Why is Audio and Video out of Sync during recording? I make a 30 second recording using a webcam on a laptop. When I play the .avi file afterwards, the audio and video are out of step. The sound starts arriving about a second after it should do and gets increasingly delayed.

Why is this?

Whilst I am making the recording, I can see the video that is being captured being displayed on the laptop monitor. I can actually get lip synch if I  s-p-e-a-k  l-i-k-e  t-h-i-s.

I clap my hands at the start of the video. When I watch the video afterwards, the sounId is delayed by about a second.

The audio track continues for about ten or so seconds after the video component has finished. (A still image remains in the video player while the voice continues.)

I can fix this problem after the recording (laboriously), but I want to have the recording work properly in the first place.

The webcam is a BisonCam NB Pro integrated into the laptop. It is a 2 Megapixel camera that can record at 15 fps. The CPU is an Intel dual core T4200. The machine has 4GB of RAM. I am saving the recording to a file on a ramdisk, so I don't think the hard drive is the problem. I am using BisonCap to record, the software that came with the computer. I have set recording for 15 fps.

Please help!

You should check your recorded video with MediaInfo. Regarding your problem, it shows,

if the durations of the video and the audio is the same or not,
if the interleave of the audio (the starting offset) is set correctly
in which sampling rate your audio was recorded.

Then, I would import your video file into Audacity (which imports only the audio, of course).

On the left side of each track you find the sampling rate, too. Is this the same sampling rate as being reported by MediaInfo?
Does Audacity play the audio too slow, too?

My impression from the symptoms that you describe is that the audio is recorded at a certain sampling rate, but reported as a lower sampling rate, or not at all.

Try to modify your sampling rate, either in your recordings settings, or in the Windows system. On Win7, it's under Control Panel->Hardware & Sound->Manage Audio Devices->Recording. There, select your microphone, then Properties->Advanced. There you can change the sampling rate.

If changing the sampling rate doesn't help, then you can only try another webcam software, or record the audio independently.


ffmpeg error "Error initializing complex filters" I use ffmpeg like this:

ffmpeg -i MyOwnSwordsman01.avi -filter_complex "drawtext=fontfile=c:/Windows/Fonts/simsun.ttc: text='第01回 %{pts\:gmtime\:0\:%M：%S}/43：20': x=5: y=466: fontsize=16: fontcolor=yellow@0.9: box=1: boxcolor=blue@0.6" -c:a copy -c:v libx264 -map 0 stamped/MyOwnSwordsman01.avi

It went wrong:

[Parsed_drawtext_0 @ 00000000025fae80] Cannot find a valid font for the family Sans
[AVFilterGraph @ 0000000000e3a160] Error initializing filter 'drawtext' with args 'fontfile=c:/Windows/Fonts/simsun.ttc: text=绗?1鍥?%{pts\:gmtime\:0\:%M\\:%S}/43锛?0: x=5: y=466: fontsize=16: fontcolor=yellow@0.9: box=1: boxcolor=blue@0.6'
Error initializing complex filters.
No such file or directory

So what's the matter? I have confirmed there is a simsun.ttc in C\ disk.

Thanks a lot!

Font paths have to be escaped:

fontfile='c\:\\Windows\\Fonts\\simsun.ttc'


Trying to import a file but AE imports the whole folder I am new to After Effects. I imported few images into a project before creating a composition and it worked fine. I am trying to import more files but AE is importing the whole folder and not able to choose any individual image. How to fix?

How are you doing the import?  Press cmd+I to open the import dialogue, or double click in the empty space inside the project frame.  Then select the files you need.


Chromakey (Green Screen) Best Practices in Adobe After Effects I've been doing green screen in iMovie (and it works surprisingly well!), but I'm downloading Adobe Creative Cloud tonight for my new PC. I'd appreciate any "best practice" suggestions for using the After Effects chromakey features, particularly with green-screen (rather than blue).

BTW, I'm trying After Effects because iMovie was having a problem with my actress's blue eyes and blonde hair, both of which became partially transparent.  (I think the scene was lit fine, so her hair shouldn't have had green reflecting off of it.)

Assuming the lighting is solid, you should be in good shape. I haven't used the keying features of iMovie, but I can give you a few tips for After Effects. I'll defer to any power users of AE's keying functionality to chime in with more specific advice.

First, you'll probably want to start with the Keylight plugin (from The Foundry). It should come bundled with After Effects Creative Cloud. There are tons of tutorials, guides, etc. for Keylight on the web.

Second, know that you can create masks with After Effects. Not sure if you're already familiar with them, but masks are custom shapes that allow for specific areas of footage to be visible or modified. Masks allow you to create a "junk matte" around your subject, which can be helpful if lighting gets a little uneven or equipment is visible on the edge of the shot. Masks could also allow you to preserve the actor's eyes so that they are not being keyed (especially if the shot is relatively static). For example, you might want to duplicate the main video layer, mask around the actor's eyes, then pull the key on the duplicated background layer.

Third, if you're still having problems with the hair after firing up Keylight, you'll want to look into the "Despill Bias" option. With despill bias, you'll basically select a skin color to reduce the blue / green bleeding. It might take a little trial and error.


Do actors have rights over the footage? I was recently involved in filming and one of the actors walked out partway though. She has since convinced the other actors to sign a document with her stating that no footage filmed involving them is to be used.

The script was written by the producer and all of the cast and crew were hired on an expenses only agreement. While there is no official contract, the job listing and email correspondence back this up. I have looked up the copyright law in the uk and here is what it says:

According to http://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/copy/c-ownership/c-employer.htm

"Where a written, theatrical, musical or artistic work, or a film, is made by an employee in the course of his employment, his employer is the first owner of any copyright in the work (subject to any agreement to the contrary).  In the course of employment is not defined by the Act but in settling disputes the courts have typically had to decide whether the employee was working under 'contract of service'.

Where a person works under a 'contract for services' he may be considered by the courts to be an independent contractor and his works may then be considered to be commissioned works."

Contracts for service are further defined here http://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/copy/c-ownership/c-commissioned.htm

"When you ask or commission another person or organisation to create a copyright work for you, the first legal owner of copyright is the person or organisation that created the work and not you the commissioner, unless you otherwise agree it in writing."

Given my understanding, the actors have no legal say in the footage, raw or otherwise, only the script writer/producer, director and cameraman have a stake. I guess you could argue their case if it was being used for something totally different, but all it's wanted for is to keep the project going. I'm pretty convinced that if I'm right, and the actors don't have a legal leg to stand on, that we could convince the others to come to the table and discuss terms for continuing the shoot. The actor who walked out is totally replaceable given that she only shot a couple of takes. I think that this is why she has worked so hard to try and stop us using footage of the other actors too -if she hadn't we would just shrug her off and recast the role.

Can anyone shed any light on this?

Actors certainly have no rights to the footage itself, without other agreement, that would belong to the cameraman shooting the footage, however, just because they don't have claim to the footage doesn't mean they don't have claim to the contents of the footage.

The writers most likely have copyright for the script content they produced, the director has copyright for the influence of their directing, the actors may have copyright for their likeness and performance.  The makeup artists have copyright for the makeup they do.  Everyone acting in a creative capacity that is copyrightable in your jurisdiction will generally be the owner of that copyright unless otherwise agreed upon.

Thus, the actors have no claim on the footage itself, but they may possibly have a claim on their performance or use of their likeness.  They can't decide what is done with the footage without permission of the cameraman, but they can possibly restrict what can be done with their performances and image.

It really depends on local law and that is going to require a local legal expert that can review the case and any applicable agreements in detail.  The specific details of your situation aren't some simple case that can just be answered on an internet Q/A site, as copyright is a tremendously complex thing on any collaborative project.

This is also why it is important to do contracts for even relatively basic projects.  You don't want to ever have to rely on a contract, but problems do come up and it is important to be clear on who is responsible for what.


Canon DSLR home-video. Need advice I own a Canon 1100d/T3i with very decent lenses (85mm/f1.8 and 35mm/f2). I really like shooting movies at home with it as the depth of field and the clarity of the subject are really beautiful.

The problem is that its not easy to focus and my wife finds it very difficult to use. The camera itself has zero auto-focus capabilities that I have managed to get going and it has basically been all manual focus.

I was considering getting a more expensive camcorder because making videos is quite important to me (the photo quality on this DSLR is absolutely fine with me btw). But I could not seem to find any of the cool depth-of-field that this DSLR gives me.

My questions is:

Is there a different Canon DSLR that does have good auto-focusing (ideally face recognition)?

Or is there a decent camcorder that has nice depth of field?

(and hopefully the prices are not very high as well)

As far as I know the Canon 650D is the only Canon DLSR that has full auto focus during video recording. Not sure about the face recognition though.

Do some research on it. If you really like the DSLR look then I think this is the camera for you... especially as you'll be able to use your 85mm and 35mm lenses.

I don't know too much about other camcorders but I doubt you'll be able to find any that can give you that DSLR depth of field for the price of the 650D.


Does anybody get a strobing effect when filming video with the D90? I often shoot indoors for interviews with my D90, but I often get a sort of strobing with it.  Check out the attached picture, to help you see it on a picture, I added red marking, so simply look on the curtain on the right of that.

My best explanation so far was the type of lighting in the room, which is common in most offices, similar that was is in the picture:

Does anybody know what is going on?
Similar experience?
Solution?
Explanation?

Thanks for any input.

You seem to be on the right tracks, fluorescent tubes are notorious for flickering and CMOS sensor is read row-by-row in video mode.

Try shooting under window light and/or use your own lighting, e.g. a LED video light. Try shooting so there's not much office visible in background, you won't be able to light it all.


how can video clips be merged in Corel Video Studio Pro x7? Can video clips be combined or merged in Corel Video studio pro 7? Can anyone describe how it could be done.  I am using Windows 7 home edition.  I have already examined the that may have already have your answer>

Here is how its done.
Create a new folder.Select the film clips you want to merge together all at once and import them into the folder you created. Drag the clips into the storyboard view and its done.
Check this out :


How to change the pace of imported mov video clip in after effects Sorry for noob question or a possible duplicate.

We got a .mov inside a AE project. What we are trying to do is change the tempo of this so duration isn't 4 sec for example, but instead cause our audio is 6 seconds we would like it to simply scale in time so it becomes 6 seconds.

Is there a way to do it?

Method 1

The Last column on the right — in your pic it says растягиваться but in the English version of AE it's called Stretch — that's the one you need to modify Click on the number that says 100%.

