Hi there -

Following the same procedure here, I can't even get close to replicating that.

The original images I used in the PP presentation were all >3MP (1920x1080 = ~2MP). As you did, I exported the PP slideshow as a video using File > Export > Create a Video > Presentation Quality (1920x1080). Imported into PDR, images look crisp & clean.

As a comparison, I used the Camtasia add-in to record the show - then produced that to 1920x1080 MP4 in Camtasia. File size was about double, but PQ equivalent.

There are 2 PDR snapshots attached, one from each of the tests above.

Cheers - Tony
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Quote Hi there -

Following the same procedure here, I can't even get close to replicating that.

The original images I used in the PP presentation were all >3MP (1920x1080 = ~2MP). As you did, I exported the PP slideshow as a video using File > Export > Create a Video > Presentation Quality (1920x1080). Imported into PDR, images look crisp & clean.

As a comparison, I used the Camtasia add-in to record the show - then produced that to 1920x1080 MP4 in Camtasia. File size was about double, but PQ equivalent.

There are 2 PDR snapshots attached, one from each of the tests above.

Cheers - Tony

Tony, if the PP MP4 you created in both of your tests came out looking OK then I'll need to do a little further investigating. I did find one setting in PP that seemed to help. It comes with two offerings for video "Widescreen" and "On-screen Show 16:9". I found the choosing a customize setting and using the "On-Screen Show 16:9" worked a little better but it is hit and miss. Thanks for the input. I'll keep at it.

Best,

TeeMan1 TeeMan

Quote Hi there -

Following the same procedure here, I can't even get close to replicating that.

The original images I used in the PP presentation were all >3MP (1920x1080 = ~2MP). As you did, I exported the PP slideshow as a video using File > Export > Create a Video > Presentation Quality (1920x1080). Imported into PDR, images look crisp & clean.

As a comparison, I used the Camtasia add-in to record the show - then produced that to 1920x1080 MP4 in Camtasia. File size was about double, but PQ equivalent.

There are 2 PDR snapshots attached, one from each of the tests above.

Cheers - Tony

Tony:

I am slowly narrowing the problem down as to why the resolution drops so bad for the PowerPoint MP4. First, just to make sure that it was not the actual MP4 file coming from Powerpoint 2016 that was causing the problem, I imported it into Premiere Pro CS6 and it came in fine to the bin. I then moved it to the timeline and it still looked great. No drop off in resolution and all the animations worked fine. Since I'm working on two monitors I opened the second monitor at full screen and everything still look and worked great.

I go back to PowerDirector 15 and imported the same file into Media Room and it looked great in both the MR and the Preview Window. I then opened the second monitor and everything still looked great and the animations were all there. So this is where the problem comes in.

Once i drop the file from the MR into the timeline, I get the usual "Timeline Frame Rate Conflict" error telling me that the MP4 file was created at 30fps and the PD 15 timeline is at 29.97 and they don't match and I should change it. If I click "OK" for the system to go ahead and process the file, it then becomes distorted and the resolution drops to almost "DOT MATRIX" quality. Of course if I click cancel, it simply does not import the file. So after two long days it comes down to frame rates not matching.

As the error prompt suggests, I go to Preferences/General/Time Frame Rate and it is set for 30fps which is exactly the same as the MP4 I'm trying to import. So I don't understand where the "conflict" is coming from. There is no setting in Powerpoint to change to frame rate to 29.97 and both PD 15's frame rate and the MP4 are set for 30fps. Am I missing something here on how to change PD 15 to 30fps even though it is already showing 30fps in the Preferences?

TeeMan TeeMan

Yes - it's all a bit bewildering, but no frame rate conflict is going to cause your otherwise HQ video to demolish itself to "dot matrix" quality.

This is the difference in Preferences:

but I'm fairly certain that is not the issue.

Could you please upload your PP video output file so we can test? or maybe your original PP project?

Here's the video I made from PP - https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bxp60P6x4uM2UDdTc3ZRM2ZaQ0k - what does it look like in your PDR timeline?

Cheers - Tony
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Quote Yes - it's all a bit bewildering, but no frame rate conflict is going to cause your otherwise HQ video to demolish itself to "dot matrix" quality.

This is the difference in Preferences:

but I'm fairly certain that is not the issue.

Could you please upload your PP video output file so we can test? or maybe your original PP project?

Here's the video I made from PP - https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bxp60P6x4uM2UDdTc3ZRM2ZaQ0k - what does it look like in your PDR timeline?

Cheers - Tony

Tony:

Here is a Dropbox link with the two files you asked for (the original PowerPoint 2016 file and the MP4 that I used PowerPoint to convert).

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/nl8a81ytw8lz6pn/AABZmlxlk_DbeCkQiPUBx5O9a?dl=0

I even went into Premiere Pro and dropped the PP MP4 in both the Bin and Preview Window before putting it into the timeline. It worked great. Once I dropped it into the timeline, it still was pristine and crystal clear.

Went back "one more time" to PD 15 and sure enough, everything worked fine up until I actually put it into the timeline, then I got the downgraded resolution again. Could it be a codec issue?

Best,

TeeMan TeeMan

Quote

Quote Yes - it's all a bit bewildering, but no frame rate conflict is going to cause your otherwise HQ video to demolish itself to "dot matrix" quality.

