Decompress High Def Videos?

skeeterbug69 · 05-03-2009, 01:58 PM

Does anyone know how to decompress High Def videos from a Sony High Def camcorder so that my friends and family can have a copy of the videos? They do not have Blue ray players or PS3s

**blah789** · 05-03-2009, 07:48 PM

What format are the original videos? Container and codec.

And I don't think you want to decompress. It'll make them HUMONGOUS. You probably mean re-compress.

skeeterbug69 · 05-04-2009, 07:16 AM

I'm thinking of buying a Sony HDR-XR200V which films in HD as AVCHD files. Apparently these can only be viewed on Blue-Ray or PS3 players, both of which I do not have nor do any of my friends and family members. Just trying to figure out how I would burn the videos for my friends and family on a standard DVD that they could watch on their normal DVD players.

**blah789** · 05-04-2009, 01:17 PM

If my memory serves, AVCHD is MPEG-2 transport stream, with video in H.264. A peek on wikipedia reveals the audio is in AC3.
Do you have any DVD authoring program? (see a list here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...g_applications )
The next thing to do is to check whether the app can open the AVCHD files. A quick test can be done by trying to play the file in Windows Media Player. That'll tell you if you have the MPEG-2 filters (for parsing the container/file format), an H.264 decoder (for video), and an AC-3 decoder (for audio).
If any of those fail, first thing to try is to install the software that came with the camcorder. It should have decoders for all 3.
If that doesn't work, try ffdshow-tryouts (http://ffdshow-tryout.sourceforge.net/). Make sure AC3, MPEG-2 and H.264 are enabled both video, audio, and VfW interface (you'll get an entry in your start menu to configure each).

P.S: If the relatives you're sending this to have a PC, it may be simpler to get them to play this using VLC (http://www.videolan.org). No re-encoding needed. VLC has all its codecs and filters built-in independently of Windows, so installing it will not make the file readable in any Windows app (including DVD authoring programs).

skeeterbug69 · 05-05-2009, 07:08 AM

Thank you for the info. I know the camcorder comes with it's own program and I have a Sony DVD recorder ( a small stand alone unit that I bought) so I'm hoping between the 2, I should be able to work it. I'm definitely bookmarking this thread in case I need it later. I went ahead and bought the camera (hopefully it will arrive soon) so we will see what happens when I go to burn a DVD. Thanks again for the help!

05-03-2009, 01:58 PM	#1 (permalink)
skeeterbug69 Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 3 OS: Windows Vista	Decompress High Def Videos? Does anyone know how to decompress High Def videos from a Sony High Def camcorder so that my friends and family can have a copy of the videos? They do not have Blue ray players or PS3s

05-03-2009, 07:48 PM	#2 (permalink)
blah789 TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 2,234 OS: Windows 2000 SP4 and Windows XP SP3	Re: Decompress High Def Videos? What format are the original videos? Container and codec. And I don't think you want to decompress. It'll make them HUMONGOUS. You probably mean re-compress.

05-04-2009, 07:16 AM	#3 (permalink)
skeeterbug69 Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 3 OS: Windows Vista	Re: Decompress High Def Videos? I'm thinking of buying a Sony HDR-XR200V which films in HD as AVCHD files. Apparently these can only be viewed on Blue-Ray or PS3 players, both of which I do not have nor do any of my friends and family members. Just trying to figure out how I would burn the videos for my friends and family on a standard DVD that they could watch on their normal DVD players.

05-04-2009, 01:17 PM	#4 (permalink)
blah789 TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 2,234 OS: Windows 2000 SP4 and Windows XP SP3	Re: Decompress High Def Videos? If my memory serves, AVCHD is MPEG-2 transport stream, with video in H.264. A peek on wikipedia reveals the audio is in AC3. Do you have any DVD authoring program? (see a list here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...g_applications ) The next thing to do is to check whether the app can open the AVCHD files. A quick test can be done by trying to play the file in Windows Media Player. That'll tell you if you have the MPEG-2 filters (for parsing the container/file format), an H.264 decoder (for video), and an AC-3 decoder (for audio). If any of those fail, first thing to try is to install the software that came with the camcorder. It should have decoders for all 3. If that doesn't work, try ffdshow-tryouts (http://ffdshow-tryout.sourceforge.net/). Make sure AC3, MPEG-2 and H.264 are enabled both video, audio, and VfW interface (you'll get an entry in your start menu to configure each). P.S: If the relatives you're sending this to have a PC, it may be simpler to get them to play this using VLC (http://www.videolan.org). No re-encoding needed. VLC has all its codecs and filters built-in independently of Windows, so installing it will not make the file readable in any Windows app (including DVD authoring programs).

05-05-2009, 07:08 AM	#5 (permalink)
skeeterbug69 Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 3 OS: Windows Vista	Re: Decompress High Def Videos? Thank you for the info. I know the camcorder comes with it's own program and I have a Sony DVD recorder ( a small stand alone unit that I bought) so I'm hoping between the 2, I should be able to work it. I'm definitely bookmarking this thread in case I need it later. I went ahead and bought the camera (hopefully it will arrive soon) so we will see what happens when I go to burn a DVD. Thanks again for the help!