<<<-- Originally posted by Rob Lohman : On what are you viewing your DVD's? -->>>

Usually my Home Theater System (Rear Projection TV, Toshiba Progressive DVD player). But when comparing DVD to AVI, on my computer.

Video Standard
 

Recently using my digital camera I record video footage in PAL format and edited using Adobe permier 6.0 and burn it on DVD. I sent the DVD to USA to my brother but his player couldn't play the DVD. If it is the standard, can I change the standard from PAL to NTSC using my premier or I have to buy a standard converter to do the job.

thank you

You can change the footage to NTSC. Just load the PAL footage
in an NTSC project and render out to NTSC. Also make the DVD
NTSC. Almost no-one can play PAL discs in the US. A lot of people
here in Europe can play NTSC without a problem.

Keep in mind that usually such conversions can yield much worse
looking footage which stutters on movement. That's the nature
of the conversion. Not much you can do about that unless you
go to a professional company to do the transfer for you.

Where are fixes?
 

Have we found where to find the fixes yet? I'm still looking for them, too.

So Ming...

Does the quality still look poor on your home entertainment system? Or is it only when you look at the DVD through your computer?

What exactly is wrong with the DVD picture quality?

thanks,

Ed

Camera Settings in Premiere
 

Just started using Premiere 6, and when I went to choose my camera in the setting's under Sony, it only had a Vx1000 and 9000, no vx2000, I don't know if version 6 was released before the Vx2000, but I am sure the picture, when loading show's a vx2000. Don't know if this is a big deal, as it seems to recognise my camera fine.

There are no fixes yet. And there will not be any for free if my guess is correct. Adobe will roll the fixes into the next release along with a lot of new features and charge for the upgrade. We will all know more when NAB begins. If Adobe announces a new release, it will most likely be at NAB.

As long as it works it is no big deal.

Ed-

I'm using Pinnacle DV500PLUS. I just upgraded from Premiere 6.01to 6.02 with no luck...

I'm not sure if P6.5 is available but if so has it changed much? I like AB editing and heard it may have gone.

Anyway if you'd like to try reproduce what I'm doing well it's very simple...

1, import the PSD from the below link;

http://www.myisp.net.au/~jkl/Pinnacle_Premiere_Problem/Photoshop_White_Still_Test_FLAT.psd (128KB)

2, place the PSD on the timeline and put a fade to black on it, then watch the Premiere Monitor Window and see if the "90% white mark" looks like 100% white before the fade.

I have posted an mpeg of what happens to my stills using the Pinnacle AVI codec... here is the link;
http://www.myisp.net.au/~jkl/Pinnacle_Premiere_Problem/Over_Exposed_Test_PinnacleDVCodec.mpg (660KB)

And here is the same mpeg using the Microsoft DV AVI codec (as mentioned in me previous post, this codec doesn't have the problem!);
http://www.myisp.net.au/~jkl/Pinnacle_Premiere_Problem/Over_Exposed_Test_MSDVCodec.mpg (688KB)

NOTE:
Just found a post at Google groups from a guy who seems to have/had the exact problem as me... here is the link;

http://tinyurl.com/2k2na

Regards,
Jack

Hi Jack,

I tried it and get good results, i.e. the 90% white does not change.

I've got the DV500 using the latest 4.5 drivers with Premiere 6.5. I don't think your problem is Premiere as you have found out that using the microsoft codec gives you the result you need. So the only other thing that it could be is possibly your driver version?

What version are you using?

6.5 still uses AB editing its from version Pro (7) that they decided to change.

Thanks,

Ed

Different btw Mpeg Decoder in Premiere setting?
 

Hello,

I am a newbie in the editing field...
I use the Premiere 6.5 with the 1.3 beta MPEG decoder which i download from adobe website.

and the end-result of the export timeline using Adobe MPEG Encoder is not as good as i think.
First, the video is not smooth... i see a lot of artifacts or jagging from the text when it move quickly... and the color of the video seem to be wash-out compare with the original clips.
What is the best setting for the premiere to export the timeline, i found out that you can set the MPEG stream in Advanced mode and modify the setting...

At the basic setting - what is different between:-
DVD NTSC 4x3 High Bitrate and
DVD NTSC 4x3 Medium Bitrate

I understand the average bitrate is higher... highrate is set average in 6000kbps and max at 8000kbps... while the medium is set at 4200 kbps and max at 6000kbps... but does this solve my problem on the smooth picture and color accurate?

Also i see both highrate and mediumrate is set the video encoder quality to 21... should i increase it to max 50 in order to get better quality?

Under the Advanced MPEG Settings... i see a lot of other function such as video settings, advanced video settings, audio settings and multiplexer settings... What is the best setting to get the best out of adobe premiere???

