Sony HDR-TD10 3D-Capable Camcorder - Page 26

1. Compared to what? Something you did that doesn't work?
2. LOL! You are grasping for excuses. I'd bet with your trouble you have all sorts of unnecessary software on your system you installed.
3. Direct downloading of files on the camera that were saved in a format that works directly in Vegas. 3D is totally different.

Sorry, but Richard is looking in the wrong direction for the resolution to his problems with Vegas.

PMB created m2ts from the files on the TD10 are no problem working in VMS HD Platinum. v11 or v10. I loaded up a >12Gb m2ts file the last time I worked with VMS and it loaded fast and rendered about 50% longer time frame than Vegas Pro I'm thinking the extra time was due to 32 bit with 3Gb RAM restriction vs. 64bit Vegas Pro with 8Gb ram. Either way the computer did not crash and the operation was complete all the way through.


Go back to when Vegas first was released in v10d for 3D MVC video in mid May. I had lots of crashes, like everyone else with trouble here. But I went through and did some house cleaning and uninstalled all the bloatware I had including many of the experimental 3D apps recommended here. Then I cleaned up the fragments left in my registry file. There were lots left from all that bug beta wear I had installed. Two things happened after that. 1. My system rebooted in 15% of the time and 2. Vegas hasn't crashed since! It is now 100% crash free! I've done some pretty robust timelines with tons of slomo, pan crop, mattes keyframed effects, 4 and 5 layer 3D composites and the rendering and editing are all crash free. Besides, its running on a 64bit quadcore with Vista Home 64 bit. Vista the OS that everyone claims is so buggy yet you all are the ones with all the trouble.

Is Vegas ( both consumer and pro) perfect? No. Vegas Media Studio does have the clickity DD 5.1 artifact on TD10 clips but as they now fixed that bug in Vegas Pro 10e, I'm waiting for an update to VMS v11 to have an update to fix that too. But even with that bug, VMS v11 is quite stable and has none of the problems you and Richard are suggesting.The only bugs I have seen in Vegas Pro v10e are cosmetic and work flow issues in the burn bluray.

In this context, "Directly" likely means that the files in the camcorder are transferred into the computer using the efficient and fast USB Mass storage software that is included with the OS. It seems that if Vegas is the target editor, PMB is the best way to go. Is PMB really that slow? That would be something Sony should fix. It doesn't take re-compression to make a data transfer slow. Poor programming practices are enough to cause the inefficiency. I recall that I have an aversion to installing Sony supplied PMB since a similar piece of Sony software messed up a friend of mine's computer by installing a terrible kind of malware known as a "rootkit." This substantially reduced the trust my friend had in Sony Supplied software.

Richard- As I recall the rootkit scandal had to do with Sony music group adding it to their music CD's. The widely spread rumors that Sony was installing it by playing all it's media, namely bluray movies and other Sony DVD's was without proof or foundation. In addition I never heard any reports that installing Sony Software such as PMB, Vegas or any from the SCS group was participating in this. I'd say your "friend" is at worst a liar, or at minimum covering up that he simply played an audio CD in his computer that had the suspect rootkit. Then trying to blam it on software from a totally different division of the company. Sony recalled all the affected CD's when they got caught in this scandal. BUT, I do agree with you that for a company to do such a thing is a company that we should watch out for.

One problem you are having trouble grasping, Richard, is that the MTS files you are trying to extract to edit with from the camcorder memory are only the building blocks for the files you need to edit. They are not ready to be used for editing until AFTER processed by the PMB software that came with the TD10. If you have an issue with patients waiting for the files to be transformed into what you can use, then send your complaint to Sony telling them they need to speed it up because you feel their code is sloppy. I'm sure they will put your request at the top of their things to do.

