Unexpectedly poor video quality

[bcoley]

Hi,

Brand new to VideoStudio or any other video editing software.

I used VideoStudio X5's screen capture feature to create a couple of training videos for our church. When viewed on their own, the videos look excellent - the screen captures are sharp and clear. But when I use those same captures in a video project - with an opening title and a couple of transitions - the capture videos are grainy, the text of the Web pages included in them almost unreadable.

As I said, I am new to this stuff, so the explanation for what I'm experiencing is possibly quite simple. Nonetheless, could someone help me understand why the capture videos look great when I view them on their own, but become blurry when they are part of a project?

Thanks,
Bill

[BrianCee]

Hello Bill - Welcome

The most likely cause of your problem is that you have an incorrect setting somewhere.

To help us locate the problem could you first put your video "as captured" in the timeline of VideoStudio then right click over it and from the pop-out choose 'properties' - then take a screen shot of those properties (just the properties window) and post them here as an attachment.

Then please do exactly the same with the video after you have edited it and rendered it to a new file - then perhaps we can guide you from there.

[bcoley]

Hi, Brian,

Thank you for your response.

I will post the requested screen shots after work later today, but for the moment I want to make clear that the poor video quality I'm asking about in this thread appears even before I edit and render a finished video. That is, when I double click a screen capture video in the media collection, the playback in the preview window is crisp and clear. When I drop that same screen capture video onto a timeline and play it there, however, the video quality diminishes greatly.

As an experiment, I made a very short screen capture video, placed it on a timeline with a title and a transition or two, rendered it and the result was as grainy as when the capture was viewed on the timeline. But when I double clicked that screen short capture video in the media collection, its playback quality was quite good.

The screenshots are coming, but want to make that clarification.

Thanks again,
Bill

[bcoley]

The most likely cause of your problem is that you have an incorrect setting somewhere.

To help us locate the problem could you first put your video "as captured" in the timeline of VideoStudio then right click over it and from the pop-out choose 'properties' - then take a screen shot of those properties (just the properties window) and post them here as an attachment.

Then please do exactly the same with the video after you have edited it and rendered it to a new file - then perhaps we can guide you from there.

Well, I should have noted this before now: I can't provide the screenshots because I don't have permission yet! Could you or another moderator grant me such a right, at least for this one post?

Thanks,
Bill

[canuck]

As soon as you are registered on this forum (which you obviously are since you posted here) you have permission to post screenshots

[bcoley]

As soon as you are registered on this forum (which you obviously are since you posted here) you have permission to post screenshots

Thanks! Somehow I missed the "upload attachment" tab positioned below the edit window. My bad.

In the attached image, the capture on the left is the video's properties from on the timeline BEFORE rendering. The capture on the right is AFTER the video has been rendered.

Hope this helps. Thanks for your interest.

Bill

[canuck]

You have changed the resolution quite a bit as well as the frame rate. This might account for the lower quality.

[Ken Berry]

While the reduced frame size would account for some of the loss of resolution, I suspect the main cause is the changed frame rate. If you think about it, the original uses a frame rate of 15 frames per second. The rendered video doubles that rate. So where do the extra frames come from? Video Studio in effect invents them -- mainly by simply copying existing ones. Combined with the smaller frame size, this would probably cause poor output.

[lata]

Hi

Other things to consider...

Playback using Video Studio does not always represent the final output which is a shame, the point has been discussed before. Project playback is particularly bad, clip playback should be reasonable.

You can play in full screen, click the Enlarge button next to the scissors, with one clip in the timeline you can switch from project to clip playback by clicking those words. You will see the difference.

Use one of your media players to check the final quality. I use VLC Media Player
If they play ok then they will look good on the web page.
------------------------------------------
Your images indicate you have captured to full screen, 1728 x 1080 which is neither 16 x 9 nor 4 x 3, any conversion will result in a black bars being created, I usually set the capture area to 1280 x 720 (16 x 9 widescreen) If you need a larger capture try 1440 x 810 this will retain the 16:9 shape.

Then position/ and resize a window you are attempting to capture to fill this area.

The capture will be 1280 x 720 (1440 x 810) targeted at the details you are recording, if you get my drift.

Unfortunately the screen capture uses 15fps and cannot be changed. This rate is however ok for slow movements like in a tutorial, true video may suffer quality wise.

[bcoley]

Serious props to all who have responded. I appreciate the welcome of your assistance.

New to this stuff as I am, I'm not certain what action(s) your posts suggest that I take. The only specific action that I could distill from your responses (or at least the only one I could figure out how to do!) was to adjust the size of the capture window. When I did that, I discovered that a smaller capture window produces a higher resolution clip, even when played as part of a project. I think I can make that work, though it will take a small window to make clear videos.

Aside from the capture window size, are there other settings adjustments I can make to improve screen capture video resolution?

And a final question: Why is there such a difference in playback quality when I play screen capture samples as "clips" and when I play them as part of the project? Project playback is almost always blurrier, and clip playback is almost always crystal clear. (Both clip and project playbacks are clear if I make the capture window small enough)

Thanks again,
Bill

[lata]

Hi Bill

It was not the fact that the window was smaller but it used an aspect of 16:9, that is the aspect you would use to create the final video, otherwise the final video would have black borders.

Your screen resolution I assume is 1728 x 1080
setting a capture of 1280 x 720 will record that section out of your screen.
You simply resize the target window, you are then capturing the full details and not parts you do not require.

Unfortunately you cannot change the default capture settings, the data rate would set the quality, this rate seems to alter depending on the size of the capture frame.

Project Playback v Clip Playback

From my understanding Clip mode plays the video from the hard drive, as though playing via a media player.
Project Playback combines all timeline to play the full project, this has always been a slightly lower quality, depends on the type of video as to what extent.
I guess we have simply got used to it.
I am still editing DV-Avi standard definition with little difference in playback.

Smart Proxy does help with timeline playback.

[bcoley]

It was not the fact that the window was smaller but it used an aspect of 16:9, that is the aspect you would use to create the final video, otherwise the final video would have black borders.

Your screen resolution I assume is 1728 x 1080
setting a capture of 1280 x 720 will record that section out of your screen.
You simply resize the target window, you are then capturing the full details and not parts you do not require.

Unfortunately you cannot change the default capture settings, the data rate would set the quality, this rate seems to alter depending on the size of the capture frame.

Project Playback v Clip Playback

From my understanding Clip mode plays the video from the hard drive, as though playing via a media player.
Project Playback combines all timeline to play the full project, this has always been a slightly lower quality, depends on the type of video as to what extent.
I guess we have simply got used to it.
I am still editing DV-Avi standard definition with little difference in playback.

Smart Proxy does help with timeline playback.

Thank you for your reply, Richard.

I don't think screen aspect ratio was ever the issue in the blurry videos that prompted me to create this thread, but I have certainly been attuned to that setting since receiving the recommendations of this group. Playback quality improved noticeably when I changed the size of the capture window, I assume in line with your observation that capture quality (data rate) changes with the size of the frame.

Last night I created the first training video of acceptable playback quality...and was actually pretty pumped about that! Thanks to all here who helped make that possible.

I have a lot to learn about VSP, but over time I expect to be able to direct the software to do what I need it to do.

All the best,
Bill