Interlacing artifacts

When importing from my AVCHD camera into FCP (using log&transfer) I can see the interlacing very clearly when looking at the .mov files in quicktimeplayer (viewing in fullscreen).
Is it something I can do in FCP to get rid of those interlacing "artifacts"?

your computer monitor is not an interlaced display.
what is your target delivery format? are you intending on delivering as quicktime movie files to be watched/played fullscreen on a laptop? if yes, then you probably do want to remove the interlacing ... but if you intend to deliver for broadcast or DVD to be watched on a TV, then you probably don't want to remove the interlacing at all.
there is a tendancy at the moment amongst many folks who simply don;t understand the nature of the formats and delivery mechanisms they are working with, and it leads to a lot of misconceptions about what plan of action should or should not be undertaken to get the "best" results.
question: would you class yourself as a hobbyist working with pro-software, or would you say you were a pro working with pro-software. in either case, but much more important if its the latter, you should invest in some time, money and energy in learning about your profession/hobby (and thats not just by asking questions on internet forums as useful as that is, but also by buying and studying reference books, enrolling in classes etc)
cheers
Andy

Similar Messages

Interlacing artifacts on progressive footage in FCP but not when exported?

Hey everyone! Thanks so much to everyone here who has helped me before!
I am trying to edit a music video on my 2GHz Core2 Duo Macbook. I can do everything just fine, but with one little hitch.
The video I am editing was shot DVCPro 1080p 30.
When playing back the raw footage, or playing back my edits in FCP, the video has interlacing artifacts during periods of quick movement, even though the footage was shot progressive. However, when the video is exported, *there are no artifacts upon playback.*
Also, if I open the video in Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended, and look at the video one frame at a time, the interlacing artifacts are there!
Anyone have any idea about why this is happening?
Thanks so much!

The field order of the clips are also set to none.
Here is a picture of the item properties window of one of my main shots:
http://gabrielredding.com/clip_info.jpg
To make things more interesting, the interlacing follows a pattern. Three frames of non-interlaced shots, and then two frames of interlaced shots. Consistently.
Could this have something to do with my integrated graphics card?
Like I said, when the video is exported to a different format, the interlacing is gone, even though no deinterlacing was applied...
Thanks

MPE GPU renders interlacing artifacts

I got a 60D and a Sony DV for shooting videos of some events.
And I shot the videos using the 60D with 720p50 setting, and the DV was on 1080i50.
What I tried to do is to produce a DVD that will have "smooth" motion instead of the 25 fps feel.
So I drag these two file to a 50i sequence, then export it as H264 1080p25 for an hi-def internet copy.
But I have found that the video includes interlacing artifacts in the 60d shot.
These are the exported results that I re-import the exported video into Premiere to capture the same frame:
And so I tried to put the videos into a AVCHD 1080p50
which works out very well.
Here's the problem, when I turn the MPE to software only mode...
It does not have the problem which happened when MPE GPU Accel. enabled.
I remembered that the problem wasn't there on CS5,
I can mix different framerate sources in CS5 with GPU enabled but not in CS5.5 now.
I also told a friend which have the same kind of video as mine,
the problem is happening on his computer too.
I wonder if this is a bug of CS5.5 MPE? or it is only happening to me and my friend?

Setting each clip's field options to Always Deinterlace is the only way I know to get around this bug. It works for me even in an interlaced sequence, but you said it didn't work for you. If you haven't yet, try copy/paste into a matching progressive sequence and then set the Always Deinterlace option for the interlaced clips.
Jeff

