DVDSP 3 somewhat BLOCKY look on DVD when played back

I have been shooting my home footage on a Canon GL2
editing in FCP 4.5
and when I have a finished sequence to be placed on a DVD, I have been exporting the Self Contained Quicktime w/ chapter makers.
I then importing these Quicktime files into DVDSP-3
I have experimented with serveral of the encoding setting (Bit Rate, 1 pass VBR, 2 pass VBR etc...)
I have been told in forums before not to go above 8mps on the bit rate in order to ensure that my DVD will play on most players.
So, the best setting that I have found is the 2 pass VBR, 7.5 average, 8 max bit rate, and Best on the motion estimation...
But, I have still been somewhat frustrated when watching these DVDs back because of the blocky look I am seeing in some of the scenes.
Is there a better way I should be compressing?
Should I be using compressor instead... strait from my FCP timeline... to MPEG 2?
Shorter GOPs? Would that effect how the DVDs will play on some players?
I appreciate any help!!!
Thanks, Greg

Greg
You may want to try an alternative Encoder ! A bit drastic but I have had so many problems with MPEG2's using Compressor and encoding through DVDSP (probably down to me not understanding the 'black art'!) that I bought BitVice Vers 1.6 from Innobits. It is not cheap (£215/$317) and only encodes MPEG2's but the results I am getting are very acceptable just using the default settings but changing the target bit rate to 5.5. Very easy/simple to use. The pictures have a real 'punch' to them and there are no artifacts/blurring etc - which is a major bonus! You can download a trial version which encodes as normal but places a watermark over the top of the final output. Even so, it does give you an idea of what it can do and it made me purchase the encoder straight away!

Similar Messages

  • Text looks too pixelated when played back

    Here is the situation. We have a project to produce a banner for our school that will be played at an arena. This is to played on one of those huge banner screens that go around the entire place. The dimensions are 6046 x 32 (I know that sounds crazy, I'm still waiting form them to call back to confirm if those are the right dimensions). When I put the text on there it looks way to pixelated in play back. Any thoughts of what I could do to make it look presentable?

    chapp_stl wrote:
    I spoke with the powers that be and they said the original dimensions are correct.
    This is not supported by your following statements but it my pleasure to misunderstand stuff.
    chapp_stl wrote:
    I'm just hoping we can send this off to the place that will play it to see how it looks before it's too late.
    Yes, that would be great. I may have missed it before, you're sending them what? The only thing you'll get from Livetype is a Quicktime movie or a still image. If they want a still, do it in Photoshop. I'm still having a really hard time believing the stadium expects you to deliver this thing intact, self contained. It is more likely they want your design and specifications and then they'll create it using the display's proprietary software. Whatever runs the thing, it's probably on a PC. Make sure you know what you're expected to provide.
    chapp_stl wrote:
    Another question for those of you that have done this before, is it better to section the spacing out in thirds or fourths, etc.? We have a seven word sentence with our web address on it. I'm just hoping it doesn't cut off the words in the wrong spot.
    There's nothing to break up. You make a sentence and animate it across the width of the format in one movie. Don't ya?
    bogiesan

  • Colors in FCP looks different than when playing in QT7

    The colors of the video's in FCP looks different than when playing back in QuickTime. I wonder if it can be a color management setting in FCP? I have the same problem when playing a clip in AE. I have two FCP machines, but only one of them is having this problem. Any ideas of what I can do to get the right colors back?

    Have you enabled Final Cut Studio Color Compatibility in the QT Player preferences?

  • I am trying to burn DVDs from iPhoto slideshows.  My pictures number in the hundreds and we know that iPhoto captures 99 and then "starts over".  This plays fine from the Mac Book but glitches arise on the DVD when playing it on a DVD player.  Any suggsts

    I am trying to burn DVDs from iPhoto slideshows.  My pictures number in the hundreds and we know that iPhoto captures 99 and then "starts over".  This plays fine from the Mac Book but glitches arise on the DVD when playing it on a DVD player.  Any suggestions on how to overcome the 99 "Chapter limitation" that IPhoto has?  Has anyone heard or tried an app called Vilisoft?  I read good things but I am not sure if it will do what I want.
    Jim

