Archive for November, 2010

How to convert HD footages for burning with Windows DVD Maker?

Windows DVD Maker has been introduced with Windows Vista and it continues to be present in Windows 7. Generally, Windows DVD Maker is not hard to use. It has some really nice customization options which should fit basic video DVD burning needs. It is “a suite of tools to import, edit, manage, and share your digital home videos—including movies captured in the high-definition video (HDV) format” by the official site of Microsoft. Yet users may doubt if it is true when they failed to import the HD footages shot with their Canon, Sony, JVC and Panasonic cameras and camcorders. Well, it is true that the Windows DVD Maker handles with high-definition video, but unfortunately it does not work most of the HD video clips because of their uncommon formats (mostly MPEG and H.264 encoded *.mod, *.tod, *.mts, *.mov files). In order to burn the HD (especially AVCHD) footages with Windows DVD Maker, you have to convert the videos to compatible formats for Windows DVD Maker.

Files Types Supported By Windows DVD Maker
Let’s take a look at the types of files which can be burned with Windows DVD Maker:

Video files: *.asf, *.avi, *.dvr-ms, *.m1v, *.mp2v, *.mpe, *.mpeg, *.mpg, *.mpv2, *.wm, and *.wmv.
Audio files: *.aif, *.aifc, *.aiff, *.asf, *.au, *.mp2, *.mp3, *.mpa, *.snd, *.wav, and *.wma.
Picture files: *.bmp, *.dib, *.emf, *.gif, *.jfif, *.jpe, *.jpeg, *.jpg, *.png, *.tif, *.tiff, and *.wmf.

Convert HD MTS, TOD, MOV, MOD to be compatible with Windows DVD Maker
Among the versatile video converting tools on market, Pavtube HD Video Converter is a top one for you to convert HD footages taken with over majority cams at high quality. It also allows you to adjust the advanced parameters like bitrate, resolution, audio channels, etc. In the following guide I will show you how to convert HD footages to Windows DVD Maker supported formats with least quality loss.

Step 1. Getting started
Transfer the footages you’d like to edit from camcorder or memory card to PC. Install and launch HD Converter, click “Add” to load the HD video clips, or directly drag the files into file list. By default, the files are selected. You could view the files in preview window, simply highlight the file and click play button.

Step 2. Adjusting audio and video settings
Click “Settings” and customize advanced audio and video parameters. Now that we are converting HD files (MTS, MOV, TOD) for burning with Windows DVD Maker, you may click on the format bar and follow HD Video->HD WMV/ AVI/ MPEG-2 and then customize the advanced video and audio parameters. Take HD WMV as example, for the users who are unwilling to degrade the HD video quality, a recommended configuration could be Video at 1280*720p (or 960*540), 12800kbps, 29.97fps, and set Audio at 48000 Hz, 256 kbps, 5.1 channels. The original footages you have taken may be a full HD 1920*1080, but as we are talking about burning DVD, it is not a best choice to maintain the original resolution, since the full HD video fits for blu-ray disc rather than standard DVD.

Step 3. Converting HD footages to Windows DVD Maker supported formats
Click on “Convert” button and the Pavtube HD Video Converter will starts converting HD footages to compatible formats for Windows DVD Maker. You could set auto shutdown in progress window or leave it there and come back later.

Burn converted video clips with Windows DVD Maker
After conversion you can burn the converted videos with Windows DVD Maker now:
Step 1. Click the “Start” button and select “Windows DVD Maker” to run the program, then click the “Add items” button from the top menu and browse to the folder were the movies you want to burn are located. By default, they should be found in the “Videos” folder.

Step 2. Select the videos you want to burn and type the “Disc title”. Also, you may select the order in which the movies will be saved on DVD. To do that, select a movie and press the “Up” or “Down” button to change its order.

Step 3. If you want to, you can click the “Options” button and set things like the burning speed, the aspect ratio, the video format or you can choose if the DVD will have a menu or not. After you finished making the settings you want, click the “OK” button and then “Next”.

