Software / Codec Advice

[daint]

Hello,

I've been trying to convert a movie from my MiniDV camera to a dvd, I was using Windows Movie Maker 2 to capture, then TMPGEnc to convert and then Nero to burn.

However, I get a few problems,
After capture the video seems to have a problem where the horizontal lines are staggered, e.g.

-------------
-xxxxxxxx-
-xxxxxxxx-
xxxxxxxx--
-xxxxxxxx-
xxxxxxxx--
-xxxxxxxx-
-------------

but only on certain frames where the movement is quicker. (Hope that illustrates the problem ok)

When converting this to MPG the problem seems to get a little worse.

I was how I can get round these problems, all I want to do is get the video from the MiniDV camera onto a DVD, am I doing it right? (the best I possible can with my hardware)

Thanks

Rob

Comp Stats:
Mini DV Camera : Canon MV500i, using Panasonic and Sony DV tapes
Comp: Toshiba Satellite 1900, 256Mb Ram, 30Gig HD, 2Ghz P4, 32Mb ATI GFX

[daint]

I should probably also mention,

I am not using any special codecs, apart from those which come with Windows Movie Maker, Nero 6, TMPGEnc and Windows XP.

Also, in Windows Movie Maker Im choosing to capture at the top quality, and I'm trying to burn a dvd in PAL format.

Thanks

[Baldrick]

Sounds like interlacing
http://www.lukesvideo.com/interlacing.html
http://www.100fps.com/

[turk690]

You may have a problem with field ordering. This becomes more obvious, as you note, when there are quick movements on video. DV AVI in its unadulterated form normally is bottom field (or field B) first. When editing or passing it through any process there are possibilites for the field order to be reversed. There is a way to correct this in TMPGEnc; simply choose the other field in field-order. To see if you made the correct choice, advanced>deinterlace (double-click), then choose even-odd field (field). Step the video through the left arrow and it should move smoothly. If it judders and/or horizontal lines become apparent then reverse it. You do not use this deinterlace option; this is merely for monitoring and making sure the field-order is correct.

[daint]

Thanks for the quick responses.

After reading the references you gave me, the interlaced problem from the website (http://www.lukesvideo.com/interlacing.html) seems exactly my problem. But if I change the field order, and then encode to MPG2, isnt the difference in fields exagerated and therefore will still show up on tv?

Also, is MiniDV recorded at 30fps and so should I be converting to NTSC only, otherwise I'll lose quality in lost frames?

Finally, wouldnt it be best to capture straight into DVD Compliant MPG2? Therefore, no loss of quality when converting? But if so, what prog would I use to do this.

Again, thanks for the responses.

Rob

[FOO]

I dont' think there is a way to encode to MPEG2 on the fly from DV

You will not see the interlacing effects on your TV.

[bpjenn]

Ulead VideoStudio 7 and DVD MovieMaker 2 will allow you to do DV to MPEG2 in real time.

[daint]

Are there any benefits in quality by capturing straight to MPG2?

And also, just repeating what I mentioned earlier, is the MiniDV stored at 25/30fps, and if it's 30, will I loose much quality in making it PAL?

Thanks again

[bpjenn]

If you plan to do minimal editing and set the bitrate reasonably high (5000 and up), quality should be good.

[turk690]

MiniDV has two main formats (among many others), one for PAL (25fps)and the other for NTSC (29.97fps). You do not have to convert if you shot your video using the appropriate camcorder. Inspect your camcorder to see if it's PAL or NTSC (it will only shoot in one of these, not both). The only benefit to capturing straight to MPEG-2 is the time saved. This is how stand-alone DVD recorders work, as well as for example, Sony's MicroMV format. The downside is at least twofold: MPEG streams are not amenable to editing, and quality is unpredictable (often wretched). Best that you always capture to DV AVI, then encode later to DVD-compliant elementary MPEG-2 streams.