Great Native Footage but DVDS and Blu-rays show quite a quality loss

RMJ wrote on 4/9/2018, 10:24 AM

Can someone give me an honest answer? Do your DVDS and Blu-rays stink compared to original footage?
Can someone who videotapes dance recitals and choir concerts please respond?
(I'm sure that well lit and close-up shot videos look great on discs, but I'm talking about concerts, musicals, etc.)

We use Panasonic AG-AC130 shot in 1920 x 1080i to videotape.
This raw footage looks great.

We edit using Vegas Pro 13. Our project settings match the raw footage.
DVDS - We use the "DVD Architect NTSC Widescreen video stream" template to render.
Upper field first.
Render quality best, bit rate 8,000,000.
We author in DVD architect 6.

Blu-ray - We use the "Blu-ray 1920x1080-60i 16 Mbps video stream" template set to 20,000,000 bit rate
We use DVD Architect to author.

I'm pretty certain we use the correct templates.

DVDS look OK if you stand 12 feet away from a 42" " monitor. Any closer, they are crappy!
Blu-rays are a little better, but I would expect great results going from HD footage to Blu-ray. Am I wrong?
The Blu-ray crappiness really frustrates me.

The sad/good thing is...our clients keep on coming back. They seem oblivious to the crapiness we give them.
I dread testing DVDS and Blu-rays because I can't stand to look at them.
(I am not one of the "over-picky, anal people either. These things stink compared to native footage)

Looking for perspective and maybe help. Thank you to anyone who responds.

Back to post

Comments

RMJ wrote on 4/10/2018, 10:46 AM

Dear everybody that replied to this post.

I must admit a very embarrassing thing.

My Sony BR player was outputting to 480i. I corrected that and Blu-rays now look spectacular.

The settings were correct in the menu, but when I clicked on the output to HDMI option
again, it refreshed or something, because it finally began outputting properly.

We had an identical Sony BR player that we just gave to a client. It was what I used to check
discs on. So, it never dawned on me that the settings could be wrong.

OldSmoke, thank you for all of your great input.

And David-Tu - thank you for getting me to check that setting.

Again, thank you to everyone. My life just got so much better!

Musicvid wrote on 4/10/2018, 11:09 AM

Instead of using text generator in DVDA, make your titles and buttons as transparent PNG in Photoshop, where you can optimize antialiasing to your content. Here's a curtain opener menu I made using this technique. Look for the deliberate bleed-through on the back curtain.

Former user wrote on 4/10/2018, 11:35 AM

I am glad you figured it out. Have fun!!!