AVCHD to DVD

[moonchilddave]

I have a Panasonic FZ-100 that I have a few videos on that I would like to burn to a DVD (files are in AVCHD/MTS files at 1280x720p). I want one movie from several files (and some files would be multiple chapters). Such as:

Movie:
Video 1 - 3 songs (need chapter marks)
Video 2 - 2 songs (also need chapter marks)
Video 3 - 1 song
Video 4 - 1 song

What I want as a final product is a single movie with chapter marks for each song.

I've tried using iMovie '08 to bring in the movies but it has an issue with one and gives me an error -39 when converting and doesn't bring the full video over. Also, I see no way to add chapter marks.

So what would be the best way to go about accomplishing this? I know Handbrake can convert the files to MP4 - but I'm unsure of what settings to use to get the best quality. I also know that MPEG Streamclip can then combine the files into one movie for me - but again... I have no idea how to add chapter marks once I have the final movie and I'm not sure what format to export to on MPEG Streamclip.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[eyebits]

clipwrap

I use Clipwrap ( http://www.divergentmedia.com/clipwrap ) to "convert" avchd files to quicktime movies that apple tools can use. Clipwrap is good because it doesn't convert the video data. It re-wraps the data in a quicktime file format. It can do that much more quickly than transcoding and there is no image quality loss.

You should be able to then edit the movies in iMovie or Final Cut Pro/Express. Once you have the movies you want you can create the DVD layout in iDVD or DVD Studio Pro. Establishing chapters is done in the DVD authoring software not in the video editing software.

 

[arnop]

I'm not sure iMovie will do what you're looking for. If you need, I suggest you to take a look a Final Cut Express which is much cheaper than FCP and will work perfectly for your needs.

 

[moonchilddave]

Ouch... $170 for FCE is a little more than I was expecting - as I will probably only be a casual user! ClipWrap seems nice, but it's $50 - and if all it does is wrap the media, I'm still thinking iMovie may have an issue with the one clip. iMovie '08 was able to see and convert the AVCHD files for me - but during converting one, I got an error code of -39 and was told I should check the result carefully. It only pulled in 1:30 of a 10:00 clip.

I did find Aunsoft MTS Converter, which I'm trying out and seems fairly nice and reasonably priced at $30 - and it allows me to combine the clips into one and do simple editing such as trimming or mirroring and it has a ton of output formats.

I'm also considering going out and picking up iLife '11 to see if there are any major improvements in iMovie or iDVD (I've heard issues with iPhoto in this - but I mainly use Picasa for my photo needs).

 

[moonchilddave]

Upgraded to iLife '11 and all is well. iMovie was able to import the AVCHD files and allow me to add chapter markers. I was then able to send it to iDVD and once I figured out one of my problems was I actually had accidentally muted the sound in a menu - get it burned!