Artifacts at DVinfo.net

Brian Patterson · July 6th, 2004, 08:37 PM

Is there any way to get rid of some of the things that I see in my footage shot with a VX2000? I've done some research and they seem to be called "artifacts". Things like leaves and branches in the background of footage seem to flicker when viewed on a tv. Is there anything I can do during shooting to minimize this problem or is it something I have to live with while shooting in .dv?

Mike Rehmus · July 6th, 2004, 10:37 PM

You have to live with it in any format that is standard defiinition.

There are antiflicker filters in some editing systems. They blur the image somewhat.

Might try softening the sharpness setting and see if you like that result.

Shawn Mielke · July 6th, 2004, 11:51 PM

Definitely tweak the Sharpness setting. To quickly check and see if it's causing the problem, or, "enhancing" the problem, turn Sharpness all the way up and look at something you know to exhibit the flicker. Is it the same? Worse? Now, turn Sharpness all the way down, and observe.

Jeff Sherman · July 9th, 2004, 02:03 PM

If you would like to try yet another way of reducing artifacts, which can even get worse during encoding ( especially foilage in the background), try throwing your background out of focus by using nuetral density filters and lowering your f-stop; also set your camera further away from subject and zoom in, shortening the depth of field. Hope this helps a little.

Also, I don't know how the users are rated, but I am not a tourist !

Boyd Ostroff · July 9th, 2004, 02:16 PM

Hey Brian,

I'm not sure that whether what you're describing are "artifacts", but I recently did some tests with different VX-2000 sharpness settings here which might be of interest.

I think the term "artifact" applies to irregularities in an the image which are the result of data compression. From my own tests I concluded that what I'd always taken to be DV compression artifacts were really the result of the small chips and processing in our 1/3" and smaller camcorders.

Jeff: your "rating" in no way reflects on your abilities! It's simply triggered by the number of times you post something here. So like most things in life, the more you open your mouth, the more of an "expert" you will be ;-)

Andre De Clercq · July 9th, 2004, 02:39 PM

Brian, what you describe is, I think, not related to DV. It seems to me that interlace flicker( line twitter) and optical aliasing (difficult to eliminate in consumer cams)is what you see. Try to apply noise reduction filters ( in yr TV or in post). Also Jeff's input is good to remember if you want to avoid this "background noise". Also keep shutter settings at 1/60 (1/50) if possible. This avoids extra strobing when there is motion.

July 6th, 2004, 08:37 PM	#1
Brian Patterson Regular Crew Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 51	Artifacts Is there any way to get rid of some of the things that I see in my footage shot with a VX2000? I've done some research and they seem to be called "artifacts". Things like leaves and branches in the background of footage seem to flicker when viewed on a tv. Is there anything I can do during shooting to minimize this problem or is it something I have to live with while shooting in .dv?

July 6th, 2004, 10:37 PM	#2
Mike Rehmus Wrangler Join Date: May 2002 Location: Vallejo, California Posts: 4,049	You have to live with it in any format that is standard defiinition. There are antiflicker filters in some editing systems. They blur the image somewhat. Might try softening the sharpness setting and see if you like that result. __________________ Mike Rehmus Hey, I can see the carrot at the end of the tunnel!

July 6th, 2004, 11:51 PM	#3
Shawn Mielke Major Player Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Santa Rosa, California Posts: 745	Definitely tweak the Sharpness setting. To quickly check and see if it's causing the problem, or, "enhancing" the problem, turn Sharpness all the way up and look at something you know to exhibit the flicker. Is it the same? Worse? Now, turn Sharpness all the way down, and observe. __________________ Breakthrough In Grey Room

July 9th, 2004, 02:03 PM	#4
Jeff Sherman New Boot Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 9	Artifacts If you would like to try yet another way of reducing artifacts, which can even get worse during encoding ( especially foilage in the background), try throwing your background out of focus by using nuetral density filters and lowering your f-stop; also set your camera further away from subject and zoom in, shortening the depth of field. Hope this helps a little. Also, I don't know how the users are rated, but I am not a tourist !

July 9th, 2004, 02:16 PM	#5
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,802	Hey Brian, I'm not sure that whether what you're describing are "artifacts", but I recently did some tests with different VX-2000 sharpness settings here which might be of interest. I think the term "artifact" applies to irregularities in an the image which are the result of data compression. From my own tests I concluded that what I'd always taken to be DV compression artifacts were really the result of the small chips and processing in our 1/3" and smaller camcorders. Jeff: your "rating" in no way reflects on your abilities! It's simply triggered by the number of times you post something here. So like most things in life, the more you open your mouth, the more of an "expert" you will be ;-)

July 9th, 2004, 02:39 PM	#6
Andre De Clercq Major Player Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Belgium Posts: 804	Brian, what you describe is, I think, not related to DV. It seems to me that interlace flicker( line twitter) and optical aliasing (difficult to eliminate in consumer cams)is what you see. Try to apply noise reduction filters ( in yr TV or in post). Also Jeff's input is good to remember if you want to avoid this "background noise". Also keep shutter settings at 1/60 (1/50) if possible. This avoids extra strobing when there is motion.