Solved: from DV to other results in dark footage

[surefire]

Hi All

Not done any video work for a while so need a little advice. When I save camera footage in DV format, the footage is nice and bright as it should be. When I convert it to a compressed format such as divx or mpeg2, the resulting footage is much darker than the original. How can I maintain the brightness levels when converting. Im using Premier Pro to edit and save as DV and Roxio media creater 9 (videowave) to convert to divx or mpeg2.

P.S. when converting, I'm using the programs best quality settings for Divx or Mpeg2

Thanks.

[daamon]

Hi surefire,

How are you previewing the converted material? I ask coz I know that footage on the monitor doesn't look the same as it will on a TV.

The nest test, if you're not doing it, is to play back on the TV.

I don't know much about Roxio, but haven't heard good reports about it. Maybe convert to Divx or MPEG using a better respected tool.

[surefire]

Thanks for the reply daamon. I'm previewing the dv and converted footage in two separate VLC media player windows side by side on my laptop monitor. That way I can see them both together and get a good comparison. I've just used Uleads Videostudio program to convert, and the results are pretty much the same: still quite dark when compared to the original DV footage.

I know what you mean about previewing on a TV to get the best results, but in the mean time if anyone has anymore suggestions......

[jagabo]

Reverse the order in which you open the files. DV still darker?

[surefire]

Well blow me down!

I tried reversing the opening order and hey presto, now the converted (Divx) footage is brigter than the DV footage. Must be some thing to do with the media playe eh?

Thanks for that jagabo

[daamon]

Reverse the order in which you open the files. DV still darker?

Neat "trick". What's the reasoning behind that?

@ surefire: If all else fails, play it on the TV. It's the absolute acid test...

[jagabo]

Most media players use the graphics card's video overlay feature to display video. Video overlay usually has separate brightness, contrast, and color adjustments from the desktop. But only one player at a time can use video overlay. The second player is left displaying the video on the desktop without benefit of the overlay controls.

[daamon]

Thanks. Learn something new everyday...

Cheers.