Corel VideoStudio Pro X4 Video Quality

[bmori]

I often use a Panasonic four thirds camera to take videos of the grandchildren. I use the mov format which gives out a quicktime movie format. (I could use AVCHD format).

The quality of the quicktime movie on the SD card file is very good.

Once I convert it to MP2 or HDV in VS4 there is a clear degradation in quality and a flicker on things like fences.

I have 3 questions :

1. What is the best format to get as close to the original video quality?
2. Is the flicker due to VS4 changing the frame rate from 30 to 25?
3. Does VS5 retain the 30hz frame rate?

thanks
Bill

[BrianCee]

What is your final destination for your video files Bill - do you want to make a DVD which will play on a UK standard DVD player or do you have some other form of replaying the final video.

If you are heading for a standard DVD then you really need to use mpeg2 - we really need to know the format of the files you are starting with - can you put one of them into the timeline of VideoStudio then right click and choose properties from the flyout - if you could then post them on here we can point you to the best output settings.

If you are looking to put the files on the internet or play on a computer then mpg4 will often give the best result - again depends on where you start from.

some of the flicker may well be due to the 30 to 25 frame rate change - it may not be necessary to do that - if you change the settings in VS to NTSC instead of PAL you will retain the 30fps - BUT - whether the DVD you produce from that can be played on a UK DVD player depends on which make and how old the DVD player is. Many UK DVD players can play an NTSC video - but not all if you cannot see any reference in the DVD player specification you may just have to make an NTSC DVD and try it.

Yes VideoStudio can work with 30fps by changing to NTSC but see my comments about that above.

[bmori]

Hi Brian,

final destination is 3 fold, 1.to play on a non hdv video player, 2. to play on an hdv player, and 3 to play from a hard-drive into a samsung TV.

The output from the camera is either a quicktime MOV file or a AVCHD file (via SD card).

I can play the Quick Time files on my PC and via HDMI cable to my TV and the picture quality is very good. After editing and compression I would rate them as good. There is also a quality and file size difference if I compare a VS edited MP4 versus MP2

The attachments are the file properties of VS4 HDV, VS4 Mpeg2, and the quicktime movie file from the camera

thanks again
Bill

[teknisyan]

If you want to have the best possible output or video and audio quality for your video, you may want to create your own Movie Template. Movie Templates are settings which define how to create the final movie file. You can visit -- http://product.corel.com/help/video/540 ... lates.html -- on how you can create your own movie template.

[bmori]

- that seems to have resolved the problem the default compression was too high

many thanks
Bill

[lata]

Hi Bill

A few things to note, your camera records to 1280 x 720 using 30fps
The frame size is Wide Screen 16:9, no problems.
The frame rate of 30 should be kept throughout your editing otherwise it will reduce quality.
Using 25fps may show as blips rather than flicker?

Field Order--Interlacing.........
Your camera records to Frame Based aka Progressive, you have converted to Interlaced using Upper Field, this may be the cause of flicker.
-----------------------------

The problem with living on this side of the pond is we use Pal at 25fps, so using the default templates will drop 5 frames per second, this may show as blips when playing the video.
---------------------------
Standard Pal-DVD uses 25fps, you should try creating an NTSC-DVD, these types normally play on most UK DVD players, but at least keep the frame rate at 29.97 instead of 25fps.

When you say play on a HDV player, do you mean Bluray or are you referring to a standard player connected to a HD TV.

Playing the video directly from the hard drive or memory stick is a good an idea.
But keep the Progressive and 30fps when creating the video file.

You should use Make Movie Templates Manager to create your own templates to use 30 fps and progressive.

[bmori]

Trevor, that's a brilliant set of information particularly as it confirms more or less some of my thoughts.

I recorded QuickTime because I thought the quality was better when viewed on my PC (windows 7 core i5) or via my HDMI cable onto my TV.

The current DVD player/recorder is STD but I will be getting a Blue ray player soon. I give the vid to my daughter on a hard drive which goes straight into a USB port on their TV unfortunately it doesn't recognise Quicktime but it does normal dvd format and I think MP4.

I was thinking of switching to AVCHD recording because that is at 25FPS rate and you get less jaggies when buring a DVD.

Either that or saving all the edits as a quicktime 30fps file and converting it to an MP4 file using streamclip.The high quality MP4 files from streamclip seem very good even it it is a slightly larger filesize.

It's a bit of a pain in the ar*e really when you get great vids out of the camera that when compiled onto DVD are average quality with jaggies thrown in !

once again many thanks for your reply

Cheers
Bill

[lata]

Hi Bill

Unfortunately your camera produces 30 fps, the international standard for DVD is 25fps for Pal and 29.97fps for NTSC

Reducing the 30fps is gonna simply throw away 5 frames per second causing blips.

Render a test clip to 25fps then check the number of frames remaining.
If you were to use NTSC it would retain most of the frames.