Alternatively, select the layer and from the Layer menu choose Time>Time Stretch… (I'm not sure what it is in Russian).

Then you'll get a dialog that lets you choose the duration you want, or a stretch factor if you want to choose the playback speed.

Method 2:

Apply Time Remapping to the layer (choose Layer from the menu or Right-Click the layer and then choose Time>Enable Time Remapping or hit cmd/ctrlalt/optionT).

This will create a keyframe at the start and end of the layer.

Drag the last keyframe to the point where you want the layer to end.

Method 3

Park the playhead at the time you want the layer to end.

With the layer selected hit ctrl/commandalt/option,, which will stretch the out point to the current time.

You can do the same with the in point using ctrl/commandshift,.


Is there a way to find out if the current frame is a keyframe in Premiere Elements 10? Sometimes I animate the properties of certain effects using keyframes. It's a really nice feature, but something has been bugging me about it. The Add/Remove keyframe button doesn't tell me whether or not the current frame is an existing keyframe.

Am I missing something here? Is there a good way to find out whether or not the current frame is a keyframe for a certain property? I'm using Premiere Elements 10.

The Help specifies how to view keyframes.


After Effects Opacity behaving differently from Photoshop? I have some white text that fades out on a red background (rgb (255,0,0)) in After Effects.

For some reason, in After Effects, the effect of the text fading out is a dark, almost 'black', animating with Opacity:

Whereas in Photoshop, the red 'comes through' the text, resulting in a reddish, transluscent white:

What am I missing? I'm confused why a '20%' white Text Layer on a Red solid would end up being black/grey in After Effects?

EDIT
This problem disappears when turning off the Layer Style, which is a simple Inner Shadow with the following settings:

Blend Mode: Multiply
Color: Black
Opacity: 75%
Use Global Light: Off
Angle: 0x+120,0°
Distance: 1,0
Choke: 0,0%
Size: 1,0
Noise: 0,0%

--

So I suppose, why does a simple layer style cause everything to go black when reducing opacity of the text layer?

Adding image to demonstrate:

I think it seems like you have added layer style to the text in Photoshop. The text in the photoshop has Bevels & Emboss. From this point, you may have some other effect added on this text layer. I tried myself with same red background and same white text, here is what on my computer:

Here is what it looks like in AE of 20% opacity:

And here is what it looks like in AE of 40% opacity:

So I think, it's only about how the software distribute the percentage of opacity, in After Effects, you should assign a higher opacity to the layer. I don't think there is a wired problem that in AE that you got a dark layer as you stated.

Hope this may help :)


Adobe Premiere: PNG transparency ist not interpreted correctly I have a video project and i want to put a png image on top of the video for a few seconds at the beginning. The png file only contains some white writing without any background color. However, when i put it over my video there is a weird blending effect where the opacity declines circularly with very ugly contours. It is hard to describe but here is a screenshot:

The writing from the image is on the top and the blurred content is from the background video. The black area with the hard border however should not be there and i don't get where it is coming from. I created the png file with photoshop and tried different export setting such as "save for web" as PNG-24 with transparency checked and RGB Color.

I'm using Adobe CS6.

Does anyone know what i might do wrong here? Thanks.

I don't have the files to look at, so I can't say for sure, but if you're importing a flat PNG Premiere should interpret the transparency correctly and convert it with transparency on the alpha layer.

One thought, make sure you're using layer the PNG on layer 2 or above.

Second, make sure you are placing the PNG above a filled video layer (Black Video), File -> New -> Black Video

Third, if that still gives you problems, try saving your file as a layered PSD file in Photoshop. Import it in and when prompted/select the import the layers as individual layers.

Then place the layers as needed and in what order on your timeline.

Lastly, it could possibly be your timeline/sequence settings - importing in a 24 bit PNG to a lower bit depth sequence could and would cause color issues if the sequence doesnt support that bit depth.

Last, you should be working in sRGB unless there's a specific need for another workspace.

Hope this helps.


codec/container with additional reconstruction information for archival? Are there (open source) codecs that support additional recovery information to be added during encoding to allow for an improved recovery from corruption?

Application would be data archival of videos - thus a somewhat overhead of ~10% is acceptable to be allow for a better error handling.

Typically, error correcting code (ECC) is added to the storage mechanism as with Reed-Solomon on DVD and Blu-ray and the modifications for forward error correction in DVB and ATSC transports. Another common video archival medium, LTO tape, has two levels of ECC. Building ECC into the codec would be redundant and wasteful, so they mostly focus on error concealment.


Blade Tool Stuck on Grid in Final Cut In final cut pro x on catalina I have an audio clip and video clip on top of each other in the project.
I am attempting to cut both at a specific point, corresponding to a transition in the song on the audio track, with the Blade tool. However, final cut is snapping my blade to the time grid and only allows me to cut these clips in one second increments.
How can I use the blade to cut where ever I want regardless of the time grid?
PS. if anyone knows how to set a BPM grid in FCPX that'd be swell. I tried BeatMark 2 but it doesn't run on my system (probably Catalina related).

You can only cut in-between frames of your video clips.
Videos have generally frame rates per second of 24 or 25, maybe 30. Sound files have typically a sample rate per second of 48000. So you could say you can cut a video e.g. 25 times per second and a sound file 48000 times.
I usually cut to the nearest frame to the beat of the music. IMHO nobody can tell the difference of one or the other frame with a beat in between.
Try both versions and choose what feels the best.
FCPX is not sound editor like logic pro or pro tools. BPM don't apply for FCPX, it's the frame rate of the timeline and clips used what matters more.


Does the GoPro Hero 5 Black have improved video quality over the GoPro Hero 4 Black? By looking at the specifications of the newly released GoPro Hero 5 and the old GoPro Hero 4, it seems to me that they may be the same since both can record video at 4K@30FPS and take 12MP still images. Does the GoPro Hero 5 Black have improved video quality over the GoPro Hero 4 Black, or is it basically the same image sensor as the previous generation but in a new housing?

They added a few bells and whistles, but the video quality remains the same
http://vegasaur.com/gopro-hero5-hero4-comparison


Import GoPro (or similar) video segments in one step into DaVinci Resolve in the correct order GoPro saves video files in 4Gig segments, on my settings that's 5mins, 20 seconds per segment. That means after an hour of recording there would be 12 files.
The format is
GXSSVVVV.mp4

where SS is the segment number and VVVV is the video number, one video is multiple segments. Example:
GX010010.mp4
GX010011.mp4
GX010012.mp4
GX020010.mp4
GX020011.mp4
GX020012.mp4
GX030010.mp4
GX030012.mp4
GX040010.mp4

This means there 3 videos.
video: #10 = GX010010.mp4 + GX020010.mp4 + GX030010.mp4 + GX040010.mp4
video: #11 = GX010011.mp4 + GX020011.mp4
video: #12 = GX010012.mp4 + GX020012.mp4 + GX030012.mp4

Is it is, to put all of the videos in order into DaVinci Resolve's timeline I drag each segment, one at a time into the timeline.
Is there a way to add all the segments into the timeline in order in one step?  Ideally I just want to select all the segments in Windows Explorer (or the Finder) or the Media Library and drag them to the timeline and have DaVinci Resolve order them correctly.

As I was typing the question I think I figured it out.
Import all the clips into the Media Pool, sort by "date created" or "date modified" so the oldest is at the top.

Select all the clips, drag into the timeline

It appears they are all in the correct order


FFmpeg filter_complex says filter not connected to source I am trying to understand the how FFmpeg's filtergraph works with the help of the graph2dot utility (FFmpeg graph2dot tool).

I am using an example from one of the questions previously posted here (How to concatenate clips from the same video with ffmpeg). Upon trying to parse the following filtergraph which is adapted from the accepted answer,

echo "nullsrc[vid];anullsrc[aud];[vid]trim=60:65,setpts=PTS-STARTPTS[v0];[aud]atrim=60:65,asetpts=PTS-STARTPTS[a0];[vid]trim=120:125,setpts=PTS-STARTPTS[v1];[aud]atrim=120:125,asetpts=PTS-STARTPTS[a1];[v0][a0][v1][a1]concat=n=2:v=1:a=1[out];[out]nullsink" | graph2dot

I get the following error with FFmpeg (ver 3.4):

[Parsed_nullsrc_0 @ 0x55cd2c952240] size:320x240 rate:25/1 duration:-1.000000 sar:1/1
[Parsed_trim_2 @ 0x55cd2c953500] Setting 'start' to value '60'
[Parsed_trim_2 @ 0x55cd2c953500] Setting 'end' to value '65'
[Parsed_setpts_3 @ 0x55cd2c953fc0] Setting 'expr' to value 'PTS-STARTPTS'
[Parsed_atrim_4 @ 0x55cd2c954f20] Setting 'start' to value '60'
[Parsed_atrim_4 @ 0x55cd2c954f20] Setting 'end' to value '65'
[Parsed_asetpts_5 @ 0x55cd2c955960] Setting 'expr' to value 'PTS-STARTPTS'
[Parsed_trim_6 @ 0x55cd2c9568c0] Setting 'start' to value '120'
[Parsed_trim_6 @ 0x55cd2c9568c0] Setting 'end' to value '125'
[Parsed_setpts_7 @ 0x55cd2c957120] Setting 'expr' to value 'PTS-STARTPTS'
[Parsed_atrim_8 @ 0x55cd2c957fa0] Setting 'start' to value '120'
[Parsed_atrim_8 @ 0x55cd2c957fa0] Setting 'end' to value '125'
[Parsed_asetpts_9 @ 0x55cd2c9587a0] Setting 'expr' to value 'PTS-STARTPTS'
[Parsed_concat_10 @ 0x55cd2c9596c0] Setting 'n' to value '2'
[Parsed_concat_10 @ 0x55cd2c9596c0] Setting 'v' to value '1'
[Parsed_concat_10 @ 0x55cd2c9596c0] Setting 'a' to value '1'
Input pad "default" with type video of the filter instance "Parsed_trim_6" of trim not connected to any source

As far as I understand, the "Parsed_trim_6" filter is connected to the source nullsrc[vid].

Can anyone help me understand what's wrong here and how I can fix it?

