Those familliar with BluRay... at DVinfo.net

Dawn Brennan · August 5th, 2008, 08:33 AM

I have a client requesting the BluRay files of their wedding video. They are purchasing a HD for me to store them so that in the future they can have the file in HiDef. What are your recommendations as to how I would render these? I was going to do it a HDMpeg-2 file, but then I thought that with the audio separately, the wouldn't be able to do anything with it themselves. Would a HiDef Media Player file be any better? Suggestions? This is all foreign territory to me! Thanks!

Alastair Brown · August 5th, 2008, 10:12 AM

I'd render it out as an MPEG2 M2t file. That way they can render it out to whatever format they prefer and/or edit it at a later date.

Don't take that as Gospel. Just my two cents worth,

Ramesh Singh · August 5th, 2008, 03:41 PM

You can create MP4 with H.264 and AAC or AC3 with resolution of 720p (1280x720) or 1080i (1920x1080). These MP4s can be played on PS3 for HD quality.

Another way to go TS container with H.264 video and AC3 audio.

Shaun Conner · August 5th, 2008, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ramesh Singh

You can create MP4 with H.264 and AAC or AC3 with resolution of 720p (1280x720) or 1080i (1920x1080). These MP4s can be played on PS3 for HD quality.

Another way to go TS container with H.264 video and AC3 audio.

This is the route I would take.

Jason Robinson · August 5th, 2008, 06:30 PM

If the video is going to be stored on a dedicated HD, why not render to a completely raw and uncompressed format?

Give it to them a bunch of different ways to "future proof" if one encoding scheme falls out of favor 5 years from now or more.

Jon Omiatek · August 5th, 2008, 07:21 PM

First, are you shooting with a HD camera that stores it has m2t? Take your edited footage and print it back to tape. Give them the tape(s) and edited m2t files on a hard drive. That way, you are covered. I would recommend tape over HD for long term storage. A drop and the Hard Drive is worthless without spending big $$$ to get it fixed.

I shot a ton of weddings in 06 in HDV and stored them on hard drive and tape just in case. Luckly for me, I know how to store hard drives and didn't have to capture any earlier this year when I started burning blu-rays.

Remember, tape is cheap. Hard drives are cheap as well. :)

On the other hand, if you are using a EX1 or better, hard drive might be your only option. In that case, have the couple buy two hard drives, hard drives are CHEAP and make two copies.

Dawn Brennan · August 5th, 2008, 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jon Omiatek

First, are you shooting with a HD camera that stores it has m2t? Take your edited footage and print it back to tape.

Sorry! Forgot to specify! I am shooting HD with a FX7. So thats probably a great suggestion to go with both tapes and files on a HD. Thanks!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jason Robinson

If the video is going to be stored on a dedicated HD, why not render to a completely raw and uncompressed format?

Give it to them a bunch of different ways to "future proof" if one encoding scheme falls out of favor 5 years from now or more.

Their concern with RAW is that they won't be able to do anything with it later. They already have upgraded to HDTV at home and know for sure that they want these files to recreate their actual DVD in the future. They want files that they can just dump on to a DVD, sound and all together. They won't have the menu that I created, but they are okay with that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ramesh Singh

You can create MP4 with H.264 and AAC or AC3 with resolution of 720p (1280x720) or 1080i (1920x1080). These MP4s can be played on PS3 for HD quality.

Another way to go TS container with H.264 video and AC3 audio.

Okay, well thanks for this suggestion... I am exhausted and not quite thinking clearly, and I don't really know what all of that means, but I will look into it in the morning!

Thanks for all the help!!!

Ramesh Singh · August 6th, 2008, 10:36 AM

Making multiple back-up copies and storing one of the copies in Back locker is always a good idea, after all its your wedding, generations might want to view it.

About MP4 with H.264 & AAC, if you can tell me your workflow I can give some ideas to convert your video to MP4.

Alastair Brown · August 6th, 2008, 10:49 AM

Backing these up is going to be a bit of a headache. I currently use a network drive that has two drives in RAID configuration for as close to belt and braces peace of mind as I can get.

A 25Gb image is going to take forever to take across.

I am thinking that just keeping complete projects on eSATA 1Tb drives may be the way forward?

Dawn Brennan · August 6th, 2008, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ramesh Singh

Making multiple back-up copies and storing one of the copies in Back locker is always a good idea, after all its your wedding, generations might want to view it.

About MP4 with H.264 & AAC, if you can tell me your workflow I can give some ideas to convert your video to MP4.

Well, I record in HiDef to Mini DV and for this specific wedding, its 3 cameras in a multicam edit, download to Vegas 8.0 and edit in HD, and I am going to give them the edited files from there (verses the actual DVD files from Architect). Some of the files are quite large (i.e. the ceremony is almost 1 hour, I think). Not sure what else you might need to know, but I greatly appreciate your help! Its a crazy week, with a bridal show coming up... draining all of my energy... and my brain power, at least the little I have!

