Need help with Ulead VideoStudio 7 DVD authoring.

[mit]

Hi:

I'm trying to transfer my DV movies made with SONY PC9 onto DVDs. I tried a few DVD authoring software and decided that Ulead VideoStudio 7 is probably the best for me regarding ease of use and features. The capturing from the DV Cam to the computer via 1394 connection goes smoothly without a glitch. But I have one major problem: when playing back the clips in the preview window, objects are broken up into horizontal lines(like seeing through a blind) whenever the objects move. It's much much more severe than typical interlace artifacts. If I go ahead and burn it to DVD and play on a regular TV, the lines seem to go away. But if I play it on a HDTV from a progressive scan DVD player, the clip just shakes(jumps up and down) when the movements occur.

OK now a bit of good news. I also downloaded and tried MovieFactory 2. No problems at all. No broken up lines. No shaky videos. But it just doesn't have the features I want. So I did a bit of experiment. I went back to VideoStudio and did some editing(joinging clips together, inserting transitional effects, etc.) and output the final result to a file in DV format. I then input the file into MovieFactory and use it to write out the DVD and the resulting video has no problems at all.

As a side note: the clip in VideoStudio's preview window doesn't cover the entire height of the window. It seems to be stretched in the horizontal plane.

So here are my conclusions and some questions as well:

1. Why would two products from the same company behave so differently?

2. The problem with the video occurs in the DV -> MPEG2 conversion process.

3. Does the computer's video card have anything to do with it? I'm using an ATI Radeon 8500LE. Last night in a haste I tried the whole process on another computer with an NVidia Geforce2 MX400 card and it seems to eliminate the problem but I can't be sure because I was sleepy around 3am

Sorry for the long post but I need to get it resolved before my trial software expires. Can anyone help?

Thanks
Mit

[Gees]

I think what you are seeing is still just interlacing. But in VideoStudio preview, I notice it is very exaggerated.

If you have your field orders right (they should be same as original video), it should look fine on TV - even if it does not on PC.

It may be that you selected (or it defaulted) to non-interlaced in MovieFactory, but if you want the DVD for TV viewing, you should keep the interlacing intact.

Have you checked the properties of each atte,pt? The VS version and the Movie Factory attempt?

Best thing to own is a re-writeable disk so you can test how things will look when displayed on TV.

Hope that helps.

Sorry - just noticed you also have an HDTV. For that, I think I've read to go with non-interlaced.

[MachineMan]

I have both of those Ulead programs, I think they work great.

During capture make sure it is interlaced. I also capture to Field order "A" from my sony handycam through 1394 to Ulead VS7. Field order and interlacing will cause jerky lines. Also if you watch your interlaced video file on your PC(media player...) it may appear jerky becuase its interlaced (meant for TV) but will work fine when playing on TV.

Ulead VS7 has a lot more custom settings then Ulead MF2 so the chances of screwing up are more. Also maybe Ulead MF2 corrected some setting during its conversion. Did MF2 convert your Ulead VS7 capture?

[mit]

Thanks for the quick replies Gees and MachineMan. But how do you set the interlace and field order option? Do you set it in the Ulead programs or in the Sony camcoder? What is atte,pt? And yes MF2 convert my VS7 capture without any problem.

Thanks
Mit

[MachineMan]

I assume you captured in VS7 and used the captured video file for both VS7 and MF2. Look into the "capture options" from Ulead VS7 when setting up your capture. You may have to capture it again. It will have the interlaced and field order settings. When captureing from my Sony I always use field order "A" and interlaced and have had no problems.

Here is what I do:
1. Capture using VS7: DVD NTSC, Interlaced, field order A.
2. Edit and smart render saving (share) as a video file.
3. Open MF2 and inset video file(s) and author with menus
4. Make sure and check the "Do not convert Compliant video" option from the options menu in the bottom left corner of the screen. So MF2 should do no conversion of that paticular video file.

[FOO]

I wasn't aware VS7 would author.

[MachineMan]

Also if you have a HDTV and using the component (Red, Green, Blue)inputs, your progressive scan DVD player will handle the interlacing to 480P, I think. My HDTV is on order so I haven't mesed with it yet.

[Gees]

Thanks for the quick replies Gees and MachineMan. But how do you set the interlace and field order option?

You're welcome. :c)

Yes, you set it in VS. Set the project properties to what you need
before you even start working with it. (Ulead stuff has a tendency to default to settings which may not be right for your current project.)

To check what you need, right-click on the vid you transferred, check it's properties and maintain what you see there for the final encoding. Also be sure you have it set right for NTSC or PAL, whichever's appropriate, to match dimension and framerate.

And - LOL - "atte,pt" was a typo. Should have been "attempt". I edited for typos 3 times and still it got through! :cD I was typing in the dark, at the time. :c)

Foo:

I wasn't aware VS7 would author.

VS does have an authoring function, although the menu creation is rather limited - template based.