Step 4. At this step you can create a custom DVD menu or you can select a predefined one. To select a predefined menu, scroll the “Menu Styles” list and select the one you like most. You can customize it by pressing the “Customize Menu” button and making the settings you want. Also, you can change the menu text by clicking the “Menu text” button and typing the text you want for each button.

Step 5. When you have finished making all the customizations, click the “Burn” button.

First, Windows DVD Maker will encode the movie in the appropriate format and then it will burn it on DVD. Usually, the encoding process takes much more time than the burning so you have to patient.

How to convert AVCHD Lite videos to be compatible with QuickTime Player on Mac?

Part 1. What is AVCHD Lite? How to play AVCHD Lite video on Mac?
For the users of Panasonic Lumix line digital cameras like DMC-FT1, DMC-FZ35 and DMC-FZ38, AVCHD Lite should be a familiar phrase. The name was used first in marketing literature for the Panasonic DMC-ZS3 digital cameras, announced in January 2009. AVCHD Lite is a subset of AVCHD format, which identifies devices that are capable of 720p/30fps recording only. Comparing with Full HD, the 720p/30fps video is recorded in the normal AVCHD 720p/60 format, but every other frame is duplicated, resulting in thirty actual frames per second. A good news for Mac guys is that Apple has made it clear that iMovie 09’ is able to edit the AVCHD Lite video. Yet the AVCHD Lite video turns out to be incompatible with QuickTime Player. Surely you may play it with Mplayer or VLC player, but guys like me would rather use QuickTime Player watching everything. In order to play the AVCHD Lite video files generated by the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT1 smoothly on Mac, the AVCHD Lite must be converted to QuickTime compatible format, like MOV, MP4, etc.

Part 2. How do I convert the AVCHD Lite for playing with QuickTime Player on Mac?
If you want to convert the AVCHD Lite to QuickTime for playing, then Pavtube Video Converter for Mac is an option for you. You can convert from AVCHD to any Quicktime format using this powerful video conversion tool. A Video Converter free trial version is available, only watermark of Pavtub logo will appear on the screen of converted videos.

You may refer to below guide how to convert the AVCHD Lite to QuickTime with Pavtube Video Converter for Mac.

Step One. Free download, install and launch the Mac Video Converter.
Once you run it, click “Add” to load the source AVCHD Lite MTS files.

Step Two. Select QuickTime (*.mov ) or H.264 Video (*.mp4) as output format for QuickTime
Click on the drop-down list of “Format”, and follow “Common Video”> “MOV-QuickTime (*.mov)” or “Common Video” > “H.264 Video (*.mp4)”. To retain the HD video quality, you can select “HD Video”> “H.264 HD Video (*.mp4)”.

Step Three. Click “Settings” button to adjust video and audio parameters
Notice that which parameter to select has close relationship with the hardware configurations of your computer, so before your adjustment, read the following info attentively.

To play HD video on Mac, a large amount of data must be processed by your computer. A powerful system will deliver the best playback quality. Recommended hardware configurations for H.264 HD playback on Macintosh:
For 1280×720 (720p) video at 24-30 frames per second:
* 1.8 GHz PowerMac G5 or 1.83 GHz Intel Core Duo or faster Macintosh computer
* At least 256MB of RAM
* 64 MB or greater video card

Step 4: Click “Convert” button to start converting AVCHD Lite to QuickTime format.
After the above steps are done, you can click “Convert” button to start conversion. And you can click “Open” button to get the generated QuickTime MOV/ MP4 files effortlessly. Now you have converted AVCHD Lite video to QuickTime player compatible format successfully with this powerful AVCHD Lite converter. Afterwards, just import the output files to QuickTime Player effortlessly. Have fun.

How to convert TiVo recordings for burning DVD with Nero?