DV-avi h.264 causes interlacing artifacts

For days now I've struggled with this problem. The dv-avi to h.264 convertions -always- have the following problem: Sideways motion looks very bad since there are very noticeable interlacing artifacts (i.e. combing effect). (Although if I use de-interlacing during the conversion the effect is different: in sideways motion the combing effect is not present but the vertical lines flicker.)
I have a Sony SD mini-dv camera DCR-HC42E PAL. The footage is in 16:9. I've captured the material using Adobe Premiere Elements 3 (APE). The camera is connected to pc via Fireware. To do the conversion I've tried many programs such as:
- APE
- MPEGStreamclip
- QuickTime Pro
- Videora
- Nero
(Perhaps it is worth mentioning that Using APE and Nero I have not succeeded in producing a file that is playable at all in ATV. Maybe I just don't know the correct settings.)
The dv-avi file looks ok in Windows Media player. In QT pro there is already the combing effect even before the conversion.
The QT Pro (window > show movie properties) shows that the size of the dv-avi file is 768 x 576. Windows Media player (> file > properties) shows that the size is 720 x 576. Windows Media player also shows that the aspect ratio is "4:3 actual, 16:9 displayed".
Í've tried
- different output resolutions (unscaled, 1024 x 576)
- different bitrates (1500 kbps, 3500 kbps)
- with and without de-interlacing
- field dominance lower and upper
- multipass, b-frames
- apple tv presets (QT pro, Videora)
If I just export the dv-avi to standard dvd, the result is good (no interlacing artifacts). But I'd like to use ATV to watch my mini-dv footage.
The media is synced in ATV. The ATV is connected to a Pioneer 436 XDE plasma (HDReady, panel resolution 1024 x 768) via HDMI.
I am beginning to think that either the Sony camera does not produce the right kind of dv-avi or it simply is not possible to have a decent dv-avi pal > h.264 conversion. Any help is greatly appreciated.

The dv-avi file looks ok in Windows Media player. In QT pro there is already the combing effect even before the conversion.
If you select show movie properties from the window menu in QT then select the video track and visual settings then checking/unchecking Single field/Deinterlace should show you an immediate effect, you can also opt to scale your video to 1024 x 576 here, you can then choose to save your changes. You may find the actual conversion to AVC is then better done in streamclip. I too have this interlacing issue when converting homw movies to AVC, being on a mac my workflow is to import and edit in imovie, export to full quality and convert in streamclip (actually I don't export to full quality, imovie creates a reference file as you edit which streacmlip can use to convert - I'm not sure which other programs do this though, so exporting or saving to full quality might be your only option).
These are my streamclip settings
Are you sure you are suffering from interlacing and not field switching, the effects can seem similar.

Interlacing artifacts / jagged edges

Hi,
I've read many of the posts on the Apple Final Cut forum and elsewhere about interlacing artifacts in video. For background info, I'm working with a client's SD DV footage (16:9). It was shot on mini-DV @ shutter rate 125. (BTW, completely white background with people wearing black shirts doing exercises.) The footage is in FCP now and has noticeable interlacing artifacts especially with faster motion and around object edges (black shirts, etc.). I believe that my sequence settings are correct:
720x480 NTSC DV (3:2)
Pixel Aspect Ratio: NTSC-CCIR 601/DV (720x480) - Anamorphic checked.
Field Dominance: Lower (Even)
Editing Timebase: 29.97
Quicktime Video Settings:
Compressor: DV/DVCPRO-NTSC
Quality: 100%
Advanced:
Compression Type: DV/DVCPRO-NTSC
Frames/Second: 29.97
Compressor: Best
Scan Mode: Interlaced
Aspect Ratio: 16:9 (was 4:3, changed it to 16:9)
When I encoded a test sequence in Compressor (using best quality, 16:9, 2-pass at 4.2 bit rate), the interlacing artifacts in the encode came out even more slightly pronounced. I also opened this mpeg-2 in QT Player to verify that the artifacts were true. This project is going to DVD (using DVD SP to author, Compressor to encode) for TV and computers.
As I mentioned, I have read varying information/opinions about interlacing issues and how to resolve them. One mentioned that it has to do with the computer monitor, and that the DVD wouldn't show interlacing artifacts when played on TVs . The other list of possible resolves I've found are:
1. Add motion blur filter
2. Add de-interlace flicker filter
3. Add Stibb's De-Interlacer filter
4. Add field interpolate filter
5. Change motion estimation in Compressor from better to best
6. Try changing field dominance from bottom first to none
Is there anyone who has expert experience with this issue - who has run through different fixes for this issue and can tell me what works the best? Thank you in advance.

