DVD image too big, not well defined... Newbie floundering

[keithbraithwaite]

Hello.
I solved a problem about getting extremely simple menus having found a post about that and having downloaded a free generic simple menu I set it up - very pleased with myself and the very helpful site - and then I tried my first burn...
I should explain that I build avi files in which I make the pages of a music score turn and I capture the whole piece with Camtasia 7. When I do this and make a DVD with Nero 7 (Nero Vision) I get a stable picture (notably the lines of music) which fits on the TV screen and is readable by my musicians and choir members.
Using the same video screen captures with Premiere elements the picture is too big for the screen and the music lines quiver so much it's hard to see what note you are supposed to be singing or playing.
Can someone point me to a simple introduction to Premiere elements or a post wich deals with this question so I can begin to understand why this happens and what I should do to get a better result.
Thanks in advance
Keith Braithwaite

[Steve Grisetti]

Welcome to Muvipix, Keith.

There are a number of factors at work here -- namely codecs and resolution. AVIs output from Camtasia use the Tech Smith codec, which Premiere Elements can't digest well. It can use it to some extent -- but the program is designed to use the DV codec.

You don't say which project settings you used when you started your Premiere Elements project, but that also plays a factor.

Additionally, you don't say how large an area of your computer screen your recording with Camtasia. Standard definition video is only 720x480 pixels -- while a typical computer monitor is 1280x1024 or more. Feed a full-screen recording into Premiere Elements and, in addition to dealing with this codec, you're asking it to down-sample your image to a fraction of its original size.

There are ways to make Tech Smith video work with Premiere Elements, namely by recording only a small area of your computer monitor and by deinterlacing the video. I've used screen captures I've recorded from Google Earth quite successfully in my video project. But it does take some tweaking as well as some lowered expectations.

On the other hand, if you're able to do it successfully with Nero, I'd recommend you do it with Nero. If there's one thing we stress over and over here at Muvipix it's that it's much wiser to use a program that you know will work than it is to pick a program that doesn't work nearly as well and try to force it to.

[John 'twosheds' McDonald]

Good advice as ever from Steve - I just wanted to emphasise the 'deinterlace the video' point. That should help eliminate the quivering.