Pixelation after Create Video File Phase

[Teesh]

Nature of the problem: Following the recommended procedure, I get to the phase where you created a video file. However when I go to preview the file, its badly pixelated.

Properties of your source files: All are clips from unprotected DVDs and play fine when captured.

What devices are involved and their mode of connection: Direct from computer's DVD player/recorder.

Project Settings: As listed under recommended procedure.

Output format: Mpeg to be burned to DVD.

PAL or NTSC: NTSC

Error Codes (if any): None

System information: AMD 64 3500+ w/ Dual SLi 7800 GTs and 2 GB of RAM.

I suspect that its a setting somewhere that has been changed because on a prototype I made using some of the same clips it worked fine. Then just stopped and started pixelating out of the blue.

[jchunter]

Teesh,
In Create Video File, if you have manually set up all your properties to DVD standards and get pixelation, it may be that one of your video clips is corrupted. Try again, but turn off Smart Render. This has been known to correct problems like this.

[DVDDoug]

If you don't edit the video (cutting & splicing is OK), or do anything else that causes he MPEG to be re-coded, your video can be identical to the original.

How much editing did you do? MPEG is lossy. If you do any transitions, cropping, use any filters... any "real" editing, the video must go through a 2nd lossy encode, which degrades the video.

However, a 2nd recode shouldn't cause the video to be "badly pixelated" if you use a high bitrate. When you re-code, it's something like making an analog copy or a Xerox of a Xerox... The copy can't be as good as the original. If you are a picky viewer with a big plasma screen, you may never be satisified with a re-coded copy! (I do get bad pixelization during crossfades between two MPEGs.... Sometimes it's OK 'cause it looks like a special effect.)

If you do some editing, save the file, go back and do some more edits, you may go through a 3rd or 4th lossy encode.

If you change the bitrate, you will force an extra re-code cycle. So, check the Do Not Convert Compliant MPEG Files box under Project Settings, if the video will fit on a DVD without reducing the bitrate.

Try making an actual DVD too. Sometimes the quick-encode during preview isn't as good as the final result!

[Teesh]

What I am doing is making a compliation of movie trailers. I capture the trailer directly off of the DVD and it looks fine in the preview. If I export it to an Mpeg it also looks fine. But I add a title and a few more trailers to the timeline and the pixelation begins. It starts at the title I made and runs through the entire file. This isn't just a little pixelation, or me being picky, its really obvious and makes the movie almost unwatchable.

[Ron P.]

What you are experiencing is what DVDDoug posted. Editing MPEG, is not recommended. Everytime it is encoded/re-encoded you are loosing quality hence the pixelation.

Regards

Ron P.

[jchunter]

Ahem.

Editing Mpeg2 does not cause pixelation.

Simple cut and join edits only affect the GOP (Group of Pictures) at the junctions. The remaining video file is passed on intact (smart rendered ) to the final output file.

In general, a lossy codec deletes information from encoded video that has no psycho-physical impact on human viewers for that specific compression algorithm. This loss of information is therefore, by definition, not significant for that compression algorithm.

Therefore, even if you were to decompress and recompress a GOP at a junction with the same compression algorithm, you would preserve almost all the original quality because the deleted information is, by defintion, not important for picture quality.

On the other hand, transcoding can cause loss of picture quality because that process decompresses one video file and recompresses it according to a different compression algorithm. The information that was deleted in the first compression MAY be important to the second compression algorithm and could cause some loss of picture quality.

Bottom line: I’ve been capturing Mpeg2 , editing Mpeg2, and burning excellent quality DVDs with Video Studio for several years with no problems (other than Video Studio bugs).

Teesh,
What are the properties of the "trailer" videos? Are they all DVD-quality Mpeg2 files? Have you tried turning off Smart Render when creating your video file?

[Teesh]

Teesh,
What are the properties of the "trailer" videos? Are they all DVD-quality Mpeg2 files? Have you tried turning off Smart Render when creating your video file?

They are brought in using the capture function and capture from DVD on the menu. I haven't tried the smart render thing yet, but I will.

[NephthysUK]

I had this happen to me. I made a video fine about a week ago. Then everything I do ends up highly pixelated.

The original files (HD MP4) were fine if played outside of Video Studio X4.
If added to Video Studio and played in Video Studio they are fine.
If added to the timeline and played they are VERY pixelated, especially when there is movement.
When created either as YouTube HD 16:9 of Facebook HD 16:9 or Custom they are pixelated.

