Using pictures in my video...bad quality.

ftloghm · Post by **ftloghm** » Fri May 06, 2005 2:03 am

I just made a video and used some still pics over the video.
I resized them in the window to fit where I want them and they look great when they are just sitting there. But after I rendered the video and played them back they look terrible...actually when previewing in VS9 they look crappy but as soon as the clip stops they sharpen up in the window.

These are jpeg pics taken from a 4 megapixal digital camera in highest quality.

Can someone please tell what I can do about this.

Thanks.

ftloghm · Post by **ftloghm** » Fri May 06, 2005 2:35 am

Okay, I just made a quick 90 second vid with a piece of the same video and the same pic using Cyberlink PowerDirector...and the pictures looked perfectly fine.
So this is obviously an issue with UVS9. Is there a setting or something I need to change....

Thanks!

MikeGunter · Post by **MikeGunter** » Fri May 06, 2005 2:38 am

Hi,

What are the dimensions of the image and the project's properties?

Mike

ftloghm · Post by **ftloghm** » Fri May 06, 2005 3:16 am

MikeGunter wrote:Hi,

What are the dimensions of the image and the project's properties?

Mike

Hello,

The project properties are:

NTSC drop frame (29.97 fps)
MPEG files
24 Bits, 720 x 480, 29.97 fps
Upper Field First
(DVD-NTSC), 4:3
Video data rate: Variable (Max. 9300 kbps)
Audio data rate: 224 kbps
MPEG audio layer 2, 48 KHz, Stereo

The Picture dimensions are
2448X1632

Thanks!

jchunter · Post by **jchunter** » Fri May 06, 2005 3:45 am

Could be a Field Order problem but try creating a project video file and see if the problem is still there when played back on Power DVD.

Also, I had some strange problems in VS8 when I worked with bitrates over 8Mbps. I have not experimented with VS9 high bitrates, yet.

ftloghm · Post by **ftloghm** » Fri May 06, 2005 4:03 am

jchunter wrote:Could be a Field Order problem but try creating a project video file and see if the problem is still there when played back on Power DVD.

Also, I had some strange problems in VS8 when I worked with bitrates over 8Mbps. I have not experimented with VS9 high bitrates, yet.

That's what I meant in my first post when I said I made a vid.
I made an mpeg2 video file then I played it back with PowerDVD....that's when I first noticed I had the problem...the video looked fine, it was'nt until the pics popped up...they look like total crap

Then I looked at the clip in VS9 and noticed it looked the same...I just figured that was a preview and it would look fine in the final product but I was wrong.

You mention a field order problem....I am not 100% sure if this is what you mean but I right-clicked and hit properties on my vids and they are all upper field first and the project properties says the same thing....

As far as the bit rate is concerned....I have no idea.

I did make a quick 20 minute DVD and the picture was really nice on my tv though....but that was without still pics.

BTW: I am making vids that will be used to make a DVD.
The mpeg2 is what I should be rendering in correct?

Thanks for the help.

MikeGunter · Post by **MikeGunter** » Fri May 06, 2005 4:47 am

Hi,

In Preferences, Edit, see if you are keeping the aspect ratio.

Mike

jchunter · Post by **jchunter** » Fri May 06, 2005 4:52 am

When you say the stills are crappy, do you mean blurry or pixelated or stretched or bad color or what?

THoff · Post by **THoff** » Fri May 06, 2005 5:33 am

...and set the resampling quality in the Preferences to "Best".

david reece · Post by **david reece** » Fri May 06, 2005 11:36 am

are you using the overlay track? i found that in VS8 and 9 seem to have problems with quality regardless of size and ratio.

ftloghm · Post by **ftloghm** » Fri May 06, 2005 1:00 pm

jchunter wrote:When you say the stills are crappy, do you mean blurry or pixelated or stretched or bad color or what?

Blocky, pixelated.....

MikeGunter wrote:Hi,

In Preferences, Edit, see if you are keeping the aspect ratio.

Mike

Yes, it is set like this.

THoff wrote:...and set the resampling quality in the Preferences to "Best".

Ok, I just changed it from better to best.

david reece wrote:are you using the overlay track? i found that in VS8 and 9 seem to have problems with quality regardless of size and ratio.

Yes, I am...I am using for PIP....or PIV to be more specific.

I made the resampling change like THoff said and no luck....when I play it back it is so blocky I can't even read the date stamp on the pic....

Ok....I just put a pic in the main video line...and it does'nt seem bad...a little jaggy but probably acceptable....actually it is a little blurry as well...

I put the same pic in the overlay track by itself with nothing in the main track. I made the pic almost full screen and previewed it and it was definately not as good and when in the main video line.
The smaller I resized the pic the blockier it got....and since I am using this as a PIV I definately need it smaller.

Any other suggestions?

jchunter · Post by **jchunter** » Fri May 06, 2005 1:58 pm

You may have discovered a bug in Video Studio. I have not used the overlay track but, as David said, objects in the overlay track may not be getting the same quality. I would report the problem to Ulead and hope they will fix the problem.
John

MikeGunter · Post by **MikeGunter** » Fri May 06, 2005 1:58 pm

I made the resampling change like THoff said and no luck....when I play it back it is so blocky I can't even read the date stamp on the pic....

Ok....I just put a pic in the main video line...and it does'nt seem bad...a little jaggy but probably acceptable....actually it is a little blurry as well...

I put the same pic in the overlay track by itself with nothing in the main track. I made the pic almost full screen and previewed it and it was definately not as good and when in the main video line.
The smaller I resized the pic the blockier it got....and since I am using this as a PIV I definately need it smaller.

Any other suggestions?

Hi,

Here's what I'd try.

In PhotoImpact or Photoshop, take the image and resize to 720x540. In levels, limit color to 16-235 (RBG), and apply a very tiny blur to the photo.

Mike

jbowen28 · Post by **jbowen28** » Tue Jun 28, 2005 5:59 pm

I am having the same problem as ftloghm. Poor quality photos in a DVD video using VS8. I cannot understand why my high resolution (300dpi) photos end up looking more blurred than my miniDV video shot 720x480. Photos are jpg files. Also found that a photo used as a backdrop for my DVD menu shimmers and has got a checkered pattern yet when used in the main video it does not have these problems. It is such as waste of time to try to fix these problems that I feel like going out a blowing the bucks for a decent video editing program. I am not intentionally knocking VS8, it has got a lot of bang for the buck, but one has got to include the time invested also.

ponds01 · Post by **ponds01** » Tue Jun 28, 2005 6:54 pm

I tried with VIP (video-in-picture). I.e. created a frame object in photoimpact and put on main track then a video on overlay track. No blur in frame. They look perfect. But the frame was a uncompressed BMP file.

Now I will have to try PIV!

Try uncompressed TIFF or BMP format for the pictures. Because JPEG is already compressed further compression during DVD render makes it further blur.