A

Anonymous

Question

Very poor video quality after transcoding in Adobe Encore CS5.1

Forum|Forum|13 years ago
December 26, 2012
4 replies
40302 views

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I have very poor video quality after transcoding the video file (MPEG) in Adobe Encore CS5.1. Below you see my used settings in my filmproject.

The problem exists after transcoding in Adobe Encore CS5.1. I checked all steps and found out that there is no problem until transcoding. My exported file in MPEG has very good video and audio quality.

Facts:

1. Camcorder: Panasonic AG-AC160AEJ

Operating System : Windows 7, 64 Bit, Ultimate edition

Source files: MTS files

Recording settings (clip settings):

Type: MPEG Movie

Image Size: 1920 x 1080

Frame Rate: 25,00

Source Audio Format: 48000 Hz - compressed - Stereo

Project Audio Format: 48000 Hz - 32 bit floating point - Stereo

Pixel Aspect Ratio: 1,0

2. Sequence settings in Premiere Pro

Sequence was created from Clip directly with settings above.

3. Exporting settings in Adobe Premiere Pro:

Match sequence settings was activated. Now other changes were set.

4. Exported File:

Video

Image Size: 1920 x 1080

Data Transfer Rate: 25920 kBit / s

Frame rate: 25

Audio:

Bit rate: 384 kBit / s

Channels: 2 (stereo)

Frequence: 48 kHz

5. Transcoding settings in Adobe Encore:

I used different transcoding settings such as automatic DVD Transcoding, CBR and VBR.I also set “use maximum render quality”. But all results were always the same: very poor quality.

Why does the encore transcoding cause such bad video quality?

How can I solve this problem?

Please help me soon.

Best regards.

Encore

This topic has been closed for replies.

D

dimailer

Known Participant

Hi Aida, did you ever resolve the issue of poor quality of DVDs from Encore? Thanks!

neil wilkes

Legend

I just wanted to add a few words about Quality Control, which is very important.

The only way to get decent results is to take great care right from the shoot. The problem you are running headlong into here is one of scaling from 1920x1080 in square pixels to 720x576 in anamorphic (non-square pixels at a ratio of almost 1.4:1, making your pixels almost half as wide again as they are in height.

You are also shooting a lossy form (probably Long GOP MPEG) as you are getting MEPG-2 transport streams. SO you are starting out in a lossy form to begin with, then (if I am reading this correctly) rendering that to another interim lossy format & then finally transcoding that down to a third lossy stream of MPEG-2 for DVD. The best results will always be obtained with the minimum of messing around, so can you give this a try instead:

1 - Shoot as you normally do, import this into Premiere & edit as desired. Import the footage into the Project Browser, check it is correctly interpreted then right click it & select "new sequence from clip" so you can be sure the sequence is correctly set up.

2 - From Premiere, make an interim version at the correct PAR and resolution but using a 10-bit lossless codec, such as Quicktime Animation or Lagarith Lossless AVI - just be very careful that your resolution is set to PAL 720x576 Widescreen, and that your field order is correct for the source footage as well. (MediaInfo will tell you this - it is a free download). It is also a good idea to make absolutely certain Premiere has correctly interpreted the footage as well - go to the project browser, right click & select "Modify > Interpret footage" and make 100% certain the file settings that are there match what you see in MediaInfo. This really is important as an incorrect field order will wreck your day.

In your render dialogue, make sure you DO have "Use Maximum Render Quality" checked as this can improve the scaling. In your export module, switch between the options "Scale to Fit" and Scale to Fill" to get the best fit, but be aware that you are downscaling (otherwise known as "degrading") your source footage. This cannot be helped. If you intend to put the final output to DVD and not Blu-ray then there is little point shooting in HD and you might as well shoot in SD from the get go as at least in doing this you will skip over the degradation stage altogether. If you can shoot in SD - pick the highest quality your camera can shoot at, preferably a lossless one. This cannot be overstated enough.

3 - When you come to make your final MPEG-2, do not multiplex. This will inevitably trigger a second transcoding. Encore prefers to be fed with elementary streams, meaning an M2V and a WAV file. Do not use CBR. Use a quality 5 VBR 2-pass.

Set your minimum rate to no lower than 2.8Mbps.

Set your maximum bitrate to no more than 8Mbps

Set your Target Bitrate to 6 or 7Mbps.

Set "Use Maximum Bit Depth".

Do NOT set "Use Maximum Render Quality"

Make sure your field order is correct.

Render.

The results should be as good as you will get them unless you start spending serious money on encoders such as CCE-SP or CineVision. The MainConcept engine in Premiere is the same as the one in CineVision, it just does not have so many options for tweaking.

Make your GOP structure a multiple of the frame rate as far as possible (for NTSC use a GOP if 15, for PAL experiment & see what you get)

One other thing you can try an experiment with.

Try shooting in 24fps progressive scan (better still 23.976) and leave this frame rate throughout as well as the progressive scan setting. Modern upscaling players will handle this natively & give you a proper PS output - older ones will add pull automatically as the AME has a setting for DVD 24p (tweak as before for bitrate etc) that will still allow playback. This is a trick Hollywood have used for decades now & it works well, but you must start in progressive scan at the shoot.

Hope this helps

T

TBoud11

Participant

Alda,

Did you ever find a good fix for your problem trying to use Encore?

The only solution I have come up with was to export the Premiere timeline to an H.264 (MP4) file and then burn this file to a DVD using my MAC programs Toast or iDVD. The results are great!

