Video Editing And Rendering - How do YOU do it?

Webmaster Discussion
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#1

I am not sure if there is a tutorial on here on this topic (searched) about the steps that you do to take the raw shot HD video to the finished web ready product. I am interested in the tools, tips, and procedures that you have found work for you. Currently I use Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD for editing. I then render as an avi file and then use Handbrake to render/encode into mp4 files for the site.

Reason I ask is that I know that there is a fine balance between final file size and quality of the image the user actually sees. I am trying to find that balance but I am not happy - Either the files is too big to be practical with a nice sharp image OR the file size is small but with unacceptable image quality.

I have see videos that are small in file size and yet look great on the screen. How you do that? Any experts care to give a mini-tutorial as I am sure that I am not the only one who is struggling with this issue and the better the quality of our product the less surfers will watch low grade “free porn” so it benefits everyone really! :smiley:

#2

Re: Video Editing And Rendering - How do YOU do it?

I use Final Cut Pro 7 and then output through Compressor using one of their pre-set Quicktime settings. Then I let Elevated X (my CMS software) transcode to the different file formats I offer my members.
Transcoding files is tricky for me. I’m looking at switching to all MP4s, but haven’t found a setting that looks as good as the Quicktimes I output.

I believe Alternadudes uses Sony Vegas and his videos always look really great. He’s a smart guy and really friendly (and his porn is great!). He may be able to offer some advice.

#3

Re: Video Editing And Rendering - How do YOU do it?

Here is my workflow:

  1. I shot my latest scene using a new Canon XA10. (Thumper/Craig scene if you go to look at it) I say this because I just upgraded to new cameras and the quality is much improved.

  2. Copy to computer using Adobe Prelude

  3. Import into Adobe Premiere Pro where I edit the video

  4. Export using Adobe Media Encoder with some custom settings for 720p which I got from Dominic Ford (thanks Dom!).

#4

Re: Video Editing And Rendering - How do YOU do it?

All helpful thank you!

Anyone else care to chime in with what they do to get amazing video…come add your tips and helpful hints.

#5

Re: Video Editing And Rendering - How do YOU do it?

[QUOTE=RobertChandler;137162]Then I let Elevated X (my CMS software) transcode to the different file formats I offer my members.
Transcoding files is tricky for me. I’m looking at switching to all MP4s, but haven’t found a setting that looks as good as the Quicktimes I output.[/QUOTE]

Careful with Elevated X transcoder - we let that transcode our MP4 scenes at first and after uploading some 400 of them we realized they were encoded into mp4 with the x264 codec instead of the natural h264 one.

H264 looks better at same size and is playable by virtually anything. X264 is a variation that won’t play in Windows Media Player and most others unless you have the right codec installed.

We eventually dropped Elevated X transcoding all together and use Sorenson, Adobe Encoder and most often Microsoft Encoder Pro to custom encode our files into mp4 h264.

In regards to settings, just toy with them but use a decent encoder (the ones mentioned above) rather than using an online transcoder like the one ElevatedX offers and you will get results comparable if not better than Quicktime with .mp4.

#6

Re: Video Editing And Rendering - How do YOU do it?

Thanks for the info on the Elevated X encoder, andreiDL.
I wonder if Elevated X would consider changing their encoding settings. It’s just so easy to upload one video and let El X take care of the rest.

#7

Re: Video Editing And Rendering - How do YOU do it?

While researching I found this article with TONS of information on the subject.

LINK

#8

Re: Video Editing And Rendering - How do YOU do it?

We use Sony Vegas to edit and generate 1080P videos in MP4, then upload to the server and convert through www.encoding.com to all the required video sizes and formats. Its very fast and does not tax your own server.

#9

Re: Video Editing And Rendering - How do YOU do it?

Great info - Thanks!

I also found an interesting and updated site on the topic

http://www.onlinevideo.net/2013/03/how-to-encode-video-for-multiple-devices/

#10

Re: Video Editing And Rendering - How do YOU do it?

I edit with Pinnacle Studio, using their “sharpen” filter, and create a “master” mpg in 1280x720
Then I use Microsoft Expression Encoder to compress it in wmv9, which has proved to be the most efficient in terms of weight vs quality. I offer two qualities, 852480 @1200 kbps and 1280720 @ 3200 kbps
The results are very good and the files result very light

Wish it helps

#11

Re: Video Editing And Rendering - How do YOU do it?

Those are certainly good tools, one thing to be mindful of is the bitrate you use, which you can alter to give different sizes and quality. You’d be wise to open ‘advanced settings’ or whatever the tab is in Vegas to alter your settings in lieu of going with the default settings. Coming out of the editor doesn’t have to be .mp4 or h.264, that’s what you use Handbrake for, and be certain to select ‘web optimize’ in HB. If you go to custom settings tab and try different options, you’re questions will be answered and much is trial and error until you find the settings that fit for you. I find that .m2t even mpg-1 / mpeg-2 are better to save to before encoding.