Nero has long been the most respected suite for backing up files and creating all types of discs. It is well deserved the title of best burning software on Windows platform for its powerful authoring and burning facilities and excellent support for extensive video and audio formats. Actually Nero handles overwhelming popular video and audio formats, even the AVCHD m2ts footage can be directly imported to the suite without decoding. Nevertheless, there are some video formats that Nero does not work with. And the *.tivo format happens to be one of them. TiVo is very helpful; with the small box we can record any program and shows when we’re at work, and enjoy them whenever we want. The latest 4th generation can store up to 150 hours of HD content (TiVo Premiere XL). But even sooo much space can be used up. When you run out of storage, it is hard to decide which recordings to remain and which to delete. I usually burn the TiVo recordings to DVD before delete them. And I use Nero 9 to author the TiVo shows. Want to know why I manage to load the TiVo files to Nero? Well, I take Pavtube Video Converter.

The Pavtube Video Converter is able to convert TiVo files to AVI, VOB, MP4, WMV, MKV, DV, whatever. To retain original HD quality, you can ‘Directly Copy’ TiVo shows to MPEG files; to save storage, you can shrink the TiVo recordings; to burn CD album, you can extract audios from TiVo files; to cut the commercials, you can ‘trim’ the ads out; to eliminate the black edges, you can ‘crop’ the image and remain the part you like. And, to conclude, it is worth trying. So why not download the trial version of Pavtube Video Converter and give it a shoot? By the way, the trial version gives videos with a ‘Pavtube’ logo on the screen.

Now let’s focus on the process of converting TiVo shows to Nero.
1. Transfer TiVo recordings to PC (or laptop)
Transferring TiVo recordings to PC is easy and straight-forward. All you need is a freeware by TiVo— the TiVo Desktop (download the latest version v2.8). Connect the TiVo box with your home network, and run TiVo Desktop. Click on “Pick Recordings to Transfer”. Check the box next to the title of the show (or shows) you want to transfer and click on “Start Transfer”. Transfer times vary, but may be as long as the show’s duration to complete the transfer.

2. Convert TiVo recordings to Nero.
Step 1. Input Media Access Key.
Launch Pavtube Video Converter, Click on the “Option” button, switch to TiVo tab, and enter your Media Access Key. Click “OK” to confirm.

Step 2: Import TiVo files.
Now click “Add” to import all .tivo files, or you may drag and drop the *.tivo files to the window of Pavtube Video Converter.

Step 3: Select an output format for burning in Nero.
Click on the pull down menu of “Format” to select output format. If you do not want to loss any quality, please select Copy-> Directly Copy. Most of the recordings are HD 1920*1080 videos, which can be burned to blu-ray discs after being converted to TS format (in the row of HD Video). For me, I’d like to compress the HD recordings so as to fit 4.7G DVDs. I used to select Common Video-> Divx AVI, and then click “Settings” button to adjust audio and video parameters. The following picture shows detailed settings:

Note that you’d better change the video “Size” to 960*540 provided your source video is 16:9 and you don’t’ want outstretched image.

If you choose “Directly Copy”, the Video Converter will decrypt TiVo files to MPEG-2 encoded format (the TiVo format is actually encrypted MPEG-2 streams), and the “Settings” button is grayed out. Some people may want to keep 5.1 channels for DVD burning. If you choose H.264 MP4, WMV3, MKV, MPEG-2 Video, or MOV-Quick Time, 5.1 channels can be available.

Step 4. Edit the TiVo recordings to keep proper length and size.
Click on “Edit” button to enter editing window of Video Converter.
I. Cut unwanted black edges
Switch to Crop tab to cut unwanted edges. You can crop the video by adjusting the crop frame (drag the green dotted green square frame to circle the part you want to retain) or setting values (Left, Top, Width and Height) of crop area.

II. Trim out bothering commercial ads
Under ‘Trim’ tab you are allowed to cut out unwanted part of selected clip. To trim the video, simply type in desired time value in ‘Start’ and ‘End’ box and click ‘Set’ button. Or you can click left square bracket and right square bracket to set start and end time when playing the video.

