Just What Does 'interlaced Mode' do in Magix Movie Edit Pro 12?

[gom]

You can pick

'progressive'

or

'interlaced (bottom field first)'

or

'interlaced (top field first)'

What do they mean and which one should one pick for what effect?

Thanks to all for any help.

[Baldrick]

Are you making a DVD-Video?

If your source is interlaced then choose interlaced, like some dv, captured tv/vhs is interlaced while downloaded material and newer camcorder records in progressive mode.

[jagabo]

In interlaced video each frame contains two half pictures called fields. One field is in all the even numbered scanlines (0,2,4,6... the top field) and one field is in all the odd numbered scanlines (1,3,5,7... the bottom field). Each field is to be displayed alone, the two fields sequentially. Nn interlaced NTSC video contains 29.97 frames per second but should be viewed as 59.94 fields per second. Depending on the capture device either the top field should be viewed first followed by the bottom field 1/60 of a second later, or the bottom field should be viewed first followed by the top field 1/60 of a second later. Hence the two field order settings.

In a progressive video the entire picture is to be viewed at the same time.

Which you choose when encoding depends on the source video and how it is being treated during the conversion.

[gom]

Are you making a DVD-Video?

If your source is interlaced then choose interlaced, like some dv, captured tv/vhs is interlaced while downloaded material and newer camcorder records in progressive mode.

Thanks for your answer Baldrick.

Yes, the end result is a video burned to a DVD that can be watched on an HD tv. With an 800 dollar Panny HD palmcorder (which I haven't purchased yet), I am trying to get as close to pro quality as I can when I burn the DVD. As a novice and newbie, I don't want to louse things up with the editing process doing things I don't understand. The interlacing process has been explained by another poster and I am grateful but I still don't understand exactly it is technically.

What I'm trying to say is that I'm after what looks the best for what the end result would be for HDTV, so interlaced bottom up is better for TV viewing rather than progressive which would be for computer viewing from what I gather.
But if the newer cameras record in progressive interlacing as you stated, I'll just have to pay attention to the Panny's glossery if it mentions it. If it does record progressive I assume I should also save any video with the 'progressive interlacing' box checked. Either way, experimentation will be the key with the human eye as the final judge.

The next question would be what file format to save it to before I burn so as not to degrade the footage. But, I'm happy I got this far thanks to this forum.