Alludo USER to USER Web Board

I just transfered my mini dv home movies from my camcorder to my pc with Ulead video studio 10.
It made the movie into an avi file.

I then added the avi file into the video studio editor timeline.Then clicked on share...create video file.....then pal dvd (4:3) .
Named my file and clicked save.
It made my avi home movie into an mpeg file.I noticed a loss in picture quality when i played it after the conversion.It seemed abit blurry.The images were not as sharp as their raw avi format that i got straight from the mini dv tape.

I then opened Ulead video studio again.Dropped the mpeg movie file that was just created into the timeline again.Then clicked create disc.Went to project settings .And changed the mpeg settings to the settings below.
Compression settings ...
speed 90
video settings 8000 kbps
Under display aspect ratio.....
i have a tick in "do not convert compliant mpeg files"

I then burnt the movie onto a dvd.And the quality is still blurry.

What am i doing wrong?

What i wanted to do was add photo's to the timeline that i took at our christmas get together.And add music .Then add the home movie avi's i took after all the other things.Then burn the whole thing onto a dvd.Without any loss in the picture quality.

Here is the info of my home movie mini dv file after i transfered it onto my pc.

Microsoft AVI files
24 bits, 720 x 576, 4:3, 25 fps
Lower Field First
DV Video Encoder -- type 1
Check data rate: 3515 KB/sec
DV Audio -- PAL, 48.000 kHz, 16 Bit, Stereo

When i go to create video file after adding my avi home movie.And i click on custom.What am i supposed to convert it to?
In the compression tab i see alot of different codecs etc.Do i just leave it on DV Video Encoder -- type 1?

Leave the capture as dv.avi, and edit in this format.
Mpeg is compressed in comparison to dv.avi, as one hour of dv.avi is 13gb and 1 hour of high quality mpeg is 4gb.
What we need to know is the setting you chose when you created your first mpeg file.
If your movie is up to an hour and a half long and you use a bitrate of anything above 6,000 you shouldn't really notice much difference in quality on a decent shot video.

Ok.This is what i finally did.
I dropped the dv/avi files of my home movies into the timeline.With the photos and music i wanted as well as the video footage.
I set the effects of the slideshow.Added music.And then added my video footage after the slideshow.All in the timeline.Basically did all the editing i needed to do.

Then i clicked on share.Create video file.Then selected PAL DVD (4:3).
I couldn't select a bitrate for creating a video file.

And the picture quality is still blurry.After it converted my project into an mpeg-2 file.

Hi
You appear to be doing everything right.
When you say blurry, are you referring to the video portion or the still image slide show portion.?
If it¡¦s the still image portion, what size images did you use ( in Pixels please) They should be at least 768 X 576px
If you use the Pan & Zoom Effect this size should be increased.

Ok try this.
First rendering the completed project to Dv/Avi may improve the quality.
Share Create Video File ¡V Same as first video clip¡Xwill render the project to a single DV-Avi (assuming your first video is the captured DV ¡V Avi) (double check the properties in the create video file window-lower left)

Now start a new project, insert the new DV-Avi to the timeline.
How long is the project? over 60 minutes and the bit rate will need reducing below 8000.
Assuming up to 60 minutes
Share create video file---------Use Pal-DVD option¡Xthis will use 8000kbps
This will render the project to a Mpeg file, use this file in a new project to burn a dvd.

Over 60 minutes¡K¡K¡K¡K¡K.
I use Tools ¡V Make Movie Manager to create my own templates.

This allows me up to 90 minutes of video per disc.
MPEG files
24 bits, 720 x 576, 25 fps
Lower Field First
(DVD-PAL), 4:3
Video data rate: 6000 kbps (constant)
Audio data rate: 256 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio, 48 KHz, 2/0(L,R)

Hope this Helps

trevor andrew wrote:Hi
You appear to be doing everything right.
When you say blurry, are you referring to the video portion or the still image slide show portion.?
If it¡¦s the still image portion, what size images did you use ( in Pixels please) They should be at least 768 X 576px
If you use the Pan & Zoom Effect this size should be increased.

Ok try this.
First rendering the completed project to Dv/Avi may improve the quality.
Share Create Video File ¡V Same as first video clip¡Xwill render the project to a single DV-Avi (assuming your first video is the captured DV ¡V Avi) (double check the properties in the create video file window-lower left)

Now start a new project, insert the new DV-Avi to the timeline.
How long is the project? over 60 minutes and the bit rate will need reducing below 8000.
Assuming up to 60 minutes
Share create video file---------Use Pal-DVD option¡Xthis will use 8000kbps
This will render the project to a Mpeg file, use this file in a new project to burn a dvd.