EDIT: Following Mulvya's hints, the correct solution is given below:

echo "nullsrc,split=2[vid1][vid2];anullsrc,asplit=2[aud1][aud2];[vid1]trim=60:65,setpts=PTS-STARTPTS[v0];[aud1]atrim=60:65,asetpts=PTS-STARTPTS[a0];[vid2]trim=120:125,setpts=PTS-STARTPTS[v1];[aud2]atrim=120:125,asetpts=PTS-STARTPTS[a1];[v0][a0][v1][a1]concat=n=2:v=1:a=1[outv][outa];[outv]nullsink,[outa]anullsink" | graph2dot

Other lessons I learnt from this

Video and audio streams require separate sinks. Even with the concat filter, I wasn't able to merge them into the [out] destination as I had originally done

You can consume a filter generated stream only once, unlike streams from -i inputs. Since [vid] is already supplied to the first trim 60:65, it can't be reused. You can add a split and supply a copy to each:

nullsrc,split=2[vid1][vid2]; ... [vid1]trim=60:65, ... [vid2]trim=120:125, ...


Is the license for Dance Monkey free? I don't think so.
However, there are so many cover songs on YouTube.
So, are these copyright violations?
Or is Dance Monkey free, am I wrong?

Depending on your country, the website you're uploading to and your usage of both audio and video, the copyright-laws make it legal or illegal to use a specific song.
If you create a video-essay about music-production and must use the song as an example to show your point, you will, in many cases and places not break any laws. If you combine a still-image with the song and upload this in its entirety than you will break the law in almost every case and place.
Copyright to music is no black-and-white topic, and if you're considering using music from an artist, I would seriously recommend reading up on the laws that are applicable where you live, so to not risk a hefty fine.
Youtube has a special approach to this case, in which - when a video uses copyrighted music - the video's revenue (money from ads) will go directly to the artist. If, however, the music is not registered at a database (in germany it's the GEMA, to name an example), the video can be blocked everywhere and you will get a strike. 3 Strikes mean that your channel will be terminated.
So you will likely not risk getting sued when using music in a youtube-video, but I would recommend reading up on the laws or asking a lawyer nonetheless. Copyright should be taken very seriously.


Creating text graphics from a data feed Does anyone know how to create text/graphics from a data feed?

I'm streaming live events and need to take a text data, (mainly CSV files) containing names, clubs, points and position data and transform it into on-screen graphics. I'm struggling to find software that will do this.

I have been using Imagine Infocaster, but it has many drawbacks and uses a USB dongle that couldn't be replaced if damaged. I've also tried CasparCG which is far too complicated and has no useful tutorials.

Wirecast looked promising, but the scoreboard feature is far too basic and doesn't support live data feeds or customisation.

Anything that could do this task and send the result to a Blackmagic Decklink card or Ultrastudio would be magic.

The obligatory ffmpeg answer (not a very good one, other answers still needed):

You could feed your video through ffmpeg -vf drawtext=textfile=onscreen.txt:reload=1

With whatever other drawtext options you need to put your text where you want it, with the font you want.

reload=1 makes it check the text file for changes every frame, but doesn't give you a way to update the formatting, screen position, or anything else on the fly.  (and you'd have to build your own custom thing to render your data into line-wrapped text.  You could maybe control the on-screen position with leading spaces and newlines.)  And -vf drawtext isn't very nice to use anyway.


Learn fine art for cinematography? I'm new in film making and photography. Recently, I found my favorite film maker said that he loves some painters such as Edward Hoppers. The way he film is influenced by the drawings of Hoppers. So, do I have to learn about  fine art too? If yes, where do I have to start?

If you want to develop your craft beyond just technical proficiency then I'd say that being open to the broadest range of influences is crucial.

For example: if you want to learn about lighting for portraits or interviews, go look at Rembrandt or Vermeer. You can learn a huge amount from the way the old masters used light and composition.

As for where to start: go to a gallery. Walk around and find an artist that you like, whatever style it is. Read about them and take it from there. A good intro to the history of modern art movements (Impressionism onwards) is the book What Are You Looking At? by Will Gomperz.


Editing a Mac Screen Recording in Premiere Pro causes image fragmentation I'm making some tutorials about how to use a website. I'm using the built in Apple Screen Recording to record the screen on a Macbook Pro with a retina screen. I'm then loading the resulting .mov file into Premiere Pro to edit it and add some audio (recorded separately) to a finished version.
When I edit the footage in Premiere Pro the preview often fragments and after a couple of seconds shows an unfragmented view, but that unfragmented view is many frames, sometimes many seconds, back from where the timeline is. When I move frame by frame, it will show a slightly fragmented image, then jump back to an image from many frames back or several seconds back.
When I export to file by matching the sequence settings in the export options, it produce less fragmentation than I see while editing but there is still some. For some exports when I open the exported file to view in quicktime and hit play, it does not play the video, but if I scrub through a bit it will play and then I can scrub back to the beginning and it plays.
This is a screengrab of my Premiere Pro preview window after moving the timeline.

Is this something to do with frame rates in the original recording from the Mac Screen record utility? What frame rate does it record at )or is it some sort of dynamic frame rate) and is there a way of setting up premiere pro to handle that frame rate, or the footage that the Mac Screen Record utility creates?

I see 2 likely causes:

I think Premiere still supports only frame rates up to 60 and your videos may be recorded with higher fps. Premiere tells you what the fps is, for example in Source Monitor, right click on Properties. Or in the Project Panel, you see the fps (you may have to scroll quite a bit or add the column if it's missing). If your material is beyond 60 fps, try converting it with any other tool, like ffmpeg.

Other users recently asked similar questions (see [1], [2]), so I wonder if there is a bug in Premiere or certain graphics driver versions. If so, you could try to install a slightly older version of your graphics driver. Otherwise maybe contact Adobe support.


How can I increase the resolution of a mobile clip? Few days ago, at early morning I saw something falling in a slop in the sky. It wasn't a plane but something with a color of fire and so bright! I wonder what it could be, so I recorded it on my mobile. But as my mobile camera resolution is really very low, it wasn't that clear to understand. While I show it to someone, then they don't understand the exact thing that I saw.

So, I'd like to know that is there any way to increase the resolution of the mobile clip?

Unfortunately, no. Increasing the resolution of a video after recording is impossible. You can upscale the video, but that will simply copy the pixels and maybe interpolate a bit, but the result won't look any better than the original. If, as I presume, whatever you saw there is just a bunch of colored pixels in your video, there's nothing you can do to change that.

Whatever you saw there, maybe it was just not meant to be caught on tape ...


How do DVDs avoid the blockyness that plagues dark scenes in most video files? When a DVD is ripped to a file on a computer the dark scenes typically get compressed to the point of illegibility; huge squares of black are all set to the same value, removing all the detail. This is often seen in video files posted to the internet.

I get why it happens; The difference between two shades of black is quite easily to perceive, but to the compression algorithm it is a tiny difference, so the two shades are set to one value to save space.

However, this effect is obviously avoided on the DVD itself. How do they do this, and why don't the compression methods used when ripping the DVD to a file also do this? I mean, the DVD format and codecs are old, far older the the ones used online today. So why does this problem appear when ripping the file?

A single layer DVD has about 4.5 GB of capacity, a dual layer DVD has about 8.5 GB of capacity. Some of this space is taken up by menus and special features, but that still leaves plenty of room for video with minimal compression.

Take a look at the "blocky" videos - they have probably been re-compressed down to 700MB (so they can fit on a CD-R blank) or 1GB (because people love round numbers). Shrinking the video down requires more aggressive compression settings, which results in lower quality video. Sometimes this lower quality exhibits itself in terms of large blocky dark regions.

The other issue is that the compression algorithms used on DVD video are lossy. When you transcode to a lower bitrate codec, the software uncompresses and then recompresses the video. Since the compression is lossy, the uncompress step recovers imperfect video, and that imperfect video is then compressed. This slightly compounds the quality problems.

If you want to make a perfect copy, just rip out the original video. Don't transcode it to a new format.


Screen cast and capture video cam and show both on screen using ffmpeg I'm using the following command to capture my screen cast and
laptop video camera at the same time. Video from the camera
appears in a smallish window in bottom right of the screen cast.
This works, however there is a snag; I can't see the video of
myself on screen while I'm recording and I want to be able
to see myself in the bottom right window so I can be sure I
align myself with the camera. How can I do this?

ffmpeg -f alsa -i default \
-f x11grab -s `xdpyinfo | grep 'dimensions:'|awk '{print $2}'` -r 25 \
-i :0.0 -f video4linux2 \
-i /dev/video0 -filter_complex '[2:v]scale=380:-1[cam];[1:v][cam]overlay=W-w-8:H-h-8' \
-c:a flac \
-qscale 0 screen_and_video_grab.mkv

This solution works in Linux.
To screen cast with inset video of yourself on screen where you have a video camera that is located at /dev/video0, paste the following into a text file and name it start_recording.sh or something similar and make it executable

#!/bin/bash

#####  set variables below ####

location_dir=$HOME/Desktop

T="$(date +%d-%m-%Y-%H-%M-%S)".mkv

#echo $T

video_window_title="$T"

#echo $video_window_title

####  Place video camera on own screen & detach the process  ####
ffplay -window_title "$video_window_title" /dev/video0 &

####  Record everything on the screen  ####
ffmpeg -y -f x11grab -s \
`xdpyinfo | grep 'dimensions:'|awk '{print $2}'` \
-i :0.0 -f alsa \
-i default $HOME/$T

To stop recording, paste the following into a text file and name it stop_recording.sh or something similar and make it executable

#!/bin/bash

# kills the ffmpeg and ffplay processes
pkill ffmpeg && pkill ffplay

The below two line script will make your inset video the always on top window, or not. Simply put the below two lines below in a text file, call it something like toggle_video_inset_to_always_above_layer_or_normal_layer.sh or something you can remember, and make it executable.

#!/bin/bash

wmctrl -r $(wmctrl -lx | grep ffplay | grep -oE "[0-9a-z\._-]{20,25}$") -b toggle,above


How can I create or where can I download (royalty free) sound that goes well with a "bad TV"-effect? I'm currently doing a movie where I use FCP7s "bad TV"-effect quite a lot to cut within and between scenes. The effect basically emulates a bad TV set where the picture come and go with roll, wave, jitter and color sync artefacts (c.f Battlefield 3 trailer).

Now, I need some sounds to go with these transitions. White noise is a given but I will need clicks, pops and hums to go with that if you understand what I mean. I own the Propellerheads Reason/Record suite so if there are any tutorial for making suitable sounds in these, I'm all ears. Also, recommendations of free sound effects that can be downloaded somewhere are also very welcome.

