Video "shadows"

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Level 2

355 points

Video "shadows"

Recent project consists of photos and video combination. On computer it looks great. But on TV there's "shadows" that occur during video portion. The photos look fine on TV monitor. The video has these "shadows" which follow the movement on screen and it's kind of jerky in apprearance. Any idea what causes this and how I might fix it. Could the discs be the issue? Is it somethiing in the burning process? Haven't a clue here. Help me please Obiewan.

Posted on Oct 12, 2005 4:14 AM

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Answer 1

Shane Ross

Level 8

43,110 points

Oct 12, 2005 5:14 AM in response to David Krobot

Very tought to tell what you are talking about. I have no idea what you are describing. This is why we recommend connecting a TV to your edit system during the editing phase so that you can see what is REALLY going on.

What type of footage is this? Anyway to post an image or the video?

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Answer 2

Oct 12, 2005 5:15 AM in response to David Krobot

David,

What's the source of the video footage you're using? Is the "shadow" like ghosting (as seen on off frequency TV reception)? Or does it look more like motion blur? Have you applied any speed changes to the video clips?

Does it look the same way when viewing on an external monitor when you playback from the FCP Timeine, or only after you've burned to DVD?

-DH

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Answer 3

David Krobot Author

Level 2

355 points

Oct 12, 2005 6:02 AM in response to David Harbsmeier

The video footage was uploaded from mini-dv. The "shadow" is more like ghosting. No speed changes to video. I can't tell what video looks like on external monitor from FCP playback because I'm not sure how to hook that up from my mac. I do have external monitor hooked from mini-dv deck. Do I use that to view FCP timeline? On the iMac monitor the video looks fine. When burned to DVD I get these shawdows. This is a recent occurance which makes me wonder if it has to do with the discs which are from Staples (their brand). Had no issues with Maxell previously.

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Answer 4

Oct 12, 2005 10:49 AM in response to David Krobot

You can direct FCP to send video out firewire to the miniDV deck and view it on a monitor attached there. The difference between the TV image and the computer screen image is HUGE. Even a cheapo TV monitor is a big improvement. There you might see exactly how this looks and fix it interactively in FCP as you work. (It might still look funky, but it won't be a surprise late in the process)

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Answer 5

David Krobot Author

Level 2

355 points

Oct 12, 2005 10:52 AM in response to Jim_TurnipVideo

Thanks Jim. Let's say video appears with ghosts. What do I do then? I have no idea how to fix this whenever it occurs in the process.

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Answer 6

Oct 12, 2005 1:12 PM in response to David Krobot

Okay. Let's start here. You refer to stills and video. The stills are okay but the video has this problem.

Q1. Are the stills completely separate from the video in question, or are they combined for effect in some way in the same time / frames?

Q2. Do you have a web site where you can post a still of how the distortion looks?

Q3. How was the video shot? Camera, lighting? movement?

Q4. Any other treatments or effects being applied to the video footage?

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Answer 7

David Krobot Author

Level 2

355 points

Oct 12, 2005 1:21 PM in response to Jim_TurnipVideo

A1: Completely separate
A2: No website
A3: Video was shot with friend of client's camcorder. Lighting was room light and camcorder light. Very poor. This was at a wedding so there wasn't much movement. Movement of camera scanning across attendees. However, this happened on another project, ie, looked fine on computer and then ghosts or shadows followed when burned to dvd, which made me think it might be the discs.
A4: No other treatments or effects other than transitions between clips and photos. Some music on audio track.

Thanks for taking this on. I'm clueless.

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Answer 8

Oct 12, 2005 1:23 PM in response to David Krobot

I'm taking a guess here, but it almost sounds as if it was recorded at a slow shutter speed. Many of the consumer/prosumer camcorders will allow the user to shoot at 1/30, 1/15 or even slower speeds to accomodate low light situations without gaining up. Of course, the trade off is image trailing or ghosting.

-DH

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Answer 9

Oct 12, 2005 2:39 PM in response to David Harbsmeier

I'm thinking that the slow shutter speed suspect combined with the difference between your computer screen view versus a TV monitor view means that the ghosting is present but much less visible on your current edit setup.

If you load the tape and hook up your camcorder to a TV, do you see the "ghosting?"

Also the on-camera light can cause interesting shadows.

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Answer 10

Oct 12, 2005 2:52 PM in response to David Krobot

b looked fine on computer and then ghosts or shadows followed when burned to dvd

Could be poor encoding for the DVD. This would be more apparent in darker scenes (blocky looking)

rh

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Answer 11

David Krobot Author

Level 2

355 points

Oct 12, 2005 7:42 PM in response to Randy Holder

Is there anything I can do to fix this?

Could it be the DVD? Since this has happened before with a different project. Could it be the burner?

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Answer 12

David Krobot Author

Level 2

355 points

Oct 12, 2005 7:45 PM in response to Jim_TurnipVideo

I don't own a camcorder, but when I play the tape through the mini-dv deck and watch it on tv monitor, there's no ghosting. Tomorrow I will purchase a different brand dvd and see if this makes a difference. I've done quite a few projects with similar components and only run into this "ghosting" or blochy looking video on the last two. One had video which was very low light and the other had good light (skydiving). Go figure. Thanks all for racking your collective brains and trying to help me figure this.

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Answer 13

Oct 12, 2005 8:12 PM in response to David Krobot

It's probably more a problem with how your are creating the DVD. What are you using to do the encoding and make the DVD? It's not my area of expertise but I know that different programs will give you more options for better encoding. Perhaps someone will chime in with more specifics.

rh

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Answer 14

David Krobot Author

Level 2

355 points

Oct 13, 2005 4:19 AM in response to Randy Holder

Using iDVD. Have used this successfully for all projects. "Ghosting" only started to appear on last two.

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Answer 15

Andy Mees

Level 6

12,610 points

Oct 13, 2005 6:39 AM in response to David Krobot

just a thought ... were the last two the only two since an iDVD upgrade?
i'm not an iDVD afficianado so can't help with specifics, but often unexpectedly different results using the same software can be caused by an update.

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