New HD Format - AVCHD (By Sony and Panasonic)

[easy2Bcheesy]

How difficult would it be to be able to encode and mux our own .m2ts files? Could any of the recognised HD formats be used, eg 720p/59.94?

[mikeathome]

Hi,
I am lost with these .m2ts. I don't get any audio playback using CoreAVC Ver. 1.1 + Haali.

I did demux with xporthdmv.exe and get the 3/2 AC3. But no sound when playback a .m2ts with MPC. MPC is using the internal MPEG-2 Splitter which does not recognise the AC3 audio in these streams.

In Graphedit Haali does not accept the .m2ts, not supported... What is the trick? Does it work at all with Haali, or do I need to install Nero Showtime or PowerDVD 7? Elecard did gave me an Error Message as well, may be my early trial version. Which exact versions are you using?

mike

[pstdenis]

mikeathome,
the filter graph in graphedit for me contains
m2ts Elecard MPEG Demultiplexer Version 1.0.1.9 (Build 51017)
Elecard AVC/h.264 Decoder DMO
the audio part comes from
AC3Filter v1.01a 2002-2004 by Alexander Vigovsky

[easy2Bcheesy]

I have an AVCHD disk image here, about 92mb. It is a UDF 2.5 Nero NRG image. I burnt the file and am using Nero InCD to view it on Windows XP. It was generated by the new Sony HDR-UX1 camera.

As AVCHD could be an invaluable way to produce very easy, homebrew high definition DVDs playable on any Blu-ray player (including PS3) is there any appetite amongst the more talented people here to reverse engineer it so we can produce our own high definition DVDs?

The File structure is very straightforward:

BDMV
|_BACKUP
|_CLIPINF
|_PLAYLIST
|_STREAM
index.bdmv (1K)
MovieObject.bdmv (1K)

There is nothing in the BACKUP folder.

There are a series of files between 500-800 bytes long in the CLIPINF folder - filenames correspond to the streams into the STREAM folder, but the files have a CLPI suffix, eg 00000.CLPI

In the PLAYLIST folder is one file - 00000.MPLS. Hex-editing it I can see all the filenames in the STREAM folder so I guess this is a playlist object that runs all the videos on the disk in sequence.

In the STREAM folder you find all of your AVC .mt2s files, in the case of this image 00000.M2TS to 00006.MT2S

If you look on this (http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.watch.impress.co.jp%2Fav%2Fdocs%2F20061111%2Fps3.htm&langpair=ja%7Cen&hl=en&safe=off&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=%2Flanguage_tools) page you can see the PS3 playing back an AVCHD disk from the same camera as my disk image. A googled translation of a feature on this camera can be found here. (http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.watch.impress.co.jp%2Fav%2Fdocs%2F20061111%2Fps3.htm&langpair=ja%7Cen&hl=en&safe=off&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=%2Flanguage_tools)

If any one wants the image, please let me know and I'll post you a link. It is not copyrighted material being derived from the camera and a couple of moments' worth of shooting.

[SeeMoreDigital]

If any one wants the image, please let me know and I'll post you a link. It is not copyrighted material being derived from the camera and a couple of moments' worth of shooting.Well.... I'm certainly interested in the "image" file ;)

[mikeathome]

mikeathome,
the filter graph in graphedit for me contains
m2ts Elecard MPEG Demultiplexer Version 1.0.1.9 (Build 51017)
Elecard AVC/h.264 Decoder DMO
the audio part comes from
AC3Filter v1.01a 2002-2004 by Alexander Vigovsky

pstdenis,
THANK YOU!

I installed latest Elecard Player and AVC Plugin. The Demultiplexer version is 2. The Elecard AVC/h.264 Decoder DMO does not show up anymore in any filter tool. They probably blocked it from being used by any other soft than the Elecard Player. With the Player the clips play w/o prob incl. AC3 sound.

The AVC filter can't be chosen in Graphedit either ... blocked. Need to get hold of an old version. The new version shows Mainconcept as authors.

mike

[max-pain]

Panasonic HDC-SD1 AVCHD files:
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/20061213/zooma284.htm

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/20061213/ezsm_sm.m2ts
13Mbps CBR:
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/20061213/ezsm_hf.m2ts
9Mbps VBR:
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/20061213/ezsm_hn.m2ts
6Mbps VBR:
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/20061213/ezsm_he.m2ts

[kensystem]

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=118220&highlight=avchd

[DJ_Izumi]

I'm using MPC with Haali (I think it's using Haali) and CoreAVC Pro 1.1 to decode these m2ts and some M(2)TS streams off the Sony HD camera in question. I'm not getting any audio decoded, is the splitter just not capable of parsing that?

