Is there a remedy for jerky downloads?

[Keif Howard]

I've been downloading a few films from You tube and using convertXtodvd to convert them. Most downloads are fine, but some of them have a jerky, stop-motion-type look to the movement of people on the films. Can anyone tell me why some of these downloads are like this while others are not, and also if there is a way to remedy this during the conversion process and make these jerky downloads flow like the ones that are fine?

[Steve Crook]

I've been downloading a few films from You tube and using convertXtodvd to convert them. Most downloads are fine, but some of them have a jerky, stop-motion-type look to the movement of people on the films. Can anyone tell me why some of these downloads are like this while others are not, and also if there is a way to remedy this during the conversion process and make these jerky downloads flow like the ones that are fine?

Get a faster connection

Check your actual (as opposed to the advertised) download speed at a site like the Broadband Speed Checker.

Most Broadband connections are advertised as being something like "Up to 5MB/s (Mega bit per second)" But 0.000001 MB/s is in the range of "up to" 5MB/s

Most connections will vary in speed through the day depending on the usage by everyone else in your area. If you're in a mainly residential area then the download speed will usually drop when the kids come home from school and look up the answers to their homework or when the twits tweet each other. Then it will drop again in the evening when the adults get home.

If your area is mainly non-residential then it'll probably be worst during the day

Steve

[Keif Howard]

Thanks, but I'm not sure if that's the problem. I don't know anything about the download speed but I'm downloading on my sister's lap-top, and always between 2 and 4.30 pm, week days, in a village next to a market town. As I say, I'm always downloading at the same time of the day, but some turn out OK while others have that staggered look to the movement of characters on screen. Is it something to do with how the films were uploaded, perhaps?

[Steve Crook]

Thanks, but I'm not sure if that's the problem. I don't know anything about the download speed but I'm downloading on my sister's lap-top, and always between 2 and 4.30 pm, week days, in a village next to a market town. As I say, I'm always downloading at the same time of the day, but some turn out OK while others have that staggered look to the movement of characters on screen. Is it something to do with how the films were uploaded, perhaps?

No, it is to do with the download speed that you're getting and that will vary so some are OK but some are jerky. It depends on who else is using the same shared connection when you download it

Try that speed checker at a few different times. Especially when you get a good download and then also when you get a jerky download.

When you get a jerky download, try downloading the same thing at another time. Then it will probably be different (either more jerky or not jerky at all)

If it was anything to with how it was uploaded then it wouldn't vary at different times.

Steve

[CaptainWaggett]

Dvd Decrypter has unjerked some files for me - it might worth a try. You can check the resulting files before you convert them,

[Steve Crook]

Keir, I may have misunderstood you. Do you mean that they're jerky when you watch them as you are downloading them? Or that you download the complete film, put it onto DVD and when you play the DVD it's jerky?

Steve

[MrT]

It may be due to frame rate variations - UK PAL displays 25 frames per second, but NTSC displays 30 frames per second, and other frame rates can be used. Playback of anything originally scanned at anything other than 25 frames per second may look jerky on playback to us in the UK, sadly I'm not sure that there's very much that can be done about this. I don't think that the broadband speed will have much if any effect - this will just determine how long it takes to download the file, not the quality on playback.

MrT

[autolycus]

It does sound like a frame rate problem. What do the videos play like after you've downloaded them but before you convert them? If they are OK, it may be that your app is changing the the video from 30 fps to 25fps to make a pal standard DVD. If this is the problem, it might be overcome by an inverse telecine process if the film was originally shot at 25fps but it's not a process i've had much luck with myself. Or could you not produce an ntsc (30fps) standard DVD - most dvd players and TVs can handle 30fps quite well? In any event, if you open your downloaded videos in mediainfo (free), that will give you the technical info that may help indicate what the problem is.

[Keif Howard]

Steve - Yes, I think we've been taliking at cross purposes. There's no problem with the downloading process, it's just that certain films end up on disc with the jerky, staggered look to the action on screen. I think MrT is probably right, and if I go back and look and the films that have this problem I will find that they originate from NTSC sources. At the moment I am downloading a lot of 70s US TV movies, and I think it's worth having a look at autolycus's suggestion, check whether a download is NTSC, see if I there is a setting on the converter to facilitate this and then check the result. Thank you all for your help. I had a feeling there was a way round this and you have given me fresh hope that there really is!

