What format?

[csgaraglino]

I know, I know, I really should know this, but I don't - so call me a moron!
The thing is, I don't know how to get find out?

I have been struggling for 6 months or so with quality and it seems that it is all coming down to format in and format out.
If these are not the same, I am always going to get crap out, and I have a bucket load of soft videos.

Up till today I have been shooting with a Nikon P6000 and a JVC Enviro.
And now I have just bought a Sony HVR-A1U and I have yet to pull any data from it. As a matter of fact I will be shooting it for the first time tomorrow.

I have also struggled with still image formats... I just found our a couple of days ago that a 720 x 480 video requires a 1280 x 720 still?

So I guess I don't really know what I have, I don't know where to start, and I don't know what to do to get it out?

Editing software (I use Premier Elements 8) I can edit with. It seems that it is getting it from cameras to PRE then out of PRE that is killing me. Is there a primer on this aspect of the video post processing?

[Chuck Engels]

Hi Chris, no morons here and we realize that no one knows everything
Welcome to Muvipix

We all started somewhere and the folks here remember where they came from.

Don't know who told you that

a 720 x 480 video requires a 1280 x 720 still?

not really true, you only need a 720 x 480 image. In Fact a 640 x 480 image will work just fine too. Now if you want to zoom in on the image then a higher resolution will be helpful but not necessary.

What are your goals for output, DVD, Blu Ray, Web?
Lots of folks here with plenty of experience to give you a hand. Let us know what you are trying to accomplish and we will help you get there

[csgaraglino]

Thanks...

I'll see if I can make explaining my existing issue simple?
I have a video at: http://coloradotrailrider.com/2010/03/14/lessons-in-stoping-with-your-seat/
In the beginning of the video I have three images I took with a Nikon D700 Full-Frame DSLR and pristine glass.
These are very sharp & crisp, that is before it went to video.
These are 1100 x 732 and a pixel ratio set to 1.22 for Widescreen (so I have a little room for moving/zooming), however, no matter what I do I can not get them sharp in PRE.
Now I know that video is to going to be as sharp as my D700, but I should be able to get better than what I have.
I also know that the compression out of PRE and the transcoding that WordPress applied will degrade the video some, but when I export the best AVI PRE will do to my hard drive, the IQ of the photos is horrible!

Edit: Added link below.
Here is a link to the JPG version of one of the files used in this video.
http://www.outdoorstudiosphotography.co ... 5972-5.jpg

[John 'twosheds' McDonald]

Hi Chris and welcome to Muvipix.

I downloaded your jpeg and created a short video of the one image, exporting as NTSC widescreen and I couldn't fault the output.

Could you try a video with just the image? and let us know the workflow that you used and what the result was like?

EDIT: I used the NTSC DV preset. To maintain the quality in an HD video I would re-edit the original still image and make it 1920x1080 or slightly larger if you wish to do some panning and zooming.

[csgaraglino]

Thanks, I'll try this with just images and nothing else and see what I get.