Re: Blocky video going to VHS via Mini-DV camcorder

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From: Cari \(MS-MVP\) (Newsgroups1_at_coribright.com)
Date: 06/10/04 

Date: Thu, 10 Jun 2004 12:00:41 -0700

Did you save the finalized MovieMaker file in DV-AVI format for the best
resolution?

See if the MiniDV version has the problems you report by connecting the
camcorder via the S-Video cable to the TV and try playing it back on tv.

And good luck..... (I'm a Survivor junkie!) 

-- 
Cari
MS-MVP Windows Technologies - Printing/Imaging/Hardware
www.coribright.com
"Dana Cline - MVP" <dcline@scriptpro.com> wrote in message 
news:OzMEbEvTEHA.3180@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
> Last night I created a Survivor Audition tape for a friend. With a few 
> minor
> exceptions, it all went smoothly, but it left me with a few questions.
>
> We started by recording segments with a Panasonic Mini-DV (PV-DV51c, I
> think). Plugged the Firewire cable in, the computer brought up a 
> suggestion
> to start Movie Maker. Cool. The import wizard ran the camcorder directly 
> and
> brought in all the clips.
>
> From there, it took us maybe an hour to trim and assemble the clips into 
> the
> timeline. All very intuitive, easy to use, kudos to the UI designers. We 
> did
> a narration track, and figured out how to mute the sound in the individual
> clips.
>
> The problems started when we wanted to output the finished product. 
> Survivor
> wants the audition on a VHS tape. My plan was to write the video back out 
> to
> the camcorder via the Firewire, then from there send it to the VCR.
>
> First problem: After crunching away for 10 minutes or so, it started
> recording the video on the tape. But the first 5 seconds or more was
> missing. I assume the tape needed time to come up to speed or something. 
> So,
> I added a title slide to the beginning, making it about 5-10 seconds long,
> and sliding the narration and other clips down to make room. This 
> workaround
> took care of the problem - the tape now started at the appropriate spot,
> plus maybe a few seconds of the title slide.
>
> The second problem is more severe, and I haven't yet found a workaround. 
> The
> camcorder has sVideo out as its only output (besides the Firewire). I have 
> a
> cable that converts SVideo to composite video. So, ran that cable into 
> VCR,
> plus an audio cable. I was now able to play the movie and tape it on VHS.
> Problem is...the resulting VHS video is blocky. Meaning, there are
> occasional blocks of color in the video. Not sure how to describe it, but
> it's like when streaming video doesn't get all the bandwidth it needs. I'm
> not sure what the source of the problem is, nor how to fix it.
>
> I don't remember seeing these artifacts when playing the MiniDV tape on 
> the
> camcorder (even though it's a little LCD screen, I think I would have
> noticed). Maybe the camcorder's SVideo output is the problem? If so,
> probably no workaround. Maybe it's the codec used by Movie Maker when it
> wrote the movie to the camcorder? If so, maybe that can be tweaked?
>
> I didn't see any way within Movie Maker to set a "resolution" or any other
> video parameters. When I initially imported the tape, I was given a choice
> of  resolutions, sort of...I selected the second choice because the
> explanatory text said it was for videos where you wanted to output them 
> back
> to the camcorder.
>
> So, any suggestions? We also created a WMV file that looks great in the
> player - I notice my video board has SVideo out, so maybe I'll plug the 
> VCR
> into that and the sound board output and try recording from that. I have 
> no
> idea what else to try.
>
> Dana Cline - MVP
>
>

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