Codec Choice

I would like to get some thoughts from users here on a good workflow and codec choice.
My particular need is too archive work completed at the best quality possible, yet be able to later access that work and edit it. If possible a codec that looks good and efficient for storage, doesnt require large amounts of time for re-rendering in FC and will work quickly and efficiently.
I should add that Audio is not an issue, but it would be a bonus.
An impossible dream?
Any suggestions?
Coleran

Simplest, most effective method... keep the project file and archive all non time code elements... graphics, music, titles etc. If you ever need to re-edit, simply recapture all the time code video elements and reconnect to the original project.
You might also archive a QT export of your final sequence (in the original codec) that could be used to make simple changes if necessary.
rh

Similar Messages

Limited codecs choices in QT Pro and other applications

On my home computer when I access QT Player and use the export option and export as a QT movie, I have a long list of encoders to choose from in the drop down selection list. Apple ProRes 422 is among them. On my work computer when I try to select an encoding option there are far fewer options to choose from and Apple ProRes 422 is not among them. This same behaviour is seen when I use any application that allows selecting encoding codec. What determines the codecs that are available? How does one add additional codecs? Why is there this difference in the codec choices offered on my machines?
I am running Lion on both machines (Mac Pro and Mac mini). I have QT 7 Pro on both machines and I have FCPX on both machines.
Thanks for any enlightenment you might give me.
John

Perhaps I didn't phrase my inquiry very well. I wanted to know how to get the large collection of codecs that are on my home machine to be present on my work machine. The moderator at the Telestream Community Forum for WireCast understood my issue and gave me the solution.
Sorry! You asked specific questions which I attempted to answer without trying to address other issues. For future reference, the normal approach is to examine your system's component configuration to see what support is actually installed and evaluate potential conflicts which might prevent accessibility. Basically there are two primary folders to check— the root "~/System/Library/QuickTime" and the root "~/Library/QuickTime" folders which contain your "global" codec compoents/packages. The former normally contains the "system" installed codecs while the latter usually contains the add-on application and user installed codecs. While not used that much anymore, user_account "Library/QuickTime" folders may contain components installed for use by individual users on an independent "local" basis.
In your case, you were luckier than most users since you had two systems—one apparently working the way you wanted it to and the other not working the way you wanted it to. Therefore, your problem was reduced to a simple comparison of the two and add/eliminate codec components/packages on the "non-working" system to bring it into alignment with the "working" system.

How do it get DNxHD to show up as a codec choice under a quicktime wrapper for export?

I have a client that wants the Avid codec in a quicktime wrapper. i can get it in the .mxf wrapper with no trouble. but for some reason it's not a codec choice for quicktime..... what's the frequency??

Select QT as the format and, lower down under video codec, select Avid DNxHD.
You may have to install the Avid LE 2.2.1 codec pack.

Exporting shapness with codec choice

Has anyone noticed DVCPRO HD looks a bit blurry when exported to SD DVD? I am having trouble reading some of my Motion created text and such, but have notice better results exporting my whole DVCPRO HD sequence as Uncompressed. Does anyone have some insight into this workflow? I wouldn't think much would be gained through up-converting since the footage was shot in the compressed DVCPRO HD codec, yet things looks sharper and text more legible.

Thanks for that Michael, I have heard of bitvice but have yet to dive into it. My normal workflow after editing (using any codec, not just dvcpro hd) is to export a quicktime file from FCP 6 (not a quicktime conversion) and taking that into compressor 3 for mpeg encoding - using the best 90min preset.
What I've seen in my experiments is that the uncompressed codecs (as well as the animation codec) seem to make the blurry softness go away and we see the hard pixels when magnified. It's as if the dvcpro codecs have a slight blur between pixels to give the image an overall soft look (and probably save disk space), which works for most footage, but becomes a problem when text is added overtop. I'm thinking this isn't a problem with the dvcpro hd codec,compressor, or my workflow, that's just how it renders it's image, but I think its becoming more of a question of should there be a slight blurriness to the final file or should it be rendered 100% hard and clean?
As you can tell, I'm not a pro and am still learning all the techie parts of production, so any feedback on these concepts would be greatly appreciated.

How to get FLV on On2VP6 codec from Premeire Element 11,

Good Afternoon,
We are currently using Premeire Elements 11 in conjunction with Captivate 6 to publish our elearning modules.
We edit our videos in Premeire. I need to be able to change the .flv codec to be On2VP6 so our modules can be published using HTML5.
Can anyone help me with this?

