Deinterlacing video

[EHG_newguy]

I'm a complete newbie regarding video editing software, but not with video in general.

I have recorded many different videos of traffic using an ordinary, non-HD, non progressive scan surveillance camera on a Pioneer DVD recorder (which doesn't feature progressive scan either). Of course, when playing back these videos on windows media player (or any other for that matter), I get interlace artifacts when I pause the video. [I need a good still shot of the licence plate.]

A couple of months ago I downloaded & installed the trial version of WinDVD 9.0 and it worked perfectly to properly de-interlace the video and thus produce a crystal clear paused shot with no artifacts/blur. I intended to purchase WinDVD 9.0, but I recently developed a need to produce short movies based on these recordings. That's why I downloaded the trial version of VideoStudio 11. VideoStudio's ability to take jpg snapshots of a video has made me consider buying it instead of WinDVD 9.0, as well as my newfound need for video editing.

My problem is that no matter what I set the "default field order" to (LFF, UFF, or frame based), VideoStudio won't de-interlace the video at all. As a matter of fact, I see no difference in the video no matter what the default field order is set to. This leads me to believe that I'm misunderstanding how VideoStudio is handling the issue (which is virtually 100% certain).

What setting should I use when I initially capture the video from a DVD-R? Will I see de-interlaced images while I'm editing the video, or only after I've exported the finished product? Does the target export type have any bearing on whether de-interlacing is done properly? I want to export to an "online-ready" format, such as that used for YouTube. I realize that much resolution is lost in the conversion, but I can live with a reduction in resolution so long as I can de-interlace the video.

Help?

[EHG_newguy]

Nevermind - I finally figured it out!

[Black Lab]

Nevermind - I finally figured it out!

How about letting us in on your secret - it may help someone else in the future.

[EHG_newguy]

You're right, I should leave a record of what worked for me.

First thing - in the settings box that comes up when you press F6:
Capture Tab: Make sure "Image capture deinterlace" is selected.
General Tab: "Show message when inserting video clip into the timeline" should be selected. "Default field order" setting is irrelevant.

Import your video from DVD and drag it into the timeline. If the video's field order/interlace info doesn't match the "default field order" settings, a warning message will appear, asking you if you really want to change to whatever settings you've selected, or if you just want to go with the video's own native settings. Go with the native settings of your video.

When you pause video in the editor, it won't be de-interlaced. However, when you take a snapshot of a frame, the snapshot is de-interlaced. I haven't yet tried exporting the video to see if the video itself is de-interlaced everywhere. All I really need is the image de-interlacing.

[Ron P.]

The Show Message when inserting first video.... prompt is there for one reason only, and that is for using Smart Render. In order for VS to utilize Smart Render then the Project properties must be the same as that of the video clip.

[EHG_newguy]

All I know is that after 12+ hours of trying every possible permutation I couldn't get a properly deinterlaced screen shot. When I clicked that one box and reimported the video, suddenly my screen shots were deinterlaced.

[Clevo]

The Show Message when inserting first video.... prompt is there for one reason only, and that is for using Smart Render. In order for VS to utilize Smart Render then the Project properties must be the same as that of the video clip.

I thought it was so that your project properties always matched your video properties...but there you go. I learnt something new

[Ron P.]

Clevo,

You're correct. Both need to match so that Smart Render will work.. It's also a good idea to have them match, especially when using MPEG-2 files that you don't want recoded, which again points toward Smart Render..