Blurry titles in VS9

dgoldan · Post by **dgoldan** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 6:23 pm

Okay, I searched for an answer on this and couldn't find one, although I'm sure it's been addressed before.

I have two simple black screen intros to my video (inserted color; black for 10 sec each). I have yellow text that I have a fade animation applied to. Quality settings are set to Best.

The final DVD product (DVD folder on hard drive) looks fine on the PC monitor, but all of the text has fuzzy edges when burned to a DVD and viewed on the TV.

I also have a jpg inserted into the same black screen, with a pan-n-zoom effect. Again, the picture looks fine on the PC, but pixelated and blurry on the TV.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Dan

Black Lab · Post by **Black Lab** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 7:03 pm

Sounds like your project settings could be amiss. Please post them.

dgoldan · Post by **dgoldan** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 8:12 pm

Black Lab wrote:Sounds like your project settings could be amiss. Please post them.

NTSC drop frame (29.97 fps)
MPEG files
24 Bits, 704 x 480, 29.97 fps
Upper Field First
(DVD-NTSC), 4:3
Video data rate: Variable (Max. 9558 kbps)
Audio data rate: 256 kbps
MPEG audio layer 2, 48 KHz, Stereo

The project settings match my video settings. I tried changing the video size to 720x480 as well. Unfortunately, since it looks okay on the PC, the only way to verify is to keep buring DVDs, which is kind of frustrating, as well as wasteful.

Post by **Ken Berry** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 10:14 pm

Can you tell us where you obtained your original video from, and how it was captured, please. While 704x480 is DVD-compliant, it is not all that common. In addition, the maximum bitrate is at the really upper end of what is acceptable. While it is do-able at that rate, you need to be aware that some stand-alone players may baulk at playing anything at that bitrate setting. I am also intrigued by the fact that you are using Upper Field First, though of course that is quite acceptable if that was your capture setting and you use it throughout the project. Are you sure that the burning module is also using that setting? (If 'Do not convert compliant mpeg files' remains checked in the cogwheel Options icon in the bottom left of the burning screen, you should be OK.)

As for wasting discs, don't you have a rewritable RW disc that you can use until your problem is sorted out. They are a boon for avoiding drink coasters.

As for the legibility problem, have you experimented with different fonts? I have had readability problems in the past when I used fonts with a fine footprint or a little too small. Using a bigger, bolder font usually corrected the problem.

dgoldan · Post by **dgoldan** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 10:54 pm

Video is straight off of a DVD we got at a high school band competition. All I want to do is add a title and a picture of my daughter at the beginning to personalize it a bit (i.e. no copyright issues).

The project settings were just matched to the video settings. I could reduce the bit rate. I tried checking and unchecking the "Do not convert compliant mpeg files" box. The font is really quite large, 48 point Times New Roman, and I removed the drop shadow effect I originally had.
Maybe I'll try something simpler, like Arial and reduce the bitrate to 8000kbps.

I guess I should pick up an RW or two for testing, but this really the first problem I've had in burning 100 DVDs.

A couple of more questions. What effects do the Perform non-square pixel rendering, Two pass encode, and anti-flicker filter have on the final product and when should each be used/not used?

Thanks for the replies.