Still image quality of pan and zoom in v11+ is BAD

pkalen · Post by **pkalen** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 4:26 am

The still image quality of "pan and zoom" in verion 11+ is not as good as it was in version 9. It is very disappointing because I would like to move into HD, but I can't sacrifice the still image quality.

I have been a fan of VS since version 6. I create sports highlight videos, and still images are a major part of the content, and every image is "pan and zoomed".

I created a couple of 5 frame mpgs that illustrate the differnce in image quality between version 9 and 11+. I have screencaps from BSPlayer and the mpgs, but I don't know how to make them available to the forum.

The image used is an unaltered jpg from a Canon XTI zoomed to 500 from beginning to end.

I don't expect anyone to have a solution, I just wanted to make it known for others and maybe nudge Corel/Ulead to fix it.

Perry Kalen[/img]

randazzo · Post by **randazzo** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 7:10 am

When I use stills with Ulead I always get them through photoshop first. Resize them and apply a gaussian blur. Works very well.

heinz-oz · Post by **heinz-oz** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 8:45 am

Some people never modify their images and claim to have good results. My experience, though not with HD or indeed VS, is that it is best to resize the images closer to the target frame size and save these as bmp or other non-compressed format. That works very well for me.

You don't need to get PhotoShop for it either, Ulead's own PhotoImpact works very well for not only that task. It also only costs a fraction of what PS does.

Post by **jparnold** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 10:06 am

Paint Shop Pro will also do these things and if you are lucky enough to find a PC magazine with a cover disk which includes an older version (sometimes cut down) it will be even cheaper!

pkalen · Post by **pkalen** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 4:43 pm

Thanks for the replies, but the point is, VS 9 did still image pan and zoom very well without resizing or any other preperation, and VS11 doesn't.

I am going to accuse Ulead of dropping the VS 9 pan and zoom and just substituting the lesser video filter pan and zoom. They certainly didn't add keyframe controls to the VS 9 pan and zoom engine Maybe it was cost cutting(royalties). Maybe it was a response for more control(keyframes). But they did not do us a favor.

Post by **Ron P.** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 4:48 pm

Could be, I doubt it though. The old 3 stage pan & zoom in VS9 was joke. You had to use what they give you. I don't use the pan & zoom filter on my images or filters. I plan ahead when I'm shooting my video. If I'm going to need to zoom or pan, I do it while filming, so I don't have to rely on software to do it for me.

I really don't find your problem exists in VS11. I've loaded numerous very large images into VS, both resizing and not. In fact I done a quick test using Zoom to 500% and did not see pixelizing by just dropping the images in with their default sizes.

If you're going to use small images, and zoom in, especially to 5x it's size, you will get a degradation. Do that with any program, video or image editor, and you will get the same results.

pkalen · Post by **pkalen** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 5:08 pm

Pretty harsh, Vidoman. Having a bad day?

Your still images are perfectly composed and static? As for planning ahead at a basketball game, it is one second at a time.

Black Lab · Post by **Black Lab** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 5:11 pm

In Preferences, make sure your Resampling settings are on Best.

pkalen · Post by **pkalen** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 5:52 pm

Whoopee, I found the cure.

Preference/Edit - Turn off the Image Anti-flicker Filter.

That makes me happy. I thought I was going to have to search for another editor for HD. Now if HD functions well, that will be great.

I suppose I am stupid, and that little tidbit is in some workflow sticky. Apologies if it is.

heinz-oz · Post by **heinz-oz** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 2:59 am

Another reason for the differences between VS 9 and VS 11 is the fact that VS 11 uses a different mpeg encoder.

etech6355 · Post by **etech6355** » Mon Dec 31, 2007 7:57 am

Also make sure to install the patches to VS11+ because they did make the encoding better.
I also suggest to use Frame_Based as your fielding when creating either standard definition or High Definition Slideshows or videos from pictures. That does make a big difference on my system.

You can create a custom template to accomplish this, then assign the template when you render to a file..