Field Rate

[cgflembo]

I am transfering my old VHS tapes to DVD, onto my laptop, and using VS11 to edit and render onto a DVD. I am confused about which settings to use when transfering onto a DVD i.e lower/higher fields first or none at all. If I just use the projects settings, there will be no fields.
As like the other projects I have been rendering with VS11 from my hard drive camcorder, the end results have been grainy and seems like a stocking has been put over the lens when the picture is being panned and returns to normal when the picture is still. Am I using the wrong settings for all my projects?

[skier-hughes]

Field order will depend on where in the world you are and what settings you have for the captured file.
Check your captured file with something like avicodec or bitrate viewer to find out what field order your file is, then ensure all your project settings are set to this.

[Black Lab]

Typically, digital sources are Lower Field First, and analog sources are Upper Field First.

[Ken Berry]

Skier, you said:

Field order will depend on where in the world you are

That's the first time in my life I have heard that! Location, and, I suppose you mean, the TV system used, has nothing to do with field order, as far as I was aware. It all has to do with the type of camera you used or the origin of the video you captured...

cgflembo: that being said, you are capturing your old VHS tapes, but the important thing you didn't tell us is how you were capturing them. And depending on that will depend the field order to be used. As Black Lab said, normally, with most analogue capture devices, analogue source video is Upper Field First. But that is normally only if you are using a USB capture device or a TV/Capture card. Quite a lot of people use their mini DV digital camera or Digital 8 camera as a pass-through device, connecting their analogue camera or VCR via RCA (or S-Video/RCA) to the mini DV or Digital 8 camera, and the latter to the computer via Firewire. Depending on your Digital 8, you might also be able to simply insert analogue 8mm or Hi8 tapes in the camera and play those directly to the computer via Firewire. And some people have relatively expensive analogue capture devices which connect via Firewire and capture in DV format like the mini DV or Digital 8. And all of those options, when capturing via Firewire, use Lower Field First.

(High defintion HDV cameras get really screwy. They connect via Firewire, but if you capture in HDV format, which is mpeg-2, they capture using Upper Field First. But if you downconvert and capture to DV, it uses Lower Field First! But we'll leave that out of it, shall we?)

So we really need to know how you are capturing. As it is, it sounds as though you have definitely got the Field Order screwed up somewhere. The project settings are obvious wrong as, by no field order, I assume you say it is Frame Based. That seems to be the default with VS11/11.5+, and possibly VS10, though earlier versions, if I recall correctly, were usually Lower Field First as default. But that does not mean you use it. Frame Based is fine for slideshows. But for video, it really needs to be upper or lower field first, and that depends on the original video. And if you change the original field order, you will get what sounds like the sort of effect you describe.

But really, you should before doing anything, go to File > Preferences, and make sure that 'Show Message when first clip is inserted in timeline' is ticked. That way, when capturing, when the first captured clip goes into the timeline, you will get a message asking if you want the project properties to match those of the clip. You of course say yes. That way you will be sure that the project properties will exactly match the captured video, including in its field order.

But depending on how and exactly what you are capturing, if you are then going to produce a DVD, then after editing, you would normally go to Share > Create Video File. Now here, you could choose 'DVD' as the video file format. But you need to check the properties in the window in the bottom of the dialogue box. And if, for instance, the field order is not the same as the field order of your captured video, you have to exit and choose Share > Create Video File > Custom, and change the Field Order in the Options button. If you are going to use the same format often, you might also want to create a permanent template for that using Tools > Make Movie Template Manager. That way you will always be able to choose that template if you are burning video from the same source.

Anyway, you produce your DVD-compliant mpeg-2. Note also that after you produce it, you go to File > New Project. Don't worry about giving your new project a name. The objective is just to clear the timeline of your current project.

Once that is done, you select Share > Create Disc > DVD. The burning module will open. Use the Add Media button at the top to insert your new mpeg-2 in the burning timeline. Then go to the middle of the three icons in the bottom left of the burning screen. There is a little box beside the words 'Do not convert compliant mpeg files'. Make sure that box is ticked (it usually is by default). That way, your already compliant mpeg file will not be re-encoded. Then build your menus and burn.

[cgflembo]

Thank you for your advice. I am capuring the VHS material using a USB divice so I will use `upper field first`. With the video that I am taking straight from my hard drive camcorder to edit in VS11, will that be `upper field first` as well? as that is the material that ends up with the `netting effect`.

[Black Lab]

Hard drive cameras are usually Upper Field First. Just remember to use the same properties throughout the process, including the output properties.

BTW, do not try to mix UFF and LFF clips in the same project.

[skier-hughes]

Skier, you said:

Field order will depend on where in the world you are

That's the first time in my life I have heard that!

Ooops, can't believe I actually wrote that, I don't know why, because as you say it doesn't have anything to do with field order. Must have been having a mid-life crisis.
I'm sure I must have meant what process you are using for capturing the file, but this has all been covered now.