[aolmos]

Hi,

For those of us using Linux, I put together a readme and some sample scripts on how to convert .m2ts files to a format playable with mplayer.

Here's a link to the package I put together:
http://www.olmosconsulting.com/m2ts.tar.gz

Here is the procedure used:
1. Use xporthdmv to convert the file into .mpv and .mpa files.
2. Use ldecod to convert the .mpv file into a .yuv file.
3. Rename the .mpa file ldecod created to .ac3
4. Convert the .yuv file into a .y4m file using yuv4mpeg.

At this point, you have a .y4m file and .ac3 file which should be
standard.

5. Use ffmpeg to create a .avi file that contains the .y4m
transcoded to something else and the .ac3 file.

Sample commands:
xporthdmv -nh FILE.m2ts 1 1 1
ldecod -i bits0001.mpv -o /tmp/FILE.yuv
mv bits0001.mpa /tmp/FILE.ac3
yuv4mpeg -w 1440 -h 1080 -x 420mpeg2 < /tmp/FILE.yuv > /tmp/FILE.y4m
ffmpeg -i /tmp/FILE.y4m -i /tmp/FILE.ac3 -acodec copy -vcodec h264 -sameq -s 1440x1080 -aspect 16:9 -b 15000000 FILE.avi

If there is anyone out there who knows what they are doing with ffmpeg and
has suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

Axel

[Adub]

@aolmos
Nice work. I look forward to testing on my linux box.

[ib84]

i successfully converted several AVCHD-files on my Mac as described several times before, using xporthdmv, ldecod and ffmpeg.

As it has been stated several times now, ldecod is extremely slow (1ghz G4Powerbook 1 second becomes 1minute Processing!!).

I have been searching doom9 and google about x264 support of PAFF interlacing, hoping for a considerable perfomance boost.

According to
http://www.via.ecp.fr/via/ml/x264-devel/2006-06/msg00018.html
and
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=111527&highlight=PAFF+x264
>there is< x264 support for PAFF-interlacing.

Still, i did not find any post about the actual process of decoding/transcoding AVCHD-mt2s-files using x264/libavc instead of ldecod. There was some discussion about a x264_parse-patch for mp4ip that i did not understand completely, but demuxing is not the problem.

maybe i am too stupid to read it out of it, i am not an export, but to me it seems there is only support for PAFF-encoding, but not PAFF-decoding. is this true?

could someone please clarify this?

Is it possible to decode AVCHD-files (H.264/HighProfile/PAFF-Interlaced) with Opensource?
when yes, how exactly do it, given the bits0001.mpv output form xporthdmv?

thank you very much for any answers

[toytown]

Not sure if your aware, but encoding to HDAVC can now be done in the newest nero, i was trying it today and its quite quick and good quality.

[ib84]

@toytown: yeah, i know there already exists something on windows. sometimes it would be good to have a normal PC...

however, i´m sitting on a mac, so i would like to know, if with the recent PAFF-support included into x264, you can transcode demuxed AVCHD-files into i.e. MJPEG?

Besides speed boost, i hope also that this will provide me with more control on the transcoding process, such as H.264 deblocking, scaling& deinterlacing from 1440x1080i/60fps to 1920x1080p/30fps, desaturate, etc.
But this is not the question here.
I just want to know how to do transcode the demuxed AVDHD-files with x264 , ffmpeg, mencoder or any other Opensource-tool.

thank for any answers!

[jchunter_2]

I am trying to import an .m2ts file that was originally taken from a Sony SR1 into Ulead Video Studio version 11. However, it won't do it without most / all of the AVCHD DVD directory structure.

I don't have an SR1 and so don't know exactly what the dir structure is and what are the essential files and file formats. I have tried the dir format listed by easy2Bcheesey (posted in this thread, earlier) but no cigar, yet. VS needs something in the other folders.

Has anyone worked out the file organizations of the auxilliary files e.g., in CLIPINF and PLAYLIST folders?

[Konstantin]

Hi All,
For movie file conversion from Sony AVCHD format to MPEG-2 HDV and MPEG-2 DVD compatible formats you can use Elecard Converter Studio AVCHD Edition.
Read more here:
http://www.elecard.com/products/products-pc/consumer/converter-studio-avchd/

[jagaskywalker]

Not sure if your aware, but encoding to HDAVC can now be done in the newest nero, i was trying it today and its quite quick and good quality.

