Slide show / still image "blockiness / shimmering / movement

Mark - UK

Newbie Joined: Jul 12, 2015 10:59 Messages: 23 Offline

Solved by

Oct 25, 2016 14:04

Hi

I hope someone can help as this issue is driving me crazy.

I've previosuly created DVDs with an element of some still images and also slide shows.

The images were fine.

Recently however, no matter what I do the still images just aren't "still" anymore. There are always bits of the image which "flicks / moves / blocks" backwards and forwards. It's difficult to explain but there are bits of the image (about a square inch or so) in about a dozen places across the screen which just "move", back and forth. Initially I thought it was a burner problem so I've swapped from blu-ray to DVD but still the same. I've tried different players but it's always there. The only way I can work around the issue is to edit the still image with the Magic Movement facility to create some slight zoom or other movement. This 99.9% of the time sorts the problem.

Can someone help me please?

Regards & thanks

Mark

Longedge

Senior Contributor Joined: Apr 28, 2011 15:38 Messages: 1504 Offline

Oct 25, 2016 14:16

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This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Nov 08. 2016 04:40

Mark - UK

Newbie Joined: Jul 12, 2015 10:59 Messages: 23 Offline

Oct 25, 2016 14:44

Quote Several questions spring to mind initially{-

Does this happen if you play the DVD on your computer?

Does it happen if you produce your project to a video, say an mp4 and play that on your computer?

What is the resolution of the images you're using?

Are you just accepting all the default settings when burning your disc in the "Create Disc" section, or have you changed anything?

I thought of playing the DVD / bluray on my PC and the issue is exactly the same. I was hoping that it was perhaps my bluray player attached to my TV but that's clearly not the case. I've tried producing to video but the issue remains.

The resolution is high as they are stills lifted from a GH4 shooting in 4K. I'm not on my main machine so can't tell you the exact resolution.

The settings are all default as they have always been. I've done everything exactly the same as previously (from shooting the video to lifting stills (using VLC) to editing the video. Everything was akwys great - nice and sharp images - until now.

I think I must have changed something but I'm equally sure I haven't, so I'm stuck.

Longedge

Senior Contributor Joined: Apr 28, 2011 15:38 Messages: 1504 Offline

Oct 25, 2016 15:03

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This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at Nov 08. 2016 04:41

Mark - UK

Newbie Joined: Jul 12, 2015 10:59 Messages: 23 Offline

Oct 25, 2016 15:15

Quote Well that rules a lot of possibilities out but do I understand correctly that all the source images are from the same source? You say lifted from but that doesn't mean much to me. Are they screenshots of 4K video being played back on your PC, are they still images taken by the GH4 whilst recording video at the same time or perhaps snapshots created from within PDR?

p.s. - blockiness to me screams low resolution or very low bitrate. The question is why.

Yes, all the images are all from the same sourse.

The video is shot in 4K on a GH4. Using VLC, frame by frame I then extract a suitable still image(s) and save as a PNG. I've experimented with JPGs and PNGs and the latter is slightly sharper so I've settled on those. These still images are then in effect exactly the same as if the were taken as photos on a camera.

In the past I haven't had an issue until now with "flicking blockiness".

Interestingly (or maybe not) when the video / slideshow is previewed, there isn't any problem. That's why I thought that the problem initially lay with the burner.

BTW thanks for the really speedy replies!

Longedge

Senior Contributor Joined: Apr 28, 2011 15:38 Messages: 1504 Offline

Oct 25, 2016 15:46

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This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Nov 08. 2016 04:39

Mark - UK

Newbie Joined: Jul 12, 2015 10:59 Messages: 23 Offline

Oct 25, 2016 16:45

Quote

Quote Yes, all the images are all from the same sourse.

That's where the problem lies then. Are you taking a series using multiple exposure setting and then using the in camera process to sticth into a time lapse video or by passing that feature and just using the still images direct? If you drop one of the images onto your desktop and right click on it and choose Properties/Details what does it say under Dimensions?

Yeh.. nothing better to do

When I said "frame by frame" I simply meant using VLC I extract a pic, say 20 or 30 of them out of the video to make a slide show.

The resulting images are simply that, images, which are inserted into the timeline with say a fade transition to make a slideshow.

The dimensions are: 4096 x 2160px and around 10MB in size.

As I said previously, this is something which has only recently started happening.

tomasc

Senior Contributor Joined: Aug 25, 2011 12:33 Messages: 6464 Offline

Oct 25, 2016 18:13

4k snapshots may be a problem for a dvd. See how one user fixed the problem: http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/30/47249.page .

Mark - UK

Newbie Joined: Jul 12, 2015 10:59 Messages: 23 Offline

Oct 25, 2016 19:00

Quote 4k snapshots may be a problem for a dvd. See how one user fixed the problem: http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/30/47249.page .

I can understand the issue with DVD (which I try not to use with PD) but bluray?

And as I've said earlier, doing exactly the same thing and the same procedure before has never created any problems.

Mark - UK

Newbie Joined: Jul 12, 2015 10:59 Messages: 23 Offline

Oct 25, 2016 19:53

Quote

Quote 4k snapshots may be a problem for a dvd. See how one user fixed the problem: http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/30/47249.page .

