Interlaced video nightmare [Moving to here from digital deliver]

[Dave Simpson]

Hi Kyle,

Although far from an ideal solution could you re-capture the footage from a DVD player back into your NLE? If the final destination is a web page the quality might still be okay.

Dave

[Darby Edelen]

The appropriate solution will change depending on the format of the source footage and the DVD encoding. Can you provide more information? Was the source progressive or interlaced? What was the source frame rate and what is the frame rate of the DVD encoding?

Darby Edelen

[Kyle Bales]

Thanks for the response Dave.
I basically just copied the VOB files from the DVD and renamed them to .mpg.

Is there a more appropriate way to capture the footage?

Thanks

[Kyle Bales]

Hey Darby thanks for the response.

The original files were VOB files that I copied off of the DVD. I am working with the source files still since I just renamed them to .mpg. Here are the properties of one of the clips….

File Size: 876.2 MB
Image Size: 720 x 576
Frame Rate: 25.00
Source Audio Format: 48000 Hz – compressed – Stereo
Project Audio Format: 48000 Hz – 32 bit floating point – Stereo
Total Duration: 00:15:24:24
Average Data Rate: 969 KB / second
Pixel Aspect Ratio: 1.4587

Thanks

[Darby Edelen]

It sounds like you’re working with a source that was interlaced from the get go (PAL 50i). The best thing you can do is to interpret the fields properly. Once that’s done, and if you’re definitely delivering progressive, you can also try the Preserve Edge Quality checkbox (this sometimes improves jaggies).

Applying a 1px vertical blur as you mentioned is also a good idea. You could also apply Timewarp at 100% speed and enable motion blur to apply a small amount of blur to objects in motion.

If you can deliver at 1/2 the vertical resolution you could place your footage in a 50 frames per second 360×288 composition (use the source footage pixel aspect ratio) and scale it to 50%. This should result in a good 50p video (twice the frame rate!), although at half the original resolution.

If you’re still having trouble then it would help to see a short sample of the problematic footage. Of course only if the client isn’t protective of the footage 🙂

Darby Edelen

[Kyle Bales]

Thanks for the suggestions!

I’m not sure I am adjusting the frame rate and resolution correctly. Should I just be be doing that in the comp settings or is it during the actual compressing?
I’m not seeing a huge difference no matter what I do even with the blur, timewarp, and resolution/fps adjustments ….
And another problem is that when I drag one of the clips onto the new comp button it is creating a composition that is 4:3 instead of widescreen and in addition to that, when I view the footage in AE it is 4:3 even though it says the aspect ratio is 1.46. Although when I turn pixel aspect ratio correction on it goes to widescreen but of course doesn’t export that way.

Is there an email address I can send you some stills of what I’m working with to you?

Let me know, again thanks for your help!

Kyle

[Darby Edelen]

[Kyle Bales] “I’m not sure I am adjusting the frame rate and resolution correctly. Should I just be be doing that in the comp settings or is it during the actual compressing?”

In After Effects the output frame rate and resolution is defined in the Composition Settings of the composition you are rendering (although it can be overridden in the Render Settings). However, you should also confirm that the frame rate of the footage source in the project panel is correct. You can alter this as well as the field order by right clicking the footage in the project panel and using Interpret Footage > Main…

[Kyle Bales] “And another problem is that when I drag one of the clips onto the new comp button it is creating a composition that is 4:3 instead of widescreen and in addition to that, when I view the footage in AE it is 4:3 even though it says the aspect ratio is 1.46.”

You should use the PAL D1/DV Widescreen Square Pixel composition preset if you want the rendered movie to be widescreen on square pixel devices (computer displays, HDTVs).

[Kyle Bales] “Is there an email address I can send you some stills of what I’m working with to you?”

You can upload images to the forum using the Image Upload button above the Message field where you reply (it’s the 3rd from the right in a row of buttons). A short clip may be better as it’s impossible to figure out field order from a still image. There’s a button for that too 🙂

Darby Edelen

[Kyle Bales]

[Darby Edelen] “In After Effects the output frame rate and resolution is defined in the Composition Settings of the composition you are rendering (although it can be overridden in the Render Settings). However, you should also confirm that the frame rate of the footage source in the project panel is correct. You can alter this as well as the field order by right clicking the footage in the project panel and using Interpret Footage > Main…
“
I had the footage interpreted with 25fps and the composition as 50fps. Is this correct?

[Darby Edelen] “You should use the PAL D1/DV Widescreen Square Pixel composition preset if you want the rendered movie to be widescreen on square pixel devices (computer displays, HDTVs).”

Fixed! thanks!

[Darby Edelen] “You can upload images to the forum using the Image Upload button above the Message field where you reply (it’s the 3rd from the right in a row of buttons). A short clip may be better as it’s impossible to figure out field order from a still image. There’s a button for that too :)”

Here is what I’m up against. You can see the motion distortion at the very end. Also it got re-encoded to a different size when I uploaded it so hopefully that won’t derail your analysis :/

https://reels.creativecow.net/film/interlaced-sample

Thanks!!
Kyle

[Roland R. kahlenberg]

Your output is displaying the following issues –
1) interlacing artefacts
2) incorrect pixel aspect ratio

For broadcast, these issues will be non-existent. However, for playback on a computer monitor, via a video playback app that doesn’t de-interlace nor understand non-sqaure PAR, the two issues will stick out clearly.

To solve (1) –
interpret the footage as either upper or lower field. TO check if the field ordering is one or the other, set it to lower and then step through (use the Page Down key) the media asset in the Footage Panel. If the field ordering interpretation is correct, the exhibited motion will be accurate. If incorrect, the motion will exhibit a forward-backward motion when viewing the clip, on a field-by-field basis.

To solve (2) –
Create a square equivalent composition for your source clips and render out from there. This comp should be 1050×576, if I’ve read/remembered your previous posts correctly.

You may also want to scale the clip slightly, in the comp, to get rid of any black borders which are prevalent on most MPEG2 compressed media.

HTH
RoRK

Intensive mocha & AE Training in Singapore and Other Dangerous Locations

Imagineer Systems (mocha) Certified Instructor
& Adobe After Effects CS6 ACE

[Kyle Bales]

Thank you, your suggestion worked for the aspect ratio dilemma.

As for the motion choppiness, there doesn’t seem to be any difference in the motion when I set the separate fields parameter to either upper or lower field first. In both cases when I step through in the footage panel, I see motion only every other frame, and in between the lines shift vertically, no backwards movement in either one.

Am I testing it wrong?
Is it possible my footage is interlaced permanently? Is there such a thing?
I just can’t seem to find any sort of relief in the atrociousness of the motion in this footage no matter what I try.

I’ve switched it to lower fields, higher fields, rendered it both ways…. what am I missing?