I guess the 30 fps video are computer/internet types?
---------------------------------
For a standard DVD Video Disc
Use Make Movie Templates Manager to create a template to NTSC DVD
keeping the frame rate and Frame Based, most UK players will play NTSC video.

MPEG files
24 bits, 720 x 480, 29.97 fps
Frame-based
(DVD-NTSC), 16:9
Video data rate: 7000 kbps
Audio data rate: 256 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio, 48 KHz, 2/0(L,R)
--------------------------------
For the daughters TV try Div X Home Profile HD 720p, you should be able to set properties using your original video settings.

[bmori]

Thanks again Trevor, couple of questions, sorry to be a pain:

1.what is the advantage of converting to a DVX file?
2. The AVCHD mode on my camera records at 25fps - are you saying that there there is processing going on to convert from 30fps to 25fps in the AVCHD mode?

all your info is much appreciated

cheers
Bill

[BrianCee]

Can I just clarify Bill - I see you are in Edinburgh (UK?) - is your daughter also in the UK ?

if yes and your camera records at 25 fps - why is there any conversion to 30fps necessary.????

here in the UK we use PAL which is 25fps - NTSC is used in many other parts of the world mainly the USA and uses 30fps - why is there conversion from PAL to NTSC going on if all your audience is in the UK - have I missed something ?

[bmori]

yes Brian my daughter also lives in the UK

My camera has 2 modes of recording

1. QuickTime at 30fps which gives the best quality
2. AVCHD at 25fps which is almost as good.

The video out mode is set to PAL

cheers
Bill

[lata]

Hi Bill

I did not realise the camera could record in two formats using two frame rates 25 and 30 fps. I am a bit sceptical on how the camera actually achieves that.
The AVCHD format should be as good as the Mov

If the camera records to 30 fps as normal, then uses software to create the 25 fps by simply dropping frames then the AVCHD will look worse than the Mov.
It should not do that but record true 30 fps and true 25 fps.
I may be just reading too much into this????
-------------------

Div X, most DVD Players are capable of playing Div X, you mentioned having problems playing Mov QuickTime via the daughters USB port.

__________

If you wish to create a standard DVD or in fact a Bluray DVD then you should use Avchd at 25 fps, it may also use interlacing, you would have to do a recording and provide the properties of the video file, as you did for the Mov file.

--------------

Brian, the original video files are Quick Time Mov recorded at 30 fps, Bill wished to burn a DVD, I advised to use NTSC types instead of Pal to keep the frame rate as near as possible to 30.
Bill provided three images of the properties, the first two being converted using X4, the last image is the original Mov QT file.

I did not realise Bill could also record to 25 fps AVCHD till his last reply.

[bmori]

Hi Brian,

it can do either interlacing or progressive and use PAL or NSTC. Here are the different modes

Motion Image (Motion JPEG) [4:3] QVGA : 320 x 240, 30fps / VGA : 640 x 480, 30fps / [16:9] HD : 1280 x 720, 30fps

Motion Image (AVCHD : NTSC) [Full HD] 1920×1080, 60i (sensor output is 30p) (FSH:17Mbps) / [HD] 1280 x 720, 60p (sensor output is 30p)（SH:17Mbps)

Motion Image (AVCHD : PAL) [Full HD] 1920×1080, 50i (sensor output is 25p) (FSH:17Mbps) / [HD] 1280 x 720, 50p (sensor output is 25p)（SH:17Mbps)


I can see very little difference between the 3 modes - the Motion JPEG or Quicktime does appear to be marginally clearer but after rendering to 25fps it has more jaggies.

I am leaning more towards the AVCHD route.

thanks once again for your thoughts - much appreciated
Bill

[Ken Berry]

If you intend to burn a DVD, then I would suggest that in future you use "Motion Image (AVCHD : PAL) [Full HD] 1920×1080, 50i (sensor output is 25p)". Given that it uses 50i, this means that it would already be interleaved -- and this would then suit the interleaved nature of the mpeg-2 to which it would be converted on a DVD. Note that you would only need to take care to make sure the Field Order for the DVD is set to Upper Field First -- though this is now the default setting in Video Studio.

The 1280 x 720/50p will also be of excellent quality. Indeed, in some circumstances, its "progressive" nature can even give better quality in the final display in its original form than the larger frame 1920 x 1080/50i format. The 1280 x 720/50p (or 60p) format, moreover, has for a long time been a broadcast standard for many television stations broadcasting in high definition around the world. But if you intend to burn a DVD from it, then you will have the problem of converting it to interleaved in the DVD format. And even if you set the DVD to burn using Frame Based as the Field Order, it would be 25p and not 50p -- which would mean the burning program would delete every second frame. This would of course affect the final quality and even introduce noticeable flickering in action shots.

[bmori]

Ken,

many thanks for all that info, particularly about the issues of burning to DVD.

It's only a few years back since you advised me on how to render and burn DVD's in VS10 - when we only had a couple or so formats - how things move on!

thanks again
Bill