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Is it possible to “pre-compensate” for MPEG2?
When rendering to DVD (MPEG2) is there any way to “pre-compensate” for the impending MPEG losses by intentionally oversharpening, oversaturating,etc.?
I have tried intentionally oversharpening hoping to retain image detail but it just made the render “grainy”.
Any tricks in this regard or it it best to get the video to look the way you want in Vegas and then export as-is?
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3 Replies
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What is you source material?
Scott Francis
Mind’s Eye Audio/Video Productions -
My source material is an SD project in Vegas created from SD camcorder footage (MPEG2).
My question is if it’s possible to highlight the project in such a way that when rendered and opened in DVDA it looks more like what I see in the Vegas window. Is it possible to pre-compensate for the re-encoding losses?
In the “old days” of audio cassette recorders it was possible to compensate for generation loss by boosting the highs, applying noise reduction, etc. Do the same techniques apply to video?
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If you are starting with MPEG2 that is a “native” format for DVD’s. SOOO you should not loose quality. However SD camcorder footage I have flown in (from miniDV) starts as DV AVI’s….sooo I am not sure if you are starting with MPEG2 or AVI. Did you use Vegas to import that footage?
With all that said it is important to set the proper project properties (settings) to the native format that you have. I know this may seem basic or odd, but if you start with the improper settings, it can really hurt the quality down the line. When you click on you footage in the explorer window in Vegas it should tell you the format.IF you really are starting with MPEG2 be sure to note if it is Widescreen or 4:3, and select the proper project settings, (NTSC (if US) and 720×480 either widescreen (16:9 or not 4:3).
As far as keeping things looking good on a DVD, I have used a slight amount of Sharpening (using the standard Vegas, shapening FX) as well as Secondary Color Corrector to boast either saturation, gamma or reduce them as well.
Render out to the Main Concept MPEG2 using a standard preset and see how you make out. Do a little test (like 30 sec or so) and see how your results turn out. Adjust to taste.
With all this stated, IF you are starting with AVI captured from a miniDV camera, you are not ever gonna see quite the quality in a DVD IMHO, but you can get close. I start with HDV and use these tweaks and have had good results…Again be SURE you know what your native footage is and try to keep it there until your final render (unless you are using HDV and need to go to an intermediate format to edit), but it sounds like you are not in that format as of yet….
Good Luck!!Scott Francis
Mind’s Eye Audio/Video Productions
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