Now here's a question you or maybe other can venture a guess at- Given that the TD10 storage is formatted to FAT32 which restricts single file sizes to <2Gb, why would they do that only to create the need to write code to stitch them together later for full contiguous total run time? Why wouldn't they use a formatting like NTFS that can store much larger single files? It would eliminate the need for PMB and all the conversion. I can see a lot of advantages to dumping the FAT32 file restrictions. The problem is I am trying to come up with an advantage to FAT32--
I can only see one and that is to make the camcorder files compatible with the MAC OS and have the camcorder storage memory be seen by Final Cut Pro and imovie. But, even the Macs will have to stitch the mts files together for any over 2Gb. That and the fact that Sony doesn't officially support any Mac system. There must be another reason why Sony chose to use FAT32 formatting in their TD10 camcorder.

Fat32 has no licensing fees while NTFS is the NTFS is proprietary to Microsoft and there licensing fees that Sony doesn't want to pay to use it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fat32#Future.

According to wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTFS#Mac_OS_X Mac OS X v10.3 has read only support for NTFS.

By running PMB in Windows, Sony does not have to pay licensing fees to make files bigger than 2GB.

As has been explained here by knowledgeable people such as Don, it's clear that if Vegas is the target editor, PMB can reduce the issues with the Vegas family of editors if PMB is used in the process flow chain to get the data out of the TD10 into the PC.

Apparently PMB and the TD10 firmware are an attempt by Sony to provide a higher level access (by date / event) to data streams in the TD10 other than by file names / numbers. I say that because I noticed that when I used the built in feature of the TD10 to copy files to a USB drive, the file numbers changed on the USB drive in comparison to the file numbers I observed in the camcorder memory via the mass USB function.

This would be unexpected for the average technically inclined PC user that accesses files in their cell phone with the Windows USB mass storage function for example.

Can someone besides Don explain the technical reasons why Sony would give access to files via the USB mass storage function, and also give access to the same data streams via PMB in a different way. There isn't much explanation of PMB here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picture_Motion_Browser - at first glance this could be considered enhanced flexibility to use various methods to access the files in the camcorder. At second glance, the renaming of file numbers when files are placed on a USB drive by the TD10's own process could result in a data loss for someone that wasn't expecting this. That would be by not realizing file numbers had changed and deleting or renaming what appear to be duplicates when they weren't duplicates.

Obviously PMB is going to change file names and numbers since it combines split files.

Good as a reason as any. Didn't know that. Wonder if the JVC does the same thing? Joe?

NTFS- I could never get my NTFS to work with my Mac. After I reformatted the drive to FAT 32 it worked for the Mac. Been awhile so maybe it was the write I couldn't do but I know it didn't work for my use.

Using the "stereoscopic player" I was able to playback 3D MVC files from my Sony HDR-TD10 - it looks excellent.

This looks better than connecting the TD10 directly to the monitor, for this monitor.

My setup: Cored2duo 8500, Nvidia 8500GT graphics, WinXP SP3, LG D2342P interlace polarized passive monitor, RealD 3D glasses from my local theater.

Here is a link to the downloads page for free trial of that player http://www.3dtv.at/Downloads/Index_en.aspx

There is an issue for me during playback that occasionally there is an aberration in the motion where the part of the screen in motion has decreased interline resolution, and I see scan lines. This may be a unique way that my setup is acting to not having enough CPU or graphics power. Does anyone observe motion artifacts with that player and TD10 files?


Summary of other methods I've tried to play TD10 files with my setup:

From within Sony Vegas Pro 10d - will do anaglyph and SBS half, though results are inferior to Stereoscopic Player. The selection within Vegas for line alternate, which would seem to have been for my monitor, does not work properly from Vegas.

PS3 - PS3 won't play 3D from my Sony HDR-TD10 files by flash or by DLNA server. This is a major interoperability snafu by Sony. What were they thinking? I heard that I have to convert the TD10 video to 1080p24 or 720p60 (render encode takes forever) and then burn it to a bluray to be able to play my TD10 files on the PS3. Haven't tried that since bluray blank disks only recently went low enough in price, and I'm sitting on the fence about using another recordable optical format (bluray) when hard drives are still cheaper and faster.

TMT 7 - Total Media Theater 7 - The trial version locks up and never plays anything for me. Can't get support without buying it so the trial version is useless.

