Created a movie composed of pictures and video fragments (AVCHD) with Studio 14 Ultimate HD.

In DVD resolution it generates without any problem. In AVCHD or higher after 32 minutes it starts having flickering pictures, transitions and video. Always at the same point in the movie. The screen gives square blocks, titles start flickering. Removing the first 30 minutes, makes that those scenes show without any problem. So the problem is not in those scenes. But than the same effect occurs later in the movie. Total length is 55 minutes.

I have generated it over and over. Removed temporary files. rebooted. Disabled network connection, comodo firewall, Avira antivirus. No effect or changes

 Options used: progressive coding and recode entire movie.

 Computer  is quadcore 2.83Ghz, 4GB, Windows 7

 Suggestions welcomed.

 

I assume you are just making an mpeg-2 TS files and seeing these results?

This problem rang a bell with me but my searches came up with nothing - the discussions may be during the period of time that is no longer in the search database. I vaguely remeber that it might not have affected all the presets you could use, so if you can fill us in on exactly the firle settings you are using that would be helpful.

Someone else may have a better memory than me, but a vaguely remeber that it was when making a disc that this occured.

If you had time to test it, you could try the S15 trial and see if it was fixed.

 

 

I am making (or at least trying) to make a BDMV or AVCHD image, so no mpeg-2 image.

Settings are: AVCHD, Dolby Digital 5.1, Best quality, target: DVD DL 8.5GB, create disk image

But it also fails at:

Blue-ray disk, adjusted quality (ranging from 23000-40000) and create an image for a 25GB BD.

It fails at plain pictures (no PAZ etc) or video fragments.

Movie contains:

• menu
• pictures
• AVCHD video fragments
  
• base transitions
• music
  

 Interesting suggestion for the S15 trial. Just located it (thanks).

Mpeg-2 TS is a file format that uses the same H 264 codec as the AVCHD and BluRay AVC disc images. I was thrown by your reference to 55 minutes, which is over of the limit you can get on a single layer DVD, but of course you could be using D/L discs Be interesting to know if Make File suffers the same problem.

I'm recalling now that the issue I read about was with BD discs. Have you tried different Image Types? ISTR that the BDMV (mpeg-2) setting didn't have this issue. There are also two setting for an AVCHD disc as well.

Boy, I wish the search function didn't have those missing months...

 

To view the generated BDMV movie only at the start I burnt the AVCHD file on a dual layer DVD and then discovered the flickering half way. Now I am playing the image either on an AC Ryan with an internal disc or just use Windows Mediaplayer opening the first file in the STREAM directory.

So the problem is pure with the generated image file and doesn't have anything to do (yet) with the image on an optical disc. 

Yes, I understand that. But there are two ways to generate those images. You can use H 264, or vanilla mpeg-2, getting less material on the disc, but if my memory serves, it's only the H 264 encoding that suffers from the degradation after a certain duration.

Not sure I know where to select one or the other. Is it in the make movie screen where you can select AVCHD or BDMV (AVC) to burn the disk? If not, then please tell me more! Much appreciated.

Yep, that the box.

I'm assuming you are seeing this pixelation during normal speed playback. If you ever load S14 H 264 files back into Studio 14 they appear to be covered in pixelation, but it normally doesn't show at normal speed.

I just made a 40 minutes AVCHD image and couldn't see any issues with the file when viewed in WMP past the 3 minute mark. I'm only using AVCHD footage mind you, no menus or stills.

I am generating the movie with BDMV(AVC). I assume that is MPEG-2. After 21 minutes the trembling/flickering starts both in pictures and video.

Will install the trial S15 and generate it in there. 

Here is my understanding. I may be wrong.

Files with the type M2TS are mpeg transport streams. They were designed for broadcast applications and they are essentially a wrapper - that is, the file extension doesn't dictate exactly what codec was used to compress the video or audio. Some time after the introduction of the mpeg-2TS wrapper, it started to be also used with video that had been encoded with H264 (Advanced Video Codec). So a M2TS file can contain mpeg2 or AVC video

Bluray adopted the M2TS wrapper and allows the use of either AVC or MPEG-2 video

Studio can encoded bluray images with either codec as shown in the Image Type drop down box. The mpeg-2 option has a lower bit rate and is interlaced, while the AVC option uses MBAFF as the scan type

Sorry that my memory is vague at this point, but ISTR that pixelation issues that began a certain way into a disc image were restricted to using the AVC codec - so the workround was to use mpeg-2

AVCHD discs don't seem to have this choice. The two options are AVC, using a slightly higher bit rate, a long GOP structure and MTBF, or AVCHD, which is interlaced.

