Glitchy mpeg output in VS12

[DavidCresswell]

I wonder whether someone can help me with this. I shall try to keep it brief.

A couple of months ago, I was obliged to buy a new DV Camera (a Panasonic HDC-SD20) after my former DV camera no longer produced a signal via its Firewire port and which, after a 340 GB pounds charge and three returns to them, one of Panasonic¡¦s authorised service centres failed to repair claiming that I was doing something wrong in my connections (although I had been making the same connections for 5 years!).

So having procured a new High Def widescreen camera, I checked my editing software to see whether it was up to the job. From various reports, it looked like I should upgrade from my Ulead Video Studio 11 to the Corel Video Studio 12 (Pro x2).

My computer system includes an Intel Core2 Quad Pro CPU Q6600 at 2.4 GHz on an Asus P5N-D nForce motherboard with an NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT display adaptor. Operating system is Windows Vista Home Premium 32 bit.

Panasonic recommend using their bundled HD Writer AE software to convert the SDHC card¡¦s .mts files to .m2ts files for subsequent editing. I checked the converted files and they play cleanly and clearly in Windows Media Player 11. So, using Corel VS12, I started putting together a video of a holiday in Southern Ireland.

I noticed that Corel VS12 automatically down-converts, using its Smart-Proxy facility, the high def files to lower res for editing but was assured by the User Manual that the final rendered video would use the original high def files. I realised, of course, that my target audience would not have high def/Blue-ray DVD players, so I had to produce the final output as standard def 720x576 16:9 DVDs.

This is where my problems began. The mpeg output at standard def was glitchy and contained artefacts throughout the 5 minutes of the video. For example, vertical sides on buildings have jumpy double edges and mountain tops jump up and down.

I had a series of exchanges with Corel Customer Support who suggested a number of changes to the settings I was using and the output type I was selecting in the software. I won¡¦t bore you here with all those changes although I have kept a record of them all. Suffice to say that, whatever change I made and re-rendered the project (11 times), I got the same glitchy mpeg output. Believe me when I say that I have tried every setting available in the VS12 ¡§Share ¡V Create Video File¡¨ arsenal.

I played the output on different software players, Windows Media Player, WinDVD, Nero 9, Classic Media Player, etc. Same poor quality result. I tried burning to DVD in case it was just a PC playback problem ¡V same result on my stand-alone DVD player.

Then I had another thought ¡V what would happen if I tried remaking a section of the video in my former Ulead VS11 software on my Laptop PC running Windows XP. Bingo! No glitchy output.

I am loathe to give up on my Vista PC because, with its quad core, it is obviously much faster than my Laptop. I am still in contact with Corel Customer Support on this issue but wonder whether anyone out there has experienced this output problem and can suggest, perhaps, other methods of working to get clean output.

[Ken Berry]

I am afraid I cannot think of any reason why this is happening to you (apart from one thought -- see below -- but that does not explain why it happens in VS12 and not 11.5+)...

Normally, jagged vertical lines are the product of getting your field order wrong. So if you are somewhere along the line using Lower Field First in any of your settings, that is the cause. Your high def originals are AVCHD and either .mts in the original form in the camera or as you realise, .m2ts when captured from the camera... So the first thing I would be doing all along the production line would be to ensure everything uses Upper Field First...

[DavidCresswell]

Thank you, Ken.

I have re-rendered the project, making sure that all the project settings were Upper Field First. I had to change the Project Properties in order to do this and checked that by choosing "Create Video File" "PAL DVD (16:9)", those settings were also Upper Field First.

Same result as before, I'm afraid. I think I will scrap that project and start from scratch again. Thanks for your advice anyway (and for all the other interesting bits of advice you give in these forums).

David

[DavidCresswell]

Ken, Just a follow up on this topic.
I re-rendered my project as "1st video clip" settings. I split the project into 5 minute segments and, instead of burning within Corel VS12, I loaded the resulting 1920x1080 mpeg files into Nero 9 to burn a standard def. DVD. The result was not perfect - still some glitches as previously reported - but was the best yet (out of about 20 attempts).

BUT what I then noticed was that most (but not all) of the glitch problems were on video where it contained titles. I was using a couple of Corel's title templates in my project - the ones that load with the software and are usually animated.
I tried moving the titles to Title Track 2 but this did not improve things.

