Jerky video: FX1 to VX2100 to PC widescreen
 

I'm attempting to streamline the way I create small web-viewable WMV files from HDV video. Full HD WMVs are too large for everyday web use, so my goal is to have a small 352x240 widescreen video in WMV for use on the web.

Rendering a 352x240 WMV straight from the HD timeline takes too long (2 hours for just 3 minutes), so I tried exporting to the FX1, transferring to the VX2100 in 16:9 widescreen DV via direct firewire, then capturing in the 16:9 video from the VX2100.

The 16:9 SD video looks fine until it is captured into the computer, at which point it exhibits a jerky behavior. Twice per second, there is a pause and 'flicker' that lasts 5-10 frames or so. The VX2100 plays back the video just fine, so the problem is in the capture process somewhere.

I can't help with the Windows issues, but I don't understand why you're exporting to the FX1 and then to the VX-2100. Your FX1 can downconvert HDV to standard DV all by itself so this seems like an extra step...

What computer hardware and editing software are you using? On my setup (dual-core Pentium with Edius), I can render a 640x360 WMV file from HDV in about 3 minutes per minute of timeline. Also, 352x240 is too small to show off the benefits of HDV, since that's no bigger than most web video posted from SD cameras. In my experience the quality of WMV samples is more sensitive to bit rate than frame size, so boosting the latter without changing the bit rate may yield a better result (mainly because it looks bigger on the viewer's computer screen).

320x180 would be the proper aspect ratio for the web. 352x240 is VCD resolution, which is made for TVs.