AM radio samples would probably be a good starting point:

http://www.freesound.org/tagsViewSingle.php?id=142


After Effects - Double View in Composition Tab I was working on my main composition (Comp 1) and it suddenly became a double-sided view (one at the top and one at the bottom). I don't know how can I fix it, but it's related to Composition Mini-Flowchart. (Working in After Effects 2020)

How do I fix that and have a single comp view?

That was very simple, I should change this to "1 View":


Howto Repaire or fix the duration of a mp4 video I'm having a film that's ffmpeg and other progs claims to be 07:03:52 long, but the real playtime is actually more like 2:35:00

ffprobe video.mp4
ffprobe version 3.0.2 Copyright (c) 2007-2016 the FFmpeg developers
  built with gcc 5.3.1 (Debian 5.3.1-17) 20160429
  configuration: --prefix=/usr --extra-cflags='-g -O2 -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security ' --extra-ldflags='-Wl,-z,relro' --cc='ccache cc' --enable-shared --enable-libmp3lame --enable-gpl --enable-nonfree --enable-libvorbis --enable-pthreads --enable-libfaac --enable-libxvid --enable-postproc --enable-x11grab --enable-libgsm --enable-libtheora --enable-libopencore-amrnb --enable-libopencore-amrwb --enable-libx264 --enable-libspeex --enable-nonfree --enable-libvpx --enable-libschroedinger --disable-encoder=libschroedinger --enable-version3 --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-librtmp --enable-avfilter --enable-libfreetype --disable-decoder=amrnb --enable-libvo-amrwbenc --enable-libtesseract --libdir=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu --disable-vda --enable-libbluray --enable-libcdio --enable-gnutls --enable-frei0r --enable-openssl --enable-libass --enable-libopus --enable-fontconfig --enable-libpulse --disable-mipsdsp --disable-mips32r2 --disable-msa --disable-mipsfpu --disable-mipsdspr2 --enable-libvidstab --enable-libzvbi --enable-avresample --enable-libutvideo --enable-libfdk-aac --enable-libx265 --enable-libbs2b --enable-libilbc --enable-libopenh264 --enable-libkvazaar --enable-libsnappy --enable-libsoxr --enable-libiec61883 --enable-vaapi --enable-opencl --enable-libdc1394 --disable-altivec --shlibdir=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu
  libavutil      55. 17.103 / 55. 17.103
  libavcodec     57. 24.102 / 57. 24.102
  libavformat    57. 25.100 / 57. 25.100
  libavdevice    57.  0.101 / 57.  0.101
  libavfilter     6. 31.100 /  6. 31.100
  libavresample   3.  0.  0 /  3.  0.  0
  libswscale      4.  0.100 /  4.  0.100
  libswresample   2.  0.101 /  2.  0.101
  libpostproc    54.  0.100 / 54.  0.100
Input #0, mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2, from 'video.mp4':
  Metadata:
    major_brand     : isom
    minor_version   : 1
    compatible_brands: isomavc1
    creation_time   : 2012-12-12 07:03:52
  Duration: 07:13:45.09, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 274 kb/s
    Stream #0:0(und): Video: h264 (High) (avc1 / 0x31637661), yuv420p, 1280x528 [SAR 1:1 DAR 80:33], 601 kb/s, 23.98 fps, 23.98 tbr, 96k tbn, 47.95 tbc (default)
    Metadata:
      creation_time   : 2012-12-12 07:03:52
    Stream #0:1(eng): Audio: aac (LC) (mp4a / 0x6134706D), 48000 Hz, stereo, fltp, 92 kb/s (default)
    Metadata:
      creation_time   : 2012-12-12 07:04:15
      handler_name    : GPAC ISO Audio Handler

Is there any one who can help me fix the playtime / duration with a terminal command on debian/centos

I have HandBrake-cli + FFmpeg installed

UPDATE
Thought: since the video plays perfectly in various players and the frame-rate is right, how comes, that encoders like HandBrake and ffmpeg can't calculate the right duration?

UPDATE 2 - Solution
I duckduckgo.com it and found a usable solution on a well.. torrent site

ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -t 2:09:39 -c:v copy -c:a copy -c:s copy out.mp4

How ever, this is not an repairing or any acclimatisation of the job, but it worked.

So summon up what this does

ffmpeg - Video encoder
-i source video
-t When used as an input option (before -i), limit the duration of data read from the input file.
-c:v + -c:a copy video+audio from source
output file

Any optimization or acclimatisation of this workload is still welcome

I had the same problem. I solved that by removing the audio from video.
This is why the video seems frozen but it continues to play it, due to audio duration.

For that reason, you may remove entire audio from video file using "-an" ffmpeg option. When it removed, no incorrect time in video exists. You may extract audio from the initial video file, match its duration time with the video duration, and then, you encode video and audio files together, resulting no frozen video frames play.

eg.

ffmpeg -i video_to_encode.MP4  -r 16 -crf 18  -vcodec libx264 -vb 10M -an  video_output.avi


Cut out an animation of a video clip and insert into an other I have a video clip with a character animation, for example the character swings his hand.

I want to cut out the whole animation which is ~ 3 sec long and insert it into an other clip.

For this I need somehow to mark the character, so I can cut him out.

How can I achieve this? Do I need to cut out frame by frame? Which programm is able to do it? I have premiere element 15 from adobe, but i cant find how to do it and its hard to search for, I only get topics on how to cut general video parts.

I could probably do this in photoshop frame by frame and save as gif with transparent BG.

When you create a mask around a part of a video it is called rotoscoping. Premiere elements doesn't have the capabilities to do rotoscoping but there are other free pieces of software which do. The following bits of software are composting software which are designed for composting clips together.

The first software is Blackmagic fusion https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/uk/products/fusion. Here is a simple tutorial showing you how to rotoscope in it

            .

The other option is http://natron.fr/. Here is a tutorial on how to rotoscope with it

            . This tutorial is for a slightly different software but should work fine.

Once you have made the clip in either of these bits of software then export it and import it into premiere elements as a new video file.


Efficient decoding of 10-bit 4k h264 from GH5S? On my Intel 4770k (bought back in 2014) I can only decode GH5S's 4k 10-bit video at about 30fps with CPU maxing out. This is both when manually using ffmpeg and when using Handbrake. ffmpeg, Handbrake and Vegas 13 are all taking almost realtime to just decode

The system also has NVidia's GTX 1070Ti in it.

I was unable to use Intel's QuickSync (-hwaccel qsv -c:v h264_qsv before the -i argument in ffmpeg) or NVidia's NVDEC (-hwaccel nvdec) to decode the 10-bit h264.

Is there any software solution that can convert the video into something more efficiently usable? Whether 8-bit h264, or 10-bit HEVC, or some other intermediary format that can actually be hardware-decoded by Intel QuickSync or NVENC. Did I overlook any hardware solution? GPU upgrade? CPU upgrade?

I really would prefer not to go back to the good old days of files being decodable at merely realtime.

Nvdec and qsv do not have support for 10 bit AVC. And if there was a more “efficient” software decoder available, it would already be in ffmpeg.


Rendering without quality loss in Kdenlive I've used SimpleScreenRecorder for screencasting. The settings are shown below. This file is of very good quality. I've then added this clip to the Kdenlive project with the same settings as the video. To test the output, I rendered some 5 to 10 seconds of the video and the final result was not good as the source file. The bitrate and other settings during rendering are shown below.

To the command that kdenlive generates "acodec=aac ar..." add preset=slow. I'm not sure if kdenlive honors that but these presets are available for x264 in ffmpeg and avconf. They are good presets and are the same that you could choose from when you recorded your video (superfast in your case). Slow is generally a good option if you want to avoid visual quality loss.
If adding that line didn't work you can try to generate a script instead and add -preset slow after -vcodec but before the output file.
You probably want to delete the vb=%bitrate% bit, the preset will have its own value for that.

If you want to be really lossless in terms of video information you need to choose a lossless codec. I'm a bit puzzled that you have so few formats available. Maybe the "Show all profiles" checkbox gives you more options?
A recommendable codec for screen recordings would be QuickTime Animation or any other RLE based codec.
The Dirac codec from BBC is also a great lossless opensource codec, it can be found under the name libschroedinger in ffmpeg.


When is it necessary to enable "Time Remap" in After Effects? In After Effects to speed up and slow down footage this tutorial shows that you first enable Time Remap then use Timewarp. He doesn't appear to do anything with the Time Remap though.

This other tutorial shows doing slow motion either with the Stretch or with Timewarp

I get the Stretch vs Timewarp a bit but don't understand the Time Remap. When, if ever, should I be toggling that? From this nice written tutorial on time remapping it seems that Time Remapping is more useful if you need to reverse playback or add still frames and such. So was there a reason the Time Remap was toggled before the first guy did Timewarp? Does it make it render faster or work better or was it completely unnecessary?

If you are using Time Remap, a Timewarp should not be needed and vice versa.  Timewarp is designed to allow adjusting the playback rate, where as Time Remap is designed to allow you to tell the playback to be at a particular point in the original timecode when it reaches a particular time in your composition.  It mostly just matters how you want to control the adjustments and what level of control you want over the processing, but only one is needed.


Music Policies on Facebook: Using Copyright But Licensed Music Is there any way to figure out which music is allowed on Facebook?

A year or two ago there was an announcement saying that you are now allowed to upload videos with copyrighted music on Facebook since they signed a deal with several companies.

However, there is no “YouTube Music Policies”-equivalent page on Facebook. Most sites mention that you can now use copyrighted music, but it doesn't explain whether you can use any music (which I doubt) you like. There's also a mention that Facebook will notify you once you uploaded a video that you have used a copyrighted music — by then it will be too late.

Oftentimes I edit my video around the music and I don't want to spend all my time on a video just to receive a copyright strike.

I Googled this multiple time to no avail.

I don't know whats allowed on Facebook but, to keep it safe use songs from Youtube audio library that are not copy right protected. At some songs you need to add the author and by others no. You can also use filters. Now i agree most of the songs wont fit your needs, but i have to say there are some great songs in there!


How to create a good short video with limited supplies and time My buddy and I are contemplating putting a project up on Kickstarter. Most projects have a video (nice quality for the most part) that users can view to get a gist of the project and decide whether or not it's worth investing money in.