I have created several AVCHD tests DVDs using Nero Vision, testing AC3 and LPCM tracks. I play them using the Playstation 3.

My experience is that audio is always out of sync (it seems that AC3 is worse than LPCM). I would expect this to be an "issue" of Nero, but I cannnot confirm as I do not have any other source for AVCHD discs (i.e. with the full AVCHD disc image).

In PS3 it seems that 5.1 AC3 multichannel is kept (when using AVCHD discs). Unfortunatelly, when playing the m2ts files directly in the XMB audio is sent to the optical output as PCM 2.0....

In addition to the audio problems, Nero Vision offers little "tunning" of the output (e.g. no 720p to save some space). Is there any other AVCHD authoring software allowing such control ? (and with 5.1 AC3...)

Thanks

[Konstantin]

Hi All,
Elecard AVCHD to DV Transcoder is an incredibly easy and handy tool for digital camcorder owners who want to convert their videos from AVCHD® to DV format. This tiny program will do the exact conversion you have wanted since you bought your camera.
All you have to do is to open an AVCHD® video file or folder that contains your AVCHD® videos taken with your digital camcorder (for example, Sony® HDR-SR1E, Panasonic® HDC-SD1) and click the Convert button. Now you have a DV video file that you can open in any audio/video editing application such as Microsoft® Windows® Movie Maker.
Read more here:
http://www.elecard.com/products/products-pc/consumer/avchd-dv-transcoder/

[SeeMoreDigital]

Hi All,
Elecard AVCHD to DV Transcoder is an incredibly easy and handy tool for digital camcorder owners who want to convert their videos from AVCHD® to DV format. This tiny program will do the exact conversion you have wanted since you bought your camera.
All you have to do is to open an AVCHD® video file or folder that contains your AVCHD® videos taken with your digital camcorder (for example, Sony® HDR-SR1E, Panasonic® HDC-SD1) and click the Convert button. Now you have a DV video file that you can open in any audio/video editing application such as Microsoft® Windows® Movie Maker.
Read more here:
http://www.elecard.com/products/products-pc/consumer/avchd-dv-transcoder/And it costs $35.00 US :eek:

[Konstantin]

Yes it cost 35$. You can read more info here: http://www.elecard.com/products/products-pc/consumer/avchd-dv-transcoder/

Best Regards
Konstantin

[vlada]

Hi, I have a question regarding AVCHD and libavcodec. Today I got some videos from Panasonic AVCHD camcorder. Unfortunately it is 1080i with PAFF. I expect there is no free player/editor which would be able to work with this video. Are there any plans to implement PAFF support in libavcodec?

I think it is quite an important feature if there are cmacorders using it.

[Gotchaa]

Has anyone tried streaming the raw m2ts file to the PS3 using WMP11 or Zune and the media server connection on the PS3?

[B4tm4n]

Has anyone tried streaming the raw m2ts file to the PS3 using WMP11 or Zune and the media server connection on the PS3?

try renaming the *.m2ts file to *.mpg and it should work, i works with m2ts files off Blu-ray discs.

[LigH]

If you'd like some more material for testing:

Wedding shot (http://www.holzon.de/PRIVAT/wedding.m2ts) (~20 MB -- SONY HDC, AVCHD = 192 bytes TS packets, 1440x1080 anamorphic, interlaced)

I was able to demux it using xport (http://www.w6rz.net/xport.zip) (note the new URL):

xport.exe -h wedding.m2ts 1 1 1

(*.mpv => *.264 / *.mpa => *.ac3)

Now, unfortunately, there is no support for PAFF in libavcodec for DGAVCDec yet.

[vlada]

LigH
The good news is, that there is already a patch for ffmpeg to support PAFF. So we might soon see it in ffdshow, DGAVCDec, Avidemux etc.

[Schmendrick]

The last build of ffdshow (libavcodec.dll Version 51.43.0, gcc 4.2.1, x86 (Oct 2 2007 19:04:28)) still has not incorporated a proper PAFF-support even though a PAFF-patch has been published. I tested the above clip and it was not properly decoded by this build of ffdshow in contrast to the CoreAVC codec.

Schmendrick

[LigH]

DGAVCDec 1.00a8 works quite well with libavcodec from ffdshow-tryout builds around mid-November (tested: 2007-11-16 by clsid) on material made by a SONY AVCHD camera. At least forward converting; VirtualDub disappeared when jumping around in the AviSynth script forth and back.