[Keif Howard]

Well, I tried making a couple of these films with jerky pictures into an NTSC disc but it didn't make any difference to the outcome. I've noticed that the NTSC films I've downloaded that have originated from cheap US DVD releases come out OK, while it's the ones that originate from tape recordings people have uploaded that result in the jerky downloads. By the way, these look jerky on the computer before I've downloaded them. They are all flv files, so I wonder if converting them to mp4 files before I commit to disc would make a difference?

[autolycus]

Could it just be a low frame rate upload? I don't use You Tube so i don't know if they allow any old rubbish. Did you try downloading mediainfo? That will tell you a lot of info about the file, including the framerate. BTW, if you're downloading 70s US TV movies, there might be better options than You Tube ;-)

[Steve Crook]

Well, I tried making a couple of these films with jerky pictures into an NTSC disc but it didn't make any difference to the outcome. I've noticed that the NTSC films I've downloaded that have originated from cheap US DVD releases come out OK, while it's the ones that originate from tape recordings people have uploaded that result in the jerky downloads. By the way, these look jerky on the computer before I've downloaded them. They are all flv files, so I wonder if converting them to mp4 files before I commit to disc would make a difference?

If they look jerky when you view them on your computer then there's probably not much you can do to improve them.

Can you give us an example of a jerky YouTube video so that we can see what you're talking about?

Steve

[Arthur Linden-Jones]

What file format are the downloaded versions in (probably .flv files?)?

What format are you converting them to?

How/Where do you want to play them?

(May be multiple options for not having to convert them, and multiple options for conversion software, other than ConvertXtoDVD)

[Richard_in_wales]

Downloading from youtube with Firefox I use the DownloadHelper addon

With Chrome I use Ultimate youtube Downloader add on.

Both give the option of downloading in .FLV or MP4 files, generally I download in MP4 format. I have no problems with playback at all. This downloader also lets you save the audio track (up to 20 minutes) as an MP3 file which is very handy for music videos.

[Keif Howard]

Yes Steve, a perfect example of this would be whttp://youtu.be/LTsm6jC24Hk which is the Journey to the Unknown episode 17 - "Miss Belle".

Arthur - the files are always flv. I am using the basic, free YTD (You Tube video downloader & converter) to download them and then converting them to DVD using convertXtodvd and playing them in a Sony DVD recorder. would you suggest I look for another converter?

Autolyclus- All the info on the files is there to see while I'm converting them on convertXtodvd. The frames per second rate is always 30. I can't find these films on any other site that is free, but I'm highly receptive to suggestions!

[Steve Crook]

Yes Steve, a perfect example of this would be whttp://youtu.be/LTsm6jC24Hk which is the Journey to the Unknown episode 17 - "Miss Belle".

Where does it go jerky for you? The few small parts I looked at don't look at all jerky to me.

I also downloaded it with KeepVid, saved it as an MP4 and that plays without any obvious jerkiness as well

Steve

P.S. use the full URL of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTsm6jC24Hk when you download with KeepVid, not the shortcut URL of http://youtu.be/LTsm6jC24Hk

[Keif Howard]

I'm surprized, Steve, because all those Journey to the Unknown episodes on You tube look jerky and staggered on my sister's lap-top and also after conversion. I wonder if it's windows. I'll keep trying.

[Steve Crook]

I'm surprized, Steve, because all those Journey to the Unknown episodes on You tube look jerky and staggered on my sister's lap-top and also after conversion. I wonder if it's windows. I'll keep trying.

I'm using Windoze 7, on a quite fast & powerful laptop and on a very fast broadband connection.
Maybe it is your connection speed when you view it online and maybe it's a lack of memory or processing power when you view it on your sister's laptop

Steve

[autolycus]

I get the same online jerky picture as Keif and having downloaded 'Journey to the Unknown Ep 17 Miss Belle.flv' (using the 'Easy YouTube Video Downloader' add-on in firefox), mediainfo tells me that the video frame rate is 14.985 fps. (The size is 162 Mb) This is consistent with the symptoms (and also with the flash 'video info' if i right click on the video in youtube). However, it's not consistent with Steve's or Keif's experience. Can anyone explain this?

BTW my connection speed is 10 Mbs and I'm running XP SP3 on a PC with 3gb ram and an intel quad processor. The downloaded file runs exactly the same as the online youtube video. Jerky :-)

[Steve Crook]

Try downloading it as an MP4 with KeepVid

Steve