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13magnus
13magnus
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Horizontal lines when Sharing video files.  Why?

May 25, 2012 8:12 AM

I'm able to import my video files fine (I have a combination of avi, mpg, m4v, all sorts).  The quality of them is pretty good.  I can play them individually on my 27" monitor, full screen without any quality problems.

 

After I've used them to create a video, and I Share the video (I've tried every possible format), I get these horizontal lines in it that look like the video screen has a texture to it. 

 

I've tried bringing the files into different computers to see if it might have something to do with a video driver or codec or something, but it's all the same.

 

I've read a little able interlacing and de-interlacing, but that doesn't seem to be working.  Why does it output like that? 

 

Any thought as to what's going on with my output?

 

Thanks

Mag

1046 Views   9 Replies   Latest reply: Bill Hunt, May 31, 2012 8:31 AM
 
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  • Bill Hunt
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    1. Bill Hunt,
    May 25, 2012 8:28 AM   in reply to 13magnus
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    Can you show us a screen-cap of the problem?

     

    It sounds like it could be a field reversal issue, but one image might explain that.

     

    What Project Preset did you use for that mixed source material?

     

    PrE does a poor job of handling mixed sources. What happens is that one will choose a Project Preset, but that can only match one source. The others can create a problem. The best workflow is to choose the format and CODEC of the source that is of the majority of the material, then either convert the other files to match that, or to create individual Projects, loosely edit those, then Export/Share to a common format, to be Imported into a "master Project."

     

    Good luck,

     

    Hunt

     
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  • 13magnus
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    2. 13magnus,
    May 25, 2012 9:47 PM   in reply to 13magnus
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    Here's a screen shot of when it's playing.  I noticed that when i pause it for a screen shot sometimes I had these lines, sometimes I didn't.  Is that something to do with the interlacing?

     

    As for the preset, I looked at it and I've got it set at HD1080i (I think....looking under Edit->Project Settings->General.  The footage I'm using is definitely not HD.  99% of it is from a Sony DCR SX44.  It shoots great footage, but is definitely not HD.  Should my preset be more like Hard Disk Flash Drive (since what I'm filming isn't HD and is stored on a hard disk on the camera)? 

    All of thes presets I have no idea what they are, I just went with the default one they recommended. 

     

    From what I've researched, it doesn't look like I can change the preset once the project is started?  If it can't, then is it possible to copy what I've done into another, new file with the correct pre-set?

    2.jpg

     
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  • 13magnus
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    3. 13magnus,
    May 25, 2012 9:48 PM   in reply to 13magnus
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    Another screen shot (not as noticable, but it's still there, especially when blown up on a bigger screen)

     

    1.jpg

     
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  • nealeh
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    4. nealeh,
    May 26, 2012 4:37 AM   in reply to 13magnus
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    A PRE project works best if its settings match 100% the source footage. You know if you have it right because when you add your clips to the timeline there will not be any bars, red or green, running across it (although note that still images will always initially show with a red line, until you render a preview by pressing the [Enter] key).

     

    As per Bills comment above if you have a project that consists of clips from many different sources, you are usually better of by creating a separate project for each source and then export (using the Share options) each to a common format. You then create a new project with project settings matching that common format and bring each of your exported clips into that new project.

     

    Your DCR SX44 camcorder records in standard definition mpeg2 (according to here) and you can select either 16:9 or 4:3 aspects. This being the case your best project setting will be one of NTSC> Hard Disk, Flash Memory Camcorders> Standard (for 4:3) or Widescreen (for 16:9). Note your use of one of the 1080i settings will have required PRE to add pixels to upscale that 720x480 footage so you may have a triple whammy - wrong setting requiring creation of pixels from nothing, probable field order reversed and possibly downscaling when you have shared that project.

     

    For your other clips convert them to mpeg2, setting Upper Fields first. You can do this either within PRE (as described above) or an external video converter.

     

    Alternatively as you say that only around 1% of your clips come from other sources you might find it quicker to create the project  using the project setting above. Add your other clips to the timeline, right-click them and select field options then check the check box "Reverse Field Dominance". Then Share your project and see if you are happy with the results.

     

     

    13magnus wrote:

     

    From what I've researched, it doesn't look like I can change the preset once the project is started?  If it can't, then is it possible to copy what I've done into another, new file with the correct pre-set?