Now, I don't recall AVCHD discs being reported as having the pixelation issues, but In would certainly suggest trying the AVCHD setting if you haven't done so already.

I've now made AVCHD disc images of over 40 minutes using both settings but cannot detect any pixelation in either .m2ts files.

BTW, is that a typo or has the time at which the pixelation starts changesd from 32 minutes to 21?

Thanks again.

Indeed I had the first shaky images at 21 and not 32 minutes. Was a typo from my side. The shaky images continue in S14, however with exact same settings in S15 it all works fine, so it generates perfectly.

I burnt a disk, that did not want to play in my Panasonic Blueray player!  AVCHD image (6.2 GB), AVC generated.

In the past weeks I installed AVCHD-patcher which modifies the index.bdmv file. Did that and burnt again an image after that and it worked perfectly! So appearantly a bug in S15!

However what is there that I can do to have it generate correctly in S14? Will make another attempt with BDMV with 40K bitrate and MPEG-2. Let you know the result

I have generated a BDMV in MPEG-2 format successfully with 40K bitrate. Of course too big for a DL DVD. Trimmed down the quality to 22000. That fits.

With the AVCHD-patcher I changed the index file and burnt it to a DVD. No shaky images anymore. Only one problem with the menu:

I have a main menu (play movie and next) and a secondary with 8 selections. I cannot select either of the scenes there and have to wait until it returns to the main menu.

Any suggestions?

Useful information! Is you model of player know for compatibility issues? I've made AVCHD discs in S15 that play on my Sony.

How complex are the menus? I've had issues with using motion backgrounds or thumbnails. Might also be worth checking if they work for the DVD format. There is a RTM bug in Studio 14, but this doesn't sound like it.

It is a Panasonic DMP-BD60. I have played many S12 generated AVCHD images without any problems.

The menus I use is the Comic book main and sub, both 16x9. The only transition I use is the dissolve (in NL it is called "oplossing")

Just to be clear when making the disk in my trial license of S15 in AVCHD it works fine.

In S14 with AVCHD the menu works fine, only the scenes become shaky. To avoid the latter I generated with S14 a BlueRay image and modified it via AVCHD-patcher a modified index.bdmv file. That plays fine, except in the second menu I cannot select any of the scenes/thumbnails.

With DVD format in S14 it all works fine, both the menus and no shaky images.

So any ideas how to create an AVCHD disk without flickering images and working menus?

 

 

Apart from upgrading to S15, it looks like you might have to use your workround with simpler menus.

One idea. I'm speculating here, and I don't really have time to test it right now, but in the past replacing .dll files in the Program Files/Pinnacle/Studio 14/programs has been used as a hotfix method by Pinnacle.

If you tried replaceing the pcleh264enc.dll with the one from S15 it might just solve the problem - or it might crash the whole system.

If you have the time and courage to test the theory, please make a full backup first and don't get cross with me if it's a waste of time!

During the past days I have been replacing the files pcleH264Enc.dll, having no effect. Then also using the S15  pcleH264Dec.dll, no effect. Then also using the H264VidEncodeApi.dll, again no change, neither when generating an AVCHD or a BluRay image.

Replacing the H264Codec.ax as well made S14 hang, so I changed it back.

 Thinking the problem over again, I am not sure it has to do with AVCHD. Since the first image that is causing the first flickering image is a plain Canon 7D JPEG. After that transitions but also the AVCHD images give the same problems.

 So I changed everything back again and verified whether a BluRay image does not have that problem. Also this image has the flickering in Windows Media player.

Will check again with S15.

Other thoughts most appreciated. 

Have stopped debugging further. The fact that the movie generated in the trial version of S15 without any problem, where in S14 all attempts have failed, leave me with a bad feeling on S14. Thanks for the support, however it didn't resolve anything.

Have been working with Studio right from the first versions, have been struggling over the past years many times. Despite that I have been an advocate of Studio, although a number of my friends and collegues have stopped using Studio and switched to other products.  I now also have reached that point.