Maps look rubbish after producing video

_Angus_

Senior Member Joined: Feb 19, 2011 19:59 Messages: 180 Offline

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Mar 01, 2015 17:03

I finally "finished" our US roadtrip video and produced it to dvd so I could go through it and list the things I needed to fix. I was expecting certainly sound levels and so on, but hopefully nothing too major.

Oh dear......

I've broken up each day with a map animation showing our route, using the Magic Motion tool in the User Defined setting, I zoom into to a still of the map, stop, put down a row of asterisks and fade into the video at start of that day.

Unfortunately now that the video is produced the maps look awful. They are big old files, but during the zoom, they look like there's a snowstorm going on, the horizontal lines in particular are horrible and are almost strobing. Once the motion stops they don't look too bad.

I'm thinking about hand drawing the maps on card and photographing them and substituting those images for the map images, but I'd be grateful for any suggestions - cheers.

PlaySound

Senior Contributor Joined: Dec 02, 2010 10:26 Messages: 2031 Offline

Mar 01, 2015 21:44

My suggestion umilde, save your video in HD 1280x720 can be MP4 or MPEG2 bitrate 20kbps. I use here.

If the result is good in HD, it is possible to get good also on DVD.

Create a DVD-Video from the HD files.

In PD will have to use the best quality DVD HQ.

This only fits about 1 hour in, DVD 4.7 Gb.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Mar 01. 2015 21:46

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_Angus_

Senior Member Joined: Feb 19, 2011 19:59 Messages: 180 Offline

Mar 04, 2015 07:12

Quote:
In PD will have to use the best quality DVD HQ.

This only fits about 1 hour in, DVD 4.7 Gb.

Thanks Playsound. Unfortunately the production is 1 hour 25 minutes. I used smartfit to put that on one disk, but when I looked at the original export (higher quality) that was not any better from what I could see. I want to be able to fit it on one dvd, so I think I will have to re-do the maps.

What is actually occuring here? Is it the sheer amount of detail moving across a sensor matrix causing moire fringing and interference patterns?

Is the answer to reduce the amount of detail and/or movement?

ynotfish

Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Offline

Mar 04, 2015 13:57

Hi Angus -

Sorry you've ended up with a disappointing result with the maps, but there are a number of factors that have caused it.

Firstly, you've chosen to burn to DVD - so straight away those zooming maps are being rendered at DVD quality 720x480 @ ~8MBps. That will often cause fringing and blurred lines. Secondly, because you've used "Smart Fit" the video bitrate has been decreased further to fit the video onto one DVD. Low bitrate and fast action/moving lines just don't go together.

So, your assessment is correct. It's the combination of graphic detail (lines), motion & low video bitrate that is causing what you're seeing. Even regular video pan shots are prone to those artifacts when burnt to DVD, especially when there are repeated line patterns like rooftops, buildings, grasses, trees etc.

You mentioned the original maps were "big old files". What is the original resolution of the maps? You also said the "original export" wasn't any better. What was it rendered at? DVD HQ or higher?

I'm making a little comparison video... in progress.

Cheers - Tony
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stevek

Senior Contributor Location: Houston, Texas USA Joined: Jan 25, 2011 12:18 Messages: 4663 Offline

Mar 04, 2015 14:59

Angus, If you have lots of money and the map route is very important to you, look at Vasco da Gama.

Perhaps you can find an older version cheap.

http://www.motionstudios.de/ .
.
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ynotfish

Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Offline

Mar 04, 2015 17:32

Angus -

Here's that little comparison I mentioned. Watching on YouTube will give you a clearer idea. I included a couple of stills with the maps.

I really don't know of a way around the limitations of DVD, except to make that zoom as quick & painless as possible!

Cheers - Tony

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_Angus_

Senior Member Joined: Feb 19, 2011 19:59 Messages: 180 Offline

Mar 04, 2015 17:46

Quote:

You mentioned the original maps were "big old files". What is the original resolution of the maps? You also said the "original export" wasn't any better. What was it rendered at? DVD HQ or higher?

Hi Tony.

I had one massive scan for the maps, and I cropped out various bits of it to use in the different sections, typically 4,500 x 2,500 pixels or thereabouts - sometimes a fair bit bigger.

The exported video prior to actually burning and fitting it to the disc was an .mpg 720x576 9836 kbps apparently.

I'm in the process of cropping some lower detail map images, at about the same resolution as well as second set at half the resolution.

I'll see how they work, I guess.

_Angus_

Senior Member Joined: Feb 19, 2011 19:59 Messages: 180 Offline

Mar 06, 2015 09:55

Quote: Angus -

Here's that little comparison I mentioned. Watching on YouTube will give you a clearer idea. I included a couple of stills with the maps.

Tony, that's a brilliant illustration of the effect - thank you so much. I showed it to a friend at work who is suffering from a similar problem, and he was also very appreciative.

I have exported a bit of the video to blu-ray type standard, (16 mbps) and there is no real problem there, so that's a relief, but I would still like to have a dvd option.

My thoughts are:

Bang up the mbps (as Playsound suggested) and go to two dvd's.

Try reducing the resolution of my maps to 50% and see if that helps

Or maybe just use less detailed maps? ..........I wonder if its graphic detail or physical resolution or a combination that might help.

Anyway, thanks again and have a great weekend, y'all.