I think the problem is with Encore and AVCHD files (MTS) that the Sony FS100 camera I use creates!

Please email me if you found a fix.

t j b o u d 11 @gmail.com

Tom

Ann Bens

Community Expert

If you want to make a dvd from your HD file.

export to mpeg2-dvd with multiplexer off. This will give you a video file and audio file.

Import this into dvd project in Encore. Make menu and burn. No transcoding will occur.

A

Anonymous

Dear Ann,

I tried many options, including MPEG2-DVD with multiplexer off, in PremierePro in exporting settings. The exported file in your suggestion has poor video quality although the preset setting has highest quality.

I tried also H.264 and other export settings. The results were the same.

When I used "Match sequence settings" in the exporting settings in Premiere Pro, I got as result the xxxx.MPEG file with excellent quality.

BUT after the transcoding the xxxx.MPEG file in Encore, the viedo quality is absolutely poor!

The simple and free DVD authoring tools such as "DVDStyler" or "DVD Flick" have the better results than Adobe Encore!!!

It must be a reason for it. As I read in forums, many people claim about the quality in Encore.

Who can give me other tipps or a solution for this big problem?

Regards

RisenVideo

Participant

Hi Ann,

1) I did not only „Automatic (based on source)“ options in my tests, but also many other customized options.

The results are very poor. I have done a new test with the following settings. The result is also poor:

Download link: http://www.klavierlehrer-bayern.de/download/test_mpeg2dvd_1.m2v

Export Settings:

Format: MPEG2-DVD

Preset: Custom

Codec: MainConcept MPEG Video, Quality: 5

Frame Rate: 25 fps

Field Order: Upper

Pixel Aspect Ratio: Automatic (based on source)

Render at Maximum Rate: [active]

Bitrate Encoding: VBR, 2 pass

Minimum Bitrate (Mbps): 5

Target Bitrate (Mbps): 9

Maximum Bitrate (Mbps): 9

GOP Settings

M Frames: 4

N Frames: 12

Use Maximum Render Quality: [active]

Multiplexer: None

2) Why shouldn’t I use the “Match Sequence Settings” in exporting? Because of the big output file size?

I used it and the results are very good as I expected:

Download link: http://www.klavierlehrer-bayern.de/download/test_MatchSequenceSettings.mpeg

Export Settings

Match Sequence Settings [selected]

1920 x 1080, 25 fps, Upper, Quality 50

User Maximum Render Quality: [active]

3) I tried also Dynamic Link in PremierePro (to Encore).

The results are also poor.

4) I will test also LagarithLoslessCodec and frameserving +DGMPGDec. But the video is vertical long drawn-ot.

I think I did not use it correctly.

Regards

Hi everyone I am new here but I had the same problem everytime I tried to create a DVD. My Blu-Rays would come out amazing, but DVD would have lines and artifacts all over the place. I have 3 cameras while filming, Sony 50EAU, Sony Z5, and Canon Mark iii 5D. I ensure they fps are the same, but the Sony Z5 only shots 29.975i. So this always caused me problems and every time I came to that footage, something would go wrong. I would get the same results as you, until I made the following changes:

Format: MPEG2-DVD

Preset: Custom

Codec: MainConcept MPEG Video, Quality: 5

Frame Rate: 25 fps Change to (Automatic (based on source) If you know the fps then set it.

Field Order: Upper Change to (Progressive)

Pixel Aspect Ratio: Change to (Widescreen 16:9 (1.212)

Render at Maximum Rate: [active] MAKE SURE THIS IS NOT CHECKED!

Bitrate Encoding: VBR, 2 pass

Minimum Bitrate (Mbps): 5 Change to 4 Only If you have tons of movement

Target Bitrate (Mbps): 9

Maximum Bitrate (Mbps): 9

GOP Settings

M Frames: 4 Change to 3

N Frames: 12 Change to 15

Use Maximum Render Quality: [active] MAKE SURE THIS IS NOT CHECKED!

Multiplexer: None

Then do not export from Premiere..... Click on Queue to Send it to Encoder.... It does a better job creating MPEG2 Files......

Here is my setting:

Once EnCoder is done open up Encore create your project then:

Click on File > Edit Quality Preset

It will look just like the image above BUT it will have a default Preset that has a LOWER Quality selected for Export Change your Setting here to Match your EnCoder Setting.

Then when you import your Asset Video.... Click on it once.... On the Left of your screen you will see Properties Tab named "Asset" You should see one that reads DVD Transcode and Blu-Ray Transcode..... These settings are factory set to AUTOMATIC...... You need to click on DVD Transcode drop box and set it to: Don't Transcode

I use DVD Disk that are 8 Gigs..... As you can see this Event was 1hr 29 Mins long. Creating a Video File bigger than 4.5 Gigs

NO MATTER IF YOU SHOT YOUR FOOTAGE IN 4k.... YOU HAVE TO SET YOUR DIMENSIONS 720x480 If you select anything else you will have a compression problem because EnCoder and EnCore will Transcode your Footage Automatically to 720x480 because DVD Format is ONLY 720x480 You can select Widescreen 16:9 (1.212) to give you a 16:9 Look.

Adobe Encoder and Creative Cow both have videos about NOT selecting your video to "Render at Max Depth" for Blu-Ray No Problem but for DVD it damages your work.

I hope this helps anyone.... I know for months I banged my head trying dozens of settings and presets..... Only to find a workflow that really works for me.

All the best,

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