Imported graphics quality issue

DavidONeil

Newbie Joined: Mar 12, 2010 11:17 Messages: 25 Offline

Solved by

Mar 12, 2010 11:45

I'm testing PowerDirector, and want to know if there is a way to get better graphics output than I'm currently achieving.

I'm working with a project in 720p, from a camera taking 720p video, so it is 1280x720. With that as the only video in the PD project, I've imported a PNG file that has been created for a PIP picture. It's dimensions are 1280w x 134h, and is clear, and I've stretched it to exactly fit to the sides of the video, so there should be no resizing of the graphic in the end. But in the final video it is dull, and I would like to know if I'm missing something to overcome this, or is this a limitation of the software?

Thanks,
David

(Just so it is clear, the left image in the attached graphic is a screen grab of the PNG file that was imported into PD, the right image is the way it displayed in the final video.)


Filename	QualityIssue.png	Download
Description
Filesize	79 Kbytes
Downloaded:	113 time(s)

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at Mar 12. 2010 11:47

Dafydd B

Senior Contributor Joined: Aug 26, 2006 08:20 Messages: 11973 Offline

Mar 12, 2010 11:53

Hi David,

The PiP is being overlaid onto a color board, correct?

Ok, recent tests (by Carsten and Adrian) suggest a good option is to bring in a self made colour image with the dimensions to your project size, 1280x720. You will then retain the clarity you seek.

Dafydd
[Moderator]

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at Mar 12. 2010 11:56

DavidONeil

Newbie Joined: Mar 12, 2010 11:17 Messages: 25 Offline

Mar 12, 2010 12:31

As per the color board, no, I don't believe so. I simply imported the PNG into the library, and then dragged it onto the PIP timeline, made it fit the entire width of the video, and resized it in the preview to exactly fit the width of the video while keeping the aspect ratio.

Now, with more testing I've found that the issue may be the video playback program I was using.

I tried your method, and with GOM player it looked different than either of the original two graphics I posted (and still not good). Then I decided to try it in Windows Media Player, and lo-and-behold it was perfect! So, it isn't an issue on your end for full-sized grahics.

I'll do some more testing and try to leave a post if I can figure out what settings are good for GOM player.

ps - thanks for getting back so quick

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Mar 12. 2010 12:32

Dafydd B

Senior Contributor Joined: Aug 26, 2006 08:20 Messages: 11973 Offline

Mar 12, 2010 12:42

OK, you check and post again. I should add that the inclusion of the one colour graphic into the video track applies with either method* to retain image quality.

* Place a 1280x720 graphic to overlay from a PiP, don't use the blank video track timeline.

Dafydd
[Moderator]

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Mar 12. 2010 12:45

DavidONeil

Newbie Joined: Mar 12, 2010 11:17 Messages: 25 Offline

Mar 12, 2010 12:58

Quote: * Place a 1280x720 graphic to overlay from a PiP, don't use the blank video track timeline....

To be clear, are you saying to use a 1280x720 graphic (with alpha channel) for the PIP image, and not to place that graphic into the master video track?

vn800rider

Senior Contributor Location: Darwen, UK Joined: May 15, 2008 04:32 Messages: 1949 Offline

Mar 12, 2010 13:41

I think what Dafydd is indicating is that the "resolution" of images in the PiP tracks is influenced by the resolution of the main video track.

By experiment, there seems to be some improvement of PiP track images if the content of the main video track is maintained at the resolution of the PiP image - hence the use of a, say, 1280x720 custom black colour board in the main track(if there is no other content present) if the project is in 1280x720, rather than using just the blank main track.

Cheers
Adrian

Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. (see below)
Confucius
AMD Phenom IIX6 1055T, win10, 5 internal drives, 7 usb drives, struggling power supply.

DavidONeil

Newbie Joined: Mar 12, 2010 11:17 Messages: 25 Offline

Mar 12, 2010 13:47

Thank you, vn800rider. I assume that you are correct. Further testing indicates that my original attempt probably succeeded, using a 134x1280 bitmap image on the PIP track. My new test with that image worked perfectly. Therefore, the lesson learned is to preview the videos in WMP, not GOM. I tried a few different settings inside of GOM, to see if it would work, but none of them did. Since I have more important things to do than mess with GOM all day, I'll get to those issues.

Thanks!