Combine avi with Avchd files in Premiere elements 10

Question

I am trying to make a DVD using clips that were taken with my old camcorder which was DV, and using clips from my new camcorder which is AVCHD.  Premiere elements 10 lets me do this, but it appears that my HD files are not the same quality as what I see just looking at the clip with the camera directly hooked to the TV.  A dialouge box comes up and states when I bring the DV clips into the project that it will reduce the quality to standard definition.   Is there  a way to combine these types of files in the same project and keep the HD quality of the new clips?

Answer 1

You are already spoilt by seeing your HD stuff!
I think you will find that the normal old standard DVD player never showed the full capability that stadard def was capable of. You had to get a $1000 player to see it as it really is. So it was never quite as good as component video straight from the camera or seeing it captured on your computer.
Good Blue Ray players play old DVD much better because they are getting everything off the disk that it is capable of.
BlueRay will overtake DVD in the reasonable near future like DVD overtook VCRs so you should make a Blue Ray disk for the future. If other viewers still need DVD you can make a DVD from the HD project.
To make a Blue Ray--
Buy and install a Blue Ray burner in your computer (less than $100)
Setup as a FullHD project 1920x1080 25frames interlaced (or 30 for USA)
Import both clips where you want them. AVI and AVCHD mix well
Sharpening the avi clips a little helps make up for the loss in resolution
Share to a Blue REay disk (make sure the blank disk is fast enough for the burner because Adobe burns only at full speed. If using slower disks then share as a file and use another program to burn the disk (see other posts on this)
To make a DVD (before you buy the BD burner), make anopther copy of your projrct and add about 20% sharpening and share the above project to DVD. It looks a bit poor on your TV but will look pretty well as good as an original DVD made form the AVI clips when viewed on your TV
To make a DVD only, first convert the AVCHD to AVI and sharpen them then make a normal DVD project as everything will now be AVI. The origimnal AVI clips will be better but the HD will obviously be only one quarter of the resolution.
I recently made such a DVD from my Sony $1000 FullHD camera and the DVD copy when played on my Pioneer Blue Ray player on the TV was just as good as old DVDs made with my previous Sony $1800 Widescreen SD camera. The Blue Ray copy of course was brilliant!
The amout of sharpening involves personal preference and depends on how sharp the original material is.
People wilth good eyesight might see it as oversharpening whereas it can look great to those less foertunate or old people not wearing their glasses!
While they may have a reasonable resolution for file detail, some HD cameras dont have a good "depth of resolution" at mid frequencies that represent the upper limit of fine detail for SD cameras. When downsized to SD, the picture from the HD camera can actually be fuzzier than an old SD camera that was tweaked up to look sharp on an old TV.
So you have to add this extra tweaking to comnpensate (a bit like turing up the audio treble control to hear the snare drums on a portable radio)
If destined for viewing on a TV set, the limit of sharpening is where the edges of objects start to crinkle excessively or the video noise becomes excessive. This should be evaluated only on the TV where it will finally be shown and at the TV viewing distance (not on a computer and not too close up)
To avoid wasting blank disks you can make a test disk of the same few scenes with different amounts of sharpening. Try a long shot, mid shot and closeup as the subjecvt material also influences the eye's perception of sharpness.