Looking at all of the FLV Share/Publish settings, I cannot find a way to alter the CODEC. Maybe I am just missing something in PrE 11, and will feel foolish, when someone points it out.
In PrPro, one can choose the FLV CODEC, such as On2VP6. In recent versions of PrPro, I think that it is the only option, and that Sorenson Spark has been removed completely. I just do not find the CODEC choice in FLV output settings.
Good luck, and wish that I had more, but others will likely show me the error of my ways, and be more helpful to you,
Hunt

4:2:2 DVCPRO50 Codec Question

Is it my imagination or what?
I recently started upgrading my final sequence codec choices from DV to DVCPRO50 for stuff with composited graphics and animation. With hard drives so cheap these days, who cares about file size any more, right? Yuk, yuk.
Anyway, I think I noticed something that requires more knowledge about the inner workings of FCP than I possess.
It seems to me that I don't get any real improvement in my imported graphics unless I drop them into a sequence that is already setup as DVCPRO50. If I do that I have noticed a dramatic improvement in type, stills, and other composited content.
But I think I have discovered that I need to START with an empty sequence that is already setup with a DVCPRO50 codec BEFORE I drag my graphics into it or create my type clips.
I mean, if I take an existing DV sequence and just upgrade the settings to DVCPRO50, nothing seems to change. Nothing good, that is. In fact, I think that imported Photoshop images actually degrade when I upgrade the codec "on the fly."
But if I start with a DVCPRO50 sequence and then add the images, they look great.
Am I imagining this? Or have I discovered something important about the way FCP processes imported graphics internally?

I believe there is an improvement if you start with a DVCPRO50 sequence setting, then edit... I'm not clear on the why though, other than maybe if you start with a DV sequence then convert it, remnants of the DV25 settings remain..?
When you capture DV thru analog, you are converting the digital to analog (which theory says is a loss) then re-compressing it (which is definitely a loss). D/A then A/D conversions will always have some loss involved, so they should be avoided as much as possible.
Jerry

Adobe Premiere Elements 11, Crashes When Rendering

When I try and render a video I get the below error and the program closes. The video I'm rendering is roughly 15 min long. Any help would be great!
I'm using windows 7, and I'm using the latest version of premiere elements 11, and this is on a desktop computer.

azurite2
I think it is time to take a hard look at the recording settings that you are using for the Dxtory.
Apparently CurtisC is not have the same problems as you with Dxtory video. Please see
http://forums.adobe.com/message/6318308#6318308
We will deal with the atypical frame size later. Right now setting Dxtory for video compression compatible with Premiere Elements is the task at hand.
a. consider changing the video codec choice to Microsoft Video 1
b. consider converting your screen capture to H.264.mp4 with a free program such as HandBrake
Is the Dxtory software installed on the same computer as Premiere Elements 12? And/or does it come with a utilities program?
Let us pause here and review the above.
Thanks.
ATR

Help. What format is best to export to for Final Cut Pro editing from PPCS5?

Ok. So I really have no experience with Final Cut. After reading online for an hour about what formats to use, I was still left with no clear answer and confused. Here's my issue: I have 1080i 60i .tod files from my JVC ready to be batch exported from CS5 Encoder, I need a format that will be read and able to be edited on Final Cut Pro without issue.
Could someone with Final Cut experience please chime in:
What should I use exactly?
Greatly appreciated,
Nick

Are you using Premiere on the same Mac that FCP is on? If so, your best format choice is QuickTime and codec choice would be ProRes422. If, however, you're on a different Mac or on a PC instead, I'd suggest QuickTime with the freely available, cross-platform Avid codecs. You'd probably want to use DNxHD, in that case.
The Avid codecs are great because, well, they're free, but more importantly, they're available for both decoding AND encoding on Mac and PC. ProRes, on the other hand, only has an encoding component for Mac, and it has to have FCP installed on it.

A curiosity about RunActiveContent.js in CS3

I use a utility that exports a .swf file. When I insert it
into DW 8, alkl goes well and it shows up fine. When I do the same
operation in DW CS3, the .swf doesn't show up. I went into the code
and found this difference.
DW CS3: <script src="../Scripts/AC_RunActiveContent.js"
type="text/javascript"></script>
DW8: <script src= "Scripts/AC_RunActiveContent.js"
type="text/javascript"></script>
as you can see, DW CS3 adds a
../ When I remove this, it works fine. I am pretty much a
newbie, so I'm curious what is going on. Thanks for your time and
advice.

