How to Compress TV/VIDEO NOISE without Artifacts??
by jbertain
on
Aug 1, 2007 at 6:33:28 pm
I'm running FCP5 on a Dual PowerMac G5 (2.5 RAM).
My little predicament is that in my film the use of physical video/tv noise is a key part. Seeing the actual noise on screen is essential. The only problem I am seeing is when I compress, using compressor or just FCP every clip directly after the tv noise is pixelated and has "blocking artifacts". It ruins the quality of the film.
I've read somewhere in a forum that TV noise is like 'poison' to mpeg. Any ideas on how to export/compress?
Re: How to Compress TV/VIDEO NOISE without Artifacts?? by Russell Lasson on Aug 1, 2007 at 7:12:48 pm
It's an uphill battle when you shoot on DV to make a great looking MPEG2 file, but you might try applying a 4:1:1 Color Smoothing filter (in the Key folder of Video Filters) before you compress the section. That should help cut down the artifacts.
Also, compression is more of an art than a setting. In your case, it will turn into an experiment. Try making several custom settings in compressor and seeing how each setting effects this section of your film. Play around with the advanced settings too (even if you don't know exactly what they do).
Also, if you export a self contained movie file and open it in QuickTime, it won't look good until you enable high-quality video for the clip in the QuickTime settings. (Apple+J - select video track - select visual settings - select high-quality video in lower right of the box.)
Re: How to Compress TV/VIDEO NOISE without Artifacts?? by jbertain on Aug 1, 2007 at 7:23:54 pm
Great, thanks. I'm trying it now. So then with DV what is the best way to compress it, being I have FCP and Compressor?
Do I export: quicktime movie self contained or not self contained? Then should I take that file and drag into compressor or just straight into DVDSP, and is Mpeg2 the best format for a DV project? Or is there some way to "up-press" the quality?
I know it's a lot of quations, I do apologize. I am versed more in art than tech specifics, but I'm coming to realize they must *equally* compliment each other. Again thanks for your help thus far.
Re: How to Compress TV/VIDEO NOISE without Artifacts?? by Russell Lasson on Aug 1, 2007 at 7:34:16 pm
Exporting the file to compressor instead of using DVDSP is better. It gives you more options.
Exporting a self-contained file at current settings then taking that file to compressor is the same as sending it directly from FCP to compressor.
If you have applied filters to the section of your film, then you might want to change the sequence settings to DV50 or Uncompressed. If the clips don't need to be rendered, then that won't help in getting the quality to be a little better.
Re: How to Compress TV/VIDEO NOISE without Artifacts?? by rob moreno on Aug 2, 2007 at 2:00:48 am
> Exporting a self-contained file at current settings then taking that file to compressor is the > same as sending it directly from FCP to compressor.
Actually this is not necessarily true. When you have several video layers, especially text and graphics, exporting from the FCP timeline will give you much better results because these layers are compressed directly to MPEG-2 from their native format. This is why compressing from directly from the FCP timeline takes longer than compressing a stand-alone movie file; because it's calculating all text and graphics layers as uncompressed. With a self-contained movie, all text and graphics are converted to DV (if the sequence setting is DV). So when you take this file to Compressor you are actually compressing text and graphics twice. I will admit, however, that the difference in quality is not always enough to justify the increased rendering time. Depending on the complexity of the sequence and the format of the video the difference in rendering time can be drastic, especially when working with uncompressed video.
Re: How to Compress TV/VIDEO NOISE without Artifacts?? by rafalaos on Aug 2, 2007 at 6:02:43 am
[rob moreno]"> Exporting a self-contained file at current settings then taking that file to compressor is the > same as sending it directly from FCP to compressor.
Actually this is not necessarily true. When you have several video layers, especially text and graphics, exporting from the FCP timeline will give you much better results because these layers are compressed directly to MPEG-2 from their native format." That's right and this is the reason that if you don't send it from your time-line, you better export in an Uncompressed codec (8/10b Unc).
As Russel says:
It's an uphill battle when you shoot on DV to make a great looking MPEG2 file, but you might try applying a 4:1:1 Color Smoothing filter (in the Key folder of Video Filters) before you compress the section. That should help cut down the artifacts.
This is right too but this works if your set your time-line in with a codec better than DV. If keeps in DV all the Chroma Smoothing goes away.
I would recommend you edit your fim in DV and when ready change the setting of your sequence to 8/10b Unc. Then you have the three options:
- Export to Compressor from the time-line. This will take long time because all the movie will be rendered even if you have already render all and you will have working the two applications.
- Once you have rendered all your sequence export a Refference moovie and send it to Compressor .
- Export a "Self-contained movie" and send to Compressor.
Each one got his favarite method.
If I'm not too pressed I preffer the first one. Whatever you have set and how you have set your sequence you are sending a full 444 movie to Compressor, as Rob Moreno says.
Cheers,
rafael
Re: How to Compress TV/VIDEO NOISE without Artifacts?? by Ben Holmes on Aug 1, 2007 at 7:26:45 pm
Have you tried encoding using the 2-Pass Variable bit rate? This should analyse the video and check for these kind of 'tricky' encoding moments.
However, I suspect you'll still struggle. MPEG2 does indeed hate noise, as do many other long-gop formats, and even MJPEG. If this is so important to your project, and DVD is the final output format, you may have consider a way around this. A different transition could help (via black?) or you could try lowering the video levels. Sometimes this helps compression if the differences between light and dark areas in lowered.
Professional DVD transfers require many passes and often frame by frame analysis to avoid problems like this - compressor is a bit of a blunt instrument in comparison. You could always try another product, like Media Cleaner - but I cannot speak from any experience if this will help.
Ben
Editec Broadcast Editing Ltd
EVS & FCP specialists for live broadcast.
OB Server 1 HD - Mobile FCP editing done right.
http://www.editecuk.com/OBServer2.html
Re: How to Compress TV/VIDEO NOISE without Artifacts?? by Gordon Gurley on Aug 2, 2007 at 5:25:01 am
Also try tweaking the settings in Compressor. The "Highest Quality" mpeg2 preset is not even close to highest quality. But, of course, when you crank those settings up, it takes MUCH longer to compress.
Gordon Gurley
Director of Operations
Stanford Video
Chroma Smoothing by rafalaos on Aug 2, 2007 at 6:11:56 am
Sorry I forgot to tell you I reccommend you to try "Chroma Sharpening" of Nattresse. Drop it in your DV footage in a 8/10b Unc time-line and you will get shock seeing how all the blockyness disappear. Make a test with somebody wearing a red T-shirt. The red goes back to the shirt instead of spreading all around. Magic. This toguether with a CC will make your movie look as would have been recorded with a much better camera. Your DVDs will look also far much better.
rafael