    Then use multipel 99 picture slideshows. 
    You can have up to 8 or 9 slideshows per menu.  If you add a sub menu reduce that by 1 and add 8 more to the sub menu.  The top menu can have links to up to 8 or so submenus (depends on the theme) and each submenu can have up to 8 or so slideshows. 
    However, converting a very large slideshow to a QT movie as Terence suggested does not envoke the 99 slide limit in iDVD.  It just becomes a single video/movie file.  So you should not have a problem with exporting at the large size, 720 x 540,
    and dragging the resulting file into the iDVD menu being sure to avoid any drop zones.
    OT

  • Picture breakup when playing back recordings of HD...

    As above really, only noticed this since the latest software change but my be coincidental.
    I have recently had picture breakup when playing back reordings on BBC1HD and Ch4HD, when I watch the channels live there is no evidence of the breakup and if I check the signal strength on both channels I am getting Signal strength of 78% and quality of 100%
    Anybody else experience this or have any suggestions for solutions please?
    Thanks

    I think that is what he is saying Alex...
    If you think about what I tested, the model seems pretty right...  Delete the room, it does not delete the file from webdav...  So, when the room is re-created, it will play back original content so looks like they are not storing room historical data, i.e. is there a recording, how long etc....
    I think it is an great solution to be able to remove completed rooms and FMS pick the old room up from webdav on the fly.  Seems the most logical option.
    Nigel, I don't suppose there is any solution of sending the recording to Amazon S3 or other cloud resources rather than the webdav folder?  I think, for those with thousands of recordings, storage could become an issue...  I have looked at the possibility of mapping my box to the S3 bucket but then I am reteiving it to send it to you every time a file is requested which could cause bandwidth issues...
    Maybe integrating some sort of API where when setting up the recording, we provide specifics (i.e. an authentication token), to allow the file to be placed there?  Or maybe a slightly different approach would be to provide a cloud front url for picking up the files and the transfer could go on behind the scenes....  Also with the cloud front, distribution would be much quicker as the files could end up closer to the location of the FMS which in turn would create a richer experience with less waiting...
    Anyway, maybe you can advise.
    Thanks for your time.
    Marc

  • "Dropped Frames on Playback" - when playing back FCP's Bars+tone

    We've been having a problems with one of our edit suites dropping frames when playing back to tape (Edit to tape).
    In checking it out, I created a new project and added DCP's PAL Bars and tone to the default sequence. FCP is stopping playback with the "Dropped Frames on Playback" error after 13"-15". I've tried all the usual stuff - trashing FCP prefs, zapping PRAM, repairing preferences etc.
    Has anyone any further suggestions??
    RT is set to Safe, with dynamic frame rate and video quality.
    The Mac is a Dual 2.66GHz Dual Core Xeon, 4Gb RAM, with an AJA kona lhe card, connected to an XServe Raid via fibre. The tape deck is a DigiBeta M2000.
    I've read all the posts I could find, and checked Shane's stock answer #12.
    Cheers
    Steve

    Try creating a new user, log into that and test FCP.
    In my case, a new user worked, for awhile.
    Through a lot of trial and error and a reinstallation that was ineffectual - properly surmised by a very learned friend of mine, Mr. Sheffield - I found a project to be corrupt. So thoroughly corrupt that it would corrupt FCP and any projects opened downstream which is why my new user worked for awhile. Took me some time to figure out the proper order to open things after a system restart. Looks like I'll be doing a rebuild of the project through xml which shouldn't take to long.
    In your case, if a new user doesn't help and you go the reinstallation route, uninstall FC Studio with this jewel of a utility. Many thanks to Jon for writing and distributing. http://www.digitalrebellion.com/blog/posts/fcsremover_1.0.6released.html
    Zeb

  • 720P 30 H.264 videos stutter when played back on Windows

    720P 30 H.264 videos stutter when played back on Windows
    I have an interesting problem that I am hoping someone can help me with.
    I have several short videos (2-4 minutes) in 1080i HDV that I have edited in FCP. When output to 720P 30 H.264 in Compressor at either 10 or 6 MB they look just drop dead gorgeous when played back on either of my dual processor Macs.
    However when played back on a Windows machine with QuickTime 7, they stutter to the point that playback locks up. This happens on 1.5 GHz to 3.2 GHz P4 class machines with 512 MB to 1 GB of RAM and 64 to 128 MB video cards. On the 3.2 GHz P4, the processor utilization peaks at 100%. The interesting thing is that all of these same Windows machines have no problem playing back 720p 24 trailers at 6 MB.
    Thanks all.

