HD downconvert to DVD problem

Chris Harding · September 2nd, 2013, 07:28 PM

Thanks for that Chris

Gosh with all this nonsense I'm pretty much tempted to just shoot everything in 50i ..at least that way I get no motion issues and no weird effects!!

On the Sony EA-50 forum Ron Evans tells me he just drops the 50P files onto not a 25P timeline but a 50i timeline as essentially 50P and 50i are the same thing except 50P writes to frames and 50i writes to fields.

Now, regardless of what the shoot format is, can one nowdays render to MPEG2 and make the field order in the DVD PAL template in Vegas "none" as it defaults to interlaced.

I would assume that a progressive DVD would be a better end result as long as the player is connected to an LCD TV but would it not work at all on say a DVD player hooked up to Grandma's old CRT TV??

Ron also renders his DVD's to 50i so maybe don't mess with a formula that works? I have never had a DVD issue and although a progressive DVD works fine I'm inclined to keep the DVD PAL preset as it stands and keep my files interlaced for DVD ... It will be interesting to see if progressive DVD's cause any issues with some players ?

Chris

Chris Hewitt · September 3rd, 2013, 03:53 AM

Chris, I did see the posts on the EA50 forum yesterday as I was still looking for answers. Since I've had the AC160, I've stayed with progressive all the way and burnt progressive dvd's.
No one so far has had any issues but as you say, an old tv will probably do it.
So, the wedding footage that caused all this drama for me has been rendered to interlace from the full 50p source and seems ok. For the bluray, I've gone to 1280/50p and it looks fine.
There was a red herring in all of this and clouded the issue for me. I have been using Mercali 2 to stabilize hand held footage nd though it appeared rock solid on the timeline, it was all over the place in the render and made motion issues a lot worse than they were.....if anyone has this problem, it seems that you have to render any Mercali'd clip to a new track before final render.

Chris Harding · September 3rd, 2013, 05:28 AM

Hi Chris

Being one who prefers to use what works, my footage even with my AC-130's was interlaced 50i and the MPEG2's have always been the same ..on the Sony's I use the same too but tests using 50P in a 50P timeline also didn't exhibit any wild motion issues although the image was softer.

Do you HAVE to use Mercali?? I have found that brides are quite happy with non stabilised handheld footage so maybe you are just getting super critical about stability?? Watch some of the top drama series on BBC and see how the top frame moves all over!!! I figure if the BBC accepts it then trying to get absolutely perfect footage handheld is hardly worth doing. I have had Mercali 2 for ages and haven't used it yet at a wedding.

It might be worth your time to render a short sequence that has no mercali clips in it and then render another with mercali clips and find out once and for all if that's the culprit? If it is then dump the mercali footage and use the original clip from the camera and your issue should be gone!

I'm pretty sure the bride won't even spot any slightly wobbly footage anyway!!

Chris

Chris Hewitt · September 3rd, 2013, 08:32 AM

Chris, I've done the test with and without Mercali and you're right, that is the culprit.
I guess I am super critical of my wobbly shots but will take your advice and drop Mercali.

September 2nd, 2013, 07:28 PM	#16
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Re: HD downconvert to DVD problem Thanks for that Chris Gosh with all this nonsense I'm pretty much tempted to just shoot everything in 50i ..at least that way I get no motion issues and no weird effects!! On the Sony EA-50 forum Ron Evans tells me he just drops the 50P files onto not a 25P timeline but a 50i timeline as essentially 50P and 50i are the same thing except 50P writes to frames and 50i writes to fields. Now, regardless of what the shoot format is, can one nowdays render to MPEG2 and make the field order in the DVD PAL template in Vegas "none" as it defaults to interlaced. I would assume that a progressive DVD would be a better end result as long as the player is connected to an LCD TV but would it not work at all on say a DVD player hooked up to Grandma's old CRT TV?? Ron also renders his DVD's to 50i so maybe don't mess with a formula that works? I have never had a DVD issue and although a progressive DVD works fine I'm inclined to keep the DVD PAL preset as it stands and keep my files interlaced for DVD ... It will be interesting to see if progressive DVD's cause any issues with some players ? Chris Last edited by Chris Harding; September 2nd, 2013 at 10:34 PM.

September 3rd, 2013, 03:53 AM	#17
Chris Hewitt Major Player Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Broadstairs,Kent, England Posts: 225	Re: HD downconvert to DVD problem Chris, I did see the posts on the EA50 forum yesterday as I was still looking for answers. Since I've had the AC160, I've stayed with progressive all the way and burnt progressive dvd's. No one so far has had any issues but as you say, an old tv will probably do it. So, the wedding footage that caused all this drama for me has been rendered to interlace from the full 50p source and seems ok. For the bluray, I've gone to 1280/50p and it looks fine. There was a red herring in all of this and clouded the issue for me. I have been using Mercali 2 to stabilize hand held footage nd though it appeared rock solid on the timeline, it was all over the place in the render and made motion issues a lot worse than they were.....if anyone has this problem, it seems that you have to render any Mercali'd clip to a new track before final render.

September 3rd, 2013, 05:28 AM	#18
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Re: HD downconvert to DVD problem Hi Chris Being one who prefers to use what works, my footage even with my AC-130's was interlaced 50i and the MPEG2's have always been the same ..on the Sony's I use the same too but tests using 50P in a 50P timeline also didn't exhibit any wild motion issues although the image was softer. Do you HAVE to use Mercali?? I have found that brides are quite happy with non stabilised handheld footage so maybe you are just getting super critical about stability?? Watch some of the top drama series on BBC and see how the top frame moves all over!!! I figure if the BBC accepts it then trying to get absolutely perfect footage handheld is hardly worth doing. I have had Mercali 2 for ages and haven't used it yet at a wedding. It might be worth your time to render a short sequence that has no mercali clips in it and then render another with mercali clips and find out once and for all if that's the culprit? If it is then dump the mercali footage and use the original clip from the camera and your issue should be gone! I'm pretty sure the bride won't even spot any slightly wobbly footage anyway!! Chris

September 3rd, 2013, 08:32 AM	#19
Chris Hewitt Major Player Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Broadstairs,Kent, England Posts: 225	Re: HD downconvert to DVD problem Chris, I've done the test with and without Mercali and you're right, that is the culprit. I guess I am super critical of my wobbly shots but will take your advice and drop Mercali.