VSPRO X3 - HD encoder issue

[oRBIT2002]

Is it just me or is the HD encoder not very good? I tried encoding a simple 1080p clip with a text overlapping for a few seconds. These few seconds has to be reencoded (obviously) but they don't look good. The bitrate is at 22MBps and can't be raised, and I seriously doubt it's a bitrate issue in this case.
Anyone knows what I am talking about? Is there a workaround?

[Ron P.]

Orbit we need some more info to work with here. You say a 1080p clip, which really doesn't tell us much. Right-click on it in the time-line select properties, what are they? When your rendering what format are you rendering to? Are you using Smart Render? What doesn't look good, the text or the video behind the text? If it's the text, some fonts just don't work well with video, try using another font.

[oRBIT2002]

I'm sorry, it should be a 1080i. Here's the info:
H.264 video, upper field first
24 bits, 1920x1080 16:9
Framerate: 25
Datarate: Variable (Max 22699 kbps)
Audio: Dolby Digital Audio, 48kHz, bitrate 256Kbps

Yes, I use smart encoding. The part of the movie that has to be recoded, looks like it's being reencoded using a lower bitrate. The output looks smoothed, close to artifacts, however the used bitrate is the same as the original clip.
The "artifacts" are not present on the original clip, but only on the encoded clip (during sections that was reencoded).

[Ken Berry]

First, do NOT use SmartRender. Too many problems are caused by it when you render a high definition project, and particularly an AVCHD one such as you are doing. Moreover, the quality of your original is already very high so doing a full render should not produce any loss of quality. The only downside is the extra time taken by the full render. But personally, I would rather go and watch TV or read or something during this extra time if it ensures a good end product.

Second, use Share > Create Video File > Same As First Clip. This will ensure that you are applying exactly the same properties as the original video to your final output.

I assume you have a vidcam which uses the maximum -- but variable -- bitrate of the AVCHD standard, which is currently 24 Mbps. I stressed the 'variable' since parts of the video may use a (much) lower bitrate. But one basic thing to remember -- since you mentioned raising the bitrate -- is that you can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear... Even if you *could* raise the bitrate, the end product will *never* be any better in quality than the original, which in your case is 22 Mbps...

[oRBIT2002]

I wasn't hoping for better quality, just maintaining the quality of the original clip.
Corel should really take a look at the SmartRender engine if people starts telling eachother to avoid it.

[Ken Berry]

You are probably correct: Corel *should* take a look at it. They have certainly been aware of the problems associated with it and high def video virtually since the emergence of the latter as a new medium. But they have done nothing about it. The fact of the matter is that it was developed to work with standard definition video, and I suspect the code used for HD remains exactly the same...