Histogram measurement in single spot I have a video that I shot for scientific purposes. I would like to measure the colour information in a single spot and export for example the RGB or CMYK values of that spot through every frame into a text file.

The video itself is a .MOV file which I colour-balanced with a white card. I just couldn't find any information on how to extract the information with any software. My university provides Adobe Photoshop in which I am able to open the video.

Does anyone know a software which enables me to extract that data? Or does someone know how I can do that with Photoshop?

The first thing I'd be looking at is Processing. There's a library that lets you read video, there's an example here that shows how to to sequentially grab frames from a video.

Then (instead of displaying the frame like it does in that example) you need to find the channel values for the spot which you could do by copying the frame to a PImage. Then the value of the pixel (x,y) is found in the PImage property pixels[x,y]. Finally use createWriter() to output the data to a file. You could even get fancy and use the mouse to control your sample point, and so on.


Long video ffmpeg transcode makes audio go out of sync I have recorded a 50 minute video, edited it in Hitfilm Express to censor/blur people, and exported it in Hitfilm's high resolution format, generating an 80GB file. When I try to transcode this file into something more manageable, ffmpeg makes the audio drift. In the beginning everything sounds fine, but slowly the audio goes faster than the video. The input file as reported by ffmpeg is:

Guessed Channel Layout for Input Stream #0.1 : stereo
Input #0, mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2, from '/Volumes/BakaTres/witness.mov':
  Metadata:
    major_brand     : qt
    minor_version   : 537199360
    compatible_brands: qt
  Duration: 00:50:31.42, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 230875 kb/s
    Stream #0:0(eng): Video: cfhd (CFHD / 0x44484643), yuv422p10le, 1920x1080, 229401 kb/s, 59.96 fps, 59.96 tbr, 90k tbn, 90k tbc (default)
    Metadata:
      encoder         : CineForm HD
    Stream #0:1(eng): Audio: pcm_s16le (lpcm / 0x6D63706C), 48000 Hz, stereo, s16, 1536 kb/s (default)

After running the following transcode command ffmpeg  -i witness.mov  -filter:v scale=640:-1 mini.mkv which reencodes everything, this is the stats of the output file:

Input #0, matroska,webm, from 'mini.mkv':
  Metadata:
    COMPATIBLE_BRANDS: qt
    MAJOR_BRAND     : qt
    MINOR_VERSION   : 537199360
    ENCODER         : Lavf57.56.100
  Duration: 00:50:30.42, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 785 kb/s
    Stream #0:0(eng): Video: h264 (High 4:2:2), yuv422p(progressive), 640x360, 59.96 fps, 59.96 tbr, 1k tbn, 119.92 tbc (default)
    Metadata:
      ENCODER         : Lavc57.64.101 libx264
      DURATION        : 00:50:30.422000000
    Stream #0:1(eng): Audio: vorbis, 48000 Hz, stereo, fltp (default)
    Metadata:
      ENCODER         : Lavc57.64.101 libvorbis
      DURATION        : 00:50:28.403000000

The first sign that something goes wrong is that the original file specifies a duration of 50:31.42, while the transcode generates a 50:30.42 file. I wouldn't mind the second less if it weren't because the produced audio is 50:28.4, two seconds less than the video, which explains the delay difference. Unfortunately ffmpeg doesn't show the input length, but if I copy the source audio to an aiff file, Audacity tells me it's indeed 50:28.4 long, so is Hitfilm exporting the audio incorrectly with a shorter length than video?

I've seen the following answer for a similar problem but I don't understand how the values are calculated or how to apply these values to my input files. What values should I look for in the information of input/output to compare?

Even if the final transcoded length is slightly different, how can I prevent the audio from going out of sync (or fix Hitfilm's exported difference in video vs audio)?

After trying a few random things, I managed to make the audio/video sync by changing the rate of the audio:

ffmpeg  -i witness.mov -af asetrate=48018 resampled.mkv

The resampled.mkv has correct sync, but unfortunately the audio is shorter than the remaining video for a few seconds. Which means the problem is really that the frame rate is slightly slower than it should in the input file. According to my calculations, the problem is that the frame rate is set to 59.96, and setting it to exactly 60.0 would make the video match the audio. I tried using:

ffmpeg  -i witness.mov -framerate 60 resampled.mkv

But the video frame rate did not change.


How to mirror a composition? I have a moving solid mask composition, which forms a white line that moves vertically from the middle to the left and back.

I now want to create a copy of that composition, mirror it and link the position. So that the mirrored comp will move from middle to right and back.