And now that I found the richt-click feature in tsremux, I prefer that to demux the AVC stream.

[Guest]

VirtualDub disappeared when jumping around in the AviSynth script forth and back. I'll see if I can fix that.

[smok3]

there is now also AVC-intra (seems like only panasonic and only for 'better' camcorders)
http://www.panasonic.com/business/provideo/home.asp

[BENtheTEN]

I just checked the latest mplayer svn (svn update about 30 minutes ago) and it still seems to have a problem with the files from my Sony CX7.
mplayer tells me the reason, but as I am not a coder and have no ideas about codecs I can't help :-(
(Interlaced pictures + spatial direct mode is not implemented)


http://www.bentheten.com/cx7/00000.mts
http://www.bentheten.com/cx7/00002.mts
http://www.bentheten.com/cx7/00064.mts
are these samples helpful here, or do I have to post them at the mplayerhq somewhere?

[0ctane]

BEN, you will have more results (although slim) if you post this to the ffmpeg or mplayer mailing lists. If you searched a bit, you would find out that neither can properly handle AVCHD content yet.

For linux and Mac users, you can go here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=789775) to get more info on converting AVCHD content to something usable.

[foxyshadis]

there is now also AVC-intra (seems like only panasonic and only for 'better' camcorders)
http://www.panasonic.com/business/provideo/home.asp

Weird, I wonder why they've started using it when they have so much invested in DVC Pro already. Does anyone else use it?

[communist]

Weird, I wonder why they've started using it when they have so much invested in DVC Pro already. Does anyone else use it?
Its only a change to a more efficient codec to get more on the media (P2 Cards). They have to compete with Sony's latest move to use flash memory too. Sony while entering the record to flash-media market very late has the advantage to use a newer standard (google 'SxS') and start with way higher capacities and lower prices than what was available when P2 was introduced.

The only other company I know of using AVC-Intra is Hitachi with their HD-Studio cameras, the video output via Triax is encoded with AVC-Intra ~130-150 MBit/s.
I'm not sure if this is the standard method to transport HD/4:2:2 over regular Triax (not optical fiber).

[foxyshadis]

Are you sure it's more efficient, though? Both use bitrates of 50mbps or 100mbps, aside from hitachi's even higher bitrates, and while AVC has some block-to-block intra prediction modes, I can't imagine them making any real dent on quality at those bitrates.

Seems like a change for change's sake, unless it's much cheaper than DVCPro or everyone's agreed to make it a new standard.

[communist]

DVCPro: 25MBit/s, 4:1:1 or 50 MBit/s, 4:2:2 (8 bit depth).
'Normal' DVCProHD runs at 100 MBit/s, 4:2:2, the recorded resolution is 960x720 for 720p and 1280x1080 / 1440x1080 for 1080i-59.94i / 50i.
The AVC-Intra option will allow you to use 50 or 100 MBit/s. At 50Mbit/s the resolution recorded is the same as with DVCProHD. At 100 MBit/s you get the full-raster HD image , 4:2:2 and 10 bit depth.

I dont know if it really is better - never used DVCPro Gear higher than 25 ;)

[Yod4z]

for those who use Windows 2K or XP don't use the last build (18/11/2007) of halli matroska splitter. I have a Canon HR10 and i have a black screen on MPC using this build but this build work correctly on vista.

Use the 03/06/2007 build for Windows XP or 2K.

[smok3]

Are you sure it's more efficient, though? Both use bitrates of 50mbps or 100mbps, aside from hitachi's even higher bitrates, and while AVC has some block-to-block intra prediction modes, I can't imagine them making any real dent on quality at those bitrates.

Seems like a change for change's sake, unless it's much cheaper than DVCPro or everyone's agreed to make it a new standard.

it is weird, i have no idea what was the point of it.

[BENtheTEN]

I actually can convert the files using xport and ffmpeg

but no matter what setting I try audio always gets out of sync.
It starts perfectly in sync but it gets more and more out of sync the longer the movie is ..

(my cx7 is a europe edition - means 25fps .. or 25000/1001 .. I don't know)

[BENtheTEN]

btw. I can actually play audio in sync using the command:
mplayer -audiofile audiofile.ac3 videofile.avi

so there must be a problem in my joining command line which is:
ffmpeg -r 25000/1000 -s 1440x1080 -i /tmp/$1.yuv -i /tmp/$1.ac3 -acodec copy -vcodec libx264 -sameq -aspect 16:9 -b 15000k $1.avi

Has anyone else the same problem or even better a solution?