PowerDVD 11 - In "video" mode, my TD10 files play in 3D and there is some, but only minimal depth. The resolution looks correct but the depth I see on the TD10 viewfinder and via the "stereoscopic player" software on my monitor is missing with PowerDVD 11. I note that there is a Cinema mode for this program, when I select that, I see good depth on the GUI graphics, but I cannot load a file to play. I heard is only plays bluray media or an iso "mounted" to look like a virtual bluray drive, and I haven't tried this yet.

I wonder if I can somehow easily put my TD10 MVC files into a bluray iso file without render / re-encode (they are 1080i60) and play them as a virtual drive in PowerDVD and see the full 3D depth that way with Powerdvd

Sony HDR-TD10 - direct connection to my passive monitor using the HDMI cable supplied. In order to make this work with my monitor, I have to select Side by Side mode of HDMI output. The video quality is not as good as I see with "Stereoscopic Player" - The resolution seems reduced. When I select "Auto" or "frame packing" mode for the Hdmi output of the TD10, I do not get a correct image on my monitor. This might be unusual for this monitor type.

Note: I didn't install or use PMB, and only did USB mass storage mode to transfer file from the TD10 to the computer, and the 3D looks ok with stereoscopic view, except as noted. I will install PMB and see if that makes a difference.

Richard,

What you're getting with PowerDVD 11 is a 2D to 3D conversion of the left eye view. It's no better than what many HDMI 1.4 TVs, such as the Samsungs, do when they convert 2D to 3D on the fly. It can be a pleasant diversion (which it was when there was virtually no 3D content), but it's not close to the real thing. PDVD 11 can play back 3D Blu-ray or virtual 3D Blu-ray discs (mounted iso's). All your gear needs to be HDMI 1.4 for this to work. I have it working for my systems, although I still have a couple of kinks.

TMT5 actually had support for my JVC mp4 files a while back (pulled directly from the camcorder into a folder on the computer), but it never worked properly for me. I could see the files were 3D, but they never triggered the projector's IR. I believe Frank had it working, using checkerboard. I haven't tried TMT7 (what happened to TMT6?). I'm thinking with the "almost working" solution in TMT5 (without their ever even touting it) it's a feature that's coming.

The "scan lines" you're seeing with the passive monitor are normal for that type of display in 3D mode. You have to sit back far enough for them not to be visible.

I suppose, if you had enough programming savvy, you might be able to create a batch file to convert the Sony 3D clips to 3D iso's, using Vegas, but that's just conjecture. I certainly couldn't do it.

Very helpful info on winding up with 2D to 3D instead of actual 3D. Also thanks for not blasting me for calling it TMT7 instead of 5.

I am sitting far enough back and these are much coarser than scan lines so I might have described it wrong. I was thinking it was due to insufficient processor power, as it only happens in a small section of the display where there was high motion rate. I was thinking of upgrading the video card soon if no PS3 solution for 3D files, though Stereoscopic Player is likely CPU intensive.

Have you compared Stereoscopic Player to Power DVD 11?

Have you got a blu-ray made with a 108060i from a JVC or Sony MVC to play as a PowerDVD iso, or only 1080p24 / 720p60 ?

I don't have Stereoscopic Player. I should. Unfortunately, there's no 60i 3D Blu-ray spec. I'd love it if there were. The MVC files from my JVC look absolutely stunning played back on a 3D TV. Buttery smooth motion and incredible detail, color and contrast. It's a shame we can't maintain that 3D image quality from the camcorder to a disc. I'm hoping we see an AVCHD-like extension to 3D Blu-ray, where that's possible. If an editor had only to render the effects, then do a smart copy of the rest of the original footage, we wouldn't have to settle for the processing loss of going to 1080p24 or 720p60 3D Blu-ray. If there's enough demand, the CE companies will make it happen.

The limitation is HDMI, since although MVC can provide a bluray compliant data rate for 1080i60, HDMI, which is uncompressed, does not support that high a data rate for the two uncompressed channels we wind up with.

I recall that uncompressed 720p60 has half the bandwidth of uncompressed 1080i60. This is why 1080p24 is used on HDMI.