Best way? Or best way with tools you have access too? Best way is via a hardware converter called a Terranex or Alchemist.
Second best...After effects:
http://forums.creativecow.net/thread/2/979201

INTERLACING ARTIFACT promblem on DVD burn from HD uncompressed clip

Hello,
I'm trying to export a long feature film that has been exported from After Effects to HD uncompressed 10-bit in HDTV (rec. 709) color space, 1920x1080, 29.97.
The original footage was ProspectHD 10-bit digitized from HDTV tapes shot using SONY HVR-Z1U.
The HD clips are flawless, I use them with a Dolby Digital Surround AC3; there 6 clips lined up, since putting all together makes for a to massive clip to handle smoothly.
Encore takes about 40 hours to re-encore to burn it to either a blu-ray or DVD.
The result is ok in most of shots, but when action get quicker or camera jerkier or fades are involved; then, I get interlace artifacts, I see unsynched fields effets where lines aren't lined up properly.
Sometimes it goes as far as a region on color (like a sky) falling appart for a few frames; in fades mostly, but not mostly.
I've seen many stuff on this forum about interlacing problems, but nothing I could tie down to my exact problem...
Should I pre-encode my clips to mpeg2 DVD ready before doing the burning ?
Should I deinterlace them ?
If I do deinterlace them, wouldn't this affect synch with audio clip ?
What about the deinterlace button option in Encore ?
If I pre-encode (deinterlacing or not) before burning, won't Encore recompress it when burning DVD ?
If it does wouldn't I loose quality this way ?
To stop this, can I do lie I did for my already encoded AC3 audio track ; mark clip as "do not re-encode" ?
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Frédéric

My computer is:
Athlon 64 x2 6400+
8 GB ram
Windows Vista 64-bit
NVIDIA QUADRO FX-1500
Using Encore CS4

Trying to go from 24P DV to MPEG4 for web - Interlace artifacts!!!!

I've tried a million different things but can't get this to work. I shot 24P (not advanced) on a DVX100. Edited everything fine, no problems. Looks great on a monitor.
Now I am trying to export out an MPEG4 quicktime for the web. I get interlacing artifacts. I tried using Compressor and exporting from FCP and Quicktime Pro. I tried doing a reverse telecine in Cinema Toolsat 24FPS which seemed to create a DV quicktime without the 3:2, but when I try to convert that file to MP4 the interlacing problems reappear.
What am I doing wrong? What can I do? Help is appreciated!

Yes, but Cinema Tools removes the pulldown based on timing - like removing every fifth frame. If the movie you feed it is made up of a number of clips with different cadences, Cinema tools will pull the wrong frames out of some of the clips. That's why I said it needed to be done on a clip by clip basis.
Does this make sense?
Patrick

De interlace artifacts

I am working on a FCP project with settings at Pro Res 422. Footage shot at 1080 24p, imported from P2 card.
When i idrop footage into seqeunce, it tells me seq set and footage don't match, so i say yes change settings to match. So my footage with movement , small hand movement shows deinterlace atrifacts. So I tried another seq. and said no leave seq at setting I have chosen, artifacts still there.
I have had this when using pro res setting, solved by using apple intermediate codec....is pro res better, I thought so , or should I just use the apple I codec.
When dropping a deinterlace filter on I beleive one loses quality.
Please help???
Catherine

P2...what format? DVCPRO HD or AVCIntra? DVCPRO HD comes in as DVCPRO HD, and AVCIntra by default comes in as ProRes.
But, P2 cameras don't shoot native 23.98 at 1080p. They only shoot that with 720p, on a setting called 720p 24pN..."N" meaning NATIVE. At 1080p24, the camera shoots the 24p look, but in a 29.97 frame rate...so there will be interlaced frame blending. There are two styles of 1080p 24 it shoots...1080i 24p, and 1080i 24pA. 24pA, "A" meaning "ADVANCED PULLDOWN," can be imported into FCP and have the pulldown removed so you end up with 23.98 files. BUT, if you shot 1080i 24P...regular 24P...this won't happen, and you'll have the 24p look, but at 29.97fps.
And the reason you see these interlaced artifacts is that computer monitors don't show interlacing well. To really see what your footage looks like, you need a capture card, output device (AJA, Decklink, Matrox) and an HDTV.