[0ctane]

Try "-r pal". Although, some NTSC cameras ("-r ntsc") have been known to hit the european shores, and I have heard of some pal cameras in the USA.

[BENtheTEN]

Thanks for the quick reply.

I tried -r 25, -r 24, -r pal, -r ntsc, -r 25000/1001, -r 30000/1001 and -r 24000/1001 and none of these work.

The only way to play it, is to leave the ac3 file seperated and play it with the -audiofile option.

(FYI it's pal/25fps)

Thanks
Ben

[BENtheTEN]

I'm still stuck converting my avchd files to something usable/editable without loosing the sync of the audio.
Could anyone try to do the same an check if it's just my problem or ffmpeg, please? (already posted to the ffmpeg mailing list)

Example:
00009.mts
-------------
Splitting the file
xporthdmv -h 00009.mts 1 1 1
convert video file to yuv
ldecod -i bits0001.mpv -o 00009.mts.yuv
rename audio file to ac3
mv bits0001.mpa 00009.mts.ac3
merging the two files in an avi file
ffmpeg -r pal -s 1440x1080 -i 00009.mts.yuv -i 00009.mts.ac3 -acodec copy -vcodec libx264 -sameq -aspect 16:9 -b 15000k -deinterlace 00009.mts.avi
-------------

now when I start "mplayer 00009.mts.avi" then the audio is out of sync
BUT when I start "mplayer 00009.mts.avi -audiofile 00009.mts.ac3" the
audio is perfectly in sync. I tried converting only the audio, only the
video, both, none .. but no matter what I do, if I merge them with
ffmpeg or mencoder(svn) which should be more or less the same, the audio
moves out of sync.

The files:
original: https://www.bentheten.com/cx7/00009.mts
conv. a/v: https://www.bentheten.com/cx7/00009.mts.avi
audio only: https://www.bentheten.com/cx7/00009.mts.ac3


Thanks
Ben

[0ctane]

I'm still stuck converting my avchd files to something usable/editable without loosing the sync of the audio.
Could anyone try to do the same an check if it's just my problem or ffmpeg, please? (already posted to the ffmpeg mailing list)

Example:
00009.mts
-------------
Splitting the file
xporthdmv -h 00009.mts 1 1 1
convert video file to yuv
ldecod -i bits0001.mpv -o 00009.mts.yuv
rename audio file to ac3
mv bits0001.mpa 00009.mts.ac3
merging the two files in an avi file
ffmpeg -r pal -s 1440x1080 -i 00009.mts.yuv -i 00009.mts.ac3 -acodec copy -vcodec libx264 -sameq -aspect 16:9 -b 15000k -deinterlace 00009.mts.avi
-------------

now when I start "mplayer 00009.mts.avi" then the audio is out of sync
BUT when I start "mplayer 00009.mts.avi -audiofile 00009.mts.ac3" the
audio is perfectly in sync. I tried converting only the audio, only the
video, both, none .. but no matter what I do, if I merge them with
ffmpeg or mencoder(svn) which should be more or less the same, the audio
moves out of sync.

The files:
original: https://www.bentheten.com/cx7/00009.mts
conv. a/v: https://www.bentheten.com/cx7/00009.mts.avi
audio only: https://www.bentheten.com/cx7/00009.mts.ac3
It will make people's lives easier if you change https to http in your links.

Anyhow, I converted your sample. Yes, I agree that it is PAL.

Interesting... Using:ffmpeg -r pal -s 1440x1080 -i 00009.yuv -i bits0001.ac3 -acodec pcm_s16le -vcodec mpeg4 -sameq -aspect 16:9 -b 15000k -deinterlace 00009.mov I notice the sync problem too. If I take the film into Quicktime Pro and export it back out, the sync is fixed. Anyhow, I suggest you take this to the ffmpeg mailing list.

[BENtheTEN]

Thanks for the answer.
I already posted it to the ffmpeg developer mailing list: http://lists.mplayerhq.hu/pipermail/ffmpeg-devel/2007-December/039572.html

[bond]

moved, as avchd seems to be bluray compatible and therefore better fits here

[kartu]

Any updates, did anyone find solution? I still get error with the lates ffmpeg when encoding mts file from Panasonic (AVCHD). :(

[Atak_Snajpera]

Did you try DGAVCDEC?