final dvd playback quality - poor

rileyt wrote on 9/26/2004, 1:17 PM

I am very new at this and have made a few still picture collages and the end result is not good. Still pics have all been in jpeg format when pulled into vegas. Everything looks great in vegas and dvd arch but when played in dvd player the top and bottom of pictures has been cutoff and the pictures are often distorted (wavey edges, feedback quality). I really appreciate any suggestions?? I am rendering the project in vegas in DV NTSC format then pulling into dvd arch as a single movie. Play back on my computer looks great. It is when it is played on a dvd player that is so bad. Thank you

Comments

johnmeyer wrote on 9/26/2004, 1:40 PM

When you render to MPEG did you use the Default template in Vegas? If so, the quality will be TERRIBLE. Use one of the "DVD Architect" templates instead.

rileyt wrote on 9/26/2004, 1:52 PM

I did use the dv ntsc video stream

rileyt wrote on 9/26/2004, 2:05 PM

John, I was just in the help files again and do u think the ' Maintain aspect ratio' in the Event Pan/Crop dialog would have any effect if I did not have it enabled? I was also reading about the project properties, does it mess up the project to change those settings from the default? I mean, will they still work ok w/dvd arch and then play alright in the dvd player? I wondered if I set the Height and Width to 320x240 in the properties if my pics would not be cut off on the top and bottom. I really don't know Thanks

Liam_Vegas wrote on 9/26/2004, 3:59 PM

Regarding the pictures being cut off... that is because you are not taking into account the "safe area" for DV video. It seems this is probably something you have no awareness of and if that is so you need to get some knowledge on what this is about as it is critical when you are producing video for display on TV's.

Basically the DV video that you capture and work with includes an "overscan" which many TV's will not be able to display. That is what the "safe area" is all about. You should re-size your photos (probably using the track-motion feature) so they fit within the safe areas. Switch on the "Safe Area" fetaure in the preview window to see what I am talking about.

When you play a DVD on your PC you will see ALL of the video... but when you play the DVD onto a TV you will often have parts of the outer video not visible.

This is why many of us prefer to preview our video onto a real external monitor while we are working on our projects - as then there are no surprises.