Photos and aliasing/interlace artifacts

Well, i'm dyin' here, and need a life because i'm posting on christmas eve, but here goes:
all i'm trying to do is rotate a still image (pict file) about the Y axis (left to right rotate, not top to bottom) over a moving background, and at the 90 null point, rotate another pict back around on the other side. simple move. i have a beveled border around them and they are squeezed down to about 80% of normal size. i have about 2 dozen of them to do.
i'm getting TERRIBLE interlacing artifacts on the edges of the picture. i have put the de-interlace filter on them, and the flicker filter. i'm using the "basic 3d" filter to effect the y-axis rotate. i've tried the anti-aliasing filter, but all it seems to do is soften the pict file. i attempted to add a motion blur filter, but the render time seemed unreasonable.
i'm using FCP 3.0.2 on a single proc. G4 450, with os X.3.9.
ANY help you can give me would be appreciated.

I have no idea why FCP can't handle motion really well, perhaps it is simply to force people to use the app MOTION. Since I was an AE guy, I choose to these sorts of things there.
You've already done the basic things to the images and I can't offer you any more than good wishes and the hope you can learn new software quickly. Sorry.
Good luck.
x
Do your part in supporting your fellow users. If a response has been Helpful to you or Solved your question, please mark it as such as an aid to other lost souls on the forum.
Also, don't forget to mark the thread Answered when you get enough information to close the thread.

Help with 24p capture/sequence settings and interlace artifacts

We are trying to capture sd video shot on a panasonic DVX 100B at 24p (not advanced) using FCP 6.02.
The video was shot anamorphic (squeeze) through the camera.
We have tried a variety of capture and sequence setting and continue to get varying degrees of artifact (lines) at motion points (e.g. when a hand moves).
We have tried:
Capture Easy set-up 29.97
Capture Anamorphic 29.97
We have tried changing field dominance to none.
We have experimented with both interlace and progressive scan.
We have experimented with different playback units including the camera shot with.
Would love some advice on best capture sequence settings. Playback will be computer/video projector.

It's sounds like you've been mislead about what 24p (as opposed to 24p Advanced) actually is on tape - it's interlaced 29.97 footage. So, what you're seeing is normal - there should be three progressive frames followed by 2 interlaced frames (since it's pulldown added to 23.98 material).
So, to get to the heart of your question, you are capturing correctly - Anamorphic 29.97.
If you want true progressive output, strip the pulldown - use Cinema Tools - and edit as 23.98. Otherwise, if you can't go 23.98, you're stuck with what you've got.

Severe flicker or interlacing artifacts with motion

In the archived topic with the same subject as this one at:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=351090&start=0&tstart=0
my problem with interlace flicker was not solved. There is bad news and good news with the new iLife '08.
*Bad news*: iMovie HD 6.0.4 still generates flicker with the new iDVD 7.0.1.
*Good news*: iMovie 7.1 +does not+ generate flicker with the new iDVD.
This means the source of the problem was not EyeTV or its export settings, or the old iDVD. It was iMovie all along.
Of course, the new iMovie has a long way to go to catch up with the old iMovie and I seriously doubt if we'll ever see any updates to, what should I call it now, *iMovie Classic*, but actually being able to build a flicker-free movie is certainly worth something.

Interesting. I want to try the workaround ElPresidente suggested in that archived thread. Lots of good info in that thread.
I too am having this problem although I'm calling it "jitter".. See this thread:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1166111&tstart=0
I'm using iMovie HD and iDVD 5 and EyeTV 250 plus.
I'll follow this thread too.
Cheers,
John L

HD 24p from V1U has interlacing artifacts

I am just starting to play with my new Sony V1U. I shot a few clips at 24p and brought them into FCP. When I look at them on a 24fps, I still see interlacing on every 2 of 4 frames??
The clips themselves are still listed with a 29.97 timebase, but I can't figure out how or if I should change this. The Capture Preset is set for HDV. (There is no option for 1080p24)
Shouldn't I be able to see all 24 frames progressive in the timeline? Any ideas?