This is the difference in Preferences:

but I'm fairly certain that is not the issue.

Could you please upload your PP video output file so we can test? or maybe your original PP project?

Here's the video I made from PP - https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bxp60P6x4uM2UDdTc3ZRM2ZaQ0k - what does it look like in your PDR timeline?

Cheers - Tony

Tony:

Here is a Dropbox link with the two files you asked for (the original PowerPoint 2016 file and the MP4 that I used PowerPoint to convert).

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/nl8a81ytw8lz6pn/AABZmlxlk_DbeCkQiPUBx5O9a?dl=0

I even went into Premiere Pro and dropped the PP MP4 in both the Bin and Preview Window before putting it into the timeline. It worked great. Once I dropped it into the timeline, it still was pristine and crystal clear.

Went back "one more time" to PD 15 and sure enough, everything worked fine up until I actually put it into the timeline, then I got the downgraded resolution again. Could it be a codec issue?

Best,

TeeMan

More likely it is your preview resolution settiing. You can set the preview from low to Full HD. For many computers, if you chose 'High' is a good balance between fair picture quality and computer performance.

. Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

Quote

Quote

Quote Yes - it's all a bit bewildering, but no frame rate conflict is going to cause your otherwise HQ video to demolish itself to "dot matrix" quality.

This is the difference in Preferences:

but I'm fairly certain that is not the issue.

Could you please upload your PP video output file so we can test? or maybe your original PP project?

Here's the video I made from PP - https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bxp60P6x4uM2UDdTc3ZRM2ZaQ0k - what does it look like in your PDR timeline?

Cheers - Tony

Tony:

Here is a Dropbox link with the two files you asked for (the original PowerPoint 2016 file and the MP4 that I used PowerPoint to convert).

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/nl8a81ytw8lz6pn/AABZmlxlk_DbeCkQiPUBx5O9a?dl=0

I even went into Premiere Pro and dropped the PP MP4 in both the Bin and Preview Window before putting it into the timeline. It worked great. Once I dropped it into the timeline, it still was pristine and crystal clear.

Went back "one more time" to PD 15 and sure enough, everything worked fine up until I actually put it into the timeline, then I got the downgraded resolution again. Could it be a codec issue?

Best,

TeeMan

More likely it is your preview resolution settiing. You can set the preview from low to Full HD. For many computers, if you chose 'High' is a good balance between fair picture quality and computer performance.

.

Carl312:

That does not appear to be the problem I had already switched all of the preview resolutions from Low up to the Full HD. I've also tried this on two different computers and the problem still exists. I checked the forums the and the web overall and can't seem to find a solution for this. What is perplexing to me is that Tony says he is not having this problem once he drops the video into the timeline. Thanks for you help.

TeeMan TeeMan

Please read this sticky for the third and fourth item: http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/50105.page . A screenshot of the timeline showing poor resolution of the preview screen and a DxDiag.txt will help us to comprehend your problem. The low preview resolution won’t affect what you produce at all as Carl312 pointed out.

Hi TeeMan1 -

Thanks for uploading the .pptx & .mp4 files - every bit of information helps!

As far as I can tell, though I'm not sure what settings you're using in PP, it seems to me that the original map of Africa used in your PP presentation was not a high res image... possibly 960x540, but definitely less than 1920x1080.

Could you confirm that, please? or shoot it down in flames?

If that's the case, it's going to affect the output quality... especially when you're exporting the video from PP at 1920x1080. Case in point - if you look at this short video, exported from PP in the same way, there are three slides with different resolution maps inserted. Significant difference in PQ, even though they all looked OK in PP.

I guess I'm just trying to pin down any possible cause for your issue.

Cheers - Tony
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Quote Hi TeeMan1 -

Thanks for uploading the .pptx & .mp4 files - every bit of information helps!

As far as I can tell, though I'm not sure what settings you're using in PP, it seems to me that the original map of Africa used in your PP presentation was not a high res image... possibly 960x540, but definitely less than 1920x1080.

Could you confirm that, please? or shoot it down in flames?

If that's the case, it's going to affect the output quality... especially when you're exporting the video from PP at 1920x1080. Case in point - if you look at this short video, exported from PP in the same way, there are three slides with different resolution maps inserted. Significant difference in PQ, even though they all looked OK in PP.

I guess I'm just trying to pin down any possible cause for your issue.

Cheers - Tony

Tony, you're the Man!

Well, it seems I've found the problem thanks to Tony. After his suggestion that I look at the resolution of the actual PowerPoint graphic file I remembered that the actual files that I was using were .wmf files. Since the file/picture was "grouped" I needed to ungroup it in order to add the animations and transitions. Do this caused PP to convert the photo to Microsoft Office Drawing Object. I am assuming that this is what caused the problem as Tony outlined in his response above. The way I verified this was to import some photos in PP that I had taken with my Canon DSLR. As they were Hi-Res, I exported them as MP4's into PD 15 and they came in beautifully. I am still not sure why the PP MP4 did not have the same problem with Premiere Pro but now that I've got this figured out, I'll just need to locate Hi-Res Vector Maps to complete this editing. Thanks one and all for your support and advice. You folks Rock!!!

TeeMan TeeMan