Grainy footage after exporting my FCD video

1. ccorwin
   Member

   

   Hi Everyone....I'm new to the video world so please bear with me...there's a lot to learn!    I have recently agreed to help a friend create a 10-12 minute marketing video from a lot of footage that I didn't shoot.   I know the video is m2ts format  and I converted to m4v using iSkysoft on my Mac and am using FCE 4 to edit.    I've had no problem editing segments, still images, adding text overlays, etc., but when I export to 1280 x 720HD or 1280 x 720 16:9, the footage is grainy.    Here's my question....did I do something incorrectly when I converted the video initially to m4v or am I doing something wrong when I export.   My friend would like this video to play on 42-47" HD tv's....what can I do so the footage isn't grainy?   Looks GREAT on my 17 and 21" computer screens but it goes downhill from there!

   Again...thanks in advance for putting up with me and my 'newbie' questions!

    

    

   Posted 1 year ago #

2. lomaymi
   Member

   

   "...when I export to 1280 x 720HD or 1280 x 720 16:9"

   Can you specify a little more? What video format did you export to and what codec did you use?

   For example: Video Format: Quicktime; Codec: DVCPRO HD 1080p30

   Is the original footage (m2ts) progressive or interlace?

   The meaning of a movie are the characters, the life of the movie is the music, but the magic is in the editing.
   Luis O. Maymí
   Follow me on Twitter @lomaymi

   Posted 1 year ago #

3. WSanford
   Member

   

   What are you playing it on that it looks grainy? I would have to agree with Sargehero, If it is going to be played on DVD media then it will be SD. It could be in the conversion or it could be in what you are exporting, are you burning DVD or Blue Ray and what are you using to burn them. 

   Posted 1 year ago #

4. Rob Grauert
   Post Production Host

   

   Your first mistake is converting m2ts files to m4v. Convert to Apple Intermediate Codec before you edit. 

   "when I export to 1280 x 720HD or 1280 x 720 16:9, the footage is grainy."

   These are the same thing. As stated before, the codec you export to is the important part. 

   If you are exporting to DVD, as WSanford guess, the DVD will not look too great when it's being upconverted to play on your buddy's HDTV

   Rob Grauert, Jr
   http://www.robgrauert.com
   http://command-r.tumblr.com

   Posted 1 year ago #

5. ccorwin
   Member

   

   Thanks for your input everyone...I'm going to try to answer your questions in order (and accurately!).

   The first time I exported (after editing in FCE),  I did it using FCE using Quicktime Conversion and my Compression  Type was H.264, my 'dimensions' were NTSC 720 x 485 16:9 and I did not have the Preserve aspect ration or Deinterlace Source Video boxes checked for the export.  Again, this was after I used iSkysoft to convert m2ts to m4v format...I imported the m4v format into FCE.

   I am using iDVD to burn the DVD.

   iSkysoft didn't provide the option to convert to m2ts to Apple Intermediate Code...I will go back and look but I don't remember that being an option.   I can export from FCE to Apple Intermediate Code.

   I'm going to ask a really stupid question now (if the previous ones I'm asking aren't enough!) but how do I tell if the original m2ts footage is progressive or interlaced?  

   I'm trying to learn as much as I can but could use some help/resources...can you recommend good training dvd's, classes, etc.?   I enjoy this a great deal but there is so much to learn and it's overwhelming for me.

    

   Again...thanks for your help and patience....I appreciate all the feedback! 

    

   Posted 1 year ago #

6. lomaymi
   Member

   

   "Your first mistake is converting m2ts files to m4v. Convert to Apple Intermediate Codec before you edit."

   I agree with Rob, this is probably the conversion where the video gets grainy. After I continue I must clarify that Apple Intermediate Codec is video CODEC, not a video format. So first you need to select a video format (you will not find Apple Intermediate Codec here), lets say Quicktime, then you select the video codec like Apple Intermediate Codec or Photo JPEG (or among many many others). By the way, what dimensions the original m2ts video has?. Is it 720x480? 1280x720?. When you convert the m2ts video you need to select the exact dimensions of the video, if not you will be down-scaling or up-scaling the video. Also, in order to know if the footage is progressive or interlace you can investigate which camcorder was used to record the m2ts and what settings where used. You can also check in your video converter, it should tell you somewhere the dimensions of the footage, field type (progressive or interlace), aspect ratio and frame rate of the orinal video. If you are exporting to DVD,  I recommend exporting to MPEG2 DVD (this format is ready for DVD playing).

   As for help and resources, you have Videmaker.com forums and Videomakers Plus Membership which give you access to tons of tutorials. There is also CreativeCow.net, Lynda.com, the almighty Google and among others. If you want to learn you need to read a lot, view tons of tutorials, read some more, practices a lot and have fun.

   Posted 1 year ago #

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