Help Much Appreciated

rtimesr wrote on 12/28/2006, 1:04 PM
My Video Clips Look Like Checkerboards

I am using VMS to create DVDs containing both stills and video clips. My stills are usually 1280x960, jpg compliant. The render time may be a little longer but that size allows me to pan and zoom as much as I usually need. The still quality is just fine.

The video clips are 640x480, at 16.6 fps, mpeg1 compliant, from the same camera (not camcorder). On dolly type shots (eg. trees and water from a slow moving boat) and medium distance with subject moving shots (eg. large animals moving) I get a lot of checkerboarding color approximations in the scene. The clips are almost unusable. I just found a camera setting for 30 fps for the camera video mode. Will this make the video clips from the camera reasonable or I am I just kidding myself? Should I start thinking about a real camcorder if I want good video clips for a DVD? (I understand that DVD output rez will be 720x480 for a DVD output, period). I am thinking Sony HDR-FX1. Is this overkill? Any other suggestions? I really want to fix this.

My DVDs are trip and friend flicks. I am not a pro. I just want my stuff to look sharp. Thanks.

Comments

MSmart wrote on 12/28/2006, 5:46 PM
Switching to 30fps on the cam will help but, like you said, you may be kidding yourself.

The video shot at 16.6 fps is VERY compressed so when it is rendered to 29.97fps (and 720x480 resolution) the encoder has to interpolate (that is make up) extra frames and pixels. It can do a decent job if the video is static, but forget it if there is any motion. It's hard to create frames/pixels when there isn't much to begin with.

You have to make up your mind, are you a photographer who takes occasional videos, or are you a videographer who takes occasional photos.

Video cams have decent camera capabilities now, so maybe switching to a video cam and using it to take your photos is the way to go.

Or just use both. I've gotten pretty good at starting my video cam, holding it in my left hand then take pictures with my camera in my right hand. But that's only when there's lots of action going on and no time to switch between the two.
HB wrote on 12/29/2006, 7:50 AM
Why are you converting to mpg1? DVD standard is mpg2...that may be your only issue here?

HB