For those with JVC or Sony 3D camcorder connected directly to a 3D monitor, what is the rate (24 / 30 / 60) and pixel height (720 / 1080) that your monitor detects and reports on the display when doing direct playback?

Richard- I would use SBS full and turn on your setting for deinterlace filtering. I use a Vizio 32" Passive monitor here and that's the settings I use. There is no scan lines visible using this method with the 3D polarized glasses on. The displayed resolution with SBS Full is 540 x 1920 since the Passive monitor will cut the resolution of vertical in half. All passive monitors are incapable of the full HD resolution display today. Only active glasses monitors will do full resolution. But if properly set up the smaller screen sizes will yield fairly good results sitting up close. The 32" Vizio recommends 5 ft. minimum and I agree with that recommendation. With Passive monitors in >42" the resolution begins to fail in PQ and you will start to see severe aliasing (jaggies) on diagonal hard lines. Note- Broadcast will use SBS half and this can result in 540 x 960 which can really be a downgrade on the larger screen sizes. Your 23" should be fine but you should use SBS full for best results.
My Vizio can do Top Bottom 3D but the cross talk is ugly so I don't use it. You should experiment with SBS vs. TB using full on both.

Note- I looked up your monitor and saw it does support Line Alternate input but I'm not sure if that has an advantage over SBS Full. I've never seen Line Alternate except on high end Broadcast monitors.

Thanks Don you are correct. I did get Vegas 10d to output preview 3D playback full screen in both full SBS 1920 3840x1080 and also line alternate mode on the LG D2342P with theater RealD glasses.

My CPU is too weak to play the preview smoothly. I get audio with a frame of video every second or so. I recall this is entirely CPU limited for vegas, and note that the "stereoscopic player" software plays line alternate 3D with my CPU smoothly, but with some motion artifacts.

When I have more data, I'll update my summary of TD10 playback methods, and hope others will post similar results of the various successes.

When you connect your Sony HDR-TD10 to your 3D TV directly via HDMI, and playback a 3D recording, what does the onscreen display on your TV report as the frame rate and image pixels? I.e. is it 1080p24 from the TD10 to your TV? Can you tell me the frame rate and image pixels in "Auto" "Frame Packing" and Side by Side" modes?

Others also please chime in and tell us what your TV reports as well with the TD10 directly connected for 3D playback.

Richard- The TD10 is connected to my Vizio right now and it reports exactly what it should which is 1080 60i The Vizio seems to only support Frame Packing from my BluRay player in 24p. The TD10 doesn't do 24P and if I select Frame Packing in the TD10 menus the 3D picture is there but flashing horribly. So, I select SBS in the TD10 and it settles down to a nice clean picture. The Auto gets me the same result as the Frame Packing setting.

I could take the TD10 down to my Sony VW90ES projector and see what it does. I'll report back later with that for you.

FYI- I have not heard from anyone who can play MVC files in 3D on their computer in real time perfectly and continuously. I was planning to buy a $3k i7 990x 12 threaded CPU with ample memory buy put it off because it is not yet reported able to play the timeline in Vegas satisfactorily. The 990x is the most powerful CPU tested for Vegas on the market. It is also the most expensive. If it can't do it, I sit and wait for a machine that will. What most of us have been doing is reserve some ram for previewing short chunks of the timeline to test transitions and motion in real time. Review Dynamic RAM preview in the help file on how to use this. It's the best option we have until faster CPU's are available. As I've stated before, I'm not interested in previewing clips as I can do that direct from the camcorder now via hdmi. I want to preview sections of the timeline or entire timeline to evaluate story flow.

Thanks for the info on the Vizio, and yes please let me know if you can get Frame Packing output from the TD10, and what the monitor displays as the rate and image particulars for that. Other please chime in with your results.

It seems to me that if Sony incorporated the techniques of "stereoscopic player," which plays smoothly on my older system, for timeline playback, the fuss for a better CPU would be mitigated. I wonder if Sony developers get smooth playback, and what sort of workstation they developed this on.

Indeed, the Sony supplied (in the box) USB adapter cable that has the female USB on one end is needed to get the TD10 to talk to external storage devices, while the gray Sony supplied cable is for connecting to PCs, where the TD10 behaves like a storage / media source device.