     

     

    No and, possibly, Yes if you don't mind spending $35. Your research is correct - you cannot change the settings. But the third-party clipboard manager ClipMate will allow you to copy the timeline from one project and paste into a new one.

     

    Cheers,

    --

    Neale

    Insanity is hereditary, you get it from your children

     
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  • Bill Hunt
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    5. Bill Hunt,
    May 26, 2012 8:17 AM   in reply to 13magnus
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    Thank you for the screen-caps. They pretty much tell the tale.

     

    It does look like you have filed-reversal issues, and Neale covers the workflow to reduce that.

     

    As Neale points out, having the Preset, that matches the footage 100% is very important. It basically tells the program how to handle the footage, and a mis-match can, and usually will, cause issues somewhere. The most common are field-reversal for Interlaced footage, and then a Frame Size mis-match (or PAR, Pixel Aspect Ratio) that will lead to either a cropped image, or black bars around parts of the Frame.

     

    If one has Upper Field First, in a Lower Field First Project, or vice versa, one can get the "tearing" look, that is especially evident in the first screen-cap. It's about the visual equivalent of having stereo speakers hooked up out of phase. The former is hard on the eyes, and the latter is hard on the ears.

     

    Now, with MPEG footage, there is already some pretty heavy compression going on, right at the start. That footage needs to be treated with care, as any mistake will be readily seen. Also, with the MPEG compression, off-axis motion (could be camera motion, or subject motion), will intensify the visual effect. For off-axis motion, MPEG is not the ideal format to shoot, but was, and still is (AVCHD is a flavor of MPEG, using the H.264 CODEC - but being HD can hide a bit of that "tearing" and also compression artifacts) popular.

     

    The best that one can do is to match the Project Preset to the footage 100% (one reason that doing sub-Projects when dealing with mixed formats is a good workflow), and then to choose an output format/CODEC that does not intensify the off-axis motion, but one is often locked into the output format/CODEC, so less leeway there.

     

    Good luck, and thank you again for those screen-caps.

     

    Hunt

     
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  • 13magnus
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    6. 13magnus,
    May 27, 2012 9:56 AM   in reply to Bill Hunt
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    Thank you for the great feedback. I see what I should be starting these projects with now.

     

    Since I am pretty far into them, is it possible to change the original project settings now, or can I change any other settings to fix this (or at least minimize it)?  I'd hate to have to start over.

     

    Thanks again.

     
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  • Bill Hunt
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    7. Bill Hunt,
    May 27, 2012 10:01 AM   in reply to 13magnus
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    PrE does not have a method to change the Project Setting, mid-stream. Also, it only allows one to have one Project open, at a time. However, many users have had good luck using a Clipboard extender program, such as ClipMate, to allow one to Ctrl+A (Select All) on the Timeline, Ctrl+C (Copy), then close the Project, open a new one, with the proper Preset, then Ctrl+V (Paste) everything from the first Project, into the new one. Note: for the Mac, replace Ctrl with Cmd.

     

    Good luck,

     

    Hunt

     
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  • 13magnus
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    8. 13magnus,
    May 31, 2012 7:51 AM   in reply to 13magnus
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    Thanks for all the help.  I've made significant progress.  I got the ClipMate and used it to start a new project with the HD Hard Disk-Wide Screen settings.  That seems to have helped a bit.  Then I went through and changed the Field Options to Flicker Removal. That too helped a bit.  There are a few clips that I just can't seem to get the lines removed.  I'm going to try to convert them to another video format and then import them.

     

    One thing I did notice was that I can take a video with a bunch of lines in certain clips, upload it to Youtube and the lines are gone.  Is there somethig that Youtube does to their videos that cleans them up?

     

    Also, is there a way to change the Field Options on more than one clip at a time?  I've tried copying and pasting the attributes, but that only copies effects.  It kind of sucks if I have 50 clips in a video and I have to go through and change them one at a time.

     

    Thanks

     
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  • Bill Hunt
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    9. Bill Hunt,
    May 31, 2012 8:31 AM   in reply to 13magnus
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    Well, YouTube re-encodes your Video, and to a Progressive format/CODEC (they used to use FLV, but not sure what they use now), for viewing on a computer.

     

    Computer playback is Progressive (no fields), where other playback options, such as DVD are Interlaced.

     

    Good luck,

     

    Hunt

     
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