Jon Omiatek · August 6th, 2008, 01:09 PM

If they want the RAW footage, then sell them your original tapes if you no longer need them. If you still need them, make copies. Copy the m2t to hard drive is the same quality as on tape but they wouldn't need to capture them.

I have a Popcorn Hour and a Tvix, both play the m2t files natively right on your tv from hard drive or a network. Great way to watch raw footage or DVD's.

Jon

Ramesh Singh · August 7th, 2008, 06:48 PM

I have used ffmpeg (used at Vimeo) extensively to create MP4 files.

You can feed your RAW footage (m2t) files to ffmpeg and convert it to MP4.
There is GUI Version of ffmpeg available, if you don't like to use command line.

But I would give command as,

ffmpeg -i WeddingFileName.m2t -vcodec libx264 -acodec libfaac -b 25000k -ab 448k -threads 2 WeddingOutFilename.mp4

You can pretty much feed any any format file (post Vegas 8.0 & edit) to ffmpeg to get MP4 files.

(ffmpeg is freely available over net)

August 5th, 2008, 08:33 AM	#1
Dawn Brennan Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 193	Those familliar with BluRay... I have a client requesting the BluRay files of their wedding video. They are purchasing a HD for me to store them so that in the future they can have the file in HiDef. What are your recommendations as to how I would render these? I was going to do it a HDMpeg-2 file, but then I thought that with the audio separately, the wouldn't be able to do anything with it themselves. Would a HiDef Media Player file be any better? Suggestions? This is all foreign territory to me! Thanks!

August 5th, 2008, 10:12 AM	#2
Alastair Brown Major Player Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Glasgow/Scotland Posts: 626	I'd render it out as an MPEG2 M2t file. That way they can render it out to whatever format they prefer and/or edit it at a later date. Don't take that as Gospel. Just my two cents worth,

August 5th, 2008, 03:41 PM	#3
Ramesh Singh Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Delhi, India Posts: 43	You can create MP4 with H.264 and AAC or AC3 with resolution of 720p (1280x720) or 1080i (1920x1080). These MP4s can be played on PS3 for HD quality. Another way to go TS container with H.264 video and AC3 audio.

August 5th, 2008, 06:30 PM	#5
Jason Robinson Trustee Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Boise, Idaho Posts: 1,997	If the video is going to be stored on a dedicated HD, why not render to a completely raw and uncompressed format? Give it to them a bunch of different ways to "future proof" if one encoding scheme falls out of favor 5 years from now or more.

August 5th, 2008, 07:21 PM	#6
Jon Omiatek Major Player Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Columbus, Ohio Posts: 755	First, are you shooting with a HD camera that stores it has m2t? Take your edited footage and print it back to tape. Give them the tape(s) and edited m2t files on a hard drive. That way, you are covered. I would recommend tape over HD for long term storage. A drop and the Hard Drive is worthless without spending big $$$ to get it fixed. I shot a ton of weddings in 06 in HDV and stored them on hard drive and tape just in case. Luckly for me, I know how to store hard drives and didn't have to capture any earlier this year when I started burning blu-rays. Remember, tape is cheap. Hard drives are cheap as well. :) On the other hand, if you are using a EX1 or better, hard drive might be your only option. In that case, have the couple buy two hard drives, hard drives are CHEAP and make two copies.

August 6th, 2008, 10:36 AM	#8
Ramesh Singh Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Delhi, India Posts: 43	Making multiple back-up copies and storing one of the copies in Back locker is always a good idea, after all its your wedding, generations might want to view it. About MP4 with H.264 & AAC, if you can tell me your workflow I can give some ideas to convert your video to MP4.

August 6th, 2008, 10:49 AM	#9
Alastair Brown Major Player Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Glasgow/Scotland Posts: 626	Backing these up is going to be a bit of a headache. I currently use a network drive that has two drives in RAID configuration for as close to belt and braces peace of mind as I can get. A 25Gb image is going to take forever to take across. I am thinking that just keeping complete projects on eSATA 1Tb drives may be the way forward?

August 6th, 2008, 01:09 PM	#11
Jon Omiatek Major Player Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Columbus, Ohio Posts: 755	If they want the RAW footage, then sell them your original tapes if you no longer need them. If you still need them, make copies. Copy the m2t to hard drive is the same quality as on tape but they wouldn't need to capture them. I have a Popcorn Hour and a Tvix, both play the m2t files natively right on your tv from hard drive or a network. Great way to watch raw footage or DVD's. Jon

August 7th, 2008, 06:48 PM	#12
Ramesh Singh Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Delhi, India Posts: 43	I have used ffmpeg (used at Vimeo) extensively to create MP4 files. You can feed your RAW footage (m2t) files to ffmpeg and convert it to MP4. There is GUI Version of ffmpeg available, if you don't like to use command line. But I would give command as, ffmpeg -i WeddingFileName.m2t -vcodec libx264 -acodec libfaac -b 25000k -ab 448k -threads 2 WeddingOutFilename.mp4 You can pretty much feed any any format file (post Vegas 8.0 & edit) to ffmpeg to get MP4 files. (ffmpeg is freely available over net)