Main Concept 2 (standard) pixelicious!

SnowDog wrote on 5/3/2003, 12:29 AM

I'm new to this so take it easy on me! I have VF and have just purchased the MC MPEG2 standard encoder, yet when I render to DVD via Ulead MF2 the final DVD is noticably pixelized in some areas. When I let Ulead MF2 encode the DV AVI, the end result is much better, almost no pixelization. Why could this be?

I had a friend take the same DV AVI and render the MPEG2 file under VV4 with the Pro version of the Main Concept encoder, he then burned it to DVD so I could do a side by side comparison. There was no comparison - the Pro encoded stream was far superior to the NTSC DV standard template that I used under VF. Does this sound right?

Lastly, the same DV AVI that produced the MPEG2 (pixelized) was dropped into both Sonic MyDVD and Ulead MF2 where it was encoded resulting in a far superior end result than what the Main Concept encoder could provide. Any ideas?

I set the project properties in VF to NTSC DV, yet the pixelicious MPEG2 files are still being generated.

Comments

JohnnyRoy wrote on 5/3/2003, 9:02 AM

I don’t have the MPEG-2 standard plugin for VF, I have Vegas 4, but you should use Make Movie, Format: MainConcept MPEG-2, Template: DVD NTSC (not NTSC DV as your post suggests). This should give you results that are just as good as the original footage. I believe the only difference between the standard MPEG-2 encoder and the Pro one is the ability to tweak the advanced options and create your own templates. I think the quality should be the same but I don’t have the two to compare. I could be wrong.

~jr

SnowDog wrote on 5/4/2003, 5:00 PM

Thanks for responding Johnny. I guess I did not do a good job of explaining the settings I am using; I meant to say that my Project Propeties template is "NTSC DV (720x480, 29.970 fps)" and that the movie properties are "MainConcept MPEG-2" using a template of "DVD NTSC", as you have suggested. This being said, is it possible that the MainConcept Standard and Pro MPEG-2 encoders are that different?

Has anyone else purchased the Standard ($29.99) MainConcept MPEG-2 encoder and had poor results with their renders?

JohnnyRoy wrote on 5/4/2003, 9:11 PM

Hmmm... I can’t answer that one since I don’t have the $29 encoder. Sorry,

~jr

JimClark wrote on 5/5/2003, 11:58 AM

It sounds like MF2 is re encoding your MP2 file to me. Look at the bottom left corner of the program window the project properties icon (the check mark)and open it up. In the properties window make sure the "Do not convert compliant MPEG files" box is checked.
Jim Clark

prairiedogpics wrote on 5/5/2003, 1:04 PM

I am the friend who encoded the AVI file using Vegas 4 for Snowdog. I posted this question over on Creative Cow and Dr. Dropout (from SF) posted this answer:
" If you download and install the Vegas 4 demo (free) the MPEG encoder in Video Factory 2 will be updated to the same encoder as that used by Vegas (MPEG is a shared component among SF apps, same with MP3 and Ac-3).

You (or your friend) should grab the Vegas demo immediately- I think you notice a difference in MPEG quality right away...and you might also want to consider upgrading VF to Vegas (not mandatory of course but worth thinking about)."

Hope this clarifies for everyone.

Dan

sioda wrote on 5/5/2003, 3:54 PM

I use the standard 29$ version and it works great. It works better than mydvd for example (why I switched). But I create only dvd's? The only time I get your results is when I forget and recode mpeg.

ln108 wrote on 5/24/2003, 11:04 PM

I have installed the Vegas 4 demo, as danieljoelle/Dr. Dropout suggest. I'm wondering if this also gives me the DV codec used by Vegas. I'm looking in the "Video Codecs" section of Device Manager, and I don't see any Vegas or Sonic Foundry codecs listed, whether MPEG or DV. This may be a stupid question, but how do I know I have them?

Also, if I uninstall the demo, will the Vegas codecs also be removed?

Thanks!

argray wrote on 5/25/2003, 12:59 AM

You ask if anyone else has used this plug-in and had poor results. I have, and spent a long time trying to figure out what I was doing wrong. In the end I decided I was doing nothing wrong, and switched to TMPGEnc, which gives me great results with default settings (and permits extensive customization besides).

FWIW, SnowDog, the pixelization in my case looked like the magic electronic elf had dragged a rake across the images from one side to the other -- noticible horizontal distortion along boundaries of high constrast. Is this similar to your setup?

-- Andrew