Level 1

0 points

Getting a good video from MiniDV? Is it even possible?

I purchased my first Mac because everyone told me they were superior to Windows for photo and video editing...well, that's the last time I take that advice!

I purchased Final Cut Pro X to do some video editing and save the final version to a DVD...I still have yet to get it to be of even "home movie" quality!

I am capturing video (children's theater) from Mini Dv's and basically adding a few transitions and titles and saving them to DVD.

I am not changing any settings, I am leaving the files in their native codec. It looks EXTREMELY interlaced, which I expected, but all of my research says not to deinterlace if you are saving back to DVD, since DVDs are interlaced. The DVDs look exactly like they did in FCPX, not fit for sharing with ANYONE!

What am I doing wrong??? Windows Movie doesn't have the same issue...I can't believe I wasted $2,500+ on this laptop and terrible software!

I am desperate to get this software to work...

Final Cut Pro X, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.3)

Posted on Apr 18, 2013 11:23 AM

31 replies

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,809 points

Apr 19, 2013 4:46 AM in response to annette00

Is this the capture window or the viewer? The capture window is half resolution.

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,809 points

Apr 19, 2013 4:48 AM in response to annette00

This was shot on the DVX100B?

Russ H

Level 7

22,432 points

Apr 19, 2013 5:13 AM in response to annette00

The 100B is a well-regarded DV camera. I've shot 100's of hours with it and got excellent results, although I haven't used it for a while.

Somewhere in atranscoding something fell through the cracks. Take a small section of problematic material (with the range tool) and try a test export…with Pro Res 422.

Russ

Russ H

Level 7

22,432 points

Apr 19, 2013 5:22 AM in response to annette00

Another thing…is it possible the camera was set to one of the 24 fps settings?

Russ

annette00 Author

Level 1

0 points

Apr 19, 2013 6:14 AM in response to Russ H

Russ,

The settings were not 24 fps...it was set at 60i

Like I said earlier, I have never had issues capturing video on from this camera in Windows...but have yet been able to get it to work on this Mac.

I will attempt to use PRO Res instead of the 8 bit and see what happens...fingers crossed!

annette00 Author

Level 1

0 points

Apr 19, 2013 6:15 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

Tom, both video shots were taken out of Quicktime...not FCPx

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,809 points

Apr 19, 2013 6:20 AM in response to annette00

I assuming the QuickTime X player. I stil haven't seen a shot with properly interlacing. The video looks like it's been scaled and dubbed. That's just not what interlaced DV should look like.

annette00 Author

Level 1

0 points

Apr 19, 2013 6:28 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

I am not sure how that happened. I captured the video in FCPX, added a few transistions between scenes, added a title and credits and made a Master using 8bit uncompressed, I didn't do anything else to the video. I didn't render it in a different format, nothing.

annette00 Author

Level 1

0 points

Apr 19, 2013 7:38 AM in response to annette00

USing ProRes, it looks the same. Here is a screen shot.

I am to the point that I will have to re-import the entire show into my Windows based laptop and

start again. I can't believe a $300 software can't do what a free MS software can!

Russ H

Level 7

22,432 points

Apr 19, 2013 8:09 AM in response to annette00

I dug up a 3 year old tape that was shot on the 100B, @60i.

Captured about 15 minutes.

Brought into a test event and in my project selected a range with a representative amount of movement.

Exported 4 ways: DV, DVC50, Pro Res 422 and Uncompressed.

When played in QT, all 4 showed normal interlacing. The PR and Uncompressed had somewhat better color.

Reimported 4 clips into FCP and edited them to a single sequence.

Shared to DVD.

Played on my DVD player out to LED TV.

All 4 sections of the DVD were acceptable quallity and showed no interlacing. The Pro Res stood up the best to the MPEG encoding.

Good luck (no sarcasm intended) with your Windows solution.

Russ

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,809 points

Apr 19, 2013 8:12 AM in response to annette00

Have you scaled that image? It doesn't look the right size. Could you post a screen shot of the movie inspector from the QuickTime player?

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,809 points

Apr 19, 2013 8:15 AM in response to Russ H

Her images aren't showing interlacing. Could you post a screen shot of what interlacing should look like? Thanks Russ.

Russ H

Level 7

22,432 points

Apr 19, 2013 8:43 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

Woman strides briskly across the foreground.

annette00 Author

Level 1

0 points

Apr 19, 2013 9:13 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

Here is a screenshot of the QT inspector. Prores 422

annette00 Author

Level 1

0 points

Apr 19, 2013 9:15 AM in response to annette00

And here is the uncompressed

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

Getting a good video from MiniDV? Is it even possible?