Over 60 minutes¡K¡K¡K¡K¡K.
I use Tools ¡V Make Movie Manager to create my own templates.

This allows me up to 90 minutes of video per disc.
MPEG files
24 bits, 720 x 576, 25 fps
Lower Field First
(DVD-PAL), 4:3
Video data rate: 6000 kbps
Audio data rate: 256 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio, 48 KHz, 2/0(L,R)

Hope this Helps

Yes the video portion is blurry.I will try what you said and post my results.Thanks for the help.

It sounds like you are doing everything you should be doing.

When you check the properties of the large mpeg2 file created from your project, by right-clicking on it's thumbnail in the VS library, what properties does it show?


There is one other thing you might try. The workflow you are using, whereby you first create a single large video file from your project is generally referred to as "The Suggested Workflow". It was originally developed to overcome problems that some users had when following the workflow in the VS manual.

Other users did not experience problems when using the "official" workflow, and maybe you could give it a try. From your project, go straight to the "create disc" step. To save wasted effort in case it doesn't work out, you might only make a very basic menu. I would set the output to DVD folders, or at least use a DVD-RW disc for the same reason.

The reason for trying this is that there is a suggestion that VS may do a better encoding job in the create disc step. That seems to be the case with AVCHD footage, and may also apply to mpeg2.

In any case, when things are working as they should be, there should only be a very slight degradation in the picture quality when you compare your finished DVD to your original DV avi clips.

You should also be sure to check how the DVD looks when played back on a TV rather than just on your pc, if you haven't already done so.

2Dogs wrote:It sounds like you are doing everything you should be doing.

When you check the properties of the large mpeg2 file created from your project, by right-clicking on it's thumbnail in the VS library, what properties does it show?


There is one other thing you might try. The workflow you are using, whereby you first create a single large video file from your project is generally referred to as "The Suggested Workflow". It was originally developed to overcome problems that some users had when following the workflow in the VS manual.

Other users did not experience problems when using the "official" workflow, and maybe you could give it a try. From your project, go straight to the "create disc" step. To save wasted effort in case it doesn't work out, you might only make a very basic menu. I would set the output to DVD folders, or at least use a DVD-RW disc for the same reason.

The reason for trying this is that there is a suggestion that VS may do a better encoding job in the create disc step. That seems to be the case with AVCHD footage, and may also apply to mpeg2.

In any case, when things are working as they should be, there should only be a very slight degradation in the picture quality when you compare your finished DVD to your original DV avi clips.

You should also be sure to check how the DVD looks when played back on a TV rather than just on your pc, if you haven't already done so.

I have tried going straight to create a disc from the project stage.It still lost quality.The mpeg it created has the following properties.

video type - mpeg-2,lower field first
total frames 112,328 frame(s)
attributes 24 bits,720x576,4:3
25,000 frames/sec
data rate variable bit rate (max 8000kbps)

I am still getting a blurry effect in my video footage.

trevor andrew wrote:Hi
You appear to be doing everything right.
When you say blurry, are you referring to the video portion or the still image slide show portion.?
If it¡¦s the still image portion, what size images did you use ( in Pixels please) They should be at least 768 X 576px
If you use the Pan & Zoom Effect this size should be increased.

Ok try this.
First rendering the completed project to Dv/Avi may improve the quality.
Share Create Video File ¡V Same as first video clip¡Xwill render the project to a single DV-Avi (assuming your first video is the captured DV ¡V Avi) (double check the properties in the create video file window-lower left)

Now start a new project, insert the new DV-Avi to the timeline.
How long is the project? over 60 minutes and the bit rate will need reducing below 8000.
Assuming up to 60 minutes
Share create video file---------Use Pal-DVD option¡Xthis will use 8000kbps
This will render the project to a Mpeg file, use this file in a new project to burn a dvd.

Over 60 minutes¡K¡K¡K¡K¡K.
I use Tools ¡V Make Movie Manager to create my own templates.

This allows me up to 90 minutes of video per disc.
MPEG files
24 bits, 720 x 576, 25 fps
Lower Field First
(DVD-PAL), 4:3
Video data rate: 6000 kbps
Audio data rate: 256 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio, 48 KHz, 2/0(L,R)

Hope this Helps

Hi i just tried your suggestion.
I am still getting a blurry effect when converting avi to dvd.This is driving me mad.I don't know why i am losing quality.Especially when i have adjusted the bitrate to around 8000kbps.My problem seems to just be the converting dv/avi to dvd mpeg-2.That is where i am losing quality.

