Quality problem converting JPEG stills to MPEG & then to

[Dillinja]

Hi there,

I've been trying to convert some 30 second Animated GIFs to MPEG and then get the same MPEGs onto DVD (PAL) Chapters. My approach was to take each GIF frame (768x576) and save them as JPEGs and then to convert those JPEGs to MPEG stills (4:3) using VCDEasy. VCDEasy resizes the MPEG to 704x576 and it loses a little bit of quality which is fine. The main problem occurs when I bring the MPEG stills into WindowsMM or Ulead DVD Workshop they become completely blurred. Anyone know what I'm doing wrong there?

Also, what would be the best way to approach animating the JPEG/MPEG stills? Should I use Premiere to do that or can it be done with another DVD Authoring tool?

I have searched the site, forums and the web without luck and I realise what I'm trying to do is unusual but if anyone has any ideas or suggestions it would be a great help.

Many thanks,

Dillinja

[vitualis]

The MPEG Still format is used only for VCDs and SVCDs. It doesn't make any sense importing MPEG Stills into a DVD authoring program. I'm mildly surprised they were able to extract a usable image at all.

I suggest that you just make standard BMP images out of your GIF.

Regards.

[Dillinja]

Thank you vitualis :)

If I use BMPs, what should I use to a, animate them and b, convert them to MPEGs for use on DVD?

Thanks again,

Dillinja

[vitualis]

Are you saying that you want to convert your animated GIFs to an MPEG?

I've never had to do that myself so I'm not too sure how to get around doing that. Perhaps some of the other members here can help you.

Regards.

[Dillinja]

Essentially yes. Animated GIFs -» DVD.

So the process would be: Animated GIFs -» JPEGs -» MPEGs -» DVD. If anyone has any suggestions for the best methods and tools to use I'm all ears! I suppose my main problem is getting the JPEGs to decent quality MPEG2

Thanks again

D

[Baldrick]

You can import animated gifs in tmpgenc and convert to mpg video. Just select All files when opening(it doesn't list .gif but it supports it).


or
http://www.dvdrhelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=147140

[Dillinja]

Baldrick you just saved my ass, I've spent ages trying to figure out what to do - thanks a lot. The quality is perfect but the transition between each gif is shaky.

I wish I'd posted sooner, I was afraid of getting bashed for being a n00b.

Thanks

[Cornucopia]

Baldrick certainly gave the most streamlined and efficient method, but there may be some out there who don't or won't use TMPGEnc.

For them, the process should be Animated GIF-->BMP sequence-->MPEG movie or A_GIF-->BMP sequence-->Uncompressed AVI--MPEG. Why?
Well, I've never heard of a minute-long or hour-long animated GIF, so the file is gonna be short. Why lose quality with JPEG or AVI compression? It's not gonna be that large a file, and the quality change should be noticeable. Also BMP's should be supported by as much, if not more, programs than JPEG's.
Note: Animated GIF's are like all GIF's in that they have only 256 colors. Change your Quantization Matrix to reflect this peculiarity, and your encode will improve in quality.

my $.02 1/2 cents...
Scott

[Dillinja]

Thanks Cornucopia

I can certainly use TMPGEnc for some static GIFs and simple animations but I will need to try something else for the more detailed ones that have 0.1 second frames. I'm trying it in Premiere at the moment with mixed results, again if anyone has suggestions that would be great. :)

Thanks again.

[Dillinja]

Well through trial and error the best solution seems to be to use use Flash MX. You can import an animated GIF and immediately export it as an AVI with excellent options. Then AVI to MPEG with TMPGEnc. The quality is excellent.

Thanks for all help

[funkguy4]

Make sure you tell it to automatically insert I frames, that could be why your transitions are "shaky". Also, you probably shouldn't even bother with B framesince it would be pretty pointless.

[Dillinja]

Make sure you tell it to automatically insert I frames, that could be why your transitions are "shaky". Also, you probably shouldn't even bother with B framesince it would be pretty pointless.

Not sure what you mean? I didn't use BMPs in the end, I just imported my animated GIF into Flash MX and exported it to AVI immediately. The only thing I changed were the quality settings for the AVI.

It was TMPGEnc that outputted the shaky MPEG from the GIF and there are no settings for GIF frames in that tool.

Dillinja

[funkguy4]

Not sure what you mean? I didn't use BMPs in the end, I just imported my animated GIF into Flash MX and exported it to AVI immediately. The only thing I changed were the quality settings for the AVI.

It was TMPGEnc that outputted the shaky MPEG from the GIF and there are no settings for GIF frames in that tool.

Dillinja

Tell TMPGEnc to automatically insert I-frames whereever they're needed. I think it goes like "Detect scene change" or something.