[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Mark,

The issue you’ve encountered with “lines” on the computer screen is due to the fact that computer displays are non-interlaced, but the video you were capturing IS interlaced, so the interlacing lines show up.

While I understand that this visual anomaly would be disconcerting if you did not understand it, switching to “progressive” is not the answer. The “lines” you were seeing would not be there when viewing the final DVD on a TV set. In other words, you fixed a problem that didn’t really exist.

You also mentioned something about not being able to mix 4:3 with 16:9 unless they were progressive, and that is off base as well, has nothing to do with it.

Glad to help if you have any other questions

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Leslie,

Your DVCAM source and DVDs are both 720×480, so I see no benefit from upconverting to HD (then back to NTSC) as these conversions will inevitably add some degradation in the conversions. Keep it at the native size for best results, going direct from DVCAM to MPEG-2 for DVD.

Encoding quality can vary between softwares, and of course encode settings make a difference as well. If you are comfortable with encoding and authoring DVD material with good quality, I see no reason not to create a DVD-R master yourself as before. I’ve done this on many projects myself for replication.

If the DVD is required to have MacroVision, that means mastering to DLT or providing raw files to duplication house, that’s another story then.

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Standard definition video is 720×480 pixels. If you start out with an image this size, then try to zoom in, it will not look good. As mentioned in the other post, start with a larger still. I believe Premiere will accept up to 4000×4000, but bigger is not necessarily better, it may bog down the system. Use just as large as needed to get quality results, depending how far you want to zoom in.

To create the moves, use the Adobe Motion Effect which is in the Effects bin. Keyframes are the trick to controlling the moves, check Adobe HELP file for directions, and also consider “Ease In/Ease Out” on keyframes to avoid abrupt starts and stops, you want images to speed up or slow down naturally.

If details in the image flicker during moves, right-click the image, go to Field Options and check Flicker Removal.

Another trick is to use Photoshop and add a slight amount of Guassian Blur, just .1 or .2 will do it. Can make an amazing difference in the final quality, eliminating nasty flickering and buzzing. Save to a different filename so as not to alter original image though, in case you need to go back.

I use the Matrox RT.X2 hardware, so I have a preview out to an actual TV monitor and can immediately see results for proofing (no render!). I don’t know how apparent flickering might be on the non-interlaced computer preview window, you may not see issues until you burn a DVD.

Have fun with your video project

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Just play the tape in your camera, and the data in the viewfinder or LCD should tell you the mode of what it is playing. In fact, if you tried to play a 24p tape in a camera that only supports 29.97, it won’t even play.

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor

[Jeff Pulera]

Great post by Alex. Just to add, you may sometimes have a small gap between clips of 1 frame which you will not see unless you zoom in to the frame level. This will of course keep you from adding any transition between clips

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Jana,

I don’t know of a key to razor a clip, but hitting the C key changes to the Razor tool if that helps at all. Using the SHIFT key with the Razor tool razors all tracks

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Rob,

I consider myself a professional and I do use CS3. There are different levels of video professionals – many forum users here do broadcast work exclusively, and they may have an entirely different opinion of what “good quality” is.

I produce corporate, event and wedding video. DV is good enough for DVD, so HDV (with 5x the resolution) is most definitely “good enough” for DVD, as well as Blu-ray.

The Adobe encoder, in my experience, does not produce good results in converting HDV to MPEG-2 for DVD, so you will want to look into a 3rd-party encoder for that step, such as Sorenson Squeeze, Grass Valley ProCoder or TMPEGenc.

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Alan,

Looking at the model number, I think the DVD player in question is also a recorder and those Panasonic units have been known to have compatibility issues.

Any chance of trying another stand-alone player unit? I don’t trust computers to check masters, as they will play about anything.

Jeff Pulera

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi David,

Please check that “i.Link Convert” is OFF in the deck. The Sony HDV cameras I’ve worked with have this “downconvert to DV” feature ON by default when new, maybe the deck is the same?

If deck is converting 1394 out to DV, you WILL have deck control via Firewire but no image to capture in an HDV project.

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor

[Jeff Pulera]

DVD-R seems to be universally compatible these days. Using a good quality blank media is important as well. I had tried many brands over the years with inconsistent results until I went with Taiyo Yuden. These are the Cadillac of discs, been through thousands with zero coasters/zero returns.

As for burn speed, I have stuck with 8x though the media supports 16x. Burning at 16x is NOT twice as fast as 8x – in reality, it’s just a couple extra minutes and a full 8x disc already burns in under 10 minutes. Not saying 16x will cause problems, just a personal choice of mine to play it safe.

Jeff Pulera
Digital Vision