Interlaced? (jagged lines) issue when burning a disc

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bobbymac1967 Author

Level 1

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Interlaced? (jagged lines) issue when burning a disc

I uploaded some standard definition DVD-R footage into my 2011 iMac (550gb). To get the DVD-R's vob footage into FCPX for editing, I first transferred the vob's to QT MOV's via MPEG Streamclip. I then imported it into FCPX as is (SD 640x480), then edited and completed my project without any issues or problems in FCPX.

My plan was to burn the finished project back to an standard definition DVD-R. I wanted to try it via four ways. 1) Burn the disc straight from FCPX. 2) Burn the project as an IMG to my hard drive and make the disc later. 3) Export the finished project as an H.264 QT MOV (at 640x480) and then burn the disc via Compressor. 4) Burn the H.264 MOV via Toast.

Here's the big problem: When it was time to either burn the project straight from FCPX to a DVD-R, or take my QT MOV of the same project and burn a disc via Compressor or Toast, the finished DVD-R, when played on a DVD player or in my Mac showed MAJOR interlacing issues (those jagged wiggly lines on people's bodies, especially during camera movement).

So what's strange is, the QT MOV files and the VOB files that I exported to my hard drive from FCPX (before actually making the disc) look and sound perfect. But when I try to burn the actual disc via FCPX, or Compressor, or Toast, the interlacing issues (jagged lines) appear every time. So it's obvious to me that there's something that the disc burning process, itself, doesn't like, or is having issues with. (I tried changing it Progressive and nothing gets rid of those jagged lines.

Any advice or help on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

J.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Oct 23, 2013 12:52 PM

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Answer 1

Russ H

Level 7

22,432 points

Oct 23, 2013 1:40 PM in response to bobbymac1967

Computers never display interlaced video well, but I'm surprised thayt you're having problems playing from your player to your TV. Usually TVs (and players) handle interlacing without any problem.

It makes me wonder whether there is a field order problem. Take a look at the order of the clips in FCP; field dominance should be lower.

Since you have Compressor, you have some options. If you need to change the order, it can be done by turning on Frame Controls in the Inspector. If the fields are correct, try de-interlacing (also in Frame Controls) a small section of you movies. Then test in in your player.

BTW, the DVD standards call for MPEG2. Don't use h.264 unless you are making a Blu Ray disk.

Russ

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Answer 2

bobbymac1967 Author

Level 1

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Oct 23, 2013 2:06 PM in response to Russ H

I did all all that before, Russ. but thanks. And hose frikkin jagged lines still appear. This has really got me stumped. BTW, when I exported/shared from the FCPX timeline, I used h.264 because there was no alternative. I tried DV and that looked 10 times worse.

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Answer 3

Russ H

Level 7

22,432 points

Oct 23, 2013 2:39 PM in response to bobbymac1967

bobbymac1967 wrote:

I did all all that before,

All what…including chaging field order and de-interlacong in Compressor?

Then it's probably not interlacing.

Post a screen shot of a frame before you imported into FCP and another sceen shot shot after exporting.

(Or is you'd prefer, upload a short section to Dropbox so we can see it and test it first hand.)

I used h.264 because there was no alternative.

I don't understand that; if you export as a master file, you should have a whole bunch of codec options.

Russ

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Answer 4

bobbymac1967 Author

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Oct 23, 2013 2:49 PM in response to Russ H

To be more clear, all the choices given are not compatible with an SD export, except for h.264 (even though it works best with Bluray) and then there's DV. The others are 5 different ProRes, 2 Uncompressed (8-10bit), and 3 MPEGIMX, which have nothing to do with my SD export and are all 75gbs or more to export. My project is an hour and 3.5gbs tops. Only ones to choose are h.264 and dv. DV export looks terrible. So there you go.

P.S. Seeing a screenshot before and after I imported into FCPX is irrelevent. There's nothing wrong with the footage before or after. The footage looks great.

It's the burning of the disc where the jagged lines appear. It's something with the burning process. That's the key.

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Answer 5

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,809 points

Oct 23, 2013 5:40 PM in response to bobbymac1967

I thinkl things have gone wrong from the beginning. You haven't given complete information about exactly how you converted the material in Streamclip, but this

imported it into FCPX as is (SD 640x480)

sounds wrong. The standard for NTSC MPEG-2 is 720x480.

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Answer 6

bobbymac1967 Author

Level 1

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Oct 23, 2013 6:21 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

I've given very clear information on my burning disc issue. Once again, I converted VOB files to QT MOV via Streamclip. This is how I got the footage into FCPX since it won't accept VOB files. Everything looks great after editing and exporting out to MOV and to my hard drive. Only the burning of a DVD shows jagged wiggly lines. If I should've changed something upon import, I get that, but that doesn't explain why my final project looks great after export on my Mac, but has jagged wiggly lines on a DVD player. Once again, this is a burning disc issue. I thought I'd give these forums a try. If someone has any ideas or advice, I welcome it. If not, so be it.

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Answer 7

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,809 points

Oct 23, 2013 6:25 PM in response to bobbymac1967

Saying you converted to QuickTime means just about nothing. QuickTime's a framework and can include hundreds of formats as you can see in the Streamclip interface. What's the frame size, frame rate, field order, video codec, audio codec, sample rate?

As Russ said that you can only export H.284 indicates that there is something not right with the project.

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Answer 8

bobbymac1967 Author

Level 1

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Oct 23, 2013 6:53 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

My footage looks great after exporting out of FCPX onto various formats. It's when I burn it to DVD-R that the jagged lines appear. This is a burning issue/troubleshoot. Thanks for your two cents. I'll try elsewhere.

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Answer 9

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,809 points

Oct 23, 2013 6:59 PM in response to bobbymac1967

Good luck.

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