Help please, shaky DVD footage from a couple of my DV tapes

[storm]

I have been transferring DV footage to PAL DVD Mpeg2 for 2 years now with no problem. But recently a couple of the results have yielded shaky/ghosting footage. I have attempted many things, but with no luck. I can only assume the DV tapes in question are the problem.

The AVI/DV footage plays absolutely fine on the computer, tv etc, even the Mpeg2 footage that is this is converted to plays smooth. Everything goes wrong when I play the DVD on a DVD player. It the same footage from 3 DV tapes, all Premium DV tapes. But what could be causing this to happen to just the footage from these 3 tapes, (I have successfully transfered about 20 others with no problem), but only visible once transferred to DVD.

Upper field first
16:9
PAL DVD
100%
8000 Variable
MPEG2 audio

As I do with all my footage with no problem.

Thank-you

[Black Lab]

If it looks fine when your view it on a tv or pc then the tapes are not at fault. If it's only on the burned DVD, and you're getting shaky, ghosting video, that sounds like a field order problem. Double check and make sure your projects field order matches your clips (check the burn properties too).

[Ken Berry]

Unless your camera is a very unusual model, the DV it takes uses Lower Field First. You must absolutely maintain Lower Field First throughout your project and in producing your DVD-compatible mpeg-2.

So where did your property of Upper Field First come from? Did you set it that way or use a default? In either case, change it to LFF when converting to mpeg-2 and compare the results...

[storm]

But I have been capturing to Upper Field first since I got the camera over a year ago on 20+ tapes with no problem, it's a Panasonic NV-GS250, a very good camcorder. Watch this space and thanks for your input.

I think I was capturing on Upper Field First because when I put a DVD that I have recorded on my DVD recorder into VS9 and import the footage, it says it is Upper Field First?

Thanks Justin

[Black Lab]

Yes, clips imported from a DVD are usually Upper Field First. As Ken stated, clips from MiniDV are usually Lower Field First.

Try it with LFF and see if it fixes your problem.

[Ken Berry]

You don't tell us what version of VS you are using, or whether you have recently changed versions. This could be useful to know, because when you change versions, often the default DV Encoder type is set to Type 2, and you could have been using Type 1 previously. Type 2 is typically more difficult for most people whose computers may not be overly well endowed with resources. The resulting captured video is often jerky, with the audio sometimes being garbled a bit as well. Chaning it to Type 1 usually corrects the problem.

However, I still think your primary problem is that you are capturing using the wrong field order. I am a little surprised, though, since normally, when you set your capture format to DV, the program normally automatically sets itself to Lower Field First. So you would have to be manually changing that somewhere along the line. Or do you capture and edit with the default settings, and only set Upper Field First when going to Share > Create Video File?

[storm]

Thanks guys, I changed the order to LFF and now the footage is not shaky any more BUT now the burned DVD keeps sticking, and when the my first test DVD got to chapter 10 it freezes, on both my power DVD on my laptop and my DVD player.

What I do is import via firewire from DV tape to DV on my external harddrive. Then I put the footage into the time-line, then when I have what I want I go to share>creat video file>custom mpeg>16.9/100%DVD PAL/8000 Variable etc.. what's causing this? with my previous video that didn't have any problem with Upper Field First, there was no freezing.

I am using VS9

Cheers, Justin

[Black Lab]

If it keeps freezing at the same spot it sounds like that clip is corrupt.

[storm]

are you saying the DV footage/DV tape is corrupt, or the mpeg 2 footage it is rendered to is corrupt? What will have caused that?

Thanks

[Black Lab]

Probably the MPEG2 is corrupt. Try rendering again.

[Ken Berry]

You might also want to experiment by not using the 100% setting and instead use the default 70% setting.

[storm]

Thanks Ken, what does using the default setting usually do?

[Ken Berry]

Some of us were debating this the other day in another thread. Essentially, that slider represents a balance between the final quality of your rendered video and the time taken to produce it. The default setting of 70% is supposed to represent very good quality produced in a reasonable time. Some people push it to 100% because they say they can notice an improvement in quality and are prepared to accept the extra time it takes to produce (which can be significant).

Personally, I have never been able to see any noticeable improvement in the end quality, so tend to leave the default as it is. It may be that my eyes are getting too old to tell the difference. But you need to experiment to see for yourself what is acceptable.

The only thing which really needs to be taken into account by those users who don't have particularly powerful computers is that some users have reported that the program simply hangs or closes when 100% is selected. This is possibly because the extra demand for resources over a longer period might be just too much for their computer to bear. But again, that is something each user needs to work out for themselves...

[storm]

Thanks all, that has sorted the problems out completely, I am now using LFF and 70% quality, and all is well.

Thanks again, you've saved my life (no really)