Deinterlacing menu conflicts within DVdate tool

[Pierre1]

This is targeted at users of DVdate (author's website is http://paul.glagla.free.fr/dvdate_en.htm). I'm a new member so apologies if this is the wrong forum.

Firstly I'd like to say that I was delighted to find this program - it looks to do exactly what I need!

The version I'm using is the latest one on the author's site - ie DVdate 7.1.1en, dated 13 Dec '08.

SUMMARY:
There are three different places for specifying the deinterlacing/interlacing preference. They do not always agree with each other!!

DETAILS:
I'd just like to make a couple of points on the deinterlacing and associated options. I think some of the menu options are in disagreement with each other.

I'll describe below what I think they say and mean (a) before any changes are made from the standard load, and (b) as a result of making specific changes.

After loading an AVI file sourced originally from a miniDV camcorder, there are three places that I can see in DVdate with options for deinterlacing:
(1) The video dropdown menu from the main screen, with a ticked "Stop Deinterlacing" option
(2) A little icon with 6 horizontal lines, again on the main screen
(3) In the Settings menu, a "Deinterlace the video" radio button. I think this must be a newer option since it doesn't seem to appear in the Help pages for the Settings menu on your website.

(a) BEFORE ANY CHANGES ARE MADE:
Standard setting is:
(1) Video dropdown menu: This has "Stop deinterlacing" ticked and selected, implying to the user that Stop deinterlacing is selected and that therefore the program is currently NOT deinterlacing
(2) 6 horizontal lines icon: Hovering over this with the mouse pointer, the message "Click to stop deinterlacing" comes up, this time implying that the program IS currently deinterlacing and that the user would need to click this icon to STOP deinterlacing. This APPEARS to be in contradiction with the Video dropdown route described in bullet 1 above.
(3) Settings menu: In the Settings menu, "Deinterlace the video" is ticked, implying the program IS deinterlacing as standard, disagreeing with bullet 1 above but in agreement with bullet number 2.

NOTE: that all the above is as the program is after a standard load and with no selections changed.

(b) THE CONSEQUENCE OF MAKING CHANGES.....
After a standard load, the result of each action (not in sequence, just individually):
(1) Video dropdown menu: If from standard load the user unticks the Video dropdown of "Stop deinterlacing", then the next time Video dropdown is opened, the option "Deinterlace" is shown but NOT ticked, implying to the user that the program is now NOT deinterlacing (ie the same as before unticking!!). The status of the six horizontal lines icon had also been changed, as expected. HOWEVER, the status of the deinterlacing option in the Settings menu has NOT been changed, with "Deinterlace the video" still selected. Therefore it is not clear whether the program will now deinterlace or not.
(2) 6 horizontal lines icon: If instead from standard load, the user clicks on this icon then a red cross appears through the icon. Subsequently hovering over the icon with the mouse pointer now gives the message "Click to deinterlace the video", implying that the program is now NOT deinterlacing the video. HOWEVER, once again the option in the Settings menu has NOT been changed.
(3) Settings menu: Again from standard load, if the user unticks the "Deinterlace the video" radio button, then when the Settings menu is closed, there is no corresponding change in either the Video dropdown or the 6 horizontal lines icon. Subsequent opening of the Settings menu DOES show a change though.

I therefore am slightly confused by the three different ways of changing deinterlacing which disagree with each other or make no change and so which options I should click or unclick. It is unclear when the program is deinterlacing or not.

What I'd like is to resave my avi file simply with the date field added. I want to leave it as it was with respect to interlacing since I think my standard definition camcorder will have recorded as interlaced, and I will predominantly be viewing on DVD's on a TV rather than a PC so I wish to leave it as interlaced.

Is there an easy way to find out if an original AVI source file is interlaced or not? Perhaps an option in DVdate to tell the user this would be helpful. Maybe even an option to leave the file unchanged with respect to interlacing would be nice.

It would certainly help the user a lot if the deinterlacing options above were clarified and made to be consistent with each other. That way the user would be clear if the video was going to be deinterlaced or not.

I love the simplicity of your program and it will enable me to deal with my 30 hours of miniDV camcorder footage of my daughter without resorting to the inferior S-video transfer method just to retain the date field!! Fantastic!! I am amazed that the major video editing packages don't seem to do this simple thing.

Apologies for long post - I'm new to videohelp! This is a copy of the email I sent to the author, but I think he's too busy to reply (his words!).

Thanks, Pierre

[minidv2dvd]

i've never used the program, but it is most likely all three options are just there so you can turn off/on interlacing in the video preview so the jagged lines of interlaced DVavi won't show on a progressive lcd display.

try a short teat with them set de-interlace and save it. use mediainfo or gspot and they will tell you if it's now progressive. doubtful as it's not an encoder but test anyway.

p.s. welcome to the forum

[Pierre1]

Thanks a lot for the advice minidv2dvd, you were spot on, on all counts! The deinterlacing options do indeed appear to be toggles for previewing within the package - my mistake (typcial novice!). The options still apear to conflict with each other a bit, but that won't worry me now since I know it won't change my avi footage.

I tried anyway as you suggested by inlaying the date field with deinterlacing options all turned on and then all off - the resulting file was still shown as interlaced by both mediainfo and gspot (thanks for suggesting those to me by the way), confirming it just applies to previewing video in dvdate.

Another question - I see various places talking about avi type 1 and avi type 2. I'm not sure what my dv footage is - or maybe I can choose which type when I input to avi files on the pc from the camcorder? Maybe it does not matter. What I simply want to do is to convert my thirty odd miniDV tapes to DVD in the best way possible + also archive my footage as future-proofly as possible (eg avi, dvd, iso pc backups of dvd's etc)

Any tips on this and also a good package for converting avi to dvd. I don't care about editing, just best quality. I bought Sony vegas Studio a couple of years ago but it looks confusing to me! I was thinking of trying Nero?

Thanks again!

Pierre

[minidv2dvd]

DVavi on the tape is in a raw format. the program you choose to capture it with will put it into a "container" that allows a pc to read and use it. most editing programs at this time prefer a type II container, but some will use either type I or II. on a mac it would be put in a .mov wrapper. another good free program for capturing from a DV cam is winDV. look up DVavi on wikipedia for more detailed info.

if you have the time vegas is a good program and well worth learning. nero is junk, and i'll leave it at that. for all-in-one programs convertxtodvd is ok but commercial. dvdflick, avi2dvd, or thefilmmachine are free possibilities.

[Pierre1]

Thanks for the extra advice. I'll have another look at Vegas. I guess what I really want to do is simply convert my camcorder tapes to dvd (inserting date code on PC with dvdate) so I get better quality than using my under TV DVD recorder with S video to preserve the camcorder date view.

What I want is: "click here to inport DV to AVI", and then "convert the whole 1 hr 2.5 mins of footage to files and then burn this to fill one DVD-r at best quality" with a field for DVD title and also 5 minute chapter spacings. that's it. Any package do that? Or is there an idiot's guide to Vegas? It which seems much more complex (I know that's a good thing for people who want to do serious editing!). A few months ago I did figure out how to collect DV to avi via firewire with Vegas but I've forgotten now!

Thanks again

Cheers, Pierre