Digital 8/Hi8 to DVD, slightly choppy.

[Dixie Paul]

Hello! I searched for this topic but couldn't find anything, please help.

I am transferring Digital 8/Hi8 tapes to my computer via firewire and burning them to DVD via Windows Movie Maker. I am using a Sony GV-D800 NTSC Digital 8/Hi8 tape player and it is wired to my computer via 1394 firewire. I have a Core 2 Quad computer with 4 GB RAM. I transfer the tapes to the computer in the AVI format.

When I play a DVD in the home DVD player, the video is SLIGHTLY choppy when there is any moderate to high speed motion on the video (kids running, jumping, etc.). What I mean by choppy is, the video isn't as smooth as playback using just the Hi8 player. It seems like a little bit of data is left out in the tape to computer to DVD process.

Is this normal? Does the tape to computer to DVD process just normally end up slightly "choppy" during motion?

Thank you.

[Baldrick]

I would try convert the DV-AVI to DVD using something else than Windows DVD Maker/Movie Maker. You can still use Windows Movie maker to edit your video but be sure to export to DV-AVI(not wmv). Then try convert the DV-AVI to DVD using for example ConvertXtoDVD, Tmpgenc DVD Author, VideoStudio or some free software like FAVC, DVD Flick. And be sure to set the encoding settings NTSC 29.97fps and to keep it interlaced(if possible and most tools sets this automatically).

[edDV]

It could be a capture problem or an encoding problem. I suspect the latter.

One way to test is to output from WMM as DV-AVI (see export settings) and view the DV format file with VLC. Select "mean" or "linear" deinterlace under the VLC "video" tab. If you see errors here, it was a capture issue.

Second, encode from the DV-AVI file not wmv. Wmv export will cause deinterlace which will affect motion smoothness. When you encode to MPeg2, use higher 8-9Mb/s average bitrate.

[Dixie Paul]

You guys are spot on, encoding problem. Windows Movie Maker = poop. I used a Roxio DVD creator program that came with my Dell and it worked perfectly. Thanks for the help!

Paul