Using the correct cable, I tried a SIIG model JU-SA0912-S1 USB enclosure with a WD Scorpio Blue WD25000BEVT drive inside, and the Sony TD10 would neither power it nor recognize this when I used external power. It did work with a notebook computer connected in between, and the TD10 again in Mass Storage Mode with the grey Sony cable hotfile.

Using the Sony cable with the female USB, the TD10 did recognize various USB flash drives, including Micro SD to USB adapters. Good to hear that an older Passport Drive worked too. I'll give that a try. Thanks Don.

Excellent point about the PS3. That would be a Grey cable connection to the TD10. The PS3 also has a free Sony supplied video editor feature, which can make an easy upload to youtube. Has that editor been tried with TD10 MVC-3D?

Icerat4 shared with us that the newer Passport SE that has USB 3.0 and 2.0 does work. Has anyone conducted speed tests to see if the newer Passport version drive, that allows USB 3.0, works any faster than the older version that only does USB 2.0, while the drive is used in USB 2.0 mode, for example with the TD10 which is only USB 2.0?

I heard about some video editor in the PS3 but have not looked at it. I think it is a free download. to be honest- I have been a contract editor for broadcast TV for over 20 years and knowing how the professional products work, I just can't stand to work in the often backward, restricted, environment of these toys. Time is too precious and these toys, even Vegas Media Studio have limitations that can raise my blood pressure. Having said that I am always curious to learn from others how they work, so give it a try and let us know.


Richard- are you aware of how Vegas works the timeline? It does not work with original files but has to create proxies for display on the fly from the raw source video. Then as you manipulate the timeline with instructions, these are saved out to the data file called a VEG script. All this takes CPU power. The 3D MVC files have additional steps that need additional horsepower to put on the timeline. A right eye image must be calculated and paired with the left eye for display in 3D. The design concept of Vegas editor is to keep the process non-destructive and avoid the need to do background rendering ( although you can do that is you wish) If you ever spent any time with editors like FCP Avid and others you would know that their process has many disadvantages in this area which can slow down the editing process. But once the editing process is finished, the review is like playing a single completed file. Point is that the vegas design of editing with proxies and scripting an instruction set for the rendering will always require CPU power and more as the tasks we give it are increased.
Also, not only is CPU power needed to constantly compute the editing changes for the preview but also the hard drive throughput must be adequate as well to keep the display buffers filled for real time playback.

As a point of comparison- I was working in FCP a couple years ago and performing a simple dissolve between an MOV file and an AVI (DVCAM) file. In FCP I stuck them on the timeline and overlaped them for a 1 second dissolve and the Macbook Pro halted my progress in editing and began to background render in 5 minutes, I got a message that the ETA of the 1 second dissolve would be complete in 6 hours! I shut down, switched to Vegas using Parallels on the Mac and stuck the same two, MOV and avi files on the timeline viewed the playback and moved on. No file conversion, no background rendering to a new MOV file, just pure work flow. What Sony wanted to do ( actually it was Sonic Foundry who came up with the Vegas design) was to eliminate the need to transcode all files to a common format and then background render all the effects and transitions to an additional clip DURING the edit process. This saves much time in editing with a single gotcha... If your computer isn't up to speed, the preview of a complex proxy will not keep up. So, Vegas offered an option to do a preview render in a couple different ways and that is what we are up against with 3D MVC today.
I seriously doubt Sony will ever change the fundamental architecture back to an antiquated system like is used by FCP just to have a way to view the timeline of an extremely robust process in real time but suffering the wait during the editing process with each change. Basically, were at a point in state of the art where MVC has exceeded the processing power of the most powerful consumer computer. I trust that soon intel will shift the advantage back to the hardware. Just not today.

I downloaded the free PS3 editor and used it on 24mbit 720p H264 about a year ago. The output was glitch free though it was down sampled in both audio and video to a greatly reduced quality bit rate and resolution, "intended for posting on social networking sites," according to the Sony literature. It included a feature to share / upload the result to Facebook I recall. There was no option to recover the original bit rate and resolution of audio or video.

