How do I optimally convert 1080/60p AVCHD to MPEG2 SD for buring onto a DVD?

Question

Hello Forum,
I am using Pr CS5.5. I've imported and edited AVCHD 1080/60p files (from a Panasonic TM700), done my editing, and now I want to burn the project onto DVDs. Sending it to Encore, using default settings there, and burning a DVD produced pretty lousy results.I'm guessing that using Adobe Media Encoder to do the conversions would be a lot better, and I watched a tutorial by Jeff Bellune on how to do this in CS4. Two things that have changed since then are the new 1080/60p format for AVCHD, and that Pr CS5.5 has some more features in its AME window. Does anyone have any suggestions on what settings to use? Also, is 1080/60p like 720/60p, where Bellune's recommendation is to do the conversion in two steps, one for down sizing and one for interlacing? Thanks!!

Answer 1

The first question is - do you have a CUDA card?   If so, export directly from PP (using export instead of queue) to DVD MPEG2 using as high a bit rate as you can while still fitting the footaage on the DVD (don't go past '8' for reliabilty issus on older players).  Set the audio to Dolby 192. 
CUDA cards produce the best down scaling of any of the other options (i.e. non CUDA or queuing in Media Encoder) due to the algorythms used.
If you don't have a CUDA card then make sure you check the "Use Maxmimum Render Quality" in the export dialog.  This will slow the export down considerably but it's worth it.
DO NOT export directly to Encore and have Encore do the conversion because it will be lower quality all round.
95% of everything se delivery needs a DVD making, so we went through of a lot of trial and error to get the best quality possible!