Hi,
capturing from your computer would give you square pixel aspect ratio....and you're using an aspect ratio for SD TV ( ntsc ), so it is stretching ....no longer a perfect "circle" in the paw print...
Your project setting should be made in custom / desktop ( dont use a preset )...and set it for 720x480 square pixels progressive ( no interleaving ), 29.97 fps... the codec choice for rendering when you set up the project could be dealt with later on if this solves your basic problem..
your export would then be the same as your project setting....720x480, progressive, square pixels, 29.97 or 30 fps ...should be good.
one note: h264 is already "compressed" quite a bit....its a "delivery" format...for viewing ...not really meant to be edited...know what I mean ? So you will lose some quality due to that stuff already being compressed...
but your pixel aspect ratio being "fixed" with the above should improve what you see quite a bit.
good luck

Output only with "black frame"??

Hi there, I am editing rendered animations from cinema4d, which are in the format 768x480 (image on the right). I´ve been trying everything to export them in exactly that format in QT. I can´t find any export option to get a movie with a screen that is 768x480. Instead it is 720x480 (?), but the moving pictures cover only the center of the final window and leave a huge black frame around it (image on the left). Even if I set compression to "none" (which seems the only way to edit the pixel size of the export format manually) the frame appears (and the movie is in a very bad quality). I need the movie for a client who will present it on a Windows PC, yet I wanted to finish everything using QT and then convert the final QT into WMV by using QTpro. Can somebody help?
Thanx
Premiere Pro CS4 on MAC OSX 10.5.8

What options does Cinema4D allow, regarding the Frame Size, PAR and CODEC choices?
I'd suggest exploring those choices, finding the best combo, and then setting your Sequence/Project Preset to match. Note: you may have to use the Desktop (Custom) Preset, and then adjust the various setting to match your Cinema4D footage exactly. Your Sequence/Project Preset (and settings in Desktop Mode) MUST match your source footage 100%, or you will get things like black bars.
Good luck, and PrPro should be able to accommodate you on the Mac, so long as the Preset matches your source footage, and you should have some control over that source footage.
Hunt

QuickTime 16:9 or 4:3

This is probably a codec choice matter. But a friend exported video shot in 16:9 and exported from Final Cut to QuickTime, the resulting .mov file was 4:3.
Is there a choice for widescreen?

If the video is to be used on a DVD, then you can set the video asset to be 16:9, and it will do the right thing when seen on a TV. If it's just for computer playback, then just open the 4:3 version and resize it to 853x480, and do a save. That will then play back looking correct.
There is no difference in the data of a DV file that let's you know that it's 16:9 anamorphic and not a regular 4:3 movie, so you have to display it how you want it to appear.

Export from Motion to FCP

I am editing a few title card for a project that will eventually return to FCP. I built title cards in Motion and now I getting prepared to export. Obviously, I want the graphics & logo to look as good as possible and I wanted to know what codec to export on to best integrate to FCP?
The FCP sequence settings are 1280x720, pixel aspect ratio: Square, frame rate 59.94. Any good advice to a novice? Animation? ProRes HD?
Thanks.
best,
brighamcottam
ps. I will also be doing it for lower 3rds if that changes anything.

Patrick Sheffield wrote:
Why not just bring the Motion project (.motn file) directly into FCP?
No export necessary.
Patrick
Yar, this works if the OP's workflow is adapted to the procedures. Just personally, mine is not. Deeply rooted habits from Ye Olde After Effects: I like having the rendered movies available as media.
To the OP's other question about the codec choice, Animation vs ProRes. The only reason to use Animation is if you know why you're using it: alpha. If you need the alpha and you want to stay in ProRes territory, you must use 4444. The last of those fours represents the alpha channel.
bogiesan
Message was edited by: David Bogie Chq-1

Export for old QT Players

Is it possible to export a movie so that older version will be able to view it? I have the newest QT Pro and when we went to test the movie on our work computers, we had to update all of their players in order to view it.
Thanks y'all!