    First a correction. I am using the latest version of FCP – 5.
    Regarding the encoding, I have tried going from native HDV MPEG-2 to H.264 at 720P from 10 to 4 MB at 24, 30 and 29.97. The Mac seems to play everything back very well, but most PCs (the latest IBM T 40 – 43 series laptops) a couple of Dell desk tops (2.6 GHZ with 64 and 128 MB graphic cards) and a 3.2 GHz Shuttle PC with a 128 MB graphic card (that we routinely use to decode four MPEG-4, 4CIF images simultaneously and display on a 42” ED Plasma) choke/stutter to varying degrees with processor utilization hitting 100%.
    So, the real issue here is what is the difference between a 720p trailer that I can download from Apple and what I can output using Compressor 2 at a similar data rate – other than the frame rate?
    And why does the Compressor output stutter on most PCs?

  • Shadowy jerky effect on slo-mo shots when played back on television monitor

    Has anybody else noticed this problem?
    When playing back a movie edited in imovie 4 on a DVD-R through a television monitor all the slo-mo shots have a shadowy jerky effect on them. They don't play smoothly as they do when the same DVD-R is played back on my computer monitor.
    Any suggestions on how to fix this would be appreciated. It ruins the whole effect of the slo-mo.
    Emac 1.25GHz PowerPC G4   Mac OS X (10.3.9)  

    Did iMovie prompt you to render the project when sending to iDVD. Slo-mo needs the deinterlacing that process does -- otherwise the output is jerky on a TV.
    See also a related iMovie 4-6 bug you should be aware of:
    http://www.sjoki.uta.fi/~shmhav/iMovieHD_6_bugs.html#jaggystills
    And besides, you get better quality slo-mo with 3rd party apps:
    http://www.sjoki.uta.fi/~shmhav/SVCDon_aMacintosh.html#speed

  • I have recently upgraded my iMac Intel G5 iSight to OS 10.6.8 and now the internal mic does not work with skype or facebook. I can here static when playing back clips. Do I need to update firmware or reload old sys parts

    I have recently upgraded my iMac Intel G5 iSight (iMac5,1) to OS 10.6.8 and now the internal mic does not work with skype or facebook. I can here static when playing back clips. Do I need to update firmware or reload old system parts. I have zapped PRAM. The blue indicator in system audio panel will appear for a second as I slide the bar for internal mic but then it disappears. Is there a fix?

    The sound seems very faint but can here static on playback.

  • Audio Clicking and broken up when playing back from timeline

    Can anyone please give me some advice about a possible solution to a continuing audio problem I am having when using the Tascam Fireone with Final Cut Pro 5.1.4. (Fireone working well with Logic 7 on the same machine)
    The Symptoms are as follow:
    When playing back edited clips or music from the timeline there are constant ugly pops and clicks.
    Any audio or video and audio even with differing sample rates when played in the source monitor are unaffected and play perfectly.
    I have tried everything I know and am now at a total loss as to what to try next.
    Tascam's so called support ignore any communication from me about it, as do most people on this forum.
    Any suggestions welcome.
    Thank you

    I think it is a driver issue between Tascam and Apple Firewire connections
    It's all very frustrating as Tascam just do not respond to support questions well.
    Thanks for your comments, it's back to the drawing board with the Fireone and Final Cut Pro, a great shame because it's cheap and very good with Logic.

  • My "older" songs stutter when played back

    my pc is only 6 months old, but the first songs i downloaded from the itunes store
    "stutter" when played back. they don't stutter on my ipod, and the more recenlty
    downloaded songs are also ok. i have deleted them, reloaded from the ipod, updated
    itunes, all to no avail. any ideas?

