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Why is it not retaining video quality?
angiestropp [Avatar]
Newbie Joined: Aug 14, 2011 11:20 Messages: 7 Offline
[Post New] Aug 14, 2011 11:44
I am brand new to PD8 (video editing in general) and am not familiar with terminology etc. so please bare with me.
I'll try to describe my problem. I have 2 HD quality .mp4 files. When I view them in VLC, they are crisp as expected being HD. I want to combine these 2 .mp4 files into one file.

I imported them into PD8 using the 'Import media' button.
Dragged the first file down into the 'Master video track' section and dragged the second file to the end of the same section (after the first one).
I have the aspect ratio set to 16:9 but the video quality is totally gone, it's all blurry and difficult to watch.

What am I doing wrong? Somebody please help...
JL_JL [Avatar]
Senior Contributor Location: Arizona, USA Joined: Oct 01, 2006 20:01 Messages: 6091 Offline
[Post New] Aug 14, 2011 12:00
The quality you are looking at is just the preview quality. If things go correct when you actually produce your video to the same quality of the original it should be similar. You can adjust the preview to a high resolution (see pic) but that takes more computer resource.

Jeff
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angiestropp [Avatar]
Newbie Joined: Aug 14, 2011 11:20 Messages: 7 Offline
[Post New] Aug 14, 2011 12:08
OK, sorry, I should have mentioned that I did try to produce by clicking the 'Produce' button. I am not familiar what each file type means and had chosen 'Portable MPEG-4' assuming it was the same format as the original files. But the final product was all blurry and not really watchable at all. Did I pick the wrong file format?
JL_JL [Avatar]
Senior Contributor Location: Arizona, USA Joined: Oct 01, 2006 20:01 Messages: 6091 Offline
[Post New] Aug 14, 2011 12:37
No, that selection probably not the best unless you are putting the video on a small hand device. Portable MP4 best quality has a resolution of 480 x 270. You never said anything about the resolution of your source video so I can't offer too much, saying it's MP4 means very little as to the quaility and bitrate. Right click on the source video in the media library and get properties. That will give you some guidance as to what you need in the "produced" profile to match closer to your video source.

Jeff
angiestropp [Avatar]
Newbie Joined: Aug 14, 2011 11:20 Messages: 7 Offline
[Post New] Aug 14, 2011 13:32
Oh, did not know I could do that..

File type: MP4
Video type: H.264 AVC
Video bitrate: 3.72 Mbps
Video resolution: 1920x1080
Video frame rate: 30.30 fps
Video aspect ratio: 16:9

That would suggest that I need to produce using the H.264 AVC file format, which outputs .m2ts but then how can I get it back to MP4? I always thought that the file type is the same as the video type. This is giving me a headache...

It must be frustrating to help somebody of such utter lack of knowledge. I really appreciate it and hope you'll continue to try...

Thanks.
L1meyB0b [Avatar]
Newbie Location: Austin, Texas Joined: Oct 13, 2012 12:24 Messages: 5 Offline
[Post New] Oct 13, 2012 12:41
Did you ever resolve this?
I have full res clips with the same spec as yours and they are crisp in the original format and play perfectly. Imported into PD 10 (I know this is a PD 9 question but I have the same issues and didn't want to start a new thread) they have artifacts and do not render properly. When I produce a full HD video (NSTSC, 30 fps, 16:9, MP4 full HD) they have the same issues.
I have other clips which have the same specs when viewing the Properties. They were even produced by the same program originally (they are timelapse).
Any help appreciated.
cheers,
Bob
Carl312
Senior Contributor Location: Texas, USA Joined: Mar 16, 2010 20:11 Messages: 9090 Offline
[Post New] Oct 13, 2012 16:16
Quote: Did you ever resolve this?
I have full res clips with the same spec as yours and they are crisp in the original format and play perfectly. Imported into PD 10 (I know this is a PD 9 question but I have the same issues and didn't want to start a new thread) they have artifacts and do not render properly. When I produce a full HD video (NSTSC, 30 fps, 16:9, MP4 full HD) they have the same issues.
I have other clips which have the same specs when viewing the Properties. They were even produced by the same program originally (they are timelapse).
Any help appreciated.

Just turn off any hardware acceleration.

If you render using 100% CPU, you will not get the artifacts.
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.

L1meyB0b [Avatar]
Newbie Location: Austin, Texas Joined: Oct 13, 2012 12:24 Messages: 5 Offline
[Post New] Oct 13, 2012 22:52
Well I'll be go to Hell. It worked. Thanks. I would never have tried that.
Life is good again.
Thanks cheers,
Bob
Carl312
Senior Contributor Location: Texas, USA Joined: Mar 16, 2010 20:11 Messages: 9090 Offline
[Post New] Oct 14, 2012 10:32
Quote: Well I'll be go to Hell. It worked. Thanks. I would never have tried that.
Life is good again.
Thanks

Yeah, life is grand!

I very rarely use HA, I have known of the artifacts for years.
You would think that the Video card software would get it right, but they don't.

In the first place, the Graphics card software it designed for game play, not Video render.

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.

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