VideoStudio Ultimate 2023 - Video quality issues

[GE_Rik]

Ho folks
I'm new here, so be gentle.

I've been using various versions of VideoStudio for years, but recently have noticed that I get wavy lines on anything in a clip which is in motion (eg see Screenshot 2026-07-17 121046.png ). These lines persist through into the rendered video.

I've checked the original clips from the camera, and they are fine (eg see Screenshot 2026-07-17 121342.png )

I've tried changing the project properties of the video, but it doesn't seem to make any difference. I don't remember it being an issue when I've edited using previous versions of VideoStudio.

Any ideas or suggestions?

Rik

[Sharc]

Interlaced video (vertically) resized without deinterlacing it before resizing?

[OldMan64]

That is interesting. What is this "camera" recording? (format) Is this capture being shown without the distortion an actual video recorded or did retrieving the video require using some device to to make the capture?
I see the two separate shots are not the same size which makes me think something is being done by a device that is also making the distortion.

[GE_Rik]

The original recording is .MTS format. They are simply screenshots from the paused videos

Rik

[GE_Rik]

Interlaced video (vertically) resized without deinterlacing it before resizing?

As far as I'm aware, the video hasn't been resized. Unless there's a setting in VideoStudio which does this automatically. A message usually pops up when I start editing asking if I want to change the video settings to match the edited version to the original to achieve 'Smart Render'- I've always said OK to this and, as I've said, not noticed any difference in quality before

Rik

[OldMan64]

The picture with distortion is a different size than the the "original" video. What software or device is changing the sizing? That is most likely also causing the distortion.

[GE_Rik]

The picture with distortion is a different size than the the "original" video. What software or device is changing the sizing? That is most likely also causing the distortion.

That might be down to my cropping the images on the screen when using the PrtSc button on the keyboard

Rik

[VWestlife]

A message usually pops up when I start editing asking if I want to change the video settings to match the edited version to the original to achieve 'Smart Render'- I've always said OK to this and, as I've said, not noticed any difference in quality before

Try turning off Smart Rendering. What may be happening is it's producing output that is interlaced, without properly flagging it as such in the file's metadata. Check it in MediaInfo -- does it show up as interlaced there?

[Sharc]

The original recording is .MTS format. They are simply screenshots from the paused videos

Rik

My best guess: Your .MTS source is most likely interlaced. Your screenshot produces a progressive snapshot from this interlaced frame. When you now rescale the .png for viewing (for example shrinking it) you will get 'waves' for the moving objects of the picture because the original field alignment is destroyed.
Example attached.

[GE_Rik]

A message usually pops up when I start editing asking if I want to change the video settings to match the edited version to the original to achieve 'Smart Render'- I've always said OK to this and, as I've said, not noticed any difference in quality before

Try turning off Smart Rendering. What may be happening is it's producing output that is interlaced, without properly flagging it as such in the file's metadata. Check it in MediaInfo -- does it show up as interlaced there?

Sorry about the delay - I had to go out.
Good question. Not sure where to look. Here's a screenshot of the info about the edited video. Can't see "interlaced" listed (unless I'm missing something)

Rik

[GE_Rik]

The original recording is .MTS format. They are simply screenshots from the paused videos

Rik

My best guess: Your .MTS source is most likely interlaced. Your screenshot produces a progressive snapshot from this interlaced frame. When you now rescale the .png for viewing (for example shrinking it) you will get 'waves' for the moving objects of the picture because the original field alignment is destroyed.
Example attached.

Hi
I get the waves when the edited video plays on screen but there are no waves in the screenshot of the .MTS original video clip. The screenshot just shows what I'm seeing in the final video (which can be viewed here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rNtUpwdM2Q )

Rik

[GE_Rik]

A message usually pops up when I start editing asking if I want to change the video settings to match the edited version to the original to achieve 'Smart Render'- I've always said OK to this and, as I've said, not noticed any difference in quality before

Try turning off Smart Rendering.

Hi
I just edited the same clip without Smart Rendering and no wavy lines. So, maybe it isn't so smart after all.

What I can't understand is that previously, I've always used smart rendering and not had this problem. Same camera, same original file format (.MTS), same output file format, same video editor with no changes to the settings. I've checked for software updates and there are none (though it does check for updates automatically - maybe it updated itself for the worst!). The only other thing which I believe has changed is that Windows keeps updating ...

Thanks for your help. I might have eventually tried it without smart rendering, but I suspect that might have been a last resort rather than an early one. So thanks for short-circuiting the process.

Rik

[GE_Rik]

Actually, looking at the final YT video, I can see that the waviness primarily occurs on clips where I've used VideoStudio's Pan and Zoom editing tool. I have used this before but not noticed the waviness issue. Clearly, that tool processes the video to create the effect so maybe it isn't de-interlacing after carrying out the edit(???). Should it or is it something I just have to live with if I decide to use that tool?

Rik

[GE_Rik]

Just applied Pan and Zoom to the same clip and there is a slight sign of waviness but nowhere near as bad as when I use Smart Render.

So, it does look as if Smart Render is the main culprit


Rik

[Sharc]

No idea what the "smart rendering" of VideoStudio messes with, but your waves are typical for an incorrect rescaling process of interlaced sources.
The picture on the left is from an interlaced source (moving bars) which got correctly rescaled (means first deinterlace, then rescale). The picture on the right got incorrectly processed, means first rescaled and then deinterlaced (the pattern changes with the degree of vertical rescaling). Maybe your .mts source was incorrectly flagged and just got mistreated by your tool .....

Whatever, glad that disabling the "smart" thingy solved your issue. Never trust the smarties

P.S. and YouTube does its own treatment of the video, so it's usually not really suitable to serve as a reference.

[Alwyn]

@GE_Rik, any chance of getting an untouched sample of one of your MTSs to have a play with? You can attach files, up to 500mb, using the Upload files button or you could put one up on Google Drive. I'm interested in the interlacing.

[jagabo]

First, note that zooming requires resizing.

And as was pointed out earlier, that zigzag defect is caused by resizing an interlaced video with a simple bilinear algorithm without using interlaced specific resizing methods. The size of the zigzag bands depends on the amount of resizing that was applied. And the amplitude of the zigzag depends on the amount of horizontal motion.