In the ongoing quest to get HD to look great in SD----
I am still having some difficulties in getting my HD video to SD video to look great and ready for DVD authoring. I would like to know what others are doing to get HD to look as best it can for SD.
Please list your software and steps you take including your authoring software.
Here is what I use and the results are satisfactory but not quite what I had hoped.
I use Edius 6 as a NLE software but any NLE can be used to export AVI HQ or uncompressed or lossless. For conversion to mpg I now use TMPGEnc 5 which is also called Video Mastering Works, I am still experimenting with it but it appears to be quite powerful. Here is what I am doing----This is from a guy in Australia (Anton) who does excellent work. I may need to experiment with it further.

TmpgEnc Video Mastering Works 5 Tutorial for downscaling Edius HD to SD (http://www.videoproductions.com.au/html/t5-hd-sd.html)

I then have been using Encore CS4 for DVD authoring when it isn't crashing. Or I will use Corel Movie factory which seems to work well.
Any other formulas for HD to great looking SD would be welcome. Please be detailed.

Jim, I am new to this also. Will you kindly specify what it is you are unhappy about with your present workflow? Is it the deinterlacing artifacts?

Jim,
I have a similar setup but am using Edius 5.5 and TMPGEnc 4.0. Other than uping the bitrate some to total video + audio no higher than 8500kbs, Anton's method IMO is going to give you about the best you are going to get. He has a lot of experience with this. This is a vast improvement over using the Mainconcept, CINEMA CRAFT, and other encoders in this price range that I experimented with.

Jim, you are going to get all kinds of 'advice' but if you want to deinterlace without any interlace artifacts, use HD Link, which is part of Cineform NEO HD. If you want an example, send me a clip and I will deinterlace it for you.

Anton's method is great for maintaining maximum resolution in the downsized SD video but it does NOTHING to deal with the interlace artifacts which you are talking about. Running will help reduce your blood pressure too but it won't help your interlace artifacts either.

For deinterlacing, HDlink does an excellent job as Jim says, if it is deinterlacing that is causing your problems.

Jim, you are going to get all kinds of 'advice' but if you want to deinterlace without any interlace artifacts, use HD Link, which is part of Cineform NEO HD. If you want an example, send me a clip and I will deinterlace it for you.

Anton's method is great for maintaining maximum resolution in the downsized SD video but it does NOTHING to deal with the interlace artifacts which you are talking about. Running will help reduce your blood pressure too but it won't help your interlace artifacts either.

Ok... will send you a clip. I am just not happy with the sharpness of the video. I am not getting any jaggies, just last of crispness. After I saw what you did with the cat video I was no longer satisfied with my process.
I can't afford HDlink now since the IRS has all my money but I could get neoscence but not sure if that does what you are speaking of. BTW Hdlink only outputs to MOV or AVI correct, don't I need it to come out mpg?
Send me an email address and I will send you a short video.

Jim,
I have a similar setup but am using Edius 5.5 and TMPGEnc 4.0. Other than uping the bitrate some to total video + audio no higher than 8500kbs, Anton's method IMO is going to give you about the best you are going to get. He has a lot of experience with this. This is a vast improvement over using the Mainconcept, CINEMA CRAFT, and other encoders in this price range that I experimented with.

Ok Mark, I will contiue to play with it. Is his method what you are using?

Jim, I am new to this also. Will you kindly specify what it is you are unhappy about with your present workflow? Is it the deinterlacing artifacts?

Jeff it's not the artifacts, it just the overall sharpness/detail I am unhappy with.

Ok... will send you a clip. I am just not happy with the sharpness of the video. I am not getting any jaggies, just last of crispness. After I saw what you did with the cat video I was no longer satisfied with my process.
I can't afford HDlink now since the IRS has all my money but I could get neoscence but not sure if that does what you are speaking of. BTW Hdlink only outputs to MOV or AVI correct, don't I need it to come out mpg?
Send me an email address and I will send you a short video.

Jim, I sent my email address to you. You use HD LINK to deinterlace. It doesn't do the MPEG encode. Since you are using a PC, save it as an. avi file. Do the MPEG encoding with Procoder.

My workflow is to deinterlace before I do any editing. Interlacing causes a problem when you crop or change speed when you edit. That's why I deinterlace first.

Yes, same method but NTSC instead of PAL. Also, when you export from Edius be sure to use Canopus HQ (fine) or Lossless if you have the disc space. I am shooting interlaced format with no deinterlacing on the final DVD.