Edmond

P.S. After i make the export, adobe create 2 files one M2V file and one Wave file. I try to use the WinDVD to see the end-result but the WinDVD did not reconize that 2 files are one video clips... so they can only show the video into 2 part... first only video and second part only sound... How can i correct the setting inside the WinDVD? Seem to have a lot of question, once again, thanks for all yours input...

Edmond,

Jagging and aritfacts are mainly caused when the field order is wrong or when the moving title has not been de-interlaced, or you are using VBR.

To get good results, the bit rate needs to be about 7mbps (7000Kbps), on a constant bit rate (CBR). You might need to choose custom settings. However using the DVD NTSC 4x3 High Bitrate should give good results.

The reason why you are only able to preview the video stream or the audio stream in WinDVD is because they are seperate. The reason for them being separate is because most DVD authoring programs need them to be like that. If you wish to view them both in WinDVD then they need to be multiplexed (use the setting in the multiplex tab to do this).

Hope this helps,

Ed

Ed, I'm using DV500 driver v4.5 as well.

I actually reinstalled Premiere and the DV500 driver which took a while to do... but there was no change!

I have since done more research and found out that graphic levels and video levels have to be considered when using graphics/stills in video.

You see, the PSD file (or any scanned photo in fact) may give a digital level of anywhere between 0 and 255, whereas PAL video will only accept 16 to 235. 16 being 0 IRE and 235 being 100 IRE, anything above or below that may be a problem as happened with me.

And so as soon as I altered the "white" output level of the PSD file or any of my photos from 255 to 235 (actually I found 225 to be the optimal level for pure white), it looked great when using the Pinnacle codec... so this may mean a couple of things...

1, The MS DV codec must alter the levels itself on export (as it didn't have this problem).
2, My version of Premiere (v6.01/02) and the Pinnacle codec (v4.5a) must leave the levels alone (which can be good or bad... depending on how you look at it).
3, Premiere v6.5 may alter the levels so they do not peak at 255, as it looked fine on your system.

So I'm glad I found out what the cause was...

I guess it now adds a step for me when integrating photos/stills into my videos, but at least it is done the right way.

Cheers,
Jack

Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5 ?
 

I was looking online at Adobe site when I say that Premiere Pro is now version 1.5. Shocked to see that they added some nice new features that I think now place them in the same league as FCP and have the same HD and 24p that are featured in Vegas

You can find the list here:

http://www.adobe.com/products/premie...miere_nfhs.pdf

If anyone has this product and care to comment on the new features please do so. I think a lot of us would be curious about some of the 24p and HD functionality. Of course as well as its performance and stability.

Great link Anthony!!! Well spotted.

We'll have to wait till the end of May for its release. This could be good.

Cheers,

Ed

Thanks Ed,

I try both the DVD NTSC Highbit setting and even change the quality to 50 and bitrate to 8 avg and 9 max. but in my computer... the actual result is the same as the medium NTSC bitrate set at 4.2 avg and 6 max. Today i will burn both clips into a DVD-R using Sonic My DVD 5.0 and see it in my HT room... i hope with 110-inch projector... i can see the different...

Yesterday i found out the timeline can export as movie. and the file will be save as "avi". How is the quality different between the "avi" and the "mv2" files? Which one is better?

Beside Premiere MPEG encoder... is there any other software can do the job...

Edmond

DVCAM vs DV in Adobe Premiere?
 

Dear all,

I am wondering how good is the footage when i shoot in DVCAM compare with the DV format when both import into Adobe Premiere 6.5 for editing... and MPEG encoding to DVD-R.

By looking at the tape result from both formats through a 29 inches TV... the DVCAM have better color saturation... and hue... and i am not sure will the premiere capture the differents? Cos... i been talking with one guy who is working for the distributor of pinnacle in Vietnam... and he told me that the different is so subtle that you don't even see it... That's why he don't recommend to shoot in DVCAM over DV format...

Any input is welcome... cos i need to purchase a camcorder really soon... and i will choose the PD-170 mainly because of the DVCAM function...

Edmond

We seem to have a wave of folks asking about DVCAM this week. Adam Wilt's site features a good summary.

Bottom line: any differences you see in the footage between DVCAM and DV are going to be due to differences in the cameras used and/or differences in exposure.

Glad you found a work around Jack.

Its still extremely strange why it does that?

Thanks,

Ed

Project Trimmer in Pro 1.5?
 

Does anyone know if the project trimmer returns to Premiere in the 1.5 release?

The materials at Adobe don't make this clear and I haven't seen anything in the various forums about it.

Does this describe what you're after?

Check this document out:

http://www.adobe.com/products/premie...miere_nfhs.pdf

Thanks,

Ed

Thanks Ed. The Highlights document was not enough, but armed with the notion that the Project "Manager" was the tool, I dug deeper and found that project trimming is part of Project Manager.

