Field ordering (interlacing?) for 'text media' (IMAGE ADDED!)

jtuffen wrote on 2/15/2005, 4:15 PM

Ok, just got myself a DV cam, and have shot some test footage in 16:9 - looks nice :) Anyway, brought it into VMS4, and made a short movie. So far so good. I then added a simple static text block on the Text track, and it looks like it's interlaced (or something - stripy, horrible).

I've tried different field orderings, but it still remains stripy/nasty... this is in both Media player and if played back on a DVD attached to a TV (i.e. not the computer).

Any hints anyone?? Surely I must be able to generate titles!! (I've used the same text-media technique in tha past, with a CG animation I did, and that looked great!)

john..

Comments

ScottW wrote on 2/15/2005, 5:46 PM

I don't know if you have this option in VMS, but when you render things like text, I find it best to set the video quality to "best" - you'll find this setting on the custom tab with the render dialog or possibly on the properties... from the file drop down for the project, it's called "full resolution rendering quality"

Now, it could also be the font you are using. Titles can be quite tricky to do correctly so that they view well. Also, the best test is to view it on your target platform - some titles will look like junk when played from MPEG-2 files using WM9 or a software player, but look fine on a TV.

Others may have a few more suggestions.

gogiants wrote on 2/15/2005, 10:29 PM

You mention that you've "used the same text-media technique in the past". Are you simply placing text on top of a video track, or is there more to your technique? Just curious, as that may tell us something.

Sounds like you would have thought of this, but I find that placing a shadow and/or an outline around the text makes a big difference in how it appears when viewed, especially on a TV.

You mention it's a static text block so the following likely doesn't apply, but any motion of white text on a dark background is notorious for looking pretty bad without extensive care and feeding, most likely using features not found in Movie Studio. (In any case, I saw a monster thread over in the Vegas forums that makes me think this!)

jtuffen wrote on 2/16/2005, 2:21 AM

Ok, now I've had some sleep - perhaps I can explain the problem a little better!

What I've done is a rough assemblage of DV footage; which looks Ok (i.e. no noticable field-ordering problems) on video track 3. At the beginning, I then added a single line of text in video track 1 - it fades in, then fades out. The text is white and not moving.

The output editied video (i.e. the DV footage) looks fine, but the opening text is showing all the signs of field ordering problems. It is obvious on both computer (when playing back the mpg file) and on the TV (from the created DVD).

a screen grab can be found at: http://www.minimism.com/node/188

My previous experience of using the text-media track has been to add the opening titles to a CG animation I did (I can't remember whether the render used fields or not unfortunately).

I wonder whether I need to de-interlace my DV footage before editing?

john..

jtuffen wrote on 2/17/2005, 4:28 AM

Ok, so I don't know what's going on... I started a new project, added some text media, added my DV clip under it, and rendered. Perfect.

Referencing my original project file, it looks like I have the same options set (for text media, DV clip, and project), so I really don't know what's going on!

Hey ho.

john..

gogiants wrote on 2/17/2005, 7:06 AM

Is it possible that in the original project the "shadow" effect was inadvertently turned on?

You probably already thought of that, but it sure looks like a shadow effect!

jtuffen wrote on 2/17/2005, 2:08 PM

Ok - solution found (thankfully).

When I inserted the 'text media', the initial length was about a single frame in length (I've been experimenting with stop-motion stuff as well); and in order to make the title run for longer, I simply dragged out the text object on the timeline. The stage I then missed was to change the Media Length (right click on the text object, select 'Properties' and then on the Text/Backdrop tab set the media length to the event length).

I don't know why, but this has cured the problem... perhaps someone could explain what was going on?? (My previous experience was before I set the default 'New still image length' (preferences) to a single frame (actually 50ms - I know that's a bit more than a single frame!)

Maybe this will help someone out if they experience the same problem in the future!

john..

gogiants wrote on 2/17/2005, 2:11 PM

My guess is that somehow there was a slight difference in position and/or properties at the beginning and end states of the event in question, thus creating what apppeared to be shadows on the text.

Or, am I off base: it is the shadow effect you were trying to get rid of, right?

I'm curious to see the "fixed" version as well. Can you post the same frame, but fixed, to the same site?

jtuffen wrote on 2/17/2005, 2:25 PM

Thanks for the interest :) The page has now been updated with the 'fixed' version... Of course, this is just a random assemblage - not really intended to be used for anything apart from a test-piece for my new camcorder; I definitely need to sort out my camera handling skills (finding it very difficult to hold the thing as steady as I'd like... but hey :)

john..