CCE Setting for converting DV

[Bodman]

Hi,
I have been using CCE to encode my home movies from my DV cam (Panasonic). The video settings I have been using are as in the attachment.



Are these the best settings. If not is there a program I can run on a AVI to tell me the settings (like bitrate viewer for VOBS). I am capturing using Premiere 6.

//Bodman

[kayman]

linear quantizing scale
zig zag scanning order

im not sure exatcly what they do but if your doing progressive im told they should be checked as well.

kayman

[Zeppeliner]

DV (at least most of the cams) don't shoot progressive but interlaced so if you're gonna do progressive I think you should deinterlace first (easy to do with Avisynth)

[kayman]

i was assuming he was using AVSynth or Virtual dub to make his steam progressive. but if not take Zeppeliner's advice

:)

[Bodman]

Thanks for the replies,

Nope not deinterlaced, just as captured. I read in the forum somewhere that ticking Progressive made the quality slightly better. If I have a captured AVI file which is the best to deinterlace with. I looked at AVIsynth but it looks a nightmare. Any help appreciated

//Bodman

[kayman]

in cce click progess frames tells cce your endcoding progressive , if its no progessive there no point in enabaling it , read the avisynth forums about the avisynth plugin DECOMB that will recover prgressive frames ( if its not already progressive) avisynth is a touch prog to learn as theres no gui . buts its reall good to learn can improve your files alot


kayman

[Bodman]

So if im encoding interlaced AVI (which it looks like I am) is it worth de interlacing then using progressive, zig zag and linear quantizing scale. Or should I just encode without progressive and leave as is??

//Bodman

[kayman]

you need to de interalce before you load the file in CCE , CCE will do none of that

[bb]

Bodman,

if your target format is SVCD, then deinterlace and encode progressive. You'll get better quality, because you need higher bitrate for interlaced encoding. Use decomb's FieldDeinterlace() command, not Telecide()!

If your target is DVD, then you better leave it interlaced. Choose a higher bitrate (the higher, the better, I recommend above 3.500 kbps).

If your target is an AVI format, like DivX or XviD, then deinterlace like for SVCD. E.g. DivX does not support interlaced material (ok, it has a built-in deinterlacer, but that one's crap).

bb

[Bodman]

OK Great thanks, My target is DVD so I'll leave it as it is. I normally get the correct size with bitrates of 8000-9000 so no probs there.

Thanks for the help

//Bodman

[bb]

Be aware of the field order. As far as I know interlaced DV comes top field first, whereas DVD's bottom field first. If you encode with the wrong field order, you'll get a "jumpy" picture.

The settings shown in your screenshot should be ok, except that you should uncheck the progressive option.

bb

[pipo]

Sorry, its the other way around.
DV is always bottom field first, DVD is top field.

Pipo

[bb]

Thanks, pipo, I always get confused with that stuff...

bb

[kayman]

dvd is top first? i just encoded teh pilot of jeremiah in DVDr as bottom first dv default. will this really be a big problem if i autoher it as a dvd to burn on my dvdr??

kayman

[Xesdeeni]

I would recommend NOT deinterlacing camcorder video. Almost all camcorder video is shot hand-held, and that means the video is never steady (image stabilization just removes the small bumps, but you still move the camera around). So even the smartest deinterlacer can't really do a decent job. Instead, just encode it interlaced. There are some alternate quantization matrices floating around that may help improve the quality of your MPEG encodes (I haven't tried them yet, so I can't vouch for them). Of course, if you shot the video from a tripod, deinterlace away!

Xesdeeni

[bira]

Originally posted by Xesdeeni
I would recommend NOT deinterlacing camcorder video. Almost all camcorder video is shot hand-held, and that means the video is never steady (image stabilization just removes the small bumps, but you still move the camera around). So even the smartest deinterlacer can't really do a decent job. Instead, just encode it interlaced. There are some alternate quantization matrices floating around that may help improve the quality of your MPEG encodes (I haven't tried them yet, so I can't vouch for them). Of course, if you shot the video from a tripod, deinterlace away!

Xesdeeni

I have not decided yet whether to deinterlace or not.

The only thing I am sure is that DV footage played directly from the camera to the TV looks really good. Would it be possible to get the same quality(smoothness) when playing to a computer monitor or LCD/DLP projector after converting to MPEG?

What are those alternate quantization matrices you're talking about? I'd like to try them.

Thanks

bira

[Xesdeeni]

TVs are interlaced, so interlaced video looks right. A computer monitor is progressive, so interlaced video won't look very good unless it's processed somehow. But most computer playback software for DVDs (like PowerDVD) includes a deinterlacing option. LCD/DLP projectors are also progressive, but they have built-in deinterlacing so that interlaced video looks OK.

A software deinterlacer will make 25/30 frames/sec video (which is required to meet the DVD specification). Even with relatively stable video (tripod), this will result in less smooth motion than the original interlaced 50/60 fields/sec video. The hardware deinterlacer in the LCD/DLP projectors actually create 50/60 frames/sec, so the motion is just as smooth. But if you deinterlace the video before encoding, you will not get this double-framerate benefit from these projectors.

Check out these threads for some interlaced quantization matrices:
http://www.vcdhelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=103830
http://www.vcdhelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=108109
Also, this site has some as well: http://www.kvcd.net/

Xesdeeni

[bira]

Thanks for the links!

When you say that the hardware deinterlacer in the LCD/DLP projectors create 50/60 frames/sec, that is if I use s-video or composite inputs, right? If my computer drives the projector (rgb input), the deinterlacer is bypassed, right?

bira

[Xesdeeni]

Hmm. That's a good question. Certainly the S-Video and composite signals, which are interlaced, are deinterlaced. But although it is almost never done, your RGB input could actually be interlaced as well (there is a VESA-standard 86Hz (43iHz) 800x600 mode that is interlaced). I'm sure they shut off the deinterlacer for the progressive RGB modes, and if they are smart, they enable it if the RGB input is interlaced. But I actually suspect they just don't support that mode.

Xesdeeni