Artifacts with video still frames during DVD playback

I'm wrapping up a project that was shot with mini DV at 4:3 aspect ratio with a Canon XL2. I have exported the finished sequences using Compressor 2 with the 90min Mv2 codec (for DVD) at best quality. The problem manifests during playback of the DVD, wherever I have taken a still frame from the video and held it. What is happening is that the picture is only partially there, sort of a stair step effect across the screen. This only happens with still frames that I have taken from the video for the most part but overall the quality is not the same as I would see on a DVD bought from a store (I would like to get as close to this as possible).
In the past I have changed the sequence setting to compress in a Jpeg format for "slideshows" that I have authored to DVD and was happy with the result.
My question is, should I change the sequence setting to something other than DV NTSC such as Jpeg for my video, or is there some other way of deinterlacing the video stills so that these artifacts will not appear on the final DVD? FYI, I'm using FCP studio and DVD studio pro to author the DVD on my Mac Pro.
Though this is my first post, I have found LAFCPUG to be a great source of information in the past and I wish to thank you in advance for helping me.

> overall the quality is not the same as I would see on a DVD bought from a store

That's an impossible goal. Unless you have a lot of money to spend. It isn't just the encoding, but the original source media, grading, the compression techniques and equipment, the personnel. And your project is on DV. You couldn't possibly expect "big-studio-release" quality.

> What is happening is that the picture is only partially there, sort of a stair step effect across
> the screen.

When you did the edit, did you watch on an external monitor?
Stills almost always need a Flicker Filter or De-Interlace filter to get rid of the "epileptic jerk". But in your case, there could be something else that compounds the problem during the DVD encode. Did you watch the MPEG-2 file on a computer monitor to see if the damage is also there?

> should I change the sequence setting to something other than DV NTSC such as Jpeg for my
> video

I assume you mean Photo JPEG? At maximum quality it should look pretty good, but if your stills came from freeze-frames of your DV video, you wouldn't gain anything, because your original source materials would have been DV and it won't ever get any higher. Switching the Sequence codec would benefit any non-DV-sourced graphics (eg. FCP titles, TIFF or TGA images, Photoshop documents), but not your original footage.


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I know I could never achieve the "studio" output, I just want to get as close as I can, this is a good client and I'm trying to address their concerns. I just want to make the best product possible. I'm still working on that "money" you mentioned.
I edited and watched the footage on my computer monitor in FCP originally. I just watched the finished m2v file that I imported into DVD studio, as far as I can see it does not appear to have the same artifacts as the DVD.
I did not use a de-interlace filter on any of the video stills that I used, in fact, I was wondering if that would help. I'm going to re author the footage after applying the filter and see what comes out.
The photo jpeg did make my slideshows look better and from what you said it makes sense, I was just wondering if I applied the same logic to my video if it would have the same effect or be a waste of time.
Thanks for the reply.

>I edited and watched the footage on my computer monitor in FCP originally

You need a broadcast monitor. It's part of a bare bones basic set up for good post work, really. Don't scrimp on getting broadcast quality monitoring equipment. I ALWAYS use my monitors to check for inverted fields, artifacts, color balance, etc... Same goes for audio equipment- artifacts in the mix, good overall tonal balance... You don't want to be surprised with dialogue getting drowned out in the mix when some guys play your video over a set of large expensive speakers, or start seeing artifacts on your clients TV screen.

The FCP canvas is not a good place to gauge video quality. It doesn't even show fields, unless you enlarge the screen to 100% and turn off "correct for aspect ratio".

Stills usually need a flicker filter, freeze frames a deinterlacer...

And there's also one good reason NOT to use photo-jpeg on most video formats- interlaced formats. The compression used in photo-jpeg is designed for progressive formats. Motion-Jpeg is designed for compression on interlaced formats, but these are RGB codecs. Depending on how your are encoding your video, DV50 may be a good codec when you are working with DV footage.



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Believe me I would like nothing more than to have a quality monitor to review the footage on, however, it is just not in the budget at this time. For now I just try to make sure my footage is well lit and exposed correctly so that I don't have to do any corrections. Perhaps after a couple more of these jobs I will get a monitor.
Now down to business. The de-interlace and flicker filters did the trick, the artifacts that were present in the first pass of the DVD's is gone. I owe you a debt of thanks. Sometimes when you are on a tight deadline you just want that silver bullet so that you can get on with your life and you gave it to me so thanks.

Have a great day

> Believe me I would like nothing more than to have a quality monitor to review the footage on,
> however, it is just not in the budget at this time.

We hear that all the time. At the very least, get a TV set to view the footage on. If proper external viewing isn't in your budget, you really shouldn't expect anything close to commercial DVD quality. Because you won't even be able to colour-correct, spot field issues and review graphics properly, let alone gauge output quality.


www.derekmok.com