Low quality video from HF200

[Jergling]

I've had my HF200 for some time now, taking home videos and such. I edit in Final Cut Express (Thinking about Vegas for my fast PC), and lately I've started to notice how poor the video quality is. I really don't think it's the camera, because I've seen it on a full-size TV directly from the camera, and enjoyed the quality.

I can provide screen captures if anyone wants to see what I'm talking about. I just think the edges look overly soft, and everything just seems to have this blurry, grainy look to it, even outside. I really have a feeling that this is the application's fault.

Edit: Looking at the images, I would describe the appearance to be more of an "oil painting filter" look, like in Photoshop. Just kind of blotchy.

[commalot]

What is your final output that you are looking at?

[Jergling]

I'm outputting through Quicktime Compression (to a .mov file), set to highest quality at 1080p30. The final output looks very similar to the preview image. I use .mov when I post to Youtube, so typically the quality of that doesn't matter, but I don't know what would be better. I do know that FCE stores imported, rendered clips as .movs, so that might be the start of the problems.

[Jergling]

Here's a sample zoomed image. Resize it and you'll see what I'm talking about, there's just so much noise.

http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/7568/picture2jxa.th.png (http://img194.imageshack.us/i/picture2jxa.png/)

[net]

It looks like it's not deinterlaced. Frame rates 24p and 60i need to be deinterlaced either through purchasing a program, like Cineform, or the free method -which is insanely involved. :hv20-smilie01:

info on deinterlacing:
http://www.100fps.com/


Go through Function and change the frame rate to 30PF: this doesn't need to be deinterlaced. (Commonly referred to as "30p".) Do a test again and see if it's better.

If you are using 30p in an editing program, "progressive scan" should be selected in "field order" and the "deinterlace method" should be "none".

30p looks great and is suited for the web. I say just leave it there all the time.

I also don't know if this is the case with your image, but don't use XP+, LP or SP modes...the quality is not as good,
Unless you are making an unedited Blu-ray disk on a regular DVD (17mbps/FXP mode for that) - always shoot at the highest bitrate: MXP (24mbps).
You have it/might as well use it.

If you are concerned it will take up too much hard drive space, pick up an extra external drive- they are a lot cheaper now.

[Jergling]

Thanks for your response. I made sure to de-interlace that video first, but I do believe it was shot in SP or XP+ mode. I was also making that clip before I understood how to shoot in progressive, or that I had plenty of room for MXP. Thanks though, I think the quality problems in other videos were actually from low light, so I'll just be careful of these things from now on.

I do have an external hard drive, but it's a Fantom, so I'm kind of afraid to back anything up to it :) I'm trying to back up to DVD, but it's difficult to put 8gb chunks of data onto 4.7gb discs.

[Jergling]

Ok, after turning up the quality, I went outside today, shooting in MXP at 30p, and I still kind of think it looks like crap. This image is a frame grab from a render. Given, it is zoomed, but not digitally. It was downsized to 720p for uploading, but if anything that should lessen visible grain.

http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/1857/sequence1.th.png (http://img339.imageshack.us/i/sequence1.png/)

I was using very high-speed exposure, as we were playing with an air cannon. This particular part of the video caught my eye as a good demonstration of the problem.