DVD output low quality

S

shaun_au

Active member
I've been making some DVDs with some 24p footage I shot with my DVX100A. So far the video quality on those DVDs are not that great. They look somewhat grainy(I didn't use any grain effects) and have obvious interlacing problems. The tools I use are the following:

Premiere Pro 1.5
Encore DVD 1.5

The production process is:

1. I shoot my footage in 24p thin, not 24pa. According to Barry's DVX book if I don't intend to print to film, there's no need to use 24pa.

2. I capture the footage with my old SONY PC100 handycam. Premiere Pro 1.5 automatically picks up the Panansonic 24p signal. So I use Panasonic 24p -- Widescreen 32kHz preset.

3. I do my editing in Premiere. Instead of using the builtin Adobe Media Encoder, I just output my video as AVI video clips(microsoft DV/29fps/upper fields). This is where I get a little confused.

I want to make a 16:9 DVD at highest image quality. I mean just like those Hollywood 16:9 DVDs. It will play fullscreen on 16:9 tvs and letterbox on 4:3 tvs. Now since there're 16:9 tvs can have progressive and interlace modes, I'm think making an interlaced(60i) DVD will be the safest since progressive TVs can also play interlaced video(but not vice versa). So by exporting my Perimere edit as a 29fps upper fields dv, I can sort of match up my video clip with the final displaying format.

4. I then import these AVI video clips in Encore. I transcode them as NTSC DV High Quality 7Mb VBR 2pass.

5. I build the project(burn the DVD)

The final product is not very satisfying. First of all the image looks coarse(grainy) on a 16:9 DLP TV. It's not that much better on my standard 4:3 TV. Secondly, it has interlacing problems. You see the edges of people having interlacing lines.

So I'm wondering if anyone here can give me some advice on how to improve image quality on my DVD.
 
All I can say is just make sure your export settings in Premiere will be exactally the same when you export in Encore. I usually export progressive or do a straight to DVD from premiere. I haven't dealt with menus yet since I haven't completed most of my projects. I'm lagging!
 
export with lower fields first from premiere. ...and why on earth are you using a 32k audio preset.. use the 48k, which is what the DVX outputs.
 
Why not skip AVI and instead export 24p MPEG-2 DVD from Premiere import that into Encore?

The resulting MPEG will be 24p, and if you have some way to show it on a progressive display, that's great, but you will also be safe with interlaced NTSC displays-- the 24p MPEG will have "pulldown flags" (top field first and repeat first field) that will let any DVD player convert it to interlaced for display on a regular NTSC TV.

This is the way Hollywood DVDs are done.

It has additional advantages, as well. Without reducing bitrate you'll get higher quality video because the bits are divided between 24 frames, not 60 fields. Why waste bits encoding pulldown fields that are completely redundant?

Encore cannot do this for you, since it doesn't know how to remove the DVX pulldown. You need to use the Adobe Media Encoder in Premiere.
 
shaun_au said:
According to Barry's DVX book if I don't intend to print to film, there's no need to use 24pa.
Click to expand...
Barry's right, but I don't think he's a PPro user.

PPro has a bug that introduces strobing in overexposed areas (like an overexposed sky). The bug is much more prevelant with 24p Normal. (24p Advanced will only see it when you export to tape or a 29.97 AVI. 24p Normal users will get it even while they are editing.)

If you shoot 24p Advanced, Edit in a PPro 24p timeline, and export to a 24p MPEG2 from with Premiere, you will not get the strobing.
 
kecorcoran said:
Barry's right, but I don't think he's a PPro user.

PPro has a bug that introduces strobing in overexposed areas (like an overexposed sky). The bug is much more prevelant with 24p Normal. (24p Advanced will only see it when you export to tape or a 29.97 AVI. 24p Normal users will get it even while they are editing.)

If you shoot 24p Advanced, Edit in a PPro 24p timeline, and export to a 24p MPEG2 from with Premiere, you will not get the strobing.
Click to expand...

Ah!!! I got it! Yes, the strobing occurs only in the blow out areas, where the people meet near white overexposed sky! Thanks guys for the help. Yeah, I asked Barry about this, he said he can't help because he's not a PPro user.
 
Gotta go with Kecorcoran here. I shoot 24pa and edit in a 24p timeline and have no problems. I have noticed increased grain if the gamma is set too high.
 
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