I take it the blurriness is not there if you preview your DV in the timeline, in clip mode?

Since you're doing everything correctly, I would suspect either a problem with the MPEG-2 codec. If not, then it appears to be a filter problem. Have you applied any filters to your clips? If so try removing the filter(s) one at a time to see which one may be causing it.

You do have all the patches/fixes installed for VS10? If not make sure to update them.

Go HERE and download the latest MS Direct-X drivers. The most current is dated November 2008.

I suspect you may be trying to do things too well. If you choose 8000 kbit/s VBR, bits of it must slow down to compensate for the parts with high bitrates, especially if you have lots of movement (including transitions, camera shake etc.). Have a look at http://forum.corel.com/EN/viewtopic.php?t=26715 and try something a bit more modest. If your project is less than 90 min, try 6000 kbit/s CBR with DD audio at 192 kbit/s. You may find it looks a lot better. Remember that the audio bitrate adds to the video bitrate so, if you use the default, which is about 1500 kbit/s, you're burning at up to 9500 and that is stretching it a bit (a lot?).

SF2MJ wrote:I have tried going straight to create a disc from the project stage.It still lost quality.The mpeg it created has the following properties.

video type - mpeg-2,lower field first
total frames 112,328 frame(s)
attributes 24 bits,720x576,4:3
25,000 frames/sec
data rate variable bit rate (max 8000kbps)

I am still getting a blurry effect in my video footage.

You have the correct field order for your DV avi source material, and the clip properties also confirm that your selected bitrate was applied so there was no mis-step there.

Perhaps there is some problem with your mpeg2 codec.

Here is something you might try - and Devil, this is only for experimental purposes, I'm not suggesting it for general usage!

Take one of your DV avi clips, or a selected portion of your project, and output to a video file, selecting "custom". Click on the "Options" button in the window that pops up. In the window that pops up then, click on the "Compression" tab. The "Media Type" will probably show "PAL DVD" by default. Change that instead to "MPEG-2". You will then be able to set the video bitrate to something very high, well beyond the DVD standard - say 25000kbps.

If the resulting file is still blurry, there must be something wrong with your codec!

2Dogs wrote:

SF2MJ wrote:I have tried going straight to create a disc from the project stage.It still lost quality.The mpeg it created has the following properties.

video type - mpeg-2,lower field first
total frames 112,328 frame(s)
attributes 24 bits,720x576,4:3
25,000 frames/sec
data rate variable bit rate (max 8000kbps)

I am still getting a blurry effect in my video footage.

You have the correct field order for your DV avi source material, and the clip properties also confirm that your selected bitrate was applied so there was no mis-step there.

Perhaps there is some problem with your mpeg2 codec.

Here is something you might try - and Devil, this is only for experimental purposes, I'm not suggesting it for general usage!

Take one of your DV avi clips, or a selected portion of your project, and output to a video file, selecting "custom". Click on the "Options" button in the window that pops up. In the window that pops up then, click on the "Compression" tab. The "Media Type" will probably show "PAL DVD" by default. Change that instead to "MPEG-2". You will then be able to set the video bitrate to something very high, well beyond the DVD standard - say 25000kbps.

If the resulting file is still blurry, there must be something wrong with your codec!

I just noticed i don't seem to have an mpeg-2 codec under the compression tab.
Where can i download and mpeg-2 codec?

If you were able to create an MPEG-2 video file, or burn a DVD, means that you do have an MPEG codec.

You will not find it when you have MicroSoft AVI file type selected. You need to change the File type to MPEG.

In the Share>Create Video File, select the Custom option located at the very bottom of the menu. Then in the next dialog that opens, change it from the AVI files type, by pressing the drop-down arrow to MPEG. Then press the Options button. Now go to the Compression tab, and press the drop-down menu, that probably reads, NTSC or PAL DVD. At the top of the menu choices should be MPEG-1 and MPEG-2.

vidoman wrote:If you were able to create an MPEG-2 video file, or burn a DVD, means that you do have an MPEG codec.

You will not find it when you have MicroSoft AVI file type selected. You need to change the File type to MPEG.

I found it.What about the speed .Leave it on 70?

Yes, that's just a balance between quality and speed it takes to render. I've always left it at 70..