Before I begin, here are the specs for my PC:
[click to view image]

I'm using Pinnacle Studio HD 14 Ultimate Collection. Videos are captured from an analog source via S-Video.  I'm using a S-VHS VCR for this example. 

This is what the captured MPEG2 file looks like before it is edited and rendered into a MP4 file with project format set to progressive, notice the fine detail and how high in quality it looks:
[click to view image]

And this is how the finished movie came out after it was rendered into a MP4 file with project format set to Progressive, notice how jagged and interlaced it looks:
[click to view image]

And these are my settings:
[click to view image][click to view image]

[click to view image] 

So how do I solve this problem?  Thank you.

Welcome to the forum.

The rule is that you should not change an interlaced video to progressive. If the original was shot in interlaced, you should keep it interlaced throughout. The same rule applies to progressive.

There are many posts on this topic, just do a search for interlace or progressive.

Don

VHSGuy2049:

Before I begin, here are the specs for my PC:
[click to view image]

I'm using Pinnacle Studio HD 14 Ultimate Collection. Videos are captured from an analog source via S-Video.  I'm using a S-VHS VCR for this example. 

This is what the captured MPEG2 file looks like before it is edited and rendered into a MP4 file with project format set to progressive, notice the fine detail and how high in quality it looks:
[click to view image]

And this is how the finished movie came out after it was rendered into a MP4 file with project format set to Progressive, notice how jagged and interlaced it looks:
[click to view image]

And these are my settings:
[click to view image][click to view image]

[click to view image] 

So how do I solve this problem?  Thank you.

 

I have the opposite problem. When I convert interlaced to progressive, a frame grab from a motionless scene looks great but when there's motion (either camera panning or subject movement), I experience "smearing" or "ghosting". When I convert interlaced HD to interlaced SD, the same frame grab contains artifacts (interlace and compression). It would be interesting to see what your output looks like when you choose interlaced instead of progressive.

 

 

cuartetto:

Welcome to the forum.

The rule is that you should not change an interlaced video to progressive. If the original was shot in interlaced, you should keep it interlaced throughout. The same rule applies to progressive.

There are many posts on this topic, just do a search for interlace or progressive.

Don

Agreed. Stick with your native video format.

how does one know what format their video is?  What if I'm using photos?  Does it matter?

Like what has been mentioned in the previous posts, the general rule is to stick by the format of your videos from input all the way through output. So if your camera shoots in interlaced video, match it when rendering it to a file or DVD. To find out what format your videos are in, you can check them when importing, hover your mouse over your raw video in Studio's Video album view (see the attached file). If Studio recognizes the file type properly you should get the compression type and resolution of the file. Another way of finding out is knowing the source of the video, the camera would usually say if it shoots interlaced or progressive. For photos, they are AFAIK in progressive as they are static I could be wrong though.