Low Quality capture, frame height

[angrymexican]

Hello all,
I have three questions for you. i did a search and didn't find exactly what i wanted. Here is my problem, when I capture video, it looks horrible on my powerbook titanium. On tv it looks good. If you can observe the jagged edges on the video, and low detail level. On the clip of the car, you can observe grainyness, and there was enough light. Last but not least, You can observe the microphone in the shot, when I was filming this, I did not see it on the lcd nor did I see the mic on the TV but on my computer I do see the mic clearly. Does anyone know how distance I should keep my mic from the shot frame while being close enough to here soft talk.

Setting I can remember were: 24adv, cinelookD

Thanks to all in advance

Angrymexican

 

[taubkin]

Re: Low Quality capture, frame height

That's it. You just dercribed every aspect of the tremenduous difference video projected in a TV and in a LCD computer monitor can have. Number one, the most important: A Computer frame is bigger than the TV, because only the computer is able to display a FULL FRAME. Not even your camera can do it, you would have to find a dedicated video monitor with an UNDERSCAN function (pretty common amongst Professional monitors). The distance you should keep you mic away vary from every framing, but a good palm safety should get you covered. The best would be using a monitor.

The other main difference is resolution. In a LCD you have a lot of pixels and they don't refresh line per line as in TV. You can see interlace artifacts and have all the resolution in the world to see how bad the DV compression really is. Color reproductionin a LCD monitor is not precise, tough... Don't forget, you are dealing with VIDEO, and that carries a lot of particularities of it's own, that are brought to the digital medium once you digitize it.

But most important, don't count on your NLE preview window to make judgements. Open your file in real size on a video app as quicktime or WMP.

Images that have enough light can have regions that are not and on the DVX that resumes on grain. Dark portions of the screen are grainy, and for me, it's one of the things of the DVX that really bugs me.

Basically, your TV (Every TV) is too "low quality" for you to see all the problems you image has...

 

[angrymexican]

Re: Low Quality capture, frame height

Thanks Taubkin,
That last part actually makes a lot os sense to me. But what makes me feel stupid now is the fact the we go to all this trouble and buy expensive equipment and when we watch it on tv we accept low quality (most tube tvs and older).

I guess I will have to conect my tv to the computer while editing. I love the way it looks on my semi-old 36 inch sony.

Thanks for you help.

 

[taubkin]

Re: Low Quality capture, frame height

[quote author=angrymexican link=board=news;num=1096915641;start=0#2 date=10/04/04 at 14:54:44]I guess I will have to conect my tv to the computer while editing. I love the way it looks on my semi-old 36 inch sony. [/quote]

No problem Mexican, BTW, you really SHOULD connect your TV set to your computer. Everybody does it. professional editors use broadcast/professional monitors, while we just use TV sets. I know people who use both.

As for getting expensive equpment, I really can tell the difference from the DVX and lower-end camcorders in cheap TV sets, so I don't think your money is going to waste. And afterall the DVX is not an expensive piece of equipment. A SDX costs 25 Grand, the Varican is Over 50, and let's not get started with the film cameras. NTSC is "Low Quality", and so every system based in it is too. Especially compressed systems like DV. I was watching the Twin Peaks DVD and that is MPG2, more compressed and as good in resolution as our cheap NTSC DV gear. It didn't bug me at all. All I can think of it is that it's amazing, even when I watch on my Apple LCD monitor.

But let's give NTSC a break. It exists for more than 40 years, while VGA, and DVI LCD's are quite new. On the other hand, you can still watch TV on your old 1950's TV sets while I can't seem to connect my first 256 Color VGA display to my mac's AVC connector...

Good Luck, and don't forget to propperly CALLIBRATE your TV set one you've set it up (maybe you can't do it propperly, buy you can still do your best). Search about the subject!