Strange jumpy picture from vhs capture

[ac37174]

I just digitized an old VHS tape that of a professionally recorded graduation ceremony which starts outdoors, then indoors, then upon the ending, outdoors again. I played back the unedited capture file and noticed that all the outdoor shots have a little stuttery jump every couple of seconds, which doesn't happen on the tape during the indoor section. Strange. I did the capture in one session from one videotape, and here are my settings:

VS8, Constant Bit Rate 4200, MPEG2, Quality 100%. (Upper field first) My computer's processing speed is 2.4Ghz and I capture with a Leadtek PCI tv tuner card (composite input).

I had previously tried 4000 as the CBR but the tape quality looked awful; 4200 seemed to make it look identical to the original analog. Audio capture was flawless. I have read countless threads here about dropped frames and similar issues like mine. I would almost call my problem a Max Headroom effect. Or Jimmy Stewart whatever you like . I don't lose any frames, I just seem to get the one step forward, and occasional half step back. My only guess about the difference between out and indoors is the fact that the indoor section was on a tripod, no hand held, jerky panning going on. Can anyone offer any ideas as to help correct this should I attempt to recapture?

Thanks,
AC

[Ron P.]

Hi

When you are getting the jerky playback, are you playing back the captured tape in the Preview Window ?
If so this is common behavior, as it is just an approximation of the finished product. Try rendering a small clip to see if you still get the jerkiness, or go to the Share tab, and select Project Playback. This should provide you with a higher quality preview of your project...

[ac37174]

Actually, I was playing it back on windows media player.

[Ron P.]

VS8, Constant Bit Rate 4200, MPEG2,Quality 100%. (Upper field first) My computer's processing speed is 2.4Ghz and I capture with a Leadtek PCI tv tuner card (composite input).
Thanks,
AC

If the above is your capture properties, I could suggest changing it to DV-AVI . Capturing and Editing MPEG can and usually does present problems. MPEG formats are designed as distribution, and not editing. For more explanation on this Go Here scroll down to the Edit Studio User Guide, a zip file download it and go to Pages 155-156 and 160. Thanks to Discoasterpro for finding this information explaining the differences with AVI, DV-AVI, and MPEG formats and why one should or should not be used for editing purposes...

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Ron

[THoff]

Background processes (AV scanners, the Windows Disk Indexing Service, Spyware, IM clients etc.), PCI latency issues, and less-than-optimal video drivers can all cause Windows Media Player to stutter. I would burn a DVD using rewriteable media and see if the problem persists when you play the disk on a standalone device.

[ac37174]

Thanks for the tips. I will try that with a DVD+RW soon and go from there. Just for safe measure, when I go into VS to burn in a new project, do I match the settings to the captured video (UFF, Mpeg2, 4200 CBR, etc) in the project properties? I know the thread on suggested settings and tips for Videostudio mentions this, but for my case, I wanted to make sure that that is indeed the thing to do to reduce any odd errors in finalizing the disc.

Thanks again,
AC

[THoff]

If those are the capture properties and you are happy with the quality (the bitrate is pretty low), then yes, match your DVD project settings to the video file to avoid a slow and potentially quality-degrading re-encoding of the captured material.

[ac37174]

I chose CBR because I heard it helps with capturing a lot of handheld camera movment... where VBR jumps in with a higher bit rate as needed... You said my settings were a little low..would any higher be overkill, not helping the quality any more? The project is about 1 hr 34 min. Would a 6000 VBR capture fit on one dvd if it's that long?

Thanks,
AC

[THoff]

Yes, 6000 Kbps will allow you to fit 94 minutes of material on one single-layer DVD if you use MPEG2 or AC3 audio -- LPCM will chew up too much disk space.

The easiest way to figure this out is to use a good bitrate calculator.

Update: I just noticed you have UVS8, not UVS9. Your version does not support AC3 audio without Ulead's AC3 Dolby Digital plugin, which costs about as much as upgrading to UVS9. If you are in a PAL country, you can use MPEG2 audio, but this format is not universally supported by NTSC DVD players. Your safest bet would be to upgrade to V9 and then use AC3 audio.