Making DVD with analog video

[lblack]

Hi,

I'm trying to make a DVD based on some old video captured from Video 8. I use a FAST AV-Master card to capture the video.

So now I have my source in AVI, MJPEG compressed (via hardware on the AV-Master card), captured both fields, upper field first.

I start MSP7, make a new MPEG project in DVD-PAL format and add some of the captured video.
Now I want to put in on DVD.. From MSP7, I make a MPEG file (25 fps, lower field first as per the project) and media-type PAL-DVD on the compression tab.

I start DVD Workshop 2, create a DVD project, add the MPEG file and burns it to DVD disc.

Now when I put the disc in a DVD player, there is a lot of flicker on the video, like every second frame is black.
If I play the MPEG file on the PC, there's no flickering but it is quite a bit darker than if I play the original AVI file.

Any idea what could cause this? Is it a problem that the AVI is upper-field first and the DVD is lower-field first? Frame rate is 25 fps all over..

I use a 720x576, is that correct for DVD?

Cheers,
Lars

[heinz-oz]

Hi,

I'm trying to make a DVD based on some old video captured from Video 8. I use a FAST AV-Master card to capture the video.

So now I have my source in AVI, MJPEG compressed (via hardware on the AV-Master card), captured both fields, upper field first.
Why do you capture to MJPG? Can your card capture to mpeg2?

I start MSP7, make a new MPEG project in DVD-PAL format and add some of the captured video.
Now I want to put in on DVD.. From MSP7, I make a MPEG file (25 fps, lower field first as per the project) and media-type PAL-DVD on the compression tab.
Analog video captures upper field first in most cases. Maintain this throughout. Do not change mid stream

I start DVD Workshop 2, create a DVD project, add the MPEG file and burns it to DVD disc.

Now when I put the disc in a DVD player, there is a lot of flicker on the video, like every second frame is black.
What are the bit rate settings for your mpeg2 file, in MSP7 and DVD WS?

If I play the MPEG file on the PC, there's no flickering but it is quite a bit darker than if I play the original AVI file.

Any idea what could cause this? Is it a problem that the AVI is upper-field first and the DVD is lower-field first? Frame rate is 25 fps all over..
Could be. You should maintain the same field order throughout.

I use a 720x576, is that correct for DVD? Correct for PAL DVD.

Cheers,
Lars

[lblack]

Hi Heinz,

So now I have my source in AVI, MJPEG compressed (via hardware on the AV-Master card), captured both fields, upper field first.
Why do you capture to MJPG? Can your card capture to mpeg2?
My card only captures to AVI with MJPEG encoding..


Any idea what could cause this? Is it a problem that the AVI is upper-field first and the DVD is lower-field first? Frame rate is 25 fps all over..
Could be. You should maintain the same field order throughout.
So what you are saying is that I should change my DVD output to use upper-field first?

Cheers,
Lars

[heinz-oz]

That's exactly what I'm saying. However, I'm almost certain that this is not causing your problem. I would rather suspect the MJPEG and or capture box.

Did you patch MSP 7 to SP3?

What bit rates are the encoded MJPEG clips?

[Devil]

OK, first things first:

What are your mjpeg settings? Which codec are you using (I recommend PICVideo rather than, say, Morgan)? During capture, do you see at bottom left a message giving dropped frames?

For editing, keep in MJPEG at exactly the same settings as for capture and, at the end, Create a new file in MJPEG. Check that it plays well. From that file, Create your DVD-compliant MPEG-2, with the same settings as for MJPEG and I suggest you use a video bitrate of 6000 kbit/s CBR for projects up to ~90 minutes, with audio as AC-3 (Dolby) stereo (2.0) at 192 kbit/s. One of the most frequent causes for poor playback is too high a bitrate, which many players do not like. From your analogue source, you gain nothing, zero, zilch, by upping the bitrate, because you don't have broadcast quality to start with.

Now, if this doesn't help, please let us have FULL details of your exact and whole process.

[lblack]

Sorry for being VERY slow to get back on this, had to puch video editing to a side for a few months..

Just for the record, it seems like I had something weird installed on the computer, maybe a bad codec. I reinstalled XP and MSP and now everything works as expected.

Cheers,
Lars

[heinz-oz]

Thanks for letting us know, very much appreciated