Poor quality DVD footage

robinf · Post by **robinf** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 1:37 pm

Hi there - I've just burned a DVD using Workshop 2 and the quality is not very good.

I shot it using a Panasonic NV GS 180 and exported it from Premier Pro 1.5 as an avi file. It looks fine at this stage but when I watch back the resulting DVD it's got lines through it whenever there is any movement. I'm using the High Quality disk templete.

I've used Worskshop before to burn DVDs and not had this problem. Could it be the camera? Or maybe the DVDs?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Robin

Devil · Post by **Devil** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 1:44 pm

Your description is typical of using the wrong field order. You do not say what your avi settings are. If DV, then you should set everything for lower field first. If you use an analogue codec in Premier Pro, then it is probably upper field first. Whatever, you must use the same setting when encoding to MPEG-2 in WS2.

robinf · Post by **robinf** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 2:30 pm

Thanks Devil - I'll check this out and let you know how I get on. Appreciate it mate.

robinf · Post by **robinf** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 5:18 pm

Hello Devil - ok I think Premier Pro is set to edit as DV. Please can you give me some pointers as to how I check and change the settings on PP and WS? Thanks again.

Devil · Post by **Devil** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 9:07 am

Can't help with PP. In WS2, when you adjust the settings for encoding your project, make sure you set lower field first, using Customize under Disc Template Manager.

skier-hughes · Post by **skier-hughes** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 2:00 pm

In Premiere 6.5 it is
Project
project settings
keyframe and rendering

robinf · Post by **robinf** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 4:59 pm

hi Devil - I've managed to locate the settings in PP (thanks Skier Hughes) but can't find a way to change them in WS. When I go into disk template manager I only have options to change the Encode Driver, Frame Size, Video Data Rate, and Audio format.

Where should I be looking?

Sorry to appear dumb and thanks for your patience!

Robin

Devil · Post by **Devil** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 7:28 am

Sorry to have misled you: am confused between many softwares, each slightly different. You are right: WS2, as installed, handles the field order automatically. To do it manually, you have to apply the Advanced functions.

To do this, you have to alter an INI file. To do this, explore
C:\Documents and Settings\<name>\Application Data\Ulead Systems\Ulead DVD Workshop\2.0

<name> may be All Users or your user name, depending how you installed it. Open DVDWS.ini into NotePad. You will find, in the middle, a list like (not necessarily identical):
[VIODRIVER]
UleadVideoPlay=1
UleadVideoDecoder=1
UleadAudioPlay=1
UleadAudioDecoder=1
UseOnlineMuxing=1
MotionEstimate=20
PlayAC3=1
DecodeAC3=1
UleadAC3Encode=1

Add a new line after the last one in this heading:
Advance=1
(exactly like this, no spaces)
and Save the file.

The next time you start WS2, when you go into the template Manager, you will find a new button marked Advanced in the Compression tab. This gives you full control over all the parameters.

dannyp · Post by **dannyp** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 12:28 pm

Devil

It is not that I have to go into the advanced settings or some thing but
I am curious why the "DVDWS.ini" in my computer and after inserting it to the Note Pad says the following:

[CAPTURE_SETTING]
DVD-VR ImportPath=

It is totaly different from what you said is under "DVDWS.ini"
Thanks
Danny

Devil · Post by **Devil** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 1:29 pm

Frankly, I have no idea, unless it's a relic from a previous installation. You may have more than one DVDWS.ini files. I suggest you do a search to find one that may be elsewhere, making sure the hidden files and folders box is checked.

robinf · Post by **robinf** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 4:37 pm

Hi Devil,

I've managed to access the advanced setting on Template Manager fter following your guide. It seems to be set correctly at Lower Filed First. I have however noticed that I've been using PAL settings on PP and NTSC settings on WS. Could this be causing the problems with quality?

thanks (again)

Robin

Devil · Post by **Devil** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 10:03 am

Absolutely. Mixing standards is not good in MPEG-2.

robinf · Post by **robinf** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 11:03 am

Ah-ha - that was the problem! Stupid me.

Thanks for all your help.

poisson · Post by **poisson** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 4:23 am

I have read this thread with great interest as my scenario is almost if not exactly identical to Robinf's, including using A.P.
My AVI file (originally shot on mini-dv) is 14GB in size and I'm encoding it to DVD 4.7GB so maybe I'm up against it right there but I too am really dissappointed with final Ulead DVD visual quality. I will look into Devil's suggestions but am curious to know what codec DVD WS uses for its video compression. I ask as I've been experimenting encoding to Xvid and the quality to (end) file size ratio is amazing!

Can any one tell me or suggest how I can find out please? And in asking this question, am I on the right track? In other words will whatever codec Ulead uses is what will determine to a large extent how good my final pic will be?

G-Spot tells me my AVI file's codec: 4cc = dvsd Name = DVC/DV Video

heinz-oz · Post by **heinz-oz** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 4:50 am

Hello poisson, and welcome to the forum.

Your 14 GB DV-AVI is roughly one hour duration and, converted to DVD compliant mpeg2 at 8000 kbps, should fit on a 4.7 GB DVD disk and look anything as good as the original. That is with the current Ulead mpeg encoder.

If it doesn't, something is wrong. To judge what exactly, we need a lot more information.

Compressing to Xvid, mpeg4, DivX etc. is giving you a smaller file size but is not DVD compliant. Only a very few of the latest DVD players will play any of these formats.