I have very recently made a major leap from Pinnacle Studio 8 (that I have using for years) and tape driven Mini DV capture format to Studio 12 Ultimate and solid state HD capture (Canon HF100 camcorder. I am surprised that the power hungry Studio 12 is not easily served by current UK computers (eg PC World) and I have had to settle for a 2.4 rather than 2.6ghz Quadcore computer as the latter has only just come out and is currently (July 2008) premium priced (circa £1300). So I guess it is inevitable I am getting frequent software crashes. However, the lower spec computer does render HD provided there are not too many fancy transitions which I refrain from using in any case. I'd like to to share experiences of the latest Pinnacle Studio 12 if anyone is up and running with it. I make a variety of commercial and leisure based programmes in the educational and music field and for the time being wish to make "HD" programmes on normal DVD discs (not Blue Ray) and thus optimise the quality using a standard 12p DVD disc rather than a £12 Blue Ray disc especially as the format has not yet become the norm!!!

I have been experimenting with AVCHD file conversion and editing. Pre HD I always archived AVI files by rough editing them first to keep file size down and then using them as a source for editing on Studio 8. Is there a way of rough editing AVCHD and archiving them as the route I have taken is to rough edit and render at either MPEG2 HD 1080 or MPEG" HD 720 depending on end quality desired (close ups are fine at 720).

However by converting AVCHD to MPEG2 HD 1080 takes approximately 75% more disc space. Is there any way of keeping (storing) the capture files in the highly compressed original  AVCHD and still rough edit (clip) them?  

Which PC did you buy? We have just bought a Canon HG10 and are looking at the HP Pavilion Elite M9265.

Moving to Make Movie section.

Yes, I also have the HP m9265 computer but is below recommended spec by Pinnacle for HD movie making on Studio 12. I decided to take a gamble on a future bolt on upgrade but currenly the 2.6 Quadcore computers are at a premium price so the message really (to anyone else) is wait a few months before purchasing Studio 12 until price of suitable computers come down. What are your impressions of Studio 12 (assuming you have it)? 

I have Studio 11 Ultimate running on an older PC - it works fine apart from the fact it takes ages to open a project. As I have just bought a High Definition camcorder I need to replace my PC and choosing the right one has become a nightmare.

 

In principle, you should be able to rough edit your AVCHD and export to AVCHD.  In reality, Studio allows no export to AVCHD, but does allow one to "create AVCHD-DVD image, but do not burn,"  which creates an m2ts file in a stream folder that amounts to the (almost) same thing.   The problem is that action and pan shots may shudder and jerk.  To export to HD WMV 1280x720 takes lots of render time and entails some loss of resolution.  To export to HDV2 at 1440x1080i avoids the shudders, and takes less time, but uses more disk space.  If your HD videocam shoots in Dolby 5.1, you may witness sound degradation or loss of channels in the Studio output.

Personally I wont work with AVCHD right now, my reasoning quite well explained by Larry on this http://forums.pinnaclesys.com/forums/thread/204409.aspx  page.

 Two things that I dont like abut AVCHD is the loss of quality from original capture to final export ( doesn't matter what process you follow you WILL lose some quality, when doing DVD). HDV edits better, exports better and just generally works better. 

I am sure AVCHD support will become better but for now you will have to find some work arounds.  Think you should contact markk655 ,   he has loads of advice on AVCHD editing and exporting. 

 

rux:

 Think you should contact markk655 ,   he has loads of advice on AVCHD editing and exporting. 

I couldn't agree more.

Awww shucks

Just trying to help out (now if I could only import my own files into S12 and have volume evenly balanced I would be all set (waiting on a patch !)

A nice bug report has been prepared for us by Jon regarding that.. hang in there Mark.

Going back to topic.. Any tips for the OP?

Marc,

Thanks for grounding me (I feel better now)

I have been experimenting with AVCHD file conversion and editing. Pre HD I always archived AVI files by rough editing them first to keep file size down and then using them as a source for editing on Studio 8. Is there a way of rough editing AVCHD and archiving them as the route I have taken is to rough edit and render at either MPEG2 HD 1080 or MPEG" HD 720 depending on end quality desired (close ups are fine at 720).

However by converting AVCHD to MPEG2 HD 1080 takes approximately 75% more disc space. Is there any way of keeping (storing) the capture files in the highly compressed original  AVCHD and still rough edit (clip) them?  

 

As you point out, mpeg2-1080/720 have much larger file sizes than AVCHD. My gut instinct is to suggest purchasing an external HDD. These are relatively inexpensive per GB. Save the mpeg files to the exHDD. If you insist on editing and wanting the edited version in AVCHD format then make your edits, then make your movie as an AVCHD disc. Scroll to the stream folder and find the .mts file.  That is the file that contains your footage in AVCHD format. Archive that file. Note that several contributors (such as JKoch) have noted that in fast panning/motion scenes, the new mts file may not be as crisp in terms of resolution as the original.

 

markk655:

Marc,

Thanks for grounding me (I feel better now)

Sorry to make it look that way.  You were already too built up for the moment. 

Sorry for light Off Topic. Going back.

Sorry I have been away a few months. Studio 12 is great WHEN IT WORKs byt suddenly it becomes sluggish. It needs a very powerful computer and I am upgraded to a Quad 2 Dualcore 3mghz. Anyone else have problems with proects taking ages to load and then freezing up?

 

imagebender:

Sorry I have been away a few months. Studio 12 is great WHEN IT WORKs byt suddenly it becomes sluggish. It needs a very powerful computer and I am upgraded to a Quad 2 Dualcore 3mghz. Anyone else have problems with proects taking ages to load and then freezing up?

 

This Thread is a year old

!) Defragment your HDD

2) Follow my Instructions in THIS Post.

Try that 1st & Post-back results.

imagebender:

Anyone else have problems with proects taking ages to load and then freezing up?

 

Does this happen on newly created projects or just on old ones?