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MPEG-2 for BluRay through Compressor pixelated on certain shots
Hello fellow Cows,
I’m on a tight deadline for this one, so I’ll make this quick.
I’m encoding Apple ProRes 422 HQ master files to MPEG-2 Program Streams for BluRay in Encore, through Compressor. In problematic scenes where I noticed significant pixelation occurring, such as on a cross dissolve or the gravel ground in the shot, etc. I’ve used compression markers to hopefully force I frames.
It’s a really long story, but I’ve encoded one of two films before (slightly lower bitrate) without an issue at that very scene. I’m encoding the same film now using basically the same exact workflow, and I’m getting noticeable pixelation on a pan away from an actor’s face. As his face leaves the frame, it goes crazy with the blocky pixelation.
Bitrate is set at 24 mbps and max at around 28 mbps. MPEG-2 Program Stream, set to BluRay, 2 pass VBR Best, Best motion estimation, 23.976 progressive, 1920×1080, the usual set up.
The pixelation is not in my ProRes master files, they are in the .m2v files after compression through Compressor.
I’ve tried tests at varying bitrates, no luck. When I encoded the same film 6 months ago, I did not have this problem, and in fact was encoding at Compressor’s default, around 18 mbps I think. I’m boosting it this time in different levels to see where the problem lies, but every encode shows the same problem. I thought a higher bitrate with compression markers and the whole nine would really solve this, but it didn’t.
Any suggestions?
Thanks, and please hurry 🙂
JosephMac 2.66 GHz Quad Intel Xeon
OSX 10.6.7
FCP 7.0.3
AE CS5
Quicktime Pro 7.6.4
8GB RAM
ProAvio 8TB RAID 5
Blackmagic Intensity Pro
ATI Radeon X1900
RocketRAID 4322 via dual MiniSAS
Panasonic Lumix GH2, Panasonic HVX200A, Panasonic DVX100A, Canon 5DMKII, 7D -
2 Replies
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Yargh, i guess I’ll just add to this with the other issue I can’t get rid of.
In a wide shot, I’ve got blue sky and gravel ground, where the actor and a Mustang is in the middle. The shot starts out with a pulsing of pixelation, if that makes any sense. Basically, the scene becomes very pixelated for a single frame, goes back to normal, then does it again, every 12 frames. AND to boot, every time it “pulses with pixelation,” the pixelation gets worse over time, until the scene changes…
I did a test at a higher bitrate of just this scene. The test proved to be good. So then I encoded the entire film, 45 minutes, at the same exact settings, and I’m getting it again. What can I do about this?
Thanks,
JosephMac 2.66 GHz Quad Intel Xeon
OSX 10.6.7
FCP 7.0.3
AE CS5
Quicktime Pro 7.6.4
8GB RAM
ProAvio 8TB RAID 5
Blackmagic Intensity Pro
ATI Radeon X1900
RocketRAID 4322 via dual MiniSAS
Panasonic Lumix GH2, Panasonic HVX200A, Panasonic DVX100A, Canon 5DMKII, 7D -
My workaround. In Encore, I can do very simple edits, and luckily in both films the pulsing pixelation issue is happening close the end. I output new .m2v files from the problematic section to the end, bring those into Encore and drop them, frame accurate. Double check audio sync, then burn it.
Seems to work for now, but still would like to know what to do about this issue when outputting longer format films. It seems the pulsing pixelation happens when I’m outputting large files. My fixes that I output are short ones, and don’t have these issues.
Any suggestions appreciated,
JosephMac 2.66 GHz Quad Intel Xeon
OSX 10.6.7
FCP 7.0.3
AE CS5
Quicktime Pro 7.6.4
8GB RAM
ProAvio 8TB RAID 5
Blackmagic Intensity Pro
ATI Radeon X1900
RocketRAID 4322 via dual MiniSAS
Panasonic Lumix GH2, Panasonic HVX200A, Panasonic DVX100A, Canon 5DMKII, 7D
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