I burned the project again to 5 AVCHD files in Nero 9 and played back this HD version - same glitches when titles were present in the timeline.

So I suppose I will just have to avoid putting titles into my projects in future.

It does seem that Corel have not adequately addressed two things to me - obviously this "rendering titles" issue is one but also how the software works under Vista. As I said earlier, I have had no rendering problems with this project on my XP machine (although, unfortunately, I can't use that machine for my HD projects because it crashes with the usual "VideoStudio has to close" type of message every 5 minutes or so. Not man enough for the job, I suppose).

Any further thoughts?

[Clevo]

Try with the 2 pass option if it gives you that option when burning...it'll slow things down but would be interested to know if that sorts out the problem

[Van Rouge]

I have the same problem with VS 12 Pro. The rendered HD films are jumpy, suffer pixel break up and there is colour bleed in the reds.

I made a small test project and rendered this a number of time using different settings but always with the same result.

I desperation I tried a trial of another edit program and although it does not come near VS for ease of use and features, it rendered my videos perfectly in full HD quality. This indicates that it is not my computer which is at fault.

I have used VS since version 5 and upgraded several times this last one to VS 12 only a few months ago when I bought a new HD camera. But as it does not appear capable of rendering HD video I can now only make use of the section to make bluray discs with menus.

I shall have to buy the full version of the other program and forget VS in future.

[DavidCresswell]

Thanks Clevo but I have tried the 2-pass option and it makes no difference to the end result - still glitches in the mpeg output files.

Van Rouge
Out of interest, what is the make of your HD camera and the name of the other editing software that you tried on your HD files?

[Van Rouge]

My Camera is Panasonic SD9. It shows superb quality video straight from the camera onto a Sony HD TV . I can load video clips straight from the SD card onto my Hard Disc for editing.

The other program I was trying is Magix Movie Editor 1.5 Plus. It is a lot more laborious to use for editing than VS but I might have to spend more time learning it yet. It picks up the video properties from the first clip and all the parameters look the same as in VS. It takes about the same time to render as VS but the result is far better quality. My 30 days trial will soon be running out!

Ray Morris

[MikePH]

I have had the same problems rendering the output from my Panasonic (HDC-HS300). I tried re-rendering with smart render turned off but that only seemed to make things worse. As I added to my project and produced further drafts of the video it seemed to produce even more glitches when rendering trial versions. I took the tip about the "other program" and used the same footage to produce excellent quality full-HD video (with NO glitches or pixellation). I've been a Videostudio user for years so it's sad to report that they really have messed up with this attempt. Not many programs use the proxy file method to edit AVCHD but that means nothing when results are so poor and so much time is wasted.

[Van Rouge]

After many years of use I am giving up with Video Studio. it has been brilliant for editing all my films analouge and DV. However I am now trying to use full HD video and VS just cannot render an acceptable video. It looks like I am not the only one finding this and as more people go over the HD video they will find the same.

I am going to change to the other program when I can afford to buy it. I don't think in future we should have to pay for an updated version of VS when this one does not do whatf it 'says on the box'

Ray Morris

[erdna]

What bitrate did you set for your mpeg2 output file?

[Van Rouge]

I used Video Data variable 16800kbs as set by VS for Bluray file.

Ray Morris

[erdna]

Are you going to create a blu-ray disc?. I think you need a a SW player which supports mpeg4, like e.g.PowerDVD9 . There is a free trial version available

[mfvideos]

I found that the only time I get glitches in my MPGS are when I tried to do other things while it was saving. Things like watching a video on YouTube, and general web surfing.

Now, when it's saving, I just take a break..... It's not worth having to save it again.

Best Wishes, MFVideos

[Van Rouge]

My holiday videos are almost 4hrs and I have been editing them in half hour increments. The rendering takes around 5-6 hours for 30 mins of video and I ensure that everything else is off for this time. Whatever I do the results are always poor yet with the other program using the same parameters as VS and the same computer the results are excellent.

I have burnt some to bluray but the quality does not justify the expense

I have reinstalled VS umpteen times using the instructions from Corel with no difference.

I give up!