I can understand the issue with DVD (which I try not to use with PD) but bluray?

And as I've said earlier, doing exactly the same thing and the same procedure before has never created any problems.

I think I've realised what the issue is. Contrary to what I said earlier, there has in fact been one change made recently and that's an upgrade from PD13 to PD 14! It's the only thing that's changed since the last time I used PD for such a slide show.

I guess there's now PD15 to upgrade to. Shame that an "upgrade" seems to introduce problems.

Can I "downgrade" to PD13 to test my hypothesis?

tomasc

Senior Contributor Joined: Aug 25, 2011 12:33 Messages: 6464 Offline

Oct 25, 2016 21:03

If your PD13 is a full version then you can install it. Try that without uninstalling PD14.

Would like to know if you produced or created a BD using h.264 1080/24p or 1080/60p (progressive) instead of the interlaced formats and what bitrate was chosen. Using no hardware acceleration and no hardware encoding could fix the situation. You could say do a range produce of 1 minute of the timeline and view that produced result quickly with vlc and wmp.

Mark - UK

Newbie Joined: Jul 12, 2015 10:59 Messages: 23 Offline

Oct 26, 2016 11:12

Quote If your PD13 is a full version then you can install it. Try that without uninstalling PD14.

Would like to know if you produced or created a BD using h.264 1080/24p or 1080/60p (progressive) instead of the interlaced formats and what bitrate was chosen. Using no hardware acceleration and no hardware encoding could fix the situation. You could say do a range produce of 1 minute of the timeline and view that produced result quickly with vlc and wmp.

I'm on the annual subscription model. Can I download PD13 again?

I burn in HD 1920 x 1080 / 24p just as always.

Have tried smart fit but it's all the same.

I've always used the hardware video encoder without any issues but I'll disengage that and see if it makes a difference.

Mark - UK

Newbie Joined: Jul 12, 2015 10:59 Messages: 23 Offline

Oct 26, 2016 13:01

Quote If your PD13 is a full version then you can install it. Try that without uninstalling PD14.

Would like to know if you produced or created a BD using h.264 1080/24p or 1080/60p (progressive) instead of the interlaced formats and what bitrate was chosen. Using no hardware acceleration and no hardware encoding could fix the situation. You could say do a range produce of 1 minute of the timeline and view that produced result quickly with vlc and wmp.

THANKK YOU Tomasc, your suggestion did the trick. I disbabled hardware encoding and the still images are now solid on screen, at least on bluray but I can't see why that wouldn't also be the case on DVD.

Not quite sure why hardware encoding should suddenly be causing issues (unless it was disabled previously in PD13 - and I just hadn't noticed - but was auto enabled on the upgrade to PD14). Also interesting is why hardware encoding only causes problems with stills and not moving images / video. None of that is particularly important though - it now works.

Thanks again Tomasc

Regards

Mark

tomasc

Senior Contributor Joined: Aug 25, 2011 12:33 Messages: 6464 Offline

Oct 26, 2016 19:38

Thank you for the feedback. Glad that the problem is solved. Could you please tell us what video card and model number gave you the shimmering problem.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Oct 26. 2016 19:39

Mark - UK

Newbie Joined: Jul 12, 2015 10:59 Messages: 23 Offline

Oct 27, 2016 14:58

Quote Thank you for the feedback. Glad that the problem is solved. Could you please tell us what video card and model number gave you the shimmering problem.

The video card is an AMD Radeon 7990 card.

Are some cards better than others when it comes to video editing and / or PowerDirector?

tomasc

Senior Contributor Joined: Aug 25, 2011 12:33 Messages: 6464 Offline

Oct 27, 2016 16:02

Quote The video card is an AMD Radeon 7990 card.

Are some cards better than others when it comes to video editing and / or PowerDirector?

If you were using that particular HD7990 graphics card with PD13 then hardware encoding stopped working in about July, 2015 if you had stayed up to date with amd video drivers. Hardware encoding works in PD14 with the crimson drivers. That is probably why it worked well in PD13 because of the hardware encoding but not hardware acceleration was disabled.

I don’t want to get into a discussion of video cards. The consensus in the forums has always been that some individuals prefer nvidia cards. There are plenty of discussion about that here in the forums.

Mark - UK

Newbie Joined: Jul 12, 2015 10:59 Messages: 23 Offline

Oct 27, 2016 16:28

Quote

Quote The video card is an AMD Radeon 7990 card.

Are some cards better than others when it comes to video editing and / or PowerDirector?

If you were using that particular HD7990 graphics card with PD13 then hardware encoding stopped working in about July, 2015 if you had stayed up to date with amd video drivers. Hardware encoding works in PD14 with the crimson drivers. That is probably why it worked well in PD13 because of the hardware encoding but not hardware acceleration was disabled.

I don’t want to get into a discussion of video cards. The consensus in the forums has always been that some individuals prefer nvidia cards. There are plenty of discussion about that here in the forums.

Thanks for the help and explanation and it begins to make sense.

I haven't kept up to date with the drivers which explains the problem when I moved to PD14.

There doesn't appear to be much of a performance hit without the hardware video encoder and I'm of a mind set that if it ain't broke don't fix it, which is why I held off the upgrade even though it was free.

PD15 is out now as well...!