    First a correction. I am using the latest version of FCP – 5.
    Regarding the encoding, I have tried going from native HDV MPEG-2 to H.264 at 720P from 10 to 4 MB at 24, 30 and 29.97. The Mac seems to play everything back very well, but most PCs (the latest IBM T 40 – 43 series laptops) a couple of Dell desk tops (2.6 GHZ with 64 and 128 MB graphic cards) and a 3.2 GHz Shuttle PC with a 128 MB graphic card (that we routinely use to decode four MPEG-4, 4CIF images simultaneously and display on a 42” ED Plasma) choke/stutter to varying degrees with processor utilization hitting 100%.
    So, the real issue here is what is the difference between a 720p trailer that I can download from Apple and what I can output using Compressor 2 at a similar data rate – other than the frame rate?
    And why does the Compressor output stutter on most PCs?

  • When playing back stills, how do I turn off the G..D...n zoom?

    When playing back stills in imovie, how do I turn off the G..D...n zoom? I just want it to show stills, STILL, zoom-effects do not go well with a serie of meditative fotos of sculptures.... thank you. Anyone?

    Hi
    It's called Ken-Burns effect.
    Click on one photo in Project.
    Then You see a small cogg wheel like symbol
    - click on it and a menu opens where at bottom You can
    - select Crop/Ken-Burns/Rotation - select it
    Now in Viewer/Canvas at top set Size (Adjusted) from Adjust/Crop/Ken Burns menu - now the picture will show in full and no zoom.
    As You see - there is a linguistic barrier when not having an English version of iM.
    Yours Bengt W

  • Premiere Pro CC 2014 crashing when playing back especially when playing back graphics.

    I updated Premiere Pro to CC 2014 last week and found it crashing a lot when playing back especially when playing back graphics. Has anyone else had this problem?

    More information needed for someone to help... please click below and provide the requested information
    -Premiere Pro Video Editing Information FAQ http://forums.adobe.com/message/4200840
    What is your exact brand/model graphics adapter (ATI or nVidia or ???)
    What is your exact graphics adapter driver version?
    Have you gone to the vendor web site to check for a newer driver?
    For Windows, do NOT rely on Windows Update to have current driver information
    -you need to go direct to the vendor web site and check updates for yourself
    ATI Driver Autodetect http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/auto-detect-tool
    nVidia Driver Downloads http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us

  • Iphone 5 video, not smooth when played back in iPhoto?

    Why are my videos all 'stop start' when played back in iphoto? Is it something to do with the size of the file it seems to be happening on video shot on 1920 x 1080 which is when I got my iphone. Are hey going to be ok when i place them in imovie?

    Sorry, maybe I don't understand or I didn't explain my problem properly.
    (I'm doing this project as a hobby so can't really afford external resources)
    The demo involves filming industrial equipment, which is being monitored by a PC.
    As the equipment runs, graphs and results are produced on the PC.
    I managed to capture this, but when importing it into FCP AND playing it back, the picture is not clear. but when I forward frame by frame, each frame is nice and very sharp.
    Could it be frame rates or?
    I've seen many educational videos that show computer screen shots and I am prepared to pay for software that captures these shots, if that would help.
    I don't really know how a "scan" would work.
    Or maybe I'm dreaming that I can do this relatively easy.
    Thanks for your answer.

  • No sound when playing back videos, 10 out 14 taken all on the same day!!

    Ok strange 1, took videos this morning using my iPhone 4, when played back the sound was fine could hear everything, i took 10 more, i could hear no sound from these 10, i took 2 more when i got home they were fine, the phone was held in different ways all day so i wasnt covering anything, obviously some worked before and after so there isnt a problem with the microphone. tried restoring but I dont see the point if some have sound and some dont, have uplaoded to youtube and played back on the computer with the same problems, anyone any ideas?

    You could try either a Backup Restore or a Clean Restore. I usually do a CR with MobileMe as the restore source. Afterwards I reload the music, videos and apps.
    It could be a sound playing bug like the Bluetooth bug that bites me now and then (audio stops and goes once in a while, audio gaps in the video if the video is paused, and videos recorded have the audio very quiet).

Maybe you are looking for