpeg stream, there are no huge files to account for.

Then, you burn that same m2t file to DVD disk, and play it back on the $249 I-O Data AVeL LinkPlayer2 at 1080i or 720p. You can get 20-25 minutes of HD video (at least) on a single layer DVD disk. And you haven't given up anything because nothing stops you from making that NTSC DVD disk from your m2t file.

Just say NO to NTSC DVD video and HD playback from tape.

I would recommend either purchasing GearShift from VASST, and take your Mt2 file and have it converted to Cineform codec or Proxy video (great for slower systems).
Or Connect HD, which uses the Pro Cineform Codec, and enables you to capture directly to the Cineform codec eliminting the extra time neeeded to capture reencode and then encode for final.

Thanks
 

for all of your very helpful replies.

Interesting idea! Are you saying that you are getting true HD from the DVD that you authored with the M2T file? Or just a really really sharp NTSC video stream?

I am using Vegas and found that the M2T creates a file that the timeline does not play well with as far as playback. So I create an AVI per the manual using the Cineform Codec that comes with Vegas.

What kind of template settings do you use on the M2T so that it will be ready for DVD Architect or similar dvd authoring tool?

It's true HD. You don't author the disk per se like NTSC-DVD Video. You simply copy the m2t file to a DVD-Data disk and play it back with the I-O Data AVeL Linkplayer2, or any of the new generation of media servers that use the Sigma Designs EM8620L media processor. This includes units from JVC, I-O Data, Snazio, and Buffalo currently.

The AVeL Linkplayer2 will play m2t files directly, or those converted to MPEG2 program streams, at 720p or 1080i. I've had some issues with playing full blown broadcast MPEG-2 over my network... I get some stuttering on a full 1920 x 1080 with AC3 audio. But that vanishes with HDV (1440 x 1080i, MPEG Layer 2) or even slightly lower bitrate 1920x1080. This player will also handle MPEG-4 Advanced Simple Profile, Divx-HD, and Windows Media 9 HD formats. So it's technically possible to fit a whole 2 hour video on a DVD with transcoding.