The problem is, we don't have much equipment, and purchasing some is out of the question (we're poor University students). Our current supplies are:

IPhone 4
Studio quality mic (that plugs into an amp)
Macbook Pro (for editing)

As you can see, it's quite limited. Has anyone had experience working with similar tools and creating something worthwhile? Light and sound are my major issues, as the IPhone needs good lighting to really shine and good video without quality sound sucks.

As for the editing and production of the video, what software should we be looking for? Something simple that can produce some nice tones (filters I think is the correct term, pardon my ignorance) and mix everything together without knowing a whole lot about color spectrums and the sort.

Start by throwing all the technical questions out the window. ALL of them. Don't ask about what cameras to use, which software works, or techniques. Change your mindset and think about your story.

What is it that you're going to tell us about? Find a story that's based on solid collective-consciousness archetypes (read Joseph Campbell's "The Hero's Journey"; free, libraries). The reason that we still have The Odyssey & Shakespeare regarded as classics (and not Pauly Shore films) is that they play into the stories that run through our common experiences as humans. Life, death, money, power...BIG topics. But whatever you find for inspiration, work on your STORY first.

Note that I didn't say "Script". For me, a script implies dialog. Story...not so much. Film is a visual medium. How can you communicate your story in pictures only? Pretend sound doesn't exist. VISUALS only. How will you tell your story? Show, don't tell.

Once you have a SOLID, VISUAL story...that's when you inventory what you have. Resources, locations, people, equipment. For a cell phone camera, if you can't light it really well from a budget perspective, that means the you shoot using what Edison used in the early days of film. The sun. Your entire story takes place outside. Shoot in shade so there's not a ton of harsh shadows.

Try to create a soundscape that AUGMENTS the story instead of telling it. Narration is evil. Avoid it at all costs. If you need narration, go back to step one. How will you tell your story with solid visuals?

Hell, a silent film just got a bunch of Oscar cred. Kick-butt sound that's not dialog will HELP your film, not tell the story. Record your dialog in edit, in a quiet room, direct into the computer. Google ADR and Foley to get some ideas.

Also, prepare for a slow process. In filmmaking, there's good, fast and cheap. Problme is, you can only pick two.

Best of Luck!


How do I check codec for a video(mp4) in windows 10? I'm devleoping an Android application. The official site lists all the codecs which are recommended for videos in Android platform.

I have 2 videos. One of them cannot be played by Android. I would like to check the codec for both files to see is the codec the problem.

What tool do I need in Windows 10 to check such property?

With ffprobe (included in the ffmpeg build), run

ffprobe yourvideo.ext

Or with MediaInfo, just use the GUI. If you set the display mode to Text you'll be able to see all the details for the streams.


Use Canon T3i as a HD Webcam I am looking to be able to use my Canon EOS Rebel T3i as a webcam on a computer, both Mac and Windows based. Some uses for this would be a HD live stream or the ability to record video directly to my computer. I know I would need to use an HDMI cable to connect my T3i to my computer. Since there is no HDMI in on the computers I will be using (or any computer that I know of) I would need a way to connect my T3i's HDMI out to my computer. I am looking at the Blackmagic Design Intensity Shuttle for USB 3.0 and the elgato Game Capture HD. It needs to be able to work with USB 2.0, as that is the only port that I have on both of the computers I would be using this with. The elgato runs from USB 2.0 and where the Intensity uses 3.0. I need to know 100% that the Intensity would work on 2.0. I also need to know if they would show up as a webcam on the computer. The apps I would be using would be Skype, EasyWorship, and an Twitch.tv.

You can probably do it directly through the EOS software.  It is possible to get a live video stream from the camera over the USB connection.  Note that USB2 is not going to be able to carry a full quality HDMI stream though.  This is why the Intensity is USB3.  It requires USB3 because the bandwidth requirements for the quality level it is working at require USB3 data rates.  If you have a firewire port on both, that would be an alternate option.

There are systems that have HDMI capture, but they are due to having an encoder card like the internal version of the Intensity.  If it is a desktop that doesn't have USB3, it may be possible to get a USB3 card for that system.  I personally have used an addin card for USB3 support on my desktop (a first gen i7) and it works great.

No matter what you do, there is a good chance you are going to have to hack your way to getting it to show up as a webcam.  It would likely show up as a capture device though, which should work with EasyWorship or ProPresenter.  (Personally I'm an old MediaShout fan that is looking at swapping to ProPresenter since Media Shout went pretty awful with version 4, but I've used all 3.)

One other option you haven't considered is that there may be a way to use the USB connection to pull the LiveView feed that EOS Utility uses, but it still wouldn't be as good of quality as something like an Intensity, but free is good and it would likely support USB2.


Good Intro Editor that can Join Audio+Video, and Present Two Frames Simultaneously I am just beginning to put together some YouTube videos on Algebra tutorials (so I'm in front of a whiteboard, recording audio separately onto a portable recorder, and using a pretty low budget video recorder).

I use a PC for editing (Windows 7, Intel Core i5 with 4 GB of RAM).

My question is regarding video editing software. Movie Maker is definitely not cutting it. The main problem is that I can't join a separate audio track with the video clip. So while editing, whatever small pieces I cut out (while I'm mumbling or drift off topic), I have to constantly re-sync the audio with the video - extremely tedious and error prone.

So what editing software do you recommend for a tight budget? I would like to have two features:

Ability to join audio and video (once you have it lined up, no lag between my lips moving and the audio track). Once joined, you can cut at will and not have to re-sync.
Ability to do a corner picture in picture to keep presenter visible while moving to diagrams or illustrations.

I'm sure this question has been asked many times, but since I'm limiting it to two specific features I thought it could stand on its own. I've heard Adobe Photoshop Elements 12 is a good starter-level program, but I haven't been able to tell if it has these two features.

Possible duplicate of: What Beginner Video Editing Software Should I Use?

Though still valid on its own for requesting a specific feature set.
Even though pretty much any video editor will have your requested features.

I often recommend Lightworks (also available for Linux and Mac) as its free and soon to be open sourced.
Here a video tutorial on how to do a so called PIP (picture in picture) effect in Lightworks, he make a split-screen buts its essentially the same workflow, you just allign the videos differently.

Photoshop Elements has very limited video editing capabilities. Nice to have if you own it but if all you need is a video editor I recommend go with Lightworks.

A professional software that is affordable if you work on a project to project basis and not all year long is Adobe Premiere, Adobe has a subscription model where you can rent software for 20$ per month or 30-40$ for a whole suite.
If you don't plan to work on a semi-professional level at some point I recommend you go with the free Lightworks, it has more than enough features to make professional videos, it's just not at convinient and fast as Premiere.


Premiere: How to export at exact down-scaled resolution? Preparing a trailer for an iOS app. I have source footage in iPad and iPhone X native resolutions (2732x2048 and 2688x1242 respectively), but they required scaled-down videos (1600x1200 and 1920x886 respectively).
Although those are theoretically the same aspect ratios, they are in fact not exactly equal. This shows up when I export from Premiere. Even though I input those specific down-scaled resolutions in the export properties, the resulting videos are slightly different: 1600x1216 and 1920x896.
I've been looking for settings to force a specific resolution - I don't really care what kind of scaling/stretching is done to achieve it (as long as there are no black bars) - but I've failed to find any.
Things I've tried:

changing the sequence properties and setting the exact size there, and zooming out the source clip to fit, but somehow that still came out problematic.
auto reframed sequence, no bingo

Any tips on this would be greatly appreciated, as I'm starting to LOSE MY MIND lol...

In general I would set my sequence settings to the desired delivery formats, and scale my source video to fit those. I wouldn't ever squash or stretch the video, as this looks very bad, and all iOS devices these days have square pixels (ie a pixel aspect ratio of 1:1 (or some multiple thereof if you're dealing with retina displays).
In general mp4 files (if that's what you are exporting to) prefer resolutions which are divisible by 16 ( I think - although someone on here may be able to correct me).
Your options are to rescale and zoom manually, shot by shot, to accept letterboxing, or to crop some of your content.  Rescaling and zooming to whatever is most relevant in each shot would be my preference.


Windows 10 miniDV import using Movie Maker I'd like to import my miniDV tapes.  I'm using Windows 10 and the built-in Movie Maker software.   My goal is to get the highest fidelity import from the miniDV tapes.   I did a trail run and it looks like Movie Maker stores the content in AVI files.

My questions:

Is the import lossless/uncompressed?
Is it possible to do a higher quality import?  If so, what software should I use?
I know AVI is an older container format.  Is AVI a suitable format going forward?  If not, what should I use?  I'm trying to future proof as much as possible.

DV is a compressed format to begin with. Unless you apply further compression at the time of capture within WMM, the captured stream is identical to that on the tape. The bitrate of the capture should be roughly 3.5 MB/s.

AVI is an old format, and for broader compatibility, you can store the video in Quicktime .MOV, but this will have to be done after capture, using a tool like FFmpeg. This process is quick since it's just rewrapping the data.

Command will be

ffmpeg -i file.avi -c copy file.mov


What is this cable for? I'm tidying up and have found a cable that came with a Lumix camera.
It has a micro-usb port at one and and white and yellow phono plugs at the other - just like this one.

My question is, what is it for?

Can I use it to output pictures from a Nexus to a TV?

Cheers

Yellow and white generally mean video (yellow) and mono audio or left channel audio (white).  It is fairly typical for a usb like port to be used as a video connector when the proper cable is inserted.  It sometimes even uses the same exact port.

Note that it requires special hardware in the camera.  You can't simply plug it into any USB port and expect it to work.  RCA's carry an analog signal while USB is digital.  There is however a system called MHL that is often present in smartphones that allows output of an HDMI signal over the USB port, though external power is often required.


can I use ffmpeg drawtext filter as a passthrough/identity filter? (and/or performance question) Background:  I have a script which needs to apply a variable number (from zero to 'a few') drawtext  filters to a base stream, and I'm trying to balance performance and coding/maintenance concerns.  The coding concern here is that I want to be able to use the same base code for each possible filter even though some of them won't be enabled for a given execution of the program.
So... the question: is there an explicit identity or passthrough option for the drawtext filter?  In an ideal world, there would be some option to leave the filter as part of the graph, but tell the code that this particular instance of the drawtext filter should just be an identity filter: said another this is a 'do nothing' or 'passthrough' filter with minimal performance impact.
I could think of a couple ways to possibly do this:

pass a null string as the 'text' value?  I think this would require explicit support within that specific filter?
pass some values using timeline editing that end up making the filter do nothing?  Are there well-known values here (something like "if frame number is less than zero") that are valid but would always evaluate as false?