Color Correction in Premiere 6.5
 

The color correction opportunities in 6.5 appear to be rather limited. I can't find a hue / saturation tool for example. I suppose I could upgrade to Premiere Pro, but I'm annoyed at having to use XP ( I use Win2K). I could switch to an entirely new editor, and I've been reading the various discussions about them (so I don't need any suggestions on that regard, thanks).

A google search of plug ins for 6.5 doesn't yield anything obvious. Any ideas?

Roger,

On your Premiere 6.5 disk in extras there should be a trial version of Vixen under "extras". I liked it so much for what you discribed and tweaking white balance that I had to buy a license for it. Right now it is $50.00 off at http://www.xentrik.co.uk/ for $149.00. Although the upgrade to Premiere PRO is $199.00 for 6.5 owners I tried the trail and did not like it. 6.5 with Vixen does everything I need except quality "slow mo".

Good luck...

Mark

I tried that, but the demo mode won't work for some reason or other. It tries to contact "in sync" for a registration code but it never goes through. blah.

Roger,

You can also download the 15-day trial at xentrik and it should work. Its only a 5mb download.

Mark

Re: Color Correction in Premiere 6.5
 

<<<-- Originally posted by Roger Golub : I can't find a hue / saturation tool for example. -->>>

Don't worry, it's there.

In Premiere 6.5, Hue-Lightness-Saturation is listed in Video effects under "Image Control" as "Color Balance (HLS)." Drop it into your video on the timeline and you'll get Hue, Lightness, and Saturation controls.

This is *not* the same effect as the "Color Balance" listed under the "Adjust" folder.

While not having the most powerful color correction tools, Premiere 6.5 does have quite a few to choose from -- Levels, Channel Mixer, Color Balance, Color Balance (HLS), and a couple more I believe.

Before Premiere Pro, I think that Adobe simply assumed that people who needed more powerful correction tools would just get After Effects. I've done OK with color correction in both Premiere 6.5 and After Effects.

OK, here is how I used to color correct (I use AE now). Put your clip in the timeline. Apply the following filters and settings. You may have to tweak the settings to get color grading you want.

Video->Adjust->Color Balance
R=120
G=115
b=105

Video->Image Control->Color Balance (HLS)
Saturation=5

Video->Adjust->Levels
Set input level to 10/1.00/255

Video->Image Control->Gamma Correction
set to 12

Video->Adjust->Brightness & Contrast
set Contrast between 10-15

Video->Sharpen->Sharpen
set to 5

Next, copy your clip and place it directly above. Change the transparency setting to "Screen" and change the opacity to 15%

Here is a URL to a Before & After:

http://www.slakrboy.com/test.jpg

Like I said before, you may have to play with the settings to get things to look the way you want.. Good luck!

Another plug-in is Video Finesse by Synthetic Aperature. It provides a waveform and huge amount of adjustments. You can download a demo that puts red lines on the rendered output. In the past I have used the demo just for the waveform.

During Capture: "can't find timecode" and "dropped frames"
 

Hi everyone--I am attempting to capture into Premiere Pro and have been receiving the following two error messages: "Can't find timecode during capture" and "dropped frames during capture." I have attempted capture using a Panasonic DVX100 and Panasonic DV952D. Neither camera has worked. Prior to starting this project, I was able to capture 4 hours of video into Premiere Pro on a previous project with no problems, using the exact same setup as I am now using. I am capturing to an external Western Digital Hard Drive, attempting captures with it connected to both the Firewire and USB 2.0 ports. The USB 2.0 seems slightly more stable, but I still receive this error message.

I have captured into Avid Xpress Pro on a Powerbook with the same cameras, tapes, and external Hard Drive and it has worked perfectly. Does anyone have a guess as to why Premiere Pro is suddenly giving me these error messages? Additionally, I have uninstalled Premiere Pro and reinstalled, and the errors continue. Thanks!

Peter

P.S. The machine I'm using is a dual processor AMD with 1GB RAM. The WD hard drive is 7200rpm with a 2mb buffer. THanks!

An update: Just got off tech support with Adobe. The "expert tech" told me that Premiere does not support external Firewire hard drives, and that the fact that I was able to capture four hours of video before was "luck." She said they do not support external drives (except removable SCSI) for either capture or playback. She said my only option is to install additional internal hard drives. Has anyone else heard of this? THis seems absolutely ridiculous to me. I used to be a big Premiere fan, but give me a break. On Xpress Pro, I have three firewire drives daisy-chained into ONE port, PLUS my DVX100 on the end of this daisy chain and never a problem with captured, realtime playback etc. Tech support said that b/c Adobe uses MSFT DirectX this will not work with the Premiere system. Fortunately I am using a client's computer and it is not my $700 wasted on a useless program (sorry, I'm pissed). If anyone has any suggestions, they'd be much appreciated. THanks!

Peter

Wow. Sure enough.
 

