Hey everybody,

I'm running into something that I assume is common for some of you.  But I've not seen such a difference in quality with still photos between progressive and interlaced Avid projects.  Here are two screen grabs from a still photo I'm using in a project -- one imported into a 1080i 59.94 Avid Project at DNX220x, and one imported into a 1080p 23.98 project at DNX175x.  In motion, the interlaced version looks like a trippy vertigo experience.  We're trying to evaluate how much to blur this coming out of After Effects, but it's impossible to tell if this is just a product of being in an interlaced world or what.  Any thoughts would be really helpful!

1080i INTERLACED

1080p PROGRESSIVE

Were these graphics scanned from halftone images (original coming from newspaper or magazine)?  My format is 1080i and run into moire issues with fine detail. I stopped scanning graphics and would instead put them on a copy stand and use a DSLR. Results are much better. A scanner emphasizes the half tone dots too much.

I use After Effects for almost all photo moves. You can add a small amount of interlaced blur effect to lessen the moire as well.

Lee

It's the interlacing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interlaced_video#Interline_twitter

Apply blur. Season to taste.

Depends too on what you're doing with the image - are you enlarging it in MC?
Best option is to add blur to the image BEFORE you import it. If it's 1920x1080, then a 0.3 Guassian blur might be enough, else try 0.4 or 0.5, but any more than 0.5 and you tend to actually see the image softening once imported. 0.3 tends to stop the flicker but not introduce any perceptible softening.
Consider too, are you creating the image as 1920 x1080 outside MC, so that MC is NOT manipulating it on import? 

Neil.

any different in pan and zoom?

and yeah it is the interlace......P is your friend....

We have had good luck fast blurring in After Effects prior to import.  Additionally, we have colored in stills like this so they are not black and white anymore.  That has helped a bit.  Some day maybe broadcast standards will move on from interlaced...