I'm sure there are many other possibilities - I'm hoping someone has already cracked this particular nut.
Is my thinking correct that most of the compute effort ends up being in the actual filtering and the subsequent encoding, rather than the act of passing the frames into and out of the filter?
(I think this should be here rather that a different stackoverflow sub-site, but if this is better suited for some other place, feel free to either move it or let me know and I'll move it...)

Yes, method 2 is suitable. Add something like enable=0


ffmpeg capture audio in raw format I would like to capture audio with ffmpeg in .raw format. Here is what I do to capture in .mp3 format :

ffmpeg -f dshow -t 10 -i audio="virtual-audio-capturer" -y "sound.mp3"

note that I don't want to capture in .mp3 then convert in .raw

Use sound.wav as your output, instead of sound.mp3.  Or if you literally mean raw PCM data with no headers, not just uncompressed, then try

ffmpeg -f dshow -t 10 -i audio="virtual-audio-capturer" -f s16le -y "sound.pcm"

Play it back with

ffplay -channels 2 -f s16le -i sound.pcm

Unless you really need headerless, I'd suggest WAV files for ease of use.  Sample format, rate, and number of channels stored in the file is a Good Thing.


After Effects quality drops I am trying to make a animation. There is a 3D animation which is sharp, I need to put some layers over it with descriptions about some parts that are shown.

The original video is extremly sharp, but when I render my own version in After Effects it isn't sharp at all. I changed the 'Interpert footage > Main' a couple of times but it doesn't help. Also in the render queue I changed the export settings, still nothing changes.

I am trying to export as a QuickTime > Photo > Quality 100%. I am using AE CS5.

Make sure that resolutions match.  Look at the properties of the source clip, make sure that all of the main parameters (height, width, pixel ratio, frame rate) match for your composition and your export.  If it is having to interpolate pixels (as a result of non-divisible height or width or a difference in pixel aspect ratio) or interpolate frames (as a result of a mismatched framerate) then you are going to see a noticeable drop in sharpness.

Also check to make sure that render options are all set to 100% and that Best quality is selected on the render output.  It is possible to run renders in AE that don't process every pixel to speed rendering for drafts.  This could be what is happening as well.  If you can provide more detail about the composition, render settings and source material, then we might be able to help more.


Record video and sound with backtrack Here is my use case: I want to record myself (sound and video) when I play the trumpet to a backtrack.

Now if I didn't want the video I would simply:

record the backtrack with a DAW
record myself in another track while the DAW plays the backtrack

But I don't know how to add the video.

My guess is that I need either:

a DAW that also can record video stream (I have only a web cam for that)
to record with a video stream recorder, but I'm not sure how to add, play back, and sync the backtrack.
to record audio in my DAW, video in another program (movie maker?), and then sync audio and video with some kind of clap.

I am certainly not the first wanting to do that, the question is how can I achieve this? Other ways than the two above? Software recommendations?

This is really the same trick as what is needed for a music video.  There are two options for it.  If you want to record the actual performance, play the backtrack while recording the video and synchronize it after the fact.  You can either directly mic the instrument and play the backtrack aloud or you can use headphones or in-ear monitors to play the backtrack and split off a feed to go in to the camera for purposes of synchronization.

Alternately, you can do your audio recording completely separate from the video.  Record the audio in an ideal studio environment with clean trumpet while using headphones for the backtrack, produce the final audio and then playback the audio while recording the video.  This is the option that is generally closer to what a music video does and is what I would personally recommend for best overall quality.

In either case, you take the video track and the audio track (or tracks) and line them up after the fact in a traditional video NLE (non-linear editor).  You could accomplish it with something as basic as Windows Movie Maker, though personally, I'd use something like Adobe Premiere and maybe Audition for the audio (simply because Audition and Premiere integrate so nicely.)


Automatically capturing stills from video presentation I have a video training course supplied as AVI files. Most of the screens are shown as slides with a pointer moving around on them.

I'd like to capture a screenshot of the slide automatically when the screen changes (ignoring when the image changes a small amount due to the pointer moving around.)

I want to do this so I can paste the images into a word or html document that I can add notes to as I learn as at the moment I'm taking screenshots but it's very slow and tedious and the course is very long (around 24 hours play time).

Can anyone suggest how to go about doing this?

You can do this with Processing.  You would have to write a processing sketch to step through the movie frame-by-frame, and calculate how different each was from the previous frame.  When the difference is above a certain threshold, save the whole frame as an image file.  Here is a forum post about something very similar.

Other than processing, you may also be able to use Max/MSP's Jitter, Quartz Composer, or a bonafide programming language such as Python.


What is this device? I was doing some cleaning today and found the device below, unopened, in its original plastic bag. I'm guessing it's an accessory for a photo or video camera from the 8mm jack, but anything more than that is beyond me.

Anyone else know what it is?

Top:

Interior:

Bottom:

Aha! I found it. It's neither an audio nor a video device, but a Film Adapter Unit—a light source—for a CanoScan LiDE 700f. Misleading plug type.


Switching and Cutting Video and Audio Items Separately In the Final Cut Pro 7 manual is explained how to switch and cut video and audio items separately. At the end, it says:

  However, independently switching video or audio angles breaks linking
  relationships between a multiclip’s clip items in the Timeline. After
  you perform the switch, only the audio item whose angle you switched
  remains linked to the video item.

Which is exactly what happen in my case.

How can I switch angle for a piece of audio once the relationship is broken in the timeline?

You should be able to drag the original clip from the Browser into the timeline and replace the clip you're working with.

If you want to make sure not to mess up your edit, double-click the 'broken' clip in the timeline to bring it into the viewer, and make note of your in and out points.  Then open the original clip from the browser into the viewer and set the same in and out points. Now replace the 'broken' clip in the timeline with the new one from the viewer.

If you're asking how to switch audio and video independently without breaking the relationship, I'm not sure.


How to embed cover art into MP4 without errors? I want to add artwork to my MP4 file. How do I do this successfully / without errors?
I've tried these methods with numerous MP4 files, none worked.
If you would like to replicate the errors / bugs, here are the sample files I've used for this question.

I've tried the following:

ffmpeg -i sample.mp4 -i sample.png -map 0 -map 1 -c copy -disposition:v:0 attached_pic sample_w_artwork.mp4
as stated by Lukas

with this error:

[mp4 @ 0000019ee4852280] Could not find tag for codec h264 in stream #0, codec not currently supported in container
Could not write header for output file #0 (incorrect codec parameters ?): Invalid argument

ffmpeg 4.2.2 (Windows build by Zeranoe)

atomicparsley sample.mp4 --artwork sample.png --overWrite

with no success; AtomicParsley

I get this message when executing the first time:

Started writing to temp file.
 Progress: =============================================>100%|
 Finished writing to temp file.

Executing the next (nth) time gives this:

Updating metadata...   completed.

Adding artwork through the GUI Tag Editor using both available versions: i686-w64 & x86_64-w64

with no success; it creates a sample.mp4.bak file, even though the software says that the operation was successful

  can't insert any more links, because I got too little rep apparently

Mp3tag (mp3tag.de/en)

with no success; I can successfully add the image as a cover, but it's not visible in the File Explorer. After saving it says Saved tag in 1 of 1 files. The picture can been seen in Mp3tag though as if it's applied.

Tag&Rename (softpointer.com)

with no success; same story as with Mp3tag, I can apply and it's visible in the app, but not in File Explorer.

mp4v2 (https:// code.google.com/archive/p/mp4v2/downloads)

mp4tags.exe -picture sample.png sample.mp4

with no success; it executes with no (error)message

I found it on this thread

(https:// forum.videohelp.com/threads/388025-How-to-set-the-thumbnail-of-a-video-clip).

Have used the updated version which is the Windows build

(https:// forum.doom9.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=14314&d=1407985798).

iTunes

iTunes 12.10.6.2 (Microsoft Store version)

iTunes doesn't load the file into the library. I can run it fine though in QuickTime Player.

I didn't notice the 'Home Videos' tab. Now I can see it in there. I tried to apply the image, and it applied it only inside iTunes... So it's still not working for me.

I tried to convert the MP4 to M4A and then adding it to iTunes. I was finally successfully able to change the cover and it was visible in File Explorer. But that's not what I want.

I know for a fact that it's possible, because I've seen pictures on the Internet and YT and different threads where an answer is upvoted.

tag

https:// github.com/b4winckler/tag

The description is: Simple command line audio tag editor... After having to install millions of libraries and a package manager I was stuck with the compilation of the software, followed all the steps, didn't work.

I've also tried using MP4art as suggested by a comment on another issue about this. He didn't include a link to it so I went looking and found another issue about this. One comment recommended MP4art as well, with a link that's dead.

I believe I've used some other methods as well but can't think of them right now. Will update if I recall.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

In the Codec Tweak Tool under Miscellaneous > Thumbnails the checkbox for .mp4 was unchecked. After checking it and saving the settings it finally showed the thumbnail.

The Tweak Tool is installed with K-Lite Codec Pack. There are different editions available, I use the Standard edition so I can't talk for the other ones.

Credits for finding the solution: Furty from the same (copied) thread on Super User as a comment


Looking for an 80's VHS effect! I'm looking for a way to turn an HD video clip into 80's style VHS low-quality.
Here is an example of the look I'm desperately looking for:

Thank you!!!

Every decent video editor has built-in filters (like Color Correction, Film Effects, TV simulator, Color Curves, etc.) that can be used to achieve the desired 'look'. There are plug-ins and tools that contain many ready-to-use presets, such as:

Magic Bullet Looks
Film Looks SVP
Adobe SpeedGrade
DaVinci Resolve
etc.


How to parent a mask to another element in AfterFX? I have this video whereby text is revealed one letter after another. A text cursor is moving along with each letter to simulate the fact of writing the text on a word processor.

I have separate animations for the text being revealed: a mask expands, for the cursor: the position. Keyframes are aligned and the animation is linear.

However, the cursor is overlapping the text at the start of the animation as you can see here:

I also tried adding a solid layer that moves with the text and hiding everything to the right of the cursor. That works except when the background is not a solid color as is my case.

So my question is if I can parent the mask's movement to the cursor, or vice-versa? Alternatively, is there a better way to do it?

At the moment parenting a mask or its vertices to another object like a null is not possible by default. Although it is one of the most wanted features, probably there is no official solution for this. But in the same link you can find a link to a forum post where scripting master Dan Ebberts offers a solution. This solution has some limitations though, yet it might work in your project.

