Need Help with PE4, Nero and a New Camcorder

[John Callahan]

Hello,

I have transfered some VHS video onto DVD's and the majority of my video clips came fm my Sony Handycam DCR-DVD505.
I spent alot of time trying to figure out with lots of testing to get Better than OK DVD's out of PE4. I imported / rendered / exported to movie to AVI and imported back in for editing and always get the same results. I tested all the field options, I tried different endcoders suggested from the fourm. I tried movie maker. The only luck has been with Nero 8 for OK dvds.
Anytime I work with Nero the work monitor preview shows great quality picture but the DVD is just OK. PE4 preview monitor with the same file is much less than OK. I'm confused.

Can I recode with Nero Digital and save file to import into PE4 ?
What can I do with Nero or PE4 to improve picture ?
Does mainconcept adobe for elements work?
What is out there I can buy to make this more simple so these problems go away?

Can I send a copy of these files to the fourm for help?


These are my DVD's That came from VHS tapes.
Nero Digital Disc Info reports :
NTSC 720x480
compression mpeg 2
display 4:3
frame rate 29.97 fps
picture Interlaced

Nero Digital says my Source video has been detected as interlaced. To improve Nero Digital image quality it is recommended to enable deinterlacing.
This is over my head, does any of this explain what I need to do?

I'm going to start reducing stress and get a new Camcorder, I sure can use a suggestion on what model to get to make the above mpeg problems go away. I'm looking at Canon HV20 2.96mp cmos hdv camcorder Mini DV Video Cassette. The con's I saw so far was no Firewire,need for UV filter, Adobe scene detection problem in HD mode. Price is no issue, I asume I need to spend $500 to $2500.

Also, the VhS files that were transfered onto DVD has sections of Fast forward, What is the best method to slow it down, These files have to Audio anyway?

Thank you
John Callahan
Dubuque,Iowa

[Steve Grisetti]

"Anytime I work with Nero the work monitor preview shows great quality picture but the DVD is just OK. PE4 preview monitor with the same file is much less than OK."

Remember that, when you're using a non-DV-AVI source in Premiere Elements, you're going to see a soft render when you first play back the video. It looks blurry and low quality -- and you'll see a red line on the timeline above the clips. Press Enter and the program will hard render the clips -- essentially creating an AVI version just for playback -- and you'll see playback that will look much more like what your final output will look like.

But that still doesn't completely resolve your issue. The bigger challenge for you is that you're using video from a DVD camcorder in Premiere Elements. Version 4 has a hybrid solution for handling DVD video. (If, when you start a new project, you choose the preset option for Hard Drive or Flash Camcorder, the program will automatically reverse field dominance, etc.) But it is just a hybrid.

A better solution, if you're intent on using Premiere Elements, is to convert all of your DVD or MPEG video into DV-AVIs before you bring them into Premiere Elements, and that you can do with a free download like MPEGStreamclip.
http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.3bc4800e

And that may seem like a lot of extra effort -- because it is. Which is why we urge people to strongly consider what types of files they're working with and what they're trying to accomplish before they buy Premiere Elements or any similar program.

How deep of an editor are you? Do you like to do a lot of creative editing, use many video tracks and mix lots of audio sources? Then the extra effort it will take to use Premiere Elements will be worth it.

But, if all you want to do is capture from your DVD camcorder, do some minimal editing (ie, get rid of the dull stuff) and output DVDs, then maybe Premiere Elements isn't your best solution and a program like Nero Digital is. It all depends on your person needs and goals.)

[Ken Jarstad]

You will likely be happy with an HV20. Fantastic! Then all you'll have to be concerned with is too sharp video images and the old buggaboo - interlacing.