Unsuccessful install of Canon HDV presets

Question

I'm new to HD editing and PRE so apologies if this is not entirely clear. I've been reading here for days and now I'm more confused than ever.
I have a Canon HF S20/AVCHD and I have some clips shot in PF24 with FXP settings (17mbps, I believe). I have edited these clips in PE 8 adding some titles, cross dissolves, fades, and some frame captures (1920 x 1080). It all seemed to work pretty well except for when I export it to DVD (looks like I'm stuck with the Share/DIsc/NTSC_Widescreen_Dolby and Fit Contents with maximum of 8 mbps-but this is a whole other quagmire) I'm getting artifacts (appears to be combing, perhaps?) in the frame grabs. The video seems to play fine, albeit at less than half of the HD definition. As an aside, the assets were transferred from my camcorder using Sony PMB and when I check the properties in my Videos folder it shows that the clips as being shot at 29fps and they show as 29.97 in my project.
At any rate, in my reading, it appears that my problem is the result of not having the appropriate presets for my video and I found where someone (Paul_LS) suggested that custom presets for Canon progressive camcorders can be downloaded form the Adobe support site:
http://http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=3408.
The instructions state that the presets are for a different camcorder (Canon XL-H1) and a diffrerent product (Premiere Pro 2.0) but the poster stated it would work in PE (no version).
Anyway, Step 1 is to copy the "Canon HDV.xml" file (the file I got from download is "Canon Progressive HDV.xml) to C:\Program Files (my Adobe is in Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe Pro 2.0 (=> Adobe Premiere Elements 8.0)\Plug-ins\en_US\Editing Modes. There is already a file there (Adobe Editing Modes.xml).
Step 2 is to copy the "Canon HDV" folder to C:\Program Files (=> Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0 (=> Adobe Premiere Elements 8.0)\Settings\en_US. MY \Settings has a small "s" and I don't have the \en_US folder but after poking around a bit it looks like the other presets are in the \Sequence Presets\NTSC folder so I put it in there and the "Canon HDV" folder shows up in under NTSC in the Change Settings box but no little plus sign to get it to open and show the presets.
Any idea what I might have done wrong?
I also saw somewhere to use the "interpret footage" box but when I tried that it slowed the audio unacceptably.
I also saw jkents new editing presets for PE8  but it says "warning-advanced users only" and I'm clearly not.
Meanwhile, I would really love to be able to shoot in HD 24fps, edit in HD 24fps, and share in HD 24fps but it looks like it's not to be with the hardware and software I have. It looks like if I upgrade to PE 10 and get an external Blu-ray burner, that might get me there, except then the people I want to share with would need a Blu-ray player. I realize this is an Adobe forum and I'm already a little bit familiar with PE (mostly with what it won't do at this point but I'm sure that's only because I don't know how) so I'm not exactly relishing the idea of yet another learning curve if I switch but I'm also not thrilled about paying Adobe (via an upgrade) to drop the ball on AVCHD so if there is an easier way, I'm all ears. For the price of the upgrade bundle it looks like it's not that far away from Premiere Pro. Would that be a better way to go?
Anyway, please pardon my ignorance. Thanks in advance and any info is appreciated.
Sony VAIO VPCF1390X
Intel I7 Q740 1.73gHZ, 6 GB ram
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
Nvidia graphics (G425m, I think)
PE 8

Answer 1

You shouldn't have to add any presets to your program files folder. In fact, I recommend you don't toy around in there. You might break something. (I hope you haven't already!) The program already has everything you need (particularly if you've also installed Quicktime from Apple.com, per the program's requirements.)
You should not be using the HDV presets for your project. Your camcorder is not an HDV camcorder. It shoots in AVCHD, as you indicated, so it uses a different set of project settings.
Start a new Premiere Elements project and, on the screen where you name the project, click Settings. The settings you want for your project are Full AVCHD 1920x1080. Your camcorder records in either stereo or 5.1 audio, so it's important you also pick the right audio settings.
With these settings, editng should go very smoothly on your computer.
However, because your original project apparently didn't use these settings, you may be in trouble there. Go to Edit/Project Settings. (They will be grayed-out, since you can't change them mid-project.) Are they other than 1920x1080 AVC video?
In short, you'll be happy to hear that using this program is much simpler than you've been led to believe. Unfortunately, you've got to use the program correctly or you're going to put a lot of wasted effort into it.
So start with my free 8-part Basic Training tutorials at Premiere Elements support site Muvipix.com. They'll, at least, get you on the right track.
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/537685