VideoStudio 9 and MPEG-4 = blocky output

jhbodle · Post by **jhbodle** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 8:53 pm

I've just purchased a Sanyo HD1 camcorder and i've bought a copy of VideoStudio 9 to edit the film created with it. The Sanyo records onto SD cards in MPEG-4 format, so I am feeding these MP4 files directly into VideoStudio using the MPEG-4 plug in.

When I go to create the finished movie however, the output gains sporadic random pixels throughout the movie which ruins the quality. Is there any way of overcoming this?

Example here: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/jhbodle/dvd.mpg

jchunter · Post by **jchunter** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 2:42 am

Sanyo seems to have released this camera without any software support at all.
see http://phpbb.ulead.com.tw/EN/viewtopic. ... ight=sanyo

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 8:23 am

Sorry to say this but it's not a proper camcorder.
Essentially it's a digital camera that can also record short movie clips (up to 21 minutes duration)

Fitted with a 10x optical zoom lens built from 12 elements designed in 9 groups, the Xacti HD1 has a maximum aperture of f3.5 in both wide and telephoto angles, also offering 10x digital zoom. Relying on the MPEG4 standard, the camera is capable of recording up to 21 minutes of highest-definition video in 720p resolution at 30 FPS to a 1 GB SD card, with lower resolutions also available including a VGA mode which records at a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels and up to 60 FPS.

http://www.infosyncworld.com/news/n/6387.html

Anything that records video onto a SD card or any other similar card isn't going to produce very good video. Basically the video faciltiy is included as a selling point.

You also get Camcorders which are able to take still photographs. Essentially this would be a camcorder and the still picture ability is a selling point and will not replace a purpose built digital camera

jhbodle · Post by **jhbodle** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 9:14 am

I dont think you guys are understanding me. The actual video output from the camera is fine - I can play back the MP4 files it creates in VLC Media Player and the quality is acceptable. But when VideoStudio manipulates the files they go all blocky as in the sample video I uploaded. This is not a camera issue.

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 9:27 am

I shall no doubt soon have to include an entry in our Frequently Asked Questions post on this issue.
The MPEG4 plug is is for creating a video file not manipulating one.
MPEG4 also DivX and Xvid are very highly compressed formats but retain high quality. These formats are more compressed than MPEG2 - the format necessary to produce a VOB file.

MPEG4 /DivX and Xvid are ideal formats for sharing video over the internet. However due to their highly compressed nature they are not suitable for editing. You can try and "decompress them" to a more editable format. One such program is "Super" and can be found in our link to freebies:
http://phpbb.ulead.com.tw/EN/viewtopic.php?t=12931