Anyhow, here’s a good chart to gauge your bitrates on 29.97 is pretty standard for fps, but try using 24fps and manipulating your bitrates.

Here’s some helpful charts

Bitrates

Standard quality uploads
Type Video Bitrate Mono Audio Bitrate Stereo Audio Bitrate 5.1 Audio Bitrate
1080p 8,000 kbps 128 kbps 384 kbps 512 kbps
720p 5,000 kbps 128 kbps 384 kbps 512 kbps
480p 2,500 kbps 64 kbps 128 kbps 196 kbps
360p 1,000 kbps 64 kbps 128 kbps 196 kbps

Resolutions

1080p: 1920x1080
720p: 1280x720
480p: 854x480
360p: 640x360
240p: 426x240

#12

Re: Video Editing And Rendering - How do YOU do it?

The problem with this technique is that you are “spending” 5000 kbps for 720p quality and 2500 kbps for 480. This means higher bandwidth cost for the site and slower downloads or streamings for the customer.

We are spending 3200 kbps for 720p and 1200 kbps for 480, The trick is using the “sharpen” filter of your video editor -which artificially enhances frame by frame, it’s a very slow process but you leave the computer doing it during the night while you take a good sleep, dreaming of higher sales :slight_smile:

The other trick is using wmv9, variable bit rate unconstrained, so that in high speed scenes the encoder can “spend” a higher bitrate and save it in the slow scenes.

[QUOTE=housekeeper;137463]Those are certainly good tools, one thing to be mindful of is the bitrate you use, which you can alter to give different sizes and quality. You’d be wise to open ‘advanced settings’ or whatever the tab is in Vegas to alter your settings in lieu of going with the default settings. Coming out of the editor doesn’t have to be .mp4 or h.264, that’s what you use Handbrake for, and be certain to select ‘web optimize’ in HB. If you go to custom settings tab and try different options, you’re questions will be answered and much is trial and error until you find the settings that fit for you. I find that .m2t even mpg-1 / mpeg-2 are better to save to before encoding.

Anyhow, here’s a good chart to gauge your bitrates on 29.97 is pretty standard for fps, but try using 24fps and manipulating your bitrates.

Here’s some helpful charts

Bitrates

Standard quality uploads
Type Video Bitrate Mono Audio Bitrate Stereo Audio Bitrate 5.1 Audio Bitrate
1080p 8,000 kbps 128 kbps 384 kbps 512 kbps
720p 5,000 kbps 128 kbps 384 kbps 512 kbps
480p 2,500 kbps 64 kbps 128 kbps 196 kbps
360p 1,000 kbps 64 kbps 128 kbps 196 kbps

Resolutions

1080p: 1920x1080
720p: 1280x720
480p: 854x480
360p: 640x360
240p: 426x240[/QUOTE]

#13

Absolutely no need to offer anything other than MP4 these days. Save yourself time, disk space and cost and drop those MOV, AVI, and WMV files.

#14

Re: Video Editing And Rendering - How do YOU do it?

Sony Vegas Pro here.

Dave

#15

Re: Video Editing And Rendering - How do YOU do it?

[QUOTE=housekeeper;137463]

Here’s some helpful charts

Bitrates

Standard quality uploads
Type Video Bitrate Mono Audio Bitrate Stereo Audio Bitrate 5.1 Audio Bitrate
1080p 8,000 kbps 128 kbps 384 kbps 512 kbps
720p 5,000 kbps 128 kbps 384 kbps 512 kbps
480p 2,500 kbps 64 kbps 128 kbps 196 kbps
360p 1,000 kbps 64 kbps 128 kbps 196 kbps

Resolutions

1080p: 1920x1080
720p: 1280x720
480p: 854x480
360p: 640x360
240p: 426x240[/QUOTE]

We’ve recently switched to 1080p but we found that having a bitrate lower than 10k for 1080p doesn’t do it justice.

So we encode under these settings:

1920 x 1080 @ 10k bitrate | 48khz | 360 kbps audio
1280 x 720 @ 5k bitrate | 48khz | 196 kbps audio
854 x 480 @ 2k bitrate | 41khz | 128 kbps audio
640 x 360 @ 1k bitrate | 41khz | 128 kbps audio

After doing multiple tests it seems to be the best quality / size ratio we can come up with. We’ve tried with 1080 at 8k bitrate, just doesn’t look 1080p when you go full screen. Same with 720p, anything below 5k wasn’t good enough.

#16

Re: Video Editing And Rendering - How do YOU do it?

Worst part of my job I think, the editing and saving. Takes forever to save too.