I just purchased a V1U myself. Just getting FCP 5.1.2 is NOT going to fix your problem. FCP doesn't support the V1U's true 1080 24p yet. The only HDV that FCP is referencing when you see 1080 24p is the Canon 24f thing (shutter of cam isn't true 24p, it is a software-in-the-cam solution, albeit a very convincing one...)
Anyhoo, I had success pulling the 29.97 footage down and removing the 3:2 cadence from my V1U footage. The result was squeaky clean 24p. Looks great. You'll need to use cinema tools and AIC instead of HDV (cinema tools won't let you apply pull down to frames that don't exist, so native HDV is no good; you'll need to make all your frames I frames...) I've already started using the cam's 24p scan A mode to make this easier (it resets the cadence every time you pause the camera...)
If all this sounds completely foreign to you, I advise just waiting a few months for Apple to officially support it in a future FCP release, so that FCP will remove the frames on capture.

Interlace problems with moving objects using iDVD

I had an MP4 file (created by a 3rd party) from a Hi-8 analog tape which has some interlace artifacts on moving images (left image of boy) but not too bad. When the MP4 files was imported into iMovie 11 the interlace artifacts smoothed somewhat - that was OK (right image of boy). The camera was still and the boy was moving. Vertical lines on stationary objects are OK in all images. These are screen captures from the Mac of the mp4 played through quicktime and the same file imported into iMovie 11 and played. I paused both to take the screen capture.
The completed project in iMovie 11 looked OK when previewed prior to rendering. These are 20 year old videos so my expections were being met.   I rendered the project with iDVD to the hard drive first and then to a DVD with the same poor imaging result on the moving object. I am using a new Macbook Pro I bought in early January which came with iMovie 11 and iDVD Ver 7.1.2 (1158). Running Mac OS X 10.7.3 Macbook Pro 2.3 Ghz Corei7   8GB 1333 Mhz DDR3.
I couldn't screen capture from the MAC DVD player screen to illustrate the poor result (got a checkerboard screen) so I took a photo of the screen and imported that (below). The moving boy on the left is from an iMovie 11 screen capture, the image on the right is the moving boy from the rendered DVD I paused on the Mac (and took a pic of).
Below a close up of the poorly rendered moving boy viewed on the resultant DVD. This translates into a horrible rendition of any quick moving object. It happens with any moving image - i.e. a pan across a room with straight vertical lines like edges of a wall will show as serrated and poorly rendered edge. I used a trial version of the Daniusoft DVD creator with the same result! I am at a loss on how to resolve this issue. Any thoughts out there??
I had previously used Pinnacle Studios on my old XP PC which worked great on other tape's Mpeg files and created great DVD's (never had an interlace problem) ... until my computer died ..... so I figured Apple and associated software should be at least equal if not a superior product.   Now I'm not too sure!

I had an MP4 file (created by a 3rd party) from a Hi-8 analog tape which has some interlace artifacts on moving images (left image of boy) but not too bad. When the MP4 files was imported into iMovie 11 the interlace artifacts smoothed somewhat - that was OK (right image of boy). The camera was still and the boy was moving. Vertical lines on stationary objects are OK in all images. These are screen captures from the Mac of the mp4 played through quicktime and the same file imported into iMovie 11 and played. I paused both to take the screen capture.
The completed project in iMovie 11 looked OK when previewed prior to rendering. These are 20 year old videos so my expections were being met.   I rendered the project with iDVD to the hard drive first and then to a DVD with the same poor imaging result on the moving object. I am using a new Macbook Pro I bought in early January which came with iMovie 11 and iDVD Ver 7.1.2 (1158). Running Mac OS X 10.7.3 Macbook Pro 2.3 Ghz Corei7   8GB 1333 Mhz DDR3.
I couldn't screen capture from the MAC DVD player screen to illustrate the poor result (got a checkerboard screen) so I took a photo of the screen and imported that (below). The moving boy on the left is from an iMovie 11 screen capture, the image on the right is the moving boy from the rendered DVD I paused on the Mac (and took a pic of).
Below a close up of the poorly rendered moving boy viewed on the resultant DVD. This translates into a horrible rendition of any quick moving object. It happens with any moving image - i.e. a pan across a room with straight vertical lines like edges of a wall will show as serrated and poorly rendered edge. I used a trial version of the Daniusoft DVD creator with the same result! I am at a loss on how to resolve this issue. Any thoughts out there??
I had previously used Pinnacle Studios on my old XP PC which worked great on other tape's Mpeg files and created great DVD's (never had an interlace problem) ... until my computer died ..... so I figured Apple and associated software should be at least equal if not a superior product.   Now I'm not too sure!

