DVD Studio Pro:Why is my video pixelated?

I had this problem. I'd suggest you add a slight blur to the image before sending it to DSP.

Reading: Creating Graphics to Use in Menus, Page 82 in the manual.

Is there any video involved in the menu at all, or just the .tiff image?

This may be unrelated, but whenever I create video menus in Final Cut Pro that have still image overlays, the menu always looks blurry in DVDSP (and the burned DVD) If I export the video from FCP as a Quicktime DV file and import that into DVDSP to encode. However, if you export directly from Final Cut to Compressor for MPEG-2 compression, everything looks just fine on the DVD.

Also... 66mb is way too large for an image used on a DVD menu. The pixillation could have something to do with DVDSP not doing a good job of downscaling the image, but I'm not sure. If you have Photoshop CS or later, open up an NTSC DV template, resize your image to fit the frame, and then import that file into DVDSP.

Have you viewed the DVD on a tv yet.? If you haven't, try it you'll probably be surprised.

for one thing, you're 66mb tiff is probably square pixels when your menu doesn't (if you're doing SD). don't expect DVDSP to resize photos very well... that isn't what it's meant to do.

Photoshop has presets for video (these are the correct format for menus as well). place your image in one of these and save a new image. it'll look much nicer.

Is your TIFF image sized for NTSC (or PAL or whatever) dimensions? You should do that yourself, not have DVDSP do it for you because it's not the same quality.

Also, once you've done that, try applying a "deinterlace" filter (under the "Video" category) to the image. It may improve things.

DO NOT apply a deinterlace filter to your image... the image is (presumably) not from a video source. That filter will not do any good.

Like I said before, paste the image into one of the photoshop presets for DV (720x480 with .9pixel aspect) and save that new file as a tiff. That's all you need to do.

Welcome to the non-synced world between still ans video redApple.

Still are shot using square pixels.
Video uses rectangular pixels.

When you import a 66Mb still into DVDSP, DVDSP will convert the still (ultimately) into a video (m2v) stream.
Thus, if you want to be in control of the looks of your still, here are some rules of thumb:
1) when importing stills, prepare them form optimal display in PhotoShop first.
2) Never same your (to be imported) stills in any format using compression (like jpg). (de)compression upon (de)compression will degrade your picture.
3) when downscaling in Photoshop do "play" with various filters.
4) To make sure your picture has all the right proportions (a circle remains a circle, a square remains a square, a person does not appear thin or fat) to take the following table into account.

For NTSC users:
Your TV has 720 x 480 pixels. Your TV has a physical dimension of 4/3 or 16/9.
In order to convert a squarepixel still or artwork:
4/3 create/ scale your artwork to 720 x 534 maintaining aspect ratio. Then squeeze the result to 720 x 480. Every thing will seem "fatter". Save as TIFF.
16/9 create/ scale your artwork to 854 x 480 maintaining aspect ratio. Then squeeze the result to 720 x 480. Every thing will seem "thinner". Save as TIFF.

For PAL users:
Your TV has 768 x 576 pixels. Your TV has a physical dimension of 4/3 or 16/9. When using digital media (like DV) PAL DV has 720 x 576 pixels. The TV will strech the picture horizontally with a factor 1.066.
In order to convert a squarepixel still or artwork:
4/3 create/ scale your artwork to 768 x 576 maintaining aspect ratio. Then squeeze the result to 720 x 576. Every thing will seem "thinner". Save as TIFF.
16/9 create/ scale your artwork to 1024 x 576 maintaining aspect ratio. Then squeeze the result to 720 x 576. Every thing will seem "thinner". Save as TIFF.

When saving as Tiff, do not use compression.

Have fun

Coen

bigbossbmb said:

DO NOT apply a deinterlace filter to your image... the image is (presumably) not from a video source. That filter will not do any good.

Click to expand...

Unless he's working on a progressive DVD, the monitor will still flicker between the odd and even fields.

ppc_michael said:

Unless he's working on a progressive DVD, the monitor will still flicker between the odd and even fields.

Click to expand...

the image isn't from a video source... there is nothing to deinterlace.


Also, for photoshop, you can view a non-square pixel in its correct aspect. It's in the view menu.

bigbossbmb said:

the image isn't from a video source... there is nothing to deinterlace.

Click to expand...

The even rows of pixels, however, are not the same as the odd rows in the unaltered image. So when the fields alternate, flickering between the two will occur unless both fields are the same. Unless, of course, the TV supports progressive.