[Aeropars]

Hi guys,

I'm using video Studio X2 to edit my video which was recored in full Hd on a Panasonic SD9 camcorder.

I'm trying to output the edited project to a AVCHD file however whenever I do this it's interlacing the footage and im getting that fuzzy ghosting on mostion shots.

I assume this is to do with the field order but doesnt progressive mean it doesnt have a field order? If i click perperties of my imported video files it shows as upper first so when i output using upper first it still has this problem.

Oddly, if i output using the option of whatever the first clip is, everything is OK!

any ideas?

[A n d r e w]

Originally Posted by Aeropars

I'm trying to output the edited project to a AVCHD file however whenever I do this it's interlacing the footage and im getting that fuzzy ghosting on mostion shots.

Ghosting and interlacing are not always the same thing. Interlacing can sometimes look like ghosting, but the giveaway signs of interlaced video are comb-like edges on moving objects. Ghosting (not talking about interlacing any more) can occur "in camera" as a result of the AVCHD compression (I own an SD9 and will admit that it can be a little prone to this, but nothing too major) or it can be produced by the deinterlacing process when exporting your edited video and making a progressive clip. I'm not sure which deinterlacing methods the Corel package offers, but "blend fields" frequently results in ghosting if you're dealing with movement.

Originally Posted by Aeropars

I assume this is to do with the field order but doesnt progressive mean it doesnt have a field order?

Correct: there are no interlaced fields in progressive video.

Originally Posted by Aeropars

Oddly, if i output using the option of whatever the first clip is, everything is OK!

Haven't you answered your own question here? Or do you mean you have no problems when you export as interlaced video, rather than deinterlacing?

Can you post a screen grab by way of example?

[Aeropars]

THanks for the reply.

Its the combing effect for sure as the original file plays well.

SO the camera will record at 1080p so the files it produces are not interlaced. When i look at the file in Video Studio it says the file is upper field first so i dont know how this can be unless Video Studio is converting the AVCHD files as it imports them. The file extensions are M2T

I'm, not sure if i have answered my own question because the outputted file may not be in a format thats a standard format which i can then use like AVCHD or convert to SD for DVD use. Thats part of what i'm trying to learn.

What I've done is matched my project settings to that of what video studio is telling me my clips are (upper first) and when i finished editing my video i export it to what the software says is AVCHD and upper field first yet I get the combing when playing back on the computer.

I hope that makes sence. Im not sure how to get a screenshot of the problem as when i printscreen it gives a blank screen where the video is.

[A n d r e w]

You must be recording interlaced footage if you're getting combing. The SD9 only records 1080-progressive when you set it to Digital Cinema 25p mode. On all other modes, it's interlaced.

What final destination do you have in mind for your video? Is it to be viewed on your computer (i.e. from a file) or a television (i.e. from DVD)? For computer viewing, you'll most likely want to deinterlace (as computer monitors don't handle interlaced video well, with the comb-like results it sounds like you're getting) whereas TVs do, which means you should keep the interlacing for DVD etc.

[Aeropars]

Andrew, thanks for that information. I wasnt aware of the progressive only in cinema mode.

The idea was that I would author to AVCHD files so I can play them on my PS3 but also take a copy of the file and downscale it to SD so I can put it on DVD to share with family and friends.

Im a little confused about the computer part as the footage I copied to Video Studio plays fine before I author it. After that it goes all strange with the combing effect

THanks for your help so far on this!

[A n d r e w]

Originally Posted by Aeropars

I'm a little confused about the computer part as the footage I copied to Video Studio plays fine before I author it. After that it goes all strange with the combing effect

With editing software, what you see usually isn't exactly what you get. Generally speaking, you won't see interlacing when viewing your clips in the preview window of an editing programme. So it's not that Corel is adding the interlacing, but that you're not noticing it until you've exported.

Choosing the deinterlace option in the output settings should sort this out. I'm not a Studio X2 user, so can't offer more specific advice. With any luck, someone who knows the programme will happen along. In the meantime, keep experimenting!

[Aeropars]

Thanks for the reply.

I am also using a demo of Adobe Premier Elements and get the same thing but I'm really struggling to understand what I need to do in this as well so I'm thinking its the concept, not the vendor specifit options.

I have created a test video in adobe as well using the output of an export to file using 1080i upper first and get the same output. What I dont get is why, if my raw files are 1080i, am i not seeing combing on them yet i am after the edit.

I also dont understand why I would need to deinterlace. I've trawled the net but found no definative answer or tutorial on how i should approch this.

Can you explin this to me?

[A n d r e w]

Originally Posted by Aeropars

What I dont get is why, if my raw files are 1080i, am i not seeing combing on them yet i am after the edit.

Most editing software doesn't show you the full quality video in the preview window. This almost always means if your source video is interlaced, you won't see the interlacing in the preview window. It's there, you just don't see it. Then you export, and you see it. It's not being added by the software, just hidden while previewing on the timeline or in the editing software's preview window.

Originally Posted by Aeropars

I also dont understand why I would need to deinterlace. I've trawled the net but found no definative answer or tutorial on how i should approch this.

You need to deinterlace in most cases if your video is destined for viewing on the web or any computer monitor because LCD computer monitors aren't designed to display interlaced video like television sets. On an LCD monitor the latency isn't the same as on a telelvision, meaning that you see each field as an individual whole, while on a television set they are more or less blended indiscernibly. Deinterlacing your video effectively turns it into progressive video, but at the expense of some of the information (because typically, deinterlacing drops every second field, which contains half of the horizonal lines of pixels making up a complete frame of video). But if you don't deinterlace, then you'll see the comb-like artefacts you're describing.

However, if your video is destined for viewing on a TV, then you needn't deinterlace because television sets are desgined to display interlaced video correctly.

[Aeropars]

OK, i think i understand.

So lets say i left the file as it is, where i see combing on the computer. Would it play fine on my full HD TV?

I must admit I've viewed it on the monitor and thought there was something wrong. Am i right in thinking that everything could have been ok?

I havent tested it but i will do tomorrow to help me understand.

[A n d r e w]

Originally Posted by Aeropars

So lets say i left the file as it is, where i see combing on the computer. Would it play fine on my full HD TV?

It should do, yes.

Originally Posted by Aeropars

I must admit I've viewed it on the monitor and thought there was something wrong. Am i right in thinking that everything could have been ok?

Sounds perfectly normal to me, though without seeing a screen grab I can't be one hundred percent certain. But you wouldn't be the first to have seen interlacing artefacts while watching video on a computer monitor and thought that there's something wrong.

[Aeropars]

I tired the raw footage on the computer using media player and, you are right, it shows the effects of combing! I just need to try it on the TV now.

I've set my camcorder to the cinema 25p mode now so I get full 1080p which should hopefully avoid any confusion later on down the line.

[rogs]

Couple of points to add to Andrew's excellent advice.

-The SD9 will automatically select a different 'cinema mode' colour balance, if you select the progressive mode, and some people find the extra colour saturation a bit too much. For some reason you can't change this special colour setup in the progressive mode!!! ????

- Editing AVCHD will at some stage involve re encoding the original footage, sometimes before you edit on the timeline, sometimes on final rendering. In either case you will lose some quality. Hopefully not too much!

The exception to this is those editors which allow you to make simple cuts,and then only re-encode around the 'joins,' like Nerovison, or the later versions of the Panasonic HD Writer (sadly not the 2.5 Version supplied with the SD9!).