Just thought I'd expand on the few CODECs already posted:
H.264 Video codec requires QuickTime 7 to view.
Use MPEG-4 Video codec for version 6 and higher.
And...
Sorenson 3 for QuickTime 4
Sorenson for QuickTime 3
Cinepak for QuickTime 2.5
The above is a quick snapshot of "low bandwidth" CODEC history for QuickTime delivery. With almost every new release of QuickTime, a new CODEC has been introduced that offers better image quality at lower data rates. The trade off? The file has to be played on a system with the corrsponding version of QuickTime or newer.
Cinepak by Radius was arguably the best choice in the early days of CD-ROM production for QuickTime content; however, the image quality was always low for moving picture - excellent for static images (like slide shows), but the image degraded immediately with motion.
Sorenson marked the start of CODECs that offered low data rates with excellent image quality, improving greatly with Sorenson 3.
Sorenson 3 is a pretty safe CODEC to use for both Mac and Windows users. Millions of users downloaded the "Star Wars: Episode 1" QuickTime trailer which used Sorenson 3.
If low bandwidth isn't a requirement and you're just looking for a file that will open with any version of QuickTime (Mac or Windows), use Animation. File size will be about half of what an uncompressed (or "None" compressed) file would be based on the corresponding image size, color depth and frame rate.
Another post in this thread touched on whether or not the CODEC choice affects being able to add hinted streaming to a QuickTime movie. These are separate settings (the CODEC being under "Video" options and the hinted streaming being under "Fast Start" options), so there's no direct relationship. However, it's important to match "Fast Start" options with CODECs that allow for effective use of this feature.
-Warren
Message was edited by: Warren Heaton

Preparing Imovie for the Web

I work for a college and we created a movie in Imovie HD6 that we would like to put on our schools website. We have been experimenting with different formats but are not having any luck. We have exported the movie as DV, AVI, MPG4 broadband and MPG4 Streaming. Our web administrator says that he can't use any of these formats. He wants to try a regular MPEG file, but Imovie and Quicktime Pro do not allow me to export as that. I just tried exporting for web and it appears to be a .MOV file. We will see if that works, but could you give me some guidance on what I should be doing and why some of the things I have tried are not working.

Advice?
Fire your Web "administrator" or send them out for some training.
The MPEG-1 file format makes huge file sizes that will waste bandwidth. It has been "updated" by the Motion Pictures Export Group to MPEG-2 (soon also dead) and now MPEG-4.
DV is for editing (raw) and is not intended for Web distribution.
AVI is even more dead than MPEG-1 as the inventors (Microsoft) ended support for it years ago. A mess of codecs that will only upset or confuse your viewers.
Which leaves you MPEG-4.
Now, how best to use it?
Forget about "streaming" as your files will "download" via HTTP.
If your campus has a mix and match of Mac's and PC's you'll need to use QuickTime as the playback engine. Easy page coding that will call the QT browser plug-in and play the file.
You can use either the .mp4 (Movie to MPEG-4) or .mov (Movie to QuickTime Movie) containers.
You can use H.264 or MPEG-4 Video codecs. H.264 requires QuickTime 7 be installed on the viewing machine. MPEG-4 is more compatible but makes a larger file size.
I suggest MPEG-4 Video and AAC audio as your codec choices.
You must decide file dimensions, data rates, frame rates and the amount of compression.
Export a one minute cut using various settings and dimensions. It will be easy to see from your one minute example how large your file will become and what it will look and sound like.

Export progress bar speeds to 50% then slows way down

While I'm here browsing for answers to another question I just asked, thought I would ask another one about a project I worked on at home...
Home computer specs:
Windows 7 Ultimate 64
AMD Phenom II 6-core 3.2ghz processor (overclocked to 4ghz)
16gb 1600mhz RAM
Nvidia GTS 450
Plenty of hard drive space, all 7200rpm internal
So my problem is with exporting... I was working with a 30 minute wmv file...and really all I did as far as editing goes...was cut off about 5 minutes from the beginning. That's it. No graphics, no effects...nothin.
So I proceed to export it as a wmv, I used stock settings because I honestly didn't care about the quality, I just wanted it done fast. Estimated file size was less than 100mb I think... The export process began
and speedily finished 50% of it in about 10 seconds and then slows to a crawl, where the time remaining was now going up 1 second at a time instead of down. By how slow it was going, it was probably going to
take about a half hour, which is bs for exporting to a crappy file type with low quality settings. My work comp has lower specs than this computer, and it exports 30 minutes of my avchd footage in the same amount
of time...
This seems like Premiere has an issue with certain file types here.
Any help?

yah i was thinking the same thing, the 2 pass is what is causing your timing dilemma, 50% was just the first pass analysis. The rest is the real rendering process.
Being crappy video with a crappy codec has nothing to do with speed, if anything it is going to make it slower. You didn't say how long it actually took to render out your video? With WMV i am guessing it is not multithreaded well and not using all 6 of your cores. try turning off maximum quality on your encoder and check your wmv settings, it is just a container and gives you lots of codec choices. it certainly is not the fastest thing out there but it appears you are being forced to use it anyways?

Codec Choice

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