My solution would be more manual, this is not the fastest way but it works. If you are using a text layer, try adding an animator for the opacity, based on the characters.

Then animate your cursor layer's position accordingly. Or better, parent it to a null and animate your null and use hold keyframes.

This option is better than animating a mask on text layers, as it reveals each character. In your screenshot, there is this situation that your letters are revealed as if a linear wipe is used.


Extract person from video Is there a way to extract a person from a video without having a blue- (or green-)screen?

Any software which can do this?

If you have a frame where the person does not exist, you can use a tool called a difference matte. (You'll need to scroll down to the section titled "Difference Matte Effect" for a description.) It will find a difference between the frame without the person, and the frames with a person and remove areas that are the same, leaving only the difference (in this case the person). As linked, After Effects has such a tool. Many other video editors have it as well.


How to specify CRF quality settings for different encoding software Is there a way of specifying a quality setting for h.264 that is not software dependant?

I'm trying to help a colleague create a specification for outside contractors when they deliver video to us for use on our website as h.264-compressed mp4 files. We can specify a bitrate, but that doesn't work so well if we want variable bitrate / constant quality (CRF) compression.

If I knew they would be using libx264 to do the compression I could give them a range for the -crf setting, but they'll be using all sorts of software to do the compression. So how do I specify quality, except by saying something vague like "visually lossless" or "good quality"?

Any decent encoder can hit a target bitrate (with 2pass), but still spend the bits intelligently to achieve similar quality throughout the file.  x264 2pass figures out what CRF will give the desired bitrate (pass1), and then uses it (pass2).  (source: Dark Shikari.  cf. the links I dug up for my answer on this question about VBR streaming).

You only get CBR with x264 if vbv-maxrate = bitrate, and even then it's can be VBR within the buffer size.  (h.264 is never going to be strictly CBR like mp3 or something, unless your I frames look HORRIBLE :P)

However, you probably meant variable-across-clips, rather than the usual within-one-file meaning, because CFR as a quality target is clearly much better than blindly setting a target bitrate for many different sources.

(Is there a word for this?  flexible bitrate?  Other than target-quality, as opposed to target-bitrate.  CRF targets a heuristic for quality, not strictly a quality target.)

Anyway, in that case, I have no idea what other encoders support.  Lossless h.264 is probably the best format for sending files around.  It's significantly smaller than huffyuv or utvideo, and can support up to 10bit.  (actually, I think FFmpeg can decode higher bit depths, but x264 can only produce files up to 10bit.)  Or I guess you could get them to send you slightly-lossy pro-res files, if that's a lot easier for your workflows.

LordNeckBeard brings up the question of whether you're delivering these files directly to clients.  If that's the case, you should probably require that they encode with x264 with at least preset=slower, so you can just give them a crf value if you're already requiring x264.  The rate-distortion tradeoff matters for final files that you're going to stream many times.


Paper camera software filters for post-production? I have downloaded an android app called Paper Camera that provides real time camera filters such as a variety of 'sketch' and cartoony feels. I find especially interesting their filters 'Contour', which is pretty much B&W contour lines, and 'Sketch Up' which looks like a rough pencil drawing.

What kind of software and what filters could I use to apply similar effects to an already recorded video file?

Adobe Premiere should do exactly what you want - it has a ton of effects plugins.

As to your second question, any screen grabber video software should let you do this - you play the video and have your wacom sketch overlay running, and just use the screen grabber software to make a video of everything displayed on the screen.


In Premiere Pro, is it possible to link the "Create new black video" function to a quick key? I'm not able to find that specific function when I'm in the keyboard shortcuts menu, leading me to believe it's not possible. I'm hoping someone on here knows more than me about it! I'm on MacOS, if it's relevant. Thanks in advance.
Cheers!

Hotkeys inside premiere are only available if they appear in the shortcut-list. However, you might be able to use an external program such as macro recorder to bind certain actions to a custom button / button-combination.
(i do not own macro-recorder btw and have not tried it for myself. I only heard that it works well with premiere.)


How 2D to 3D conversion is performed? The Oscar winning movie Titanic

which was picturized  in 2D format and released in 1997 . It was again released in 3D format in 2012.

But I wonder that how 2D to 3D conversion of movie frames is performed. So can anybody explain about it? What factors (like depth ) should be taken into consideration for 2D to 3D  conversion?

They've done it via rotoscoping techniques in order to create depth information.

From fxguide.com about Titanic 3d Conversion:

  The team at Stereo D used no projection or automated solutions. The team isolated with multiple layers of roto each of the key elements of the scene, often many per person in the foreground and then these were used to derive a depth map. From the depth map normally a new left and right eye was created.

Also see the wikipedia article about 3d Stereo Conversion and The Art of Stereo Conversion.


What is the difference between an amateur and a professional camcorder? It is known that professional photographers use SLRs & regular users use point & shoot camera. What kind of cameras do professional videographers use & whats the difference?

I'd regard this as off topic as it concerns video cameras not stills, but anyway a lot of professionals use the Red series of cameras:
http://www.red.com/
The most popular being the Red One:

(source: redoneutah.com)
Benefits over consumer level video cameras nicely mirrors the difference between DSLRs and Compacts, namely:

The ability to shoot video in raw, for example using the proprietary RecCode format. This makes contrast adjustments, post production and grading easier.

A larger sensor, the Red One has a similar sized sensor to a DSLR (same size as super 35 film) this allows better low light performance and shallower depth of field.

The ability to have interchangable lenses.

Higher resolution pictures (again to refer to the Red One it will output at 4k (4,096 x 2,304 pixels, which is at least four times full HD)).

Better build quality. All professional tools should be built to be packed up and shipped round the world and work first time on location.

There are other advantages specific to professional videography cameras, namely:

Higher framerates for [real] slow motion 24fps -> 1000fps (some consumer cameras do this, but not very well)

Wider range of inputs for mics etc.

Wider range of accessories, HD out for live monitoring etc.

Record to multiple data banks, HDDs, flash memory etc.

Another difference is that professionals will more often than not hire equipment as the cameras cost more than even the most expensive 35mm DSLRs, and they are typically only shooting for part of the year in intensive bursts. This also enables the use of specialist cameras (such as the Phantom 1000fps camera, which can only be rented, not bought).
It's worth pointing out that DSLRs which shoot video offer many of the advantages posted above, but they lack the modularity and flexibility of output that you get with a professional digital cine camera. They are also limited in terms of shooting time.


Recording video's with two cameras? I have started to make some videos and I want to add a second camera to get a different angle.

The main camera I have is a Nikon D7200.

I am looking at a secondary camera, but I am hesitant because I want the video's to look the same, in that color and tone are the same and not obviously shot on two different cameras.

I am also, on a budget and would like to stay in it if possible. I know the D5500 has the same sensor as the D7200, so it would probably be the same in terms of color and tone, but would a different sensor really be that bad?

How do you guys match up two dissimilar cameras, to not make it look wierd, or is that not really a concern?

Thanks!

I've had my fair share of matching. C100 with 5D MK III, 5D MK III with 7D, 7D with C100, 7D with a Sony Camcorder.

It's all a matter of getting two cameras that are similar in terms of resolution and how 'soft' the image is. For example, the C100 is incredibly sharp, like 4k sharp in 1080p, whereas the DSLRS I mentioned are quite soft. Although you can add sharpening, it doesn't have the same feel and really gives you the idea that two cameras were used.

That being said, staying with a DSLR within the same camera company means that the baked in color profile should be relatively consistent. The sharpness on the other hand my not be, but with DSLR's you'll never get really sharp images (excluding the GH4 and A7S) so I would say go for it.

You might see some subtle difference in color tone. Some casting more or less of a certain color in the exact same environment which is an easy fix with some general color correction. I'm willing to bet if you make a color correction present using footage shot in a consistent test environment you can make your workflow much faster. Its just a matter of watching your scopes for consistency. It helps if you use a similar lens, focal length, subject (go with a person you want to match skintones), and lighting setup (tungsten) for these tests.

Some color correction info another one of my answers: https://video.stackexchange.com/a/15998/10619


ffmpeg framemd5 format explanation Does a frame consist of audio and video or just video? I am trying to verify if this can be used for confirming both audio and video data were successfully sent or if I need to handle the audio separately.

According to the framemd5 muxer documentation:

  This muxer computes and prints the MD5 hash for each audio and video
  packet. By default audio frames are converted to signed 16-bit raw
  audio and video frames to raw video before computing the hash.

  The output of the muxer consists of a line for each audio and video
  packet of the form:

stream_index, packet_dts, packet_pts, packet_duration, packet_size, MD5

  MD5 is a hexadecimal number representing the computed MD5 hash for the
  packet.

If you want to omit a particular stream or stream type use the -map option. This example will only process the video stream while ignoring audio:

ffmpeg -i input -map 0:v:0 -f framemd5 -


Filming a Bike From The Angle of The Wheel I'm filming a chase scene for a course and want to incorporate a bike. I've seen multiple films where the angle is on the spokes of the wheel. I am looking for any suggestions of a (much cheaper) rig or idea to get this shot. I'm working with a Mark II. I have access to a monopod, a wheel rig, and a shoulder rig.

Thanks

Buy an action camera (GoPro, SJcam, Sony, knock off brand) and use one of the many accessories you can get and or some fancy duct tape work. This way you would be able to get closer to the frame and also use the camera for some other more artistic shots due to the size.

Otherwise you could build a rig using clamps and rods to support your main camera but this could make the bike side heavy and not as easy to ride.

I think the professionals (hollywood films) would probably build a side frame for the bike so the bike is more stable


Three Point Lighting on Green Screen Ok - I have a 10' x 8' foot DIY green screen. Since I am newbie I have not yet purchased any lighting. I do have a set of circular reflectors, and a lightstand with a boom and clamps that I was "thinking" of using for fill light. What inexpensive light set should I get? Do I need to light the green screen with 2 softbox lights? What should I use for the key light and back light?

Using 2 lights with softbox would be great for your background.
The goal here is to get the background lit equally on all sides.
You can use the zebra on your camera to help achieve this.
Avoid shining your background lights onto your subject. That's what your key and fill are for.
Make sure you keep enough distance between your subject and the background. This ensures you have little/no shadows on your green screen. Also, it helps to remove the green spill bouncing back from your background onto your subject.
Please spend twice as much energy on lighting your subject. People tend to spend more time and energy on the part of the image that they will throw away (green screen) and forget about the part that they will use in their film.
Keylight is a difficult decision and might be different for each project. For a regular MC/CU another light with softbox would be great!
Those reflectors will work great as fill light. Depending on what Keylight you chose. They might be less optimal when using certain LED sources. In that case you might need a second LED as a fill.
We kind of skipped the backlight of you subject. Sure, this is optional. But it could really help your footage to the next level.

