Producing Home Movies

[FlyZ28]

DVD Quality

To all the above video makers.......

1st off, let me say cool videos! I have made quite a few videos for my buddies as well. I have used various versions of Pinnacle Studio and Roxio Media creator. I really liked editing the videos but I was always frustrated with the picture quality of the finished DVD when played on a TV. For instance, the edges of the white mountains where they meet the blue sky looks jagged, fuzzy, pixelated, etc.

Have you guys noticed the edges of things in your video looking pixelated? Or blurry. When I watch regular tv, the objects on the screen appear crisp with no fuzzy edges, but my videos aren't like that.

Another thing that frustrated me was that I had to be careful when I included the original sound to the edited clips because after it rendered, it was usually out of sync. Man, I used to get soo pissed after spending so much time trying to get things just right, then the finished product wasn't as perfect as it was supposed to be.

I quit making the videos for a couple years, partly because I hated how the finished picture quality wasn't to my liking. I noticed the same imperfections on a couple of the pro sled vids but not all of them.

Anybody know what I am talking about? Got any solutions? Or ideas why these things happen?

Thanks......... Bob

 

[JustinB]

To all the above video makers.......

1st off, let me say cool videos! I have made quite a few videos for my buddies as well. I have used various versions of Pinnacle Studio and Roxio Media creator. I really liked editing the videos but I was always frustrated with the picture quality of the finished DVD when played on a TV. For instance, the edges of the white mountains where they meet the blue sky looks jagged, fuzzy, pixelated, etc.

Have you guys noticed the edges of things in your video looking pixelated? Or blurry. When I watch regular tv, the objects on the screen appear crisp with no fuzzy edges, but my videos aren't like that.

Another thing that frustrated me was that I had to be careful when I included the original sound to the edited clips because after it rendered, it was usually out of sync. Man, I used to get soo pissed after spending so much time trying to get things just right, then the finished product wasn't as perfect as it was supposed to be.

I quit making the videos for a couple years, partly because I hated how the finished picture quality wasn't to my liking. I noticed the same imperfections on a couple of the pro sled vids but not all of them.

Anybody know what I am talking about? Got any solutions? Or ideas why these things happen?

Thanks......... Bob

It all depends on final rendering and the program or even camera you are using Digital cameras are the worst at this Thus the move to HD in the older digital cameras compressed data so much it has to eat it somewhere Try using anti aliasing in your final render final cut is the best I have used but remember you loose more quality moving it to dvd as well. The best way to solve the digital blur is move to HD.

 

[FlyZ28]

HD format...

If a guy uses an HD camcorder, does he have to upgrade editing software? Any special required computer hardware?
I'm not up to speed yet on the HD stuff. Do you know if the bugs have been worked out of the HD stuff?
Thanks for any info.

 

[Veedy]

If a guy uses an HD camcorder, does he have to upgrade editing software? Any special required computer hardware?
I'm not up to speed yet on the HD stuff. Do you know if the bugs have been worked out of the HD stuff?
Thanks for any info.

Depends on the camcorder. There are a few different codecs being used, and some are processor hungry and some are not so bad. AVCHD is one that seems to be working out well, but requires newer software that will handle that codec. HDV is the most common, but is severely RAM and processor hungry, you will need a very decent setup including a good video card. DVCproHD is generally Panasonic specific and is only found on higher end cams. Any HD signal is going to contain a lot of information and will be laborous to process and edit, especially when you get into 4.2.2 colour spaces or 4k signals.
Consumer camcorders most commonly use the AVCHD or HDV codecs. If your thinking of buying an HD cam, you might as well upgrade your computer, and your software right away. That is one reason most people have no consumer use for HD at this time. The expense can be fairly substantial for the average user when they mostly want to shoot video to upload to youtube, or edit the odd video for their riding buddies.
Software recommended for HD editing would include Apple's Final cut express, imovieHD, or Final cut pro. If your on a windows platform, there is Sony's Vegas, or Adobe Premiere. Of course the PeeCee has a ton of other choices for editing HD, but these are the staple programs that have a ton of support on the internet. Be prepared for a huge learning curve ahead.
Most importantly though is to have FUN ! I miss out on a ton of fresh pow while filming. while it's sad, I still find a ton of enjoyment in the shooting process.

cheers !

 

[deviant]

Mac is the best for this stuff.
Made our teaser on my wifes Mac book using the pre-installed I-MOVIE.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMTQ-W5qU3c

Check Craigs list for a used Mac with Final Cut Pro installed on it. There are some sweet deals out there.
Good Luck.

 

[squidward]

if anyone has Vegas please let us know what you think? im thinking of trying it out!!

I started using Vegas back in 04/05 because movie maker wasn't at all cutting it. Vegas doesn't take long to get the basics down. I taught myself and had no experience doing editing before. Within a few hours I was hacking away and wasn't at all pissed off like I was when trying to figure out Premier.

We have been using Sony Vegas for a while now. I don't make the HQ videos, but even a fool like me could figure it out. Adobe Premier seemed to be way to many features that take a while to learn, plus it was a memory hog. I tried a basic version of Pinnacle, but I think it was too consumer based because it was pretty limiting.

I think our main editor just upgraded to Vegas 9? I am still using 5 which is good enough for me (Here is the last one I made http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpjKobKQ_BY&feature=channel_page )

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=timner8811&view=videos&sort=v

http://www.vimeo.com/teamkesslers/videos (Higher quality with sound on all of them here)

The movies posted above are all great as well. Helps the summer months go by thats for sure.

X10 on Vegas being simple to figure out. It's logical. Premier, not so much. Sure Vegas can't do the super cool stuff Premier can, but we're just making sledding videos. Nothing stupid fancy.

 

[FlyZ28]

consumer HD

Thanks Veedy...
excellent info on the consumer HD editing situation. Being that I'm not making videos to sell, I'll just use the ol' mini DV tape format for now. Maybe in a few years, I'll upgrade to the good stuff.

 

[Mountain Maniac]

Thanks for all the GREAT feedback!