downconversion looks bad using CS4 at DVinfo.net

David Morgan · December 21st, 2010, 10:11 PM

My associate editor uses CS4. I don't know much at all about it as I use Final Cut. However, he is working with XDCAM footage, shot at 1280 x 720 @60 progressive, destined for blu-ray disc and standard DVD. He says the HD footage looks great but the SD looks like VHS quality.
Is there a method that produces the best results using CS4?
Here is what he wrote:

The HD footage is beautiful, However----

I have tried without success to down convert the HD footage to standard definition.

When I make a standard wide screen DVD from the time line, I get a great picture wide screen, but massive artifacts.

When I export the HD footage with my media browser to std .avi. I get something that looks like VHS quality, instead of something that looks like SVHS quality.

I can get the image to 4x3 letterbox like the broadcasters do. I think due to the different customers, this is the correct size.

My next test is to play the blu-ray to my dv-cam tape and put the tape version in the computer to generate the std DVD.

thx

Robert Young · December 22nd, 2010, 01:59 AM

I can't say for sure what the specific problem might be, but in general it is well known that CS4 does a poor job of rescaling HD to SD. This can result in difficulty getting a good looking DVD.
With CS4, I would always render out a master HD movie and use a third party encoder (ProCoder 3 in my case) to get the best DVD encode.
The situation is vastly improved in CS5 and I'm getting good results from within the Adobe software.

Peter Manojlovic · December 22nd, 2010, 08:16 PM

Hey David....

CS4 does a fine job of downconverting progressive footage..
You'll need to show the settings from AME, and let us see all the options that were checked..
Screenshots work the best..

December 21st, 2010, 10:11 PM	#1
David Morgan Major Player Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Burbank CA Posts: 466	downconversion looks bad using CS4 My associate editor uses CS4. I don't know much at all about it as I use Final Cut. However, he is working with XDCAM footage, shot at 1280 x 720 @60 progressive, destined for blu-ray disc and standard DVD. He says the HD footage looks great but the SD looks like VHS quality. Is there a method that produces the best results using CS4? Here is what he wrote: The HD footage is beautiful, However---- I have tried without success to down convert the HD footage to standard definition. When I make a standard wide screen DVD from the time line, I get a great picture wide screen, but massive artifacts. When I export the HD footage with my media browser to std .avi. I get something that looks like VHS quality, instead of something that looks like SVHS quality. I can get the image to 4x3 letterbox like the broadcasters do. I think due to the different customers, this is the correct size. My next test is to play the blu-ray to my dv-cam tape and put the tape version in the computer to generate the std DVD. thx

December 22nd, 2010, 01:59 AM	#2
Robert Young Trustee Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Coronado Island Posts: 1,472	I can't say for sure what the specific problem might be, but in general it is well known that CS4 does a poor job of rescaling HD to SD. This can result in difficulty getting a good looking DVD. With CS4, I would always render out a master HD movie and use a third party encoder (ProCoder 3 in my case) to get the best DVD encode. The situation is vastly improved in CS5 and I'm getting good results from within the Adobe software. __________________ Bob

December 22nd, 2010, 08:16 PM	#3
Peter Manojlovic Major Player Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Hamilton Ontario Posts: 769	Hey David.... CS4 does a fine job of downconverting progressive footage.. You'll need to show the settings from AME, and let us see all the options that were checked.. Screenshots work the best..