How could I achieve this? Setting the width = -100% did not work.

Pre comp your layer, then apply the Mirror effect to the comp.  If your comps are 1920x1080, set the mirror centre to 960x540, and the reflection angle to 0.

I think your scaling to -100% didn't work because it's a masked layer.  You might have more luck using a shape layer to create your line, then you should be able to scale it as you suggested.


Continually Rasterize + Write On effect causes layer to disappear I created a layer from Adobe Illustrator by importing an AI file into After Effects. Then I added the Write On effect and created a "grow" animation. I then clicked the "Continuously Rasterize" icon so that when I scale my image up, it doesn't become pixelated. However when I select that Icon, my layer becomes hidden from the preview window. What's going on? Why does AE hide my layer instead of making it crisp?

I am using After Effects & Adobe Illustrator CC 2017.

I think the write-on effect causes a layer to become pixels (bitmapped), not vectors (I'm sure there's a better way to phrase this).


Convert Analogue signal to digital I am not sure if this is the place to post this type of question. If it is not I will delete.

At present I have 4 analogue cameras 'talking' to my DVR.

I want to unplug 1 of these cameras from the DVR and connect it directly to my PC.
Is there a typical analogue to digital converter I can use?

The analogue cables endpoint is a balun.

If this is not the correct forum then I would be grateful to be told what is the correct forum?

Thanks

You need a video capture device or a capture card. It will encode the analog video and audio into digital codecs (like H264 for video and AAC for audio, or other codecs depending on your needs and price range).


In cartoons, what is created first - video or sounds? In some modern cartoons the animation of face, particularly mouth, is very realistic - most of vowels are mimicked correctly and on-time by mouth movements. (Particularly I'm talking about Family Guy episodes).

My main question - what is created first - animation or sound recording?

How the process of combining those two looks like? I think it is a complicated task to match sound and animation.

Is there a software that recognizes words that actor have said and automatically simulates mouth movements?

It depends on the exact studio's process, but generally either an animatic (basically a roughly animated storyboard) or the audio is done first.  In the case of Family Guy and American Dad specifically, it sounds like they work on the audio and the animatic first.  The advantage to doing an animatic first is it can help the voice actors visualize what will be happening, but that makes the process take a bit longer (which is particularly bad for TV).

Once the final audio is done, the final animation can be done to match the sound.  It's actually fairly easy just looking at the wave file of an audio track to pick out where the syllables are, though there is also software that can be used to automatically identify the proper moments for different types of mouth movements with pretty decent accuracy.  Once you know all the key frames (the particular points in time that need to have a given mouth shape) it's pretty easy to animate in between them to get the proper facial movement.

While I was researching American Dad's particular process for this question, I also stumbled across this video from the Wall Street Journal that I thought might be of interest relating to the question.


Why isn't ffmpeg used in movie production or broadcasting tool chains? Is the assumption in the title true?

What is preventing the use of ffmpeg when producing a movie or broadcast quality material?

Are there any prominent or well known users of ffmpeg?

What is used instead of ffmpeg? Quicktime pro? Final Cut Pro/Adobe Premiere/Avid media composer?

Edit:

One interesting indication of ffmpeg usage could be job offer listings from major media firms where they are looking for ffmpeg skills.

I work as an assistant editor on feature films, and use ffmpeg all the time, primarily for two purposes:

Transcoding files to be uploaded for producers to view on digital dailies systems (Dax, PIX, etc). I've written up shell scripts that accept property-of and recipient strings as command line input, along with target bitrate, and then generate the desired files with a watermark made from those inputs. It's convenient, faster than AME, and more stable than a Compressor cluster. When I figure out how to do SMPTE timecode and feet+frames burn-ins with ffmpeg, my use of the application will expand further.
Transcoding files for editorial whose original video or audio are in codecs or formats not supported by AME or Compressor. For example, clips needed for temp can be pulled from BDR or DVDR video discs, ingested into an mkv file, and then from there transcoded with ffmpeg to editorial-ready DnxHD or Prores.