Good Luck,


How to setup Adobe Premiere Pro CC to edit Interview type videos for YouTube Context:

I have Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2017
I am recording interviews with Ecamm recorder for Skype in 480p resolution (size conscious)
I always record separate files (audio & video) - track 1 and track 2.
I created a fancy layout image (16:9) in Photoshop which I drop in Premiere and then I adjust the video tracks so they fit in it - the layout has the guest bit bigger than me (they are obviously more important)

I already tried two different configurations of project/export settings:

1280x720 and 24fps - which was blurry - you could watch it but it was straining my eyes (presets were SLR 720p)
4K and 25fps - which was OK (presets were RED Cinema 4K) and surprisingly the size was also comparable, which is a bit confusing.

Questions:

What presets do you recommend when creating Premiere project for a YouTube video? I read that YouTube recommends uploading 720p videos, but nothing like that exists in Premiere presets.
What settings should I use to render the sequence to have good quality but acceptable file size?

What presets do you recommend when creating Premiere project for a YouTube video? I read that YouTube recommends uploading 720p videos, but nothing like that exists in Premiere presets.

Any preset works as long as your export settings correspond to what YouTube can ingest.

By the way, 720p presets exist in Premiere, for most codecs.
Here's a screen capture for the DNxHD codec:

What settings should I use to render the sequence to have good quality but acceptable file size?

For a 720p file, make sure your data rate is no smaller than 5 Mbps.

For a 1080p file, make sure your data rate is no smaller than 10 Mbps.

Codec: H264.

Field order: progressive usually (depending on your raw footage).

Aspect: square pixel usually (depending on your raw footage).

Audio: AAC, 4100Hz, Maximum Bitrate.

Maximum render quality.


Audio Sounds Like It's Skipping in Lightworks This is my first time using Lightworks.

I have some video I recorded of some gameplay that I am trying to edit. While the audio itself sounds fine in other programs, every time I play it in Lightsworks it almost sounds like it is skipping but I'm pretty sure it is in sync.

What is odd is that when I tried to mute the audio I could still hear the noise.  I tried then to mute the audio and replace it with a copy of it and it still won't work.  Does anyone have any advice?

audio copy is in .wav and video in .avi
was recorded using Bandicam

Get a better computer. The fact that the audio sounds fine in other apps means it was recorded fine, and the file represents the audio correctly. When you open it in your editor though, that's a much more complex operation than simply playing the video in an optimized player. So, I think this is a performance issue. I've had this problem myself with cheaper computers, and back when I switched to HD, I had to buy a new machine.


Low cost DIY high-speed video camera I always have been intrigued by high speed/fps video. And I have looked online how much it would cost to buy one myself. However they are often very expensive, I do not know what the average price range was, but to much for me to buy for "fun".

I recently saw this video which made me realize that instead of reducing the exposure time, you can also influence the lighting within the exposure. However in the video this was used to make high speed photos, which made me think if this could not be used for a video camera. My initial idea was to place multiple cameras around a fast rotating mirror. However this might be dangerous when not correctly balanced.

My other idea was also partially based on an article I saw a few years ago. I want to keep it simple, so instead of using some sort of "filter" to only illuminate certain pixels of the sensor at certain times, I would like to take advantage of the fact that it would be a color camera. This involves a red, green and blue light source, such that each frame would be exposed by each light source for a short moment at different times. After shooting I would need to separate each color layer out of frame and possibly convert it into grey-scale images. This would mean that I would only be able to reach three times as high frame rates, the object, which is being filmed, has roughly the same emission/absorption for all three colors and is not highly fluorescent with "large" stokes shift.

This was a bit of a long introduction, but here are my related questions:

Would colored LED's suffice for the different light sources? Such as their spectrum, assuming a Bayer filter sensor is used.
Are there any theoretical/technical limitations to this idea? Such as the exposure time, since if this is to small compared to the time between each frame then there would still be a substantial gap between every 3 frames.

You could use multiple cheap cameras recording at low fps, but slightly out of phase.  Bennett Wilburn talks about this in his 2004 Stanford Doctoral thesis, "High Performance Imaging Using Arrays of Inexpensive Cameras".


How do I preserve the filesize of an MP4 edited in After Effects? I'm editing a small animation video (.mp4) of our app with After Effects (cropping composition to region of interest). I then add the composition to Adobe Media Encoder Queue and process it with the preset on my composition being Match source - High bitrate, encoded at H.264 as it's meant to be displayed on the web. Initially the filesize of the file is 8.3mb - after rendering, it's 30mb+ ! Why is this happening (I don't see how the quality can be better than it initially is) and what settings should I be using to export the .MP4 while keeping the video the same quality and a slightly lower filesize, as it should be?

In general, it's better to work with lossless, or at least, less lossy formats than MP4 if you're going to be re-editing the video.  If you can, work from a ProRes or Animation codec .mov file of the original file.

When you export, adjust the bitrate of the video by entering specific bit rate numbers... Vimeo suggests between 10,000-20,000kbps for HD video.  Adjust it downwards until you get the output file size you want, but bear in mind the quality will reduce as the number goes down.


How to add freeze frame to a video using ffmpeg I want to freeze some frames in a video so that it gives a buffering video type look. Also the audio should freeze with the video.

Assume there are three pauses of 3 seconds each at 5s, 12s and 20s of the original video. Here's the basic form of the command,

ffmpeg -i in -vf "setpts='PTS-STARTPTS + gte(T,5)*(3/TB) + gte(T,12)*(3/TB) + gte(T,20)*(3/TB)'" -af "asetpts='PTS-STARTPTS + gte(T,5)*(3/TB) + gte(T,12)*(3/TB) + gte(T,20)*(3/TB)',aresample=async=1:first_pts=0" -vsync cfr out


ffmpeg flash frames last still image in concat sequence I want to concat several pictures into a video. Each picture must have its own duration. I use the most recent windows build for ffmpeg (20170204) and the guide from http://trac.ffmpeg.org/wiki/Slideshow/

Here is my text file:

file path/to/001.png
duration 5
file path/to/002.png
duration 6

I try using the following command:

ffmpeg.exe -f concat -safe 0 -i path/to/input.txt output.mp4

In the resulting video, the first pictures hangs for 5 seconds but the second picture only hangs for 0 seconds (I only see a glimpse of it). What am I doing wrong?

Based on the discussion at the bug tracker, this should be a workaround:

file path/to/001.png
duration 5
file path/to/002.png
duration 5.96
file path/to/002.png

and

ffmpeg.exe -f concat -safe 0 -i path/to/input.txt -vsync vfr output.mp4

The idea is to duplicate the entry of the last image. If you need the duration to be precise, then decrease the duration of the now 2nd-last entry by 1/fps seconds. For 25 fps video, that's 0.04s. If you don't do this, the output duration will be 0.04s longer.


How to create and add video overlays like this? I saw this overlay and want to reproduce it, but wonder how to do this:

It was slightly animated / synchronized with the video.

How do I reproduce this on my own videos?
Which software is ideally suited for this task?

I currently use Adobe Premiere.

Thank you!

The tool doesn't matter in this case.

For some kind of artistic or individual approach I'd suggest use a light table or graphics tablet. Draw the shapes 20-50 times by hand to get some nice variation and place all the drawings on top of each other like classic/traditional animation does in the old days.

Otherwise you can either use:

Any kind of pixel or vector based graphics package (Photoshop, Gimp, Affinity Designer etc.) together with Premiere or After Effects for additional tracking capabilities
A 2D Animation package which allows to draw directly on the plates
Or even Blender's grease pencil feature  along with its tracking capabilities


How to make this auto-filling text and logo animation? I found this great video on youtube:

and I just love this text animation at the beginning.
I mean that one which start like black and auto filling itself with white color and the animation also repeats with the logo and with other text but it changes the color to red.

I've tried using stroke effects, but I couldn't figure out how this can be achieved.

Any Ideas?

Just a proof of concept. Steps to reproduce:

on a new comp, create a shape object filled with black color;
animate some properties, in this case, I'm changing the Inner Radius;
duplicate this shape layer and move it a few frames ahead in the timeline (so it's out of sync with the layer below);
change its color to white and activate the Track Matte pointing to the first layer as Parent;

This is the result (showing all the frames at once):

And this is the base composition:


fix a few videos with bad white balance? I have a few video that i made with my olympus though and i made the mistake of not setting my white balance to sunny (or auto)

it was set to incandescent while being outdoor scenes.

now I got a few blueish videos

what is the best way to fix this?

can it be done with a free / opensource product?

I have used virtualdub with avisynth ColorYUV(autowhite=true)

it seem to have done an "ok" job


Creating a "finger using device" effect like in iPhone app ads I have been searching for quite a while on a tutorial of how to create the rotating phone ad with the finger coming in to interact with the app once in a while.

There is an example of this effect in this ad starting around 8 seconds in...

Can anyone please point me to a tutorial of how to achieve this effect or perhaps just explain how if they can't find one?

ok.
lets start:

we need a 3d model of a phone, lets say, an iphone (properly modeled, textured), then we need a shot of a moving finger which we will use later on. lets say we have everything.

after we have the idea, what we should do with the finger(adequately having this shots on green screen so we can remove the background) we animate the phone in a 3d package, after we are satisfied with the result, we render the phone sequence out from the package (properly lighten and rendered with alpha channel - ready for compositing)
Open after effects or any other compositing software, we put the a white background as solid, then we put the phone sequence on top of the background, the sequence goes, we put the finger where we want him to interact with the phone, since our phone has no animations on it, we can put them in 3d or we can add them in after effects, a little bit of tweaking and there you are, you got your 3d rotating phone with a finger and a hand interacting with it.

if we want to comp anything with the phone in aftereffects, we need the rotation and camera information from the 3d package, lets say cinema4d, we can export ae proj file out, with all the info wee need, and later use that data in after effects to have the perfect sync. Other way around is to have a properly UV for the phone, and put in animation sequence on the screen material, the render it out, then we have just to sync the figer with the animation.
hope this reveals some magic ;)