AVCHD interlaced sequence export to progressive (h.264) with Premiere Pro CS5.

Hi !
I have searched everywhere on the web (and this forum) for an appropriate answer.
Here is the problem :
I have used AVCHD (upperfields first / square pixels / 1080i30(i60)) footages to make a movie.
The primary sequence settings are correct :
AVCHD 1080i30(i60) square pixels
The files play fine in Premiere, and the montage was flawless in high 1080i quality.
I have exported 5 seconds of the movie into raw "AVI Microsoft uncompressed" files, so I can import them in "After Effects" to had some texts and graphics. When done, I re-imported them into the Premiere's sequence. (same AVI uncompressed format).
Playback works fine. The movie looks great and flawless, and has no interlacing artifact.
HOWEVER : When I want to export this sequence into a MPEG H.264 progressive final file, there is some gerkiness on the parts where the "AVI" files were added.
It looks as if it had been interlaced, when the rest of the movie looks ok.
When I'm in the exporting window, I can see the "Source" and "Output" display.
"Source" looks fine and "Output" looks gerky.
I have tried to create a new progressive sequence, into which I imported my main AVCHD sequence (with some progressive footages in it). To no avail !... I had heard that this could work but it's not.
I looked in the "Output" window while trying all the possible codec formats (and field orders), to no avail.
UNTIL !! I checked the key : "Make Sequence settings match" that is on top of the exporting window.
The image in the "Output" window became clear. However, all the settings below the checked key were now locked.
Producing a file with this format (it seems it is a MPEG2 / upperfield first, the same format that is used for Preview files) can render a file that has all it's field and image quality aligned.
By unchecking the "Make sequence match" key, I was able to create my own settings of MPEG2 "upperfield" that still interpretes the movie correctly.
But it's not the MPEG H.264 progressive file that I want. I have to re-render it with a third party software to get a H.264(p) out of a MPEG2(i).
Is there something I should check or try to be able to export my movie in H.264 directly ?
Thank you!

FAQ: What information should I provide when asking a question on this forum?

