8mm --> MiniDV: DV AVI Capture Questions

[sofakng]

I'm using Sony Vegas Video 6.0d to capture DV AVI using an 8mm --> MiniDV pass-through but I have two questions...

1) The bottom 5 or 10 lines are very "blurry" (I'm not sure how to describe it... it's kind of how a tape looks with rolling lines). It's on almost every capture of mine. Can I somehow get rid of this? I can post an example if needed...

2) Should I "enhance" these captures in any way before moving them to DVD? Capturing 2 hours per 8mm tape is VERY time-consuming, and once I move them to DVD I doubt I'll ever re-edit them (because I'd need to re-capture them before editting so I don't lose quality). I'm wondering if any sort of filter exists I guess to clean up the pictures.... (or should I just leave them as straight captures)

Thanks!

[guns1inger]

The noise at the bottom of the screen is also there when you play them on your TV, but hidden by the overscan area. The same will happen when you transfer them to DVD. That said, replacing them with solid black will mean that precious bitrate isn't wasted encoding them. In Vegas, look at either Pan and Crop to crop the noise off the bottom, or simply adding a black bar created by a Media Generator over the top of the noise.

[sofakng]

Wouldn't that only change the display from being blurry to pure black? (assuming the overscan on the TV was not enough to hide this part of the image) I'm not sure if the viewer would rather see black or "blurry" lines...

Also, if I use pan+crop then I'd lose more of the image (assuming I kept a 4:3 aspect ratio).

[guns1inger]

You can crop and keep the aspect ratio by letting Vegas just fill out the frame with black. Post a screen shot to confirm that this is noise, but it sounds like you won't actually be losing anything by cutting it off. A simple test - plug it into your TV and see if you can see it. If not, lose it. If so, lose it because your aren't going to fix it anyway.

If, by chance, the overscan didn't hide all of it, you can always re-centre the frame so any visible black would be very small on most TVs. If the noise (for want of a btter term at this stage) has no value, then oyu are better off getting rid of it so you don't waste bitrate encoding it. That bitrate is better used in the actual useful image.

[sofakng]

Here's a link to a screenshot: http://www.lagworld.net/blurry.JPG

You'll notice the "blurry" section on the bottom, but also notice the black on the left and right edges of the picture. Is that normal?

Also, should I render this to MPEG-2 in Vegas 6.0d or let DVD Architect 3 take care of the DVI AVI --> MPEG-2 encoding? (I have the Mainconcept MPEG-2 encoder in case that matters)

Finally, should I use any automatic enhancement filters on the image before creating the MPEG-2? (eg. color correction, levels, etc) (the Vegas Color Correcter plugin set to "Studio RGB to Computer RGB" seems to look pretty good)

Thanks for all of your help!!

[guns1inger]

Mask the bottom. You wont see it and it is a waste of bitrate.

Filters and enhancements are a matter of taste. Every filter you add slows down rendering (encoding). For my own projects, I often colour correct and tweak levels to get consistency across the footage. Most people probably don't worry about it too much. Really, it is a matter of time - how much do you want to spend setting it up, how long do you want it to take to render. This is especially the case with 2 pass VBR encoding - if you use this then you might want to render the corrections to DV first, then encode.

Before I started using CCE to encode, I would encode from within Vegas, then bring it into DVD Architect. Now I edit in Vegas, frameserve to CCE, then author in DVD Lab Pro.

[sofakng]

Ok, the only way to place a black mask seems to be to create a new video track, use the Media Generator to create a pure black image, then use track motion to shrink it down so it only covers the bottom part of the image. Is this the best way to do it?

If I use "Render As" and save it to DV AVI, aren't I losing quality? (eg. re-encoding the AVI, thus losing quality)

Did you notice the left/right edges of my image? Are they normal?

[guns1inger]

Masking is as good a mthod as any.

Debatable. The Sony DV codec is very robust, and can withstand several generations before artifacts become very obvious. One generation probably wont make any difference. Test a five minute segment to see for yourself. If you don't use any filters than you won't need to do this.

The left/right edges I suspect are from the pass through. You 8mm will have recorded at a notional 704 x 480. DV is 720 x 480. I say notional because your 8mm doesn't actually have pixels, but that is the output size as seen by your DV camera. Again, these will be hidden by the overscan and won't be visible.

[sofakng]

Should I use use AviSynth or anything like that? I'm not even sure what it does, but a lot of tutorials seem to mention it...

Also, do you have good settings to use for CCE 2.70? (anything specific to 8mm --> MiniDV captures)