Weird project quality

[brana]

I think I'm doing something wrong I just don't know what.
I used a screen capturing program to record some clips of an online game to an avi file and the quality was great and it played perfectly when viewing it on windows media player.
When I import the clips to Videostudio and play it as a clip it's the same quality and everything, but when playing it as the project it's all blurry and the quality stinks.
Are there any settings so the quality isn't lost? I went to project settings and changed the editing file format from mpeg to avi and still the same problem when I'm viewing the project.
Also another question is if it works out ok with the quality and all how do I create a file to view on windows media player. Not an avi file, but a windows media audio/video file without quality loss. I havn't seen that option only avi and dvd and stuff like that.
P.S I'm using Videostudio 11 Plus and sorry I'm new at this

[brana]

Ok i figured out how to save the file as a windows media audio/video file but the quality is still bad. After I save it the quality isnt AS BAD as in the preview but it still stinks.
Is videostudio somehow doing something to cause this quality loss:S I looked at all the guides and try to follow exactly what they do when saving their projects but mines still comes out blurry and a big quality loss

[LGO]

Brana,

When you render to WMV files there are various quality levels you can select. During your process of outputting the video to WMV format there should be several different quality levels for WMV in the drop down box. If you don't have several to choose from, select "custom."

Now, in the dialogue box that appears after selecting "custom," change the output format to WMV and then click on "options." You'll see several tabs of which one is "profile." Explore that and select the one that best fits your needs.

You can also create a new profile, but that's a bit involved so explore what I just suggested first.

Creating WMV files may seem overwhelming at first for a novice because pf all the variables to choose from, but you'll get used to it.

Good luck,

LGO

[brana]

Thanks LGO,
I have tried the different quality levels in the drop down box before, but never tried the costom option and then changing the profiles. However, I put the highest quality bit rate and still the quality is bad. (Not as bad as before but still)
For example in windows movie maker when your done and are saving the project to your computer and you are at the stage when it asks what kinds of settings you want to save at you get the same profiles section as in videostudio and saving it that format makes video bad quality aswell.
But in movie maker theres a second option which is "Best fit to file size" and it automatically selects the best file size in MB or GB. If i use that option the quality is very good and thats what I normally use when i used to edit it movie maker.
There is no option like that in videostudio and i've tried all the other quality settings or levels and none of them are any good. To get a better idea of what I'm saying you could just open movie maker quickly make something and just go to the saving part and you'll see what option I'm talking about.
You said something about creating a new profile, mabey that will help if you dont mind could you briefly explain thanks?
Thanks alot

[sjj1805]

You need to go all the way back to your screen capture program.
What was it FRAPS, Camtasia Studio or something else?

Whatever it was, you need to open that software and look for the following:
Capture Codec.
CamtasiaStudio uses its own TechSmith Capture Codec.
I can't recall what FRAPS uses.
Frame rate: Unlike normal video we are used to dealing with PAL 25fps or NTSC 29.97fps. Screen capture software might be using something quite different possibly 15fps.
Screen size: Here again we are used to the more conventional PAL 720 x 576 or 352 x 576: NTSC 720 x 480 or 352 x 480
However screen capture software could be using anything from the currently selected full screen size - possibly 1024 x 768 to some odd or peculiar screen size because a selected area was chosen rather than full screen.

So you can see, already we are faced with a mamouth task.
If you check your screen capture software you will probably find that it includes its own routines for output to various mediums such as
'For the internet' 'For DVD' 'AVI' and possibly several other formats.
You would possibly be better off outputting to one of those available formats.

[brana]

Thanks for the reply
The screen capture program was Hypercam 2, but the capture codec used was TechSmith Capture codec.
The frame rate was different, it was I believe 10 fps.
The screen was different as well, I only recorded a portion of the screen.
The screen capture program left the clips in AVI format and the reason I imported them on Videostudio is to edit them.
I wanted add titles, efftects, transitions, etc...
I could do all these things on windows movie maker and save them as .wmv without any quality loss using the option I said about earlier, but I cannot do that in videostudio. The quality is really poor after I save it, and that's what I was asking for.

Mabey what LGO was talking about with creating a new profile for WMV files, if someone could briefly tell me what that's about i'll try to figure out the rest.

[sjj1805]

Thanks for the reply
The screen capture program was Hypercam 2, but the capture codec used was TechSmith Capture codec.
The frame rate was different, it was I believe 10 fps.
The screen was different as well, I only recorded a portion of the screen.
The screen capture program left the clips in AVI format and the reason I imported them on Videostudio is to edit them.
I wanted add titles, efftects, transitions, etc...
I could do all these things on windows movie maker and save them as .wmv without any quality loss using the option I said about earlier, but I cannot do that in videostudio. The quality is really poor after I save it, and that's what I was asking for.

Mabey what LGO was talking about with creating a new profile for WMV files, if someone could briefly tell me what that's about i'll try to figure out the rest.

AVI = Audio Video Interleaved. In fact it is not a 'CODEC'
COmpression DECcompression but it is a term to describe various CODECS that are considered non-lossy.

Popular 'AVI' codecs are DV MPEG4 Xvid DivX amongst various others.
Your screen capture program has created a video using the Techsmith Codec. You are attempting to convert that into another format WMV and this is why you are having problems.

I recently used Camtasia Studio to capture the entire screen.
To be able to manipulate the resultant 'avi' file I created a VideoStudio template for converting it into something more manegable.

Here is a template I use to convert a full screen capture from Camtasia Studio into something that VideoStudio finds more manageable.
ConvertCamtasia.avi
After applying edits I then use one of the above templates to upload to the web. here is such an example:
Create Subtitles with VS11+ for use in MF6+ (Video)

Please view this link for instructions regarding making this template in VideoStudio:
Making and Sharing VideoStudio Movie Templates