Video "jigsaw" artifacts appear when camera pans on burned DVDs

I've been pulling my hair out for days as I export endless new sequences at different settings and then burn DVDs, only to find that the problem does not go away. The issue is the infamous "jigsaw" artifact effect, or whatever you want to call it, meaning that when viewing the resulting DVDs, when the camera pans, images "tear" and kind of spazz out. This seems most noticeable when panning past straight vertical objects, but is not limited to only this circumstance. My suspicion is that this is all the result of an interlacing issue in iDVD, but I have certainly learned that I am capable of overlooking the obvious or being wrong. What I don't understand is that with all of us out there working on Avids and using iDVD, either there does not seem to be a unified ideal export setting that resolves this issue, or I am having a comparatively unique problem. The shame is that most of the DVDs are looking great, and it is only this one issue that is sabotaging completion of this project. I'm at my wits end, so any and all knowledgeable help is supremely appreciated. Help me keep my hair.
When viewing any of these exported clips within quicktime player, the jigsaw is not visible. But when viewing the burned DVDs on my Mac, the jigsaw is visible.
When viewing the burned DVDs on my Panasonic HDTV (TH-42PX75U) the jigsaw is visible. When viewing the burned DVDs on my Sony Trinitron Production monitor (non HD), the jigsaw is visible.
Avid Software: Avid Xpress DV 3.5.0
Editing system info: Mac G4 "Mirror door" model - Dual 1.2 Ghz PowerPC - memory 1024 MB
OS Software on Editing System - OS X version 10.2.3
Quicktime version on Editing system: QT version 6.3
Software used to burn DVDs: Idvd 8 version 7.0.1
Computer used to burn DVDs: MacBookPro3,1 - Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2 GHz (codec downloaded from Avid and installed - prior post about video not displayed in QT exports was due to missing codec)
Quicktime version on Computer used to burn DVDs - QT Version 7.4 (92) (with Pro upgrade)
DVD media used: TDK DVD-R 8X 4.7GB
Info on sequence I am burning - A 1 hour and 50 minute program of African wildlife footage all shot on regular mini DV tapes. Camera used was the Panasonic AGDVX100A on the 24 frame setting that does not require a software fix (the correction is done in camera). All the footage was digitized using this camera. When viewing any of these exports afterward within quicktime player, the "jigsaw" is not visible. It only becomes visible after burning them and then watching the dvd. All burns in iDVD 8 are using the "professional" burn mode.
Export settings from Avid and iDVD 8 result summary -
1) Exported at "same as source" from Avid yields arguably the absolute worst result, as I rather suspected with the whole field / interlacing issue, but I was feeling hopeful.
2) Trying to bypass Quicktime by using "dvstream" as the export setting also yields a very poor result. This jigsaw problem does not occur, but the resulting image is terrible. Very milky blacks, the compression is worse, as in much more noticeable, than any other export, and the image is soft and thin looking, rather anemic, and it ruins the visuals completely. What is a bit odd to me however is that I had been using dvstream to burn DVDs of other projects for years on prior versions of iDVD and it never seemed to be a problem. As I tried this one first, without having the Avid codec installed in my MacBook (which I use to burn as I can run iDVD8 on it, also meaning that trying quicktime reference is not an option, I must export, then move the completed export to my macbook pro), I am currently exporting it one more time to see if installation of the codec fixes the horrible compression and color result, but I am not hopeful at all.
3) Tried using an Avid forum suggestion that recommended using 720 X 480 - crop/pad - RGB color levels - even (lower field first) - native dimension 720 x 480. No good.
4) Another Avid forum suggestion to try the "Animation" setting for video
instead of "Avid DV" is not a viable option. The infamous "2 GB limit" message
comes up as the export nears completion and aborts. This message does not appear
with any other export setting. When cutting my sequence in half, the same problem occurs. Even if I could get it to work, the result would be useless if it meant I had to send people several DVDs of the program chopped up into little bits.
5) Heres a summary of other export attempts all using Quicktime movie and "Avid DV" for video, keeping in mind the info I read about how at least one version of iDVD had the field order (ntsc vs pal)reversed a while back. I would expect that Apple has fixed this problem by now, but just in case...
a) odd field - 720 x 486 - 601 - crop/pad - 4:3 Non-square
b) odd field - 720 x 480 - 601 - crop/pad - 4:3 Non-square
c) even field - 720 x 486 - 601 - crop/pad - 4:3 Non-square
d) even field - 720 x 480 - - 601 - crop/pad - 4:3 Non-square
Suggestions to buy a different dvd burning program or new software are nice and all, but I simply cannot afford it. I also have a fear that if I were to try a different program that the same darn thing would happen, as no one seems to be able to say with 100% certainty that this specific problem would be fixed. The only thing that would be worse than my sense of hopelessness and helplessness at present would be spending more money and still not having this maddening issue be resolved.
Help... and thanks to any of you who take the time to read this epic length post and reply!

PROBLEM SOLVED! Thanks to having downloaded Toast 8, the dreaded interlacing has disappeared. The first test made me nervous. I exported from Avid using Sorenson and using the "automatic" settings for Toast's detection of fields etc. The DVD still had the jigsaw at the same spots, but it was not as pronounced as some of the tests with iDVD. I then exported "same as source" and used the advanced settings in Toast to tell it "lower field" and maxed the compression settings as much as I could without exceeding disc space. The DVD result is the best looking I've seen so far and all interlacing artifacts are gone! Thanks to Blackdog at the Avid Forum. I now know this interlacing problem was 100% the fault of iDVD 8 and will be using Toast from now on.

Interlacing artifacts

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for