I don't use ffmpeg for any sort of final or critical output, and I only use it in a few limited ways that I've extensively tested. But in answer to the original question - I do use ffmpeg a ton on both film and TV work, and think it's a great tool that helps me get through many of my regular tasks quickly and well. I couldn't guess how many other people in features or TV are using it. I frequently recommend ffmpeg to other AE's, but most folk have a command-line aversion.

ffmpeg's use in professional film and broadcast settings is probably also limited by the learning curve of not just the application's own syntax(es) but also the exposed complexity of video formats. Sometimes in ffmpeg a user has to know a ton about source and target codec in order to get things done. Use Compressor or AME to transcode from one codec to another and you'll never have to deal with perusing a long list of different YUV pixel formats, or having to make sure that your target file's height is divisible by 2 to avoid an x264 error. Those of us who enjoy learning arcana and carving our way to solutions are probably silently using ffmpeg at work.


final cut pro x - 1440 x 1080 prevent video stretched to fill in timeline I have created a FCPx project that is by default 1920 x 1080 however i have some video sources that are 1440 x 1080 the problem becomes when i import the video into the timeline and it stretches the 1440 to 1920 distorting it.

it's similar to this example

             but even in this video it doesn't seem to fix the issue of the video being stretched.

how do i prevent such a thing in FCPx it does seem to not stretch it if the video isn't 1080..

thanks.

I did a test for you and Larry is right ... Normally if the footage or file was anything other than 1440x1080, all you would need to do it set your Spatial Conform to none. However, in this instance FCPX is forcing a size based on the magic 1440 number. To correct this, select your clip and click the drill down triangle under scale in transform. Change just the X: scale to 75% because 1440 is 75% of 1920. That should do it!


Why when I overlay a logo on top of the video, the white color part of the logo is transparent? I overlay using the following command:

ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -i logo.png -filter_complex "[1]geq=r='r(X,Y)':a=0.1[a];[0][a] overlay=x='if(gte(t,2), -w+(t-2)*20, NAN)':y=0" out.mp4

I tried adjusting the opacity using

fmpeg -i video.mp4 -i logo.png -filter_complex "[1]format=rgba,geq=r='r(X,Y)':a='1*alpha(X,Y)'[a];[0][a] overlay=x='if(gte(t,2), -w+(t-2)*20, NAN)':y=0" out.mp4

but it is still transparent at the white color part.

It seems like the white color part has a transparency of 0, causing the second command to not work.

Is there any reason why this is happening? The logo I tried is

How can I preserve the white color?

There is no white color. That's the background color of the page showing through. Your input PNG is palettized 8-bit image where black color indicates transparency.

Apply the following filter to the image to convert black pixels to white and set a uniform transparency.

geq=r='if(p(X,Y),p(X,Y),255)':g='if(p(X,Y),p(X,Y),255)':b='if(p(X,Y),p(X,Y),255)':a=0.1


Favoriting/Subclipping with Long Clips in Timeline in FCPX I'm editing a project where I have 5 very long clips.  I'm going through, favorite-ing the good portions ("subclipping" per se) and then organizing my clips from those subclips.

A problem I'm running into however, is that I would like to have finer control over my in and out points, so I would like to open my long clips in the timeline, so I can use the scrubber over a larger area.  But when the clip is "opened in timeline" I can't favorite portions of it.

Is there any workaround to this?  Or a different solution to my problem?

Your event browser needs to be in filmstrip view for this to work. Press [⌥⌘1]  Then you can Zoom in [⌘+] or out [⌘-] to whatever granularity you like.


How can I adjust brightness when shooting high FPS video? I've FujiFilm Finepix S8500. It is capable of shooting high FPS videos. It works fine in broad daylight but when indoors, the video is always dark. What settings I can adjust to make the video brighter? I tried to adjust ISO and aperture but that does nothing. I also notice that the videos are darker if FPS is higher. I understand why this happens but is there anything to get a brighter video?

Two ways

1) Larger aperture (the lower the number the larger the aperture) letting in more light, but also narrowing your depth of field).

2)
I would suggest a higher ISO, don't understand why that does not work for you. The current crop of camera's now are absolutely amazing at capturing low light environments that you cannot see with the naked eye.

One of the best cameras for this is the Sony a7s, just released (s for sensitivity).

It needs to be seen to be believed.

Sony a7s high ISO video link


How they did it? (3D-like screenshots with animation) Here sample:

             (from 20th second)

It clearly 3D render, as here we can see DoF effect with small defocus.

Also, it clearly not 2D transformations of screenshot, as some elements must be pixelized in closeups. But fonts always clear, even when it becomes large.

I think, they re-created every screenshot as complete scene in some editor like 3dsmax, but it must be very time-consuming to re-create every single element, redraw everything as 3D-model, add every text label and so on. But "window" looks totally flat, they can easily improve quality if they can spend so many time on it.

May be here some dedicated software/plugins for such effects? Maybe some tools to convert 2D screenshots to complicated scene?