In this regard, the Sony PS3 editor is akin to what the Sony Vegas editor does, in that both limit output bit rates to less than then source signal. Vegas does have much more flexibility than the PS3 editor, since the PS3 editor was a cut and render/down-sample editor only.

Don, your practical knowledge and experience with the tools you do know how to use and share here are extremely helpful. You're one of the most help people I've come to know.


Yes. In the instance of a single edit cut, with nothing else going on, it is disappointing that the Vegas architecture is unable to produce a preview which is like what the result will be. It is surprising that apparently no typical user's computer is powerful enough to give a smooth preview. This is not a good selling point.

"Hand waving," is offered to bloviate as to why you think people should accept this. It's acceptability is diminshed when there are other tools that do offer a smooth preview, though Vegas does have a few 3D advantages over the others today.


More so than the discussion about editors, and closer to the topic of this thread, I 'd really like to hear the results for that. Via direct HDMI output from your Sony HDR-TD10, can you use SBS or frame packing or both for 3D on your Sony projector?

I should have something on the VW90ES tonight. Got sidetracked last evening and didn't get to it.


Actually, this is not entirely true. The only current problem I have with consumer HD content is viewing MVC clips edited in the timeline. AVCHD and MPEG2, MP4 all play in real time, in fact my computer was originally designed to handle the data flow of two HD clips from a single raid ) drive set and plat back at full 29.97 fps including some text titles overlay. If I added a third HD clip as in a PIP edit it would begin to get bogged down. This is with no prerendering or Dynamic Ram preview. So, for a short time as I stated, we have Vegas ahead of the hardware for capability in realtime playback for 3D MVC. This is not surprising at all when you understand what is actually going on with Vegas, MVC and it's timeline editing process per second. I accept this because I'm a realist, not a pipe dreamer. I've never had hardware nor software available to me at my fingertips for what I wanted to pay when I wanted it. It has always been a game of wait for the technology to catch up to our wishlist. Just because at Disney "If You Can Dream It comes true", doesn't mean it will come true today.

Thanks Don. That puts a reasonable perspective on it. Looking forward to your results.

I pulled up the VW90ES menu and saw the signal was SBS 1080 60i from the TD10 when 3D was set to auto. I put the TD10 in Frame Packing mode and the projector could not work with that. So auto or SBS is it for output. I want to perform one more test but when my wife heard I was looking at stuff I shot she grabbed some glasses and is now watching all my 3D clips on the camcorder.
I also got to switch the TD10 to 2D while playing the 3D clips and the output was pretty high quality and very smooth. Checked the projector and the signal was 1080 60p.

Hi all, greets from Brazil!!!

Any of you guys tried editing with lastest Canopus Edius 6.03

This update was just released and says that will support new sony codec... lets check out!

Thanks for running the tests Don.

Regarding the report of 1080p60 with 2D mode of 3D recorded material, since the 3D clips are 60i, I wonder if it was the projector or the camcorder that converted from 60i from 60p.

The next question - does anyone get the frame packing mode of the TD10 direct output working with their monitor? If so which type of monitor?

I do not believe that Edius 6.03 supports ingesting footage in the MVC format from the Sony HDR-TD10. I have asked that question, however, on the Edius forum just to be sure. Edius 6.03 says that it supports the Sony AVC format, but that is quite different than the Sony MVC format. I believe that Vegas Pro 10 is the only NLE supporting ingestion of Sony HDR-TD10 clips.

Tom

Richard,
Make sure and go to File, Video Properties, click on the settings tab, check the "Interlaced Video(deinterlacing required) checkbox.

It is done in the camcorder because that is where you set the output for 2D 1080 60p. It also shows up in the VW90ES menu that way as to what the format of the input signal is. And yes, I still wonder about that. Seems to me it should be 30P but that is not what the camcorder says and not what the monitor / projector says. If I switch the output to 60i the projector menu screen says 1080 60i too.

Thanks for that suggestion. That selection is made after a video file is loaded. I am going to study the result of that selection further, while the below setting seemed to make a lot of difference.