I checked after reading your post and found that Adobe Premiere Pro System Requirements says this, "...dedicated 7200rpm UDMA 66 IDE or SCSI hard disk"

Thanks Ming. Sure enough, there it is in black and white. There must be users on this forum that use external firewire drives with Premiere, though...anyone?

Peter

Ken,

Thanks for the link, it really take me 2 days to digest all the info... as least now i know more about DV and can start to ask some make-sense question...

As Mr. Adam wilt stated, "the basic video encoding algorithm is the same between all 3 formats (DV, DVCAM & DVCPRO)... the video data recorded in all 3 formats is esentially identical, though there may be minor differences in the actual codec implementations."

Does that means if the camera section and lens are the same, the result from shooting in DV and DVCAM will be identical? (At least, that what i understand from Mr. Adam's article... correct me if i am wrong!)

Let's make one simple example, if i use a PD-170 shooting in DVCAM format and shift to DV format... the image from these 2 formats will be identical??? and you will see no differences between the shifting from DVCAM to DV... (except for the audio lock issue) If so... why sony need to make the DVCAM format... only for the audio lock function???

Any comments is welcome... i really want to understand the benefit of DVCAM over DV... cos i am choosing between PDX-10 & DVC-80... and currently i am more on the PDX-10 because of the DVCAM... if not, i definitely go for DVC-80...

Edmond

P.S. By the way, is the PDX-10 really a native 16x9 CCD? someone say yes and someone say no... it really make me confuse... if yes, i think with the price scheme, that's the lowest camera range that can give me uncropped 16x9 image... or do i have other choice under 3k?

"Does that means if the camera section and lens are the same, the result from shooting in DV and DVCAM will be identical?"

Yes sir. That's basically* correct.

*DVCAM's primary claims of superiority over standard DV is that it features locked audio (to prevent audio/video synch drift) and its higher tape speed uses more tape to lay down the footage. This helps to prevent drop-outs due to tape abnormalities.

Dear all,

Yesterday I burn 2 clips into DVD-R and compare it on a 110-inch screen... one is using the highbit rate (custom setting) 8 avg and 9 max... and the other is medium bitrate (standard setting) which are 4.2 avg and 6 max... I really can not see any different... but as i mentioned on my previous post the title i add-in have a lot of artifacts and flicking plus the picture is soft compare to the orginial DV that i shoot... (my JVC have the direct plug-in from the camcorder to the projector using a D2 - component cable. so i can see the different between the DVD and original DV.)

Question, what's wrong with my capture equipment, i am using a pinnacle DV500 card with the set-top box using IEEE1394 plug. (As my understanding, there should be no loss on the digital transfer... so... what went wrong?)

Is the MPEG decoder having problem, or my authorizing program Sonic My DVD 5.0 soften my picture?

Any input is welcome... thanks...

Edmond

Ken,

Thanks for the reply... so the PD170 shooting in DV and DVCAM formats will be identical... only the audio-lock is different...

But is the "higher tape speed uses more tape to lay down the footage" means better resolution or it only means it do prevent the drop-frame issue...

One more stupid question, as the technical detail shown the digital-8 formats have higher track pitch and track width than DVCAM... does that means, the digital-8 have a "higher tape speed uses more tape to lay down the footage" than DVCAM? so... digital-8 format have the same or higher quality on preventing the drop-frame issue than DVCAM...

Edmond

Once again, thankyou for your kindly reply...

By the way, do you know the 16x9 issue on the PDX-10?

"But is the "higher tape speed uses more tape to lay down the footage" means better resolution or it only means it do prevent the drop-frame issue..."

Nope. Tape format does not determine a camera's resolution. It's strictly a recording technique.

I am not knowledgeable enough about Digital 8 to answer your second question.

Refer to the PDX-10 forum for more info on that camera.

Hi Edmond,
Re: your query on the PDX10 16:9 format. It is indeed native 16:9, unlike it's consumer twin the TRV950. This may be why you've heard conflicting reports.

Check out this link which gives a nice explanation.

<http://www.creativevideo.co.uk/pages/cvp_dsr-pdx10p-16x9.htm>


I have the TRV 950 and kind of wish I'd gone for the PDX now... but too late. I've added an XLR module, but it would have been nice to have the native 16:9, that most recognise as the best for any of the low budget prosumer cameras.

Both cameras have their limitations due to CCD size, but in the right conditions produce blinding pictures.

Cheers
Gareth

To my opinion, what also counts, comparing DVCAM and DV, is the fact that recording always generates some minor failures. Only the bigger ones result in dropouts. The others are smoothed by a correctingalgorithm.

When the correctingalgorithm has to estimate for the minor holes in reading, it will affect the result due to lack of information.

DVcam not only has less dropouts but the readingalgorithm has to do less corrections. This may result in a minor better picture.

Am I right?