CS3 Abismal Playback Performance

[Jason Anthony]

I have…

pentium duo 2.4 x 2
3GB RAM
Geeforce 8500GT
250GB HDD
and a fresh install of Windows Vista

Premiere Pro 2.0 has worked fine
I have tested Premiere Pro CS3 before and its seemed fine…

So why now, is my video display in CS3 Premiere Pro after a clean install, showing unsatisfactory image?

Imported captured AVI clips that i have used before in 2.0 that are fine, and when you play these clips in Windows Media player they are crisp. But when playing in CS3 Premiere pro, the video is pixelated. The preview is set to Highest quality, the clip doesnt need rendering, the desktop display i have tried changing and all that updating graphics card drivers and stuff. Still, the video in the preview is pixelated slightly. Some people that saw it might say it looks fine. But i know for a fact it should be better than that, it was in 2.0!! I dont want my problem to seem insignificant, we should get the best quality from Adobe!

[Vince Becquiot]

Hi Jason,

Yes, the preview is sometimes a bit pixelated. My guess is it has to do with pixel aspect ratio correction. To see what I mean, try creating 2 sequences, one square pixels and one non square. Create 1 titles for each sequence and compare them. Viewed at 100%, the square pixel sequence will be clean, the other pixelated. The same will happen in Photoshop and After Effects.

What type of project are you working in ?

For a 3D max export, it should be square (desktop)unless you mixing in a lot of other footage and need a native timeline ?

We use an external monitor with an AJA SDI out and there is no pixelation. I would certainly recommend an external monitor for critical monitoring and color correction.

Vince Becquiot

Kaptis Studios
San Francisco – Bay Area

[Jason Anthony]

yes i noticed exporting a frame to photoshop in the 1.42 PAL ratio produces a pixelated image when corrected. The export of square pixel frame image is fine but letterboxed.

Export of a video is fine though in its 1.42 PAL ratio when viewed in windows media player. Its the Adobe preview monitor that is the problem. I dont see how the pixels are being distorted though. The footage is DV 1.42 widescreen PAL and the project settings are DV 1.42 widescreen PAL.

As I said, export doesnt seem to be a problem, its just the desktop monitor.

I might recomend an external monitor to myself one day too, but they are too expensive.

Thanks

[Vince Becquiot]

Jason,

The pixels are distorted because it is a non square timeline, while your preview display is square. Monitors are indeed expensive. It seems that right now JVC is the best bang for the bucks, when you get to convince yourself 🙂

Vince Becquiot

Kaptis Studios
San Francisco – Bay Area

[Jason Anthony]

How to make the preview not distorted then?

[Vince Becquiot]

By not distorted, do you mean getting rid of the pixel aspect correction, or do you mean that your video actually looks distorted, and is it distorted in your preview or in your export ?

Vince Becquiot

Kaptis Studios
San Francisco – Bay Area

[Jason Anthony]

The preview is pixelated, not the export. Is this pixel distortion? Changing the desktop display mode between compatible and GPU Accelerated makes a difference, but not enough…

[Paul Wilson]

I’m having similar problems with Pro 2, and trying to work in widescreen for the first time. Would be great if someone could explain the square/rectangular pixel issues in Premiere!?

[Eddie Lotter]

[Paul Wilson] “Would be great if someone could explain the square/rectangular pixel issues in Premiere!?”

See: Aspect Ratio

Cheers
Eddie