Need help correcting jagged lines on Mini-DV video

[Chris]

Hello,

I have an older Panasonic PG350 Mini-DV camera that shoots NTSC interlaced only. It does not shoot progressive, 24por HD.

When importing the video, straght lines appear jagged. Converting the file to progressive in Final Cut Express seems to help somewhat, but I can still see the jaggies.

Any idea whatI am doing wrong? Am I doing something wrong? Or is it just the limitation of digital on a PC? I have read that most pros prefer to shoot progressive in the field to combat this exact situation. WhenI make a DVD, played on a standard NTSC TV, the jagged lines are there, but less apparent.

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

[Rob]

If you are judging the quality of your image by looking at your computer screen, you will be making bad judgement calls because computer monitors do not properly display video. You must output video to an NTSC monitor. Do not convert the file to progressive. That is not necessary.

Shooting progressive doesn’t help with this situation either, so i dunno where you got that info from. And for future references, definitely do not use the de-interlace filter is FCP. it doesn’t de-interlace anything. it just deletes one of the fields of your interlaced video.

[composite1]

Peachy,

Yeah, you need an NTSC monitor or straight TV (I suggest a small LCD TV for the budget minded) to see what your output will look like. Your computer shows video in progressive scan (that whole ‘P’ thing) and your standard scan TV (HD included) shows video in interlaced (‘I’) frames. As Rob said, your computer will not play back interlaced video without those ‘jagged lines’ as it is trying to show them in the progressive format.

You only need to use deinterlacing if your final product is going to the web since all computers show their videos in ‘p’ mode. Even then depending on your NLE, the result won’t be perfect and may cause other issues. The most likely reason you’re still seeing jagged lines on your DVD’s is probably the player and or the set you’re watching it on may also progressive scan.

I would have to disagree with Rob about shooting in progressive mode as it does remove the interlacing that occurs during subject movement as the frames are recorded progressively not as overlapped scanned fields. On the otherhand, progressive scan has its own issues with ‘motion artifacts’ which occur during fast subject movement. The least expensive option is to shoot it was well as you can, use a compatible format monitor and bear in mind your final output format so you can make any necessary adjustments.

[Chris]

Monitors: so, ifI can’t trust my computer monitor, what do most people connect their mac to for editing? UsuallyI see two or even three monitors in editing bays, with one a CRT or similar NTSC device.

[Rob]

if you are editing DV, you can output the video via firewire to a miniDV deck or a miniDV camcorder. Then connect the NTSC monitor or TV to whatever you connected your firewire to. Then in FCP you need to go to View > Video playback and choose Firewire. Then View > Audio Playback and choose “Audio follows video.” This will keep audio in sync with your video, but you need to connect speakers to your deck or camera to monitor the audio too.

[composite1]

Peachy,

Since I don’t use mac’s I can’t answer that question. You’ll have to go with Rob’s or another mac user’s advice. However, there are software options that can serve as a ‘virtual monitor’ for those who don’t have monitor capabilites. The best one for DV and HDV are the old ‘DV Rack’ and it’s Adobe reincarnation, ‘On-location’. Unfortunately, On-location is bundled in with CS4, but it works on mac’s. Your other choice is Scope Box which is a stripped down version of On-Location for mac only. Typical of mac software, it’s a little pricey at $399, but it looks pretty solid and it’s still cheaper than buying a monitor and matching vectorscopes. You can check it out at scopebox.com.

The software solution cuts out the extra steps and allows you to record directly to hard disk and tape simulatneously. Having a software option is a good way to go if you can pony up the cash.

[Author]

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