Things I had done since the last successful video (may or may not be relevant):

Installed a trial version (64 bit) of painter pro. My Video Studio appears to be 32 bit.
Microsoft updates were applied (the latest always as soon as they came out).
Applied an update to Video Studio that was displayed under messages.

What I think I did that fixed it:

Removed Painter (don't know if this was part of the fix but it didn't fix it on its own).
Removed Video Studio and all settings.
Reboot.
Installed Video studio.

Now it plays back and renders fine.

Things I tried which didn't work:

Making sure smart proxy was disabled and deleted all proxy files (it was off anyway and the couple of files related to a different project).
Clearing out all temporary files from C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Temp .
Installing latest codek pack for Windows 7 (google codek pack if you don't know what this is).
Unticked smartrender in custom settings, this made no difference.

Good luck to anyone who has this and I hope this helps (at least some of you).

[Natal]

I don't know if this will help or not, but if you are you using smart proxy, go to settings/smartproxymanager/settings and select the edit tab. Under resampling quality choose "best" (the default is "good"). That vastly improves playback during editing as the software does not re-render the footage as much during playback. I know it sounds counterintutive, but you get far better playback performance at the best setting than the lower quality one, so much so that I don't see why they even have that choice there. The default setting for this got changed recently it seems.

Increased pixellation in the final product usually happens when you re-encode with a high effiency compression codec, especially when the original footage was shot with the same or similar. If you use smart render it should retain the original encoding in the unedited areas, but if you don't (or in parts where there is splicing, other editing, or an overall reduction in the bit rate) the footage will be decoded then re-encoded. Compression works by reducing detail in "like" areas, so if you re-encode the detail in those area will be even further reduced. That is what creates the giant pixels and the shimmering effect (the level of local compression in aparticular area varies from frame to frame causing parts of the image to constantly pop in and out of definition).

To reduce that problem use smart render where ever possible. Try to make sure that things such as transitions or titles take place in frames that contain lots of "like" areas (such as a clear sky or a single color wall) for the program to compress. This is less of a problem for mpeg2, but the particular implementation of H.264 that VS uses to encode is not very good.

If you have to re-encode without smartrender (such being forced to drop the bit-rate of your footage to make a bluray) then I would strongly recommend that you use the mpeg2 setting rather than H.264 (the bit rate for the implementation of H.264 in VS is throttled, which casues immense problems for high quality footage).

[PhilHaw]

This sounds similar to a problem I am having. When I render the final output using Share > Upload to Web > YouTube > MPEG-4 HD (16:9) the result is very 'blocky' in places.

The recorded video was made with a Sanyo Xacti VPC-CG20 and VS Pro X4 shows the following Properties when I right click on the clip in the timeline.

Video type: H.264 Main Profile, Upper Field First
Attributes: 24 bits, 1920 x 1080, 16:9
Frame rate: 29.970
Data rate: 16202

Further on I cut to another clip with these props (same camera settings so should be identical? I just note a small difference in data rate)

Video type: H.264 Main Profile, Upper Field First
Attributes: 24 bits, 1920 x 1080, 16:9
Frame rate: 29.970
Data rate: 16521

I then cut back to the first clip again, then back to clip 2, finishing with a cut to clip1 and an end title on the overlay track and a final title on the title track. There are no transitions between the video clips but I have used them at the end of the last clip to fade out for the titles and between the titles.

I have also tried using Share > Create Video File > Same as First video clip and the results are somewhat better but there is still some pixellation, especially on the second part of clip 2.

A separate issue (probably not related?) is that I originally I had a jpg 'under' the end title and while render to web worked as before, Render to file caused VS to 'freeze' at 99%. On a hunch I removed the jpg and this stopped the freezing up.

Would appreciate any suggestions that would improve the quality of the finished video.

Phil.

[maikeru0]

To all others having pixelation issues after editing check your format if it's mpeg that is your problem. Convert your files before importing to videostudio (I used .Avi) and your nightmare will be over

[canuck]

To all others having pixelation issues after editing check your format if it's mpeg that is your problem. Convert your files before importing to videostudio (I used .Avi) and your nightmare will be over

This is bad advice. It is not as simple as converting to avi. You have to take into account what is your final format/destination, what is your source format & quality.

You are also replying to a thread that was started 12 years ago and the last post was made in 2012