Step 5: Click “Convert” button to start converting TiVo to Nero compatible format.
Back to main interface and click “Convert” button, the TiVo converter will generates videos that are compatible with Nero. After conversion you can click the “Open” button next to output path to find converted recordings. Now you can feel free to run Nero and load them for burning DVDs.

How to convert F4V files for burning DVD with Nero?

When surfing the Internet, there’re always funny videos interest me. I used to download those stunning online videos to hard drive using YouTube Converter and then burn the downloaded video (usually saved in *.filv or *.mp4 format) to DVD for collection with Nero 9. I trust Nero; it is powerful and perhaps the most popular DVD authoring software for Windows users. Recently I got into high-definition videos and downloaded some HD FLV files for playing back on PC. Surely these videos play fine, giving much better visual quality. But when I tried burning the FLV files with Nero, it turned out that Nero refuse to load the HD FLV files!

I Googled quite a bit before really figured out the problem. It seems these “HD FLV” videos are in fact “F4V” files. F4V is an MP4 video file utilized by Adobe Flash Player 9 Update 3 (9.0.115.0) and later versions. Different from previous FLV format, the F4V is encoded with H.264 video codec and thus combine interactive, rich content with video, graphics and animation. The file name .F4V was designed to eliminate compatibility problems between the Adobe Flash Player, Quicktime etc. whilst using certain .MP4 video files. F4V is a development trend for FLV file, the video-sharing web sites also accept this type of FLV to upload and download (e.g. YouTube). And sometimes for simplified operation, the *.f4v file extension is changed to *.flv instead. That’s why Nero does not recognize the “HD FLV” files. Here I would like to share with you my way how to have Nero work with the F4V files—by converting F4V to Nero compatible formats with Pavtube FLV Converter, a very useful flash application for users to convert FLV, F4V files to almost all the popular video and audio formats.

You may refer to the below guide how to convert F4V files for burning DVD with Nero 9 and onwards:
Step 1. Import F4V files to Video Converter.
Download and install the trial version of FLV Converter. Run the app and click “Add” to import all F4V files you want to burn, or you may drag and drop the *.f4v files to the window of Pavtube Video Converter.

Step 2: Select an output format for burning in Nero.
Click on the pull down menu of “Format” to select output format and then click “Settings” button to adjust audio and video parameters. As we’re converting F4V to Nero for burning DVD, you may choose FLV, MPG, AVI, TS, WMV etc. I used to select Common Video-> Divx AVI, The following picture shows detailed settings:

You can set “Size” to 720*480(NTSC, 4:3) or 960*540 (NTSC, 16:9) according to your source video and personal needs. Some people may want to keep 5.1 channels for DVD burning. If you choose H.264 MP4, WMV3, MKV, MPEG-2 Video, or MOV-Quick Time, 5.1 channels can be available, provided that the original F4V video contains surround sound.

Step 3. Edit the F4V files to keep proper length and size.
Click on “Edit” button to enter editing window of Video Converter.
I. Cut unwanted black edges
Switch to Crop tab to cut unwanted edges. You can crop the video by adjusting the crop frame (drag the green dotted green square frame to circle the part you want to retain) or setting values (Left, Top, Width and Height) of crop area.

II. Trim out bothering commercial ads
Under ‘Trim’ tab you are allowed to cut out unwanted part of selected clip. To trim the video, simply type in desired time value in ‘Start’ and ‘End’ box and click ‘Set’ button. Or you can click left square bracket and right square bracket to set start and end time when playing the video.

Step 4: Click “Convert” button to start converting F4V to Nero compatible format.
Back to main interface and click “Convert” button, the F4V converter will generates videos that are compatible with Nero. If you want to join multiple F4V files together as one file, just select the files and check “Merge into one file” box. After conversion you can click the “Open” button next to output path to find converted recordings. Now you can feel free to run Nero and load the converted videos for burning DVDs.

To download online videos (F4V, FLV, MP4) from popular video hosting sites like YouTube, Hulu, PBS, etc, you may have a try with our Pavtube Youtube Converter.