In the >file >settings >advanced options >troubleshooting tab -

- I found the "disable hardware accelerated video decoding" check box had defaulted to "checked", so I had no "hardware acceleration".

I unchecked this box and this made a huge difference whereby the artifacts I previously saw and posted about then went away.

Not sure if this is because the player then used the hardware acceleration in the CPU (E8500 core2duo) or in the Graphics card (Nvidia 8500GT), or both. This option is available before loading a video file and stays in effect after being un-check, while the de-interlace option is selectable for the file that is loaded.

So far the Stereoscopic Player is giving me the best results for easy and smooth 3D playback of my original .mts (no rendering or burning to blurau needed) from the Sony HDR-TD10 3D MVC played on the PC connected to my 23" LG D2342P passive monitor with ordinary 3D glasses from the theater, that were transferred from the camera with the fast USB mass storage mode rather than PMB. Haven't tried this with a PMB transferred file yet.

Note - I am not connected with any company nor received any compensation related to the products I am describing on AVS forum for 3D camcorders and playback.

Well, here it is a couple weeks later, and I'm still having MASSIVE problems. I've re-installed everything (PMB/SVMS11), and have recaptured everything with PMB, and still, I cannot render anything with a 3D source file. Constant crashes, locking up, etc...

Just trying to do a 1 minute, 15 second clip (3D source) and rendering to ANYTHING fails. If I try to render to wmv, it crashes almost immediately after hitting OK/save. Some of the other file formats last a little longer (got a few minutes in, and up to 25% or so complete, until .mp4 and aac/avc's crashed).

I've tried troubleshooting to the extent of eliminating/changing all the variables I can think of (i.e. - audio changes such as 5.1 to 2.0, or keeping at 5.1; different file formats, bit-rates, moving everything else off of timeline, etc...) - nothing seems to work.

I'm gonna have to raise hell with Sony and get my money back. This totally sucks having a camera that produces beautiful 3D video, and no way to publish any of it to the web in the formats I need, due to the software not living up to the promise.

The variable here is not the Sony software, the variable is your computer not being stable enough to handle really robust applications in it's present condition. Think about it. If the software was really at fault, all of us using it would be experiencing trouble. We don't have the problem but I bet if we had your same computer we surely would be experiencing the crashes too. I've offered some hints on where to look but not being an expert on these problems, I don't know what to suggest based on your information.

Back on topic-

Got into a shoot today on my road trip that required I switch to 2D mode!

I kind of figured it was not going to be good in 3D anyway considering the subject was going to be podium talks. But I planned to do it in 3D anyway just because I can and if necessary I would edit and render to 2D later on. Unfortunately, the man in charge moved the podium to a new position so that my video was now completely backlit. Ugh! Nothing ever goes as planned. So at the last second, I moved the camera and switched to 2D mode just to gain access to the manual iris and manual exposure settings, then also manual focus to rack the speaker from him forward to the camera so as to fuzz out the background. No 3D but I got the shot. Then about 20 minutes into the program the PA system got all distorted so the sound was like crap. If there weren't so many guest speakers ( I was one of them) I would have used my BT wireless mic but no time to fiddle switch over to that. Now since I had to move the camera to the middle of the audience for the new location, the tripod was not protected. I haven't looked yet but keeping the video rolling I think my camera got bumped by someone and it looked like it chopped off my head for my entire talk.

Other than that the sightseeing part of the trip worked out well although brutally hot in Washington DC. Got a close up of VP Biden entering the rear of the Whitehouse for the Saturday 11AM budget meeting. He waved but it is hard to see him through the dark glass of the Limo. The rest of the day was spent sightseeing and shooting 3D at the Smithsonian. It will be the subject of my next YT video in 3D.

Planning a relaxing return trip and will begin the editing process on Wednesday.

Looking forward to that, Don. I haven't been to DC since 03. I had a great time at the Smithsonian Museums. One of the highlights of the trip for me was the 3 or 4 3D movies I saw there. It was also the last time I was able to take a trip with my Godfather, before he became too ill to travel, so it will always be a trip I remember very fondly.