Preserving Quality of Movie Fan-edits

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Hi, folks. My latest hobby is reediting movies I like but which I think could be improved. I'm not talking about pirating; I'm talking about making copies of DVDs I own so that I can then edit those copies, just for my own enjoyment in rewatching them. Given the original quality from which I'm starting here, what are the best settings in which to render the finished edit so that when I play it on my DVD player it retains the original quality?

I just test-rendered one of my movies, then burned it using Windows DVD Maker, and noticed a fair bit of pixellation in some scenes (not every scene, oddly enough). The VP settings for the render--using version 2.41--were as follows:

Preset: Custom
File format: .avi
Resolution: 1920 x 1080 - HD 1080p
Frame rate: 29.97 [TV NTSC]

Under "Encoder Options" I have:

Video Compressor: MPEG4 (Native)

The sound quality is fine; it's only the pixellation that's an issue. Is this the best configuration for rendering videos from professional film sources?

Thanks for any advice.

Cheers,

Andy

Dougie

I don't know where you are located, but in America, standard DVD's ('professional film sources?') are made in the H262/MPEG-2 part 2 format, with resolution at 720x480. You might want to try something closer to that.

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Thanks, Dougie. I had never actually thought to look at the properties of any of my .vob files copied from DVDs. I just checked one of them and - bingo - it's 720x480. So I'll re-render and see how that turns out.

Cheers,

Andy

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Okay, just tried that and the pixellation was gone - but now there's a new problem: the picture is a bit "squished." I notice VP also has a "Widescreen TV" setting, which is 1024x576. What about that?

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Okay, this was weird: I've always used Windows DVD Maker quite satisfactorily, and had used it to burn my prior movie edit (same movie) no problem. But this time around, aftering rendering a copy with VP's own widescreen TV setting - 1024x576 - DVD Maker refused to burn it. I could set the project up with menu and whatnot, and all appeared fine. Except when I actually clicked on "Burn"; then it would hit 0.1%, or 0.2 or 0.3 . . . . . . . . . . and sit there forever. Weird.

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To Nat or other experienced editors: It was suggested in another thread that one should "Save Movie" in 1080 HD, .avi format, at 29 fps. Now when I do that, what I end up with is somewhat pixellated in some scenes (especially faces)--whereas Windows DVD Maker has a similar option (1080 HD, .wmv format), and no pixellation. Yet VP is, of course, a far better editor as far as the actual process of editing is concerned.

So, because I'm not satisfied with the render quality of the free version of VP--what if I upgraded to the paid version? That allows more formats, such as MP4. Have any of you used the paid version and these other save-formats, and if so, have you found there's no pixellation? That alone might persuade me to go for the paid version--otherwise I'll be looking to something else, probably Sony Movie Studio, which has a comparable price tag.

Thanks,

Andy

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I've made what for me is a major discovery about the issue of pixellation in DVD productions. First, "pixellation" wasn't the best word to use. The picture I was getting in finalized display wasn't blocky, as with pixellation--but instead there were vertical lines or waves over various objects in any given scene, especially objects further away from the camera, and especially faces.

Secondly, I've discovered, however, that the problem isn't with VP's rendering--it's with VP's video conversion prior to editing. At this very moment I'm burning a DVD with a little test project to see if my theory is correct. But at least so far as display on my computer goes, I've found that VP's rendering looks just fine if I first convert .vob files to .avi or .wmv files using a different converter (in this case, Any Video Converter 5). I copied .vob files off a movie disc, then used AVC5 to convert them to high-quality .avi files at HD 1080, then uploaded those files to VP for editing and rendering.

(Moments later...) Just tested the DVD I burned with a VP-edited .avi--and it displays perfectly on my TV! No lines or waves. Yaaaayyy!!!

However, a couple new--and, I think, probably minor--issues. The motion seems a tad jumpy at times, as if frames are being skipped here and there during playback. Another problem is that people's skin tones are too red. Is the jumpiness due to the fact that I've blown up these .vob files--originally 720x480 (29 fps)--to 1920x1080?

Thanks!

[deleted]

Hi ad101867

I can't comment on the skin tones but with reference to the jumpy playback...This is something that I get on normal video I have shot and is most obvious when the motion of the subject is from side to side of the frame, or the the camera is panned. Every few seconds during playback, both in VP and in a finished DVD, the moving object - like traffic, (I have to presume ALL the action in fact ) freezes for just a fraction of a second before continuing. It gives a slightly stop/start motion to moving objects. Is this what you are experiencing?

I have recently had a close look at some test clips in slow motion and have noticed that where the frame appears to freeze there are in fact two images on the screen, one frame being held up. After doing some tests today I have a feeling that this may due to the framerates chosen, either for the conversion to MPEG2 or for the VP rendering. My original clip was 30 fps and I convert at this rate, but the VP rendering for the PAL system (like mine) is 25 fps. When I just tested selecting the NTSC framerate of 29.97 the output does seem better. I am going to rerun the same jumpy clip with VP set at 30 fps and see if it improves. I don't know what framerate VP uses when it renders to DVD.

Later... Well, It seems better. In future I will select 30 and not take the VP default and see how we get on.

Nat

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Thanks for this info, Nat. I'm going to do a couple similar experiments. The reason I'm using VP is movie fanedits, my new hobby. That means the original configurations for my .vob files copied from DVDs are typically 720x480, 59 fps (if I recall the numbers correctly). So I'm wondering if duplicating those numbers in the VP rendering will, then, produce a final version that displays similarly to the original.

I sure am glad I discovered the faulty VP video conversions though; I tried NCH's Prism video converter and got the same problem. But when I make my own conversions and then edit those in VP, the edit-render gives a fine picture quality; no pixellation.

Andy