This looks like 2.5D to me, probably in After Effects. You create high res art, perhaps by capturing web pages from a 4K display, then animate each screen. Its only a small amount of mousing. Then use the After Effects 3D camera to spin objects and place them in a depth field. turn on Motion Blur and add shallow DOF with a defocus effect driven by depth.


Software to manage digital assets Over the years I have accumulated enough digital assets (mainly videos and photos) for it to become a massive problem in terms of organizing it all and then being able to find it.
I am wondering what people are using out there, regardless of the platform (even though I am deeply invested on Linux)
Here are the requirements I consider essential:

Being able to identify duplicates and save storage
Ability to apply multiple tags and comments to make searching easier
Ability to "publish" or otherwise make visible through a controlled web server only a subset of these assets
Easy way to export or otherwise create backup copies
Intuitive GUI front end

I have been searching around without any luck so I am keen to hear from other in this forum.

Adobe provide two useful sidekick tools to manage video filles.
Adobe Bridge is a digital asset management app fully efficient with photo and video.
Adobe Media Encoder is a is professional video converter with watch folder options, and ProRes support for Windows and Mac.
These software are not available on Linux, but their metadata and files are useful on every modern system.


Realtime time overlay with ffmpeg I'm using the following ffmpeg command to create an H.264 encoded MPEG transport stream from a single png file with a text overlay.

ffmpeg -re -loop 1 -i smpte-color-bars-1080p.png -vf drawtext="fontfile=monofonto.ttf: fontsize=96: box=1: boxcolor=black@0.75: boxborderw=5: fontcolor=white: x=(w-text_w)/2: y=(h-text_h)/2: text='MY OVERLAY'" -r 25 -vcodec libx264 -f mpegts udp://0.0.0.0:1234

This seems to be working well, but as it is static you cannot easily tell if the encode has stopped. I'd therefore also like to add a timecode overlay so that the image has some changing content.

It is important that the stream is generated from a single static frame as I want the stream to be absolutely continuous and not a looped pre-encoded TS file.

Is there any way to add this dynamic overlay using ffmpeg? (I'm currently thinking piping one stream into another but that seems a bit hacky)

I'm trying to do this on a linux (Ubuntu) platform.

Wow... ffmpeg never ceases to amaze.. it's built in!

ffmpeg -re -loop 1 -i smpte-color-bars-1080p.png -vf drawtext="fontfile=monofonto.ttf: fontsize=96: box=1: boxcolor=black@0.75: boxborderw=5: fontcolor=white: x=(w-text_w)/2: y=((h-text_h)/2)+((h-text_h)/4): text='%{gmtime\:%H\\\\\:%M\\\\\:%S}'" -r 25 -vcodec libx264 -f mpegts udp://127.0.0.1:1234

The important bit for the timecode being: text='%{gmtime\:%H\\\\\:%M\\\\\:%S}'

There is some crazy escaping in there to get the colons to display(in bash), but that is UTC/GMT time of day timecode burnt in... just need to figure out the syntax for multiple drawtext functions now and I'm all set...


How to fully optimize RAM Disks in Adobe Premiere CC 2017 I have an older server workstation with 12 cores (2x AMD Opteron hex-core 2.6GHz), 32 GB RAM, and a Sapphire HD6950 video card with 6x 2TB hard drives on SATA/SAS (motherboard has room for 12 drives). Despite not being a modern set-up, this computer has been fine with my previous projects of 4 camera angles at 1080/4K for live concerts 2+ hours long. As long as I don't edit with full effects on, I have never had to resort to proxies or any other tweaks.

My current project is using 8 cameras at 1080 (with one at 4K) for a 2.5 hour concert. I have had to create proxies (480, H.264) and yet editing is still unbearably slow. First I split the proxies up between 4 drives (2 per drive), but that actually seemed to make editing almost impossible. Then I consolidated all the proxies on to one drive, and I was able to edit, but had ridiculously long wait periods as the media cached. Load time can be five or more minutes when moving across the timeline, though I can actually multi-cam in real-time with this set up. I noticed Premiere never got above 11GB of RAM usage, so I thought I could move my 16GB of proxy files on to a RAM Disk, and leave 16 GB of system RAM for Premiere. This has had mixed results.

On the one hand, editing section by section is fluid and real time with zero effects on right now. On the other hand, once I get through about five minutes of timeline, the video goes blank or shows the "Media Processing" screen and I have a wait time of several minutes before the next "cache" is loaded, or whatever it is doing to process the film. My question is, is there a way to convince Premiere that my proxy files are already in RAM, or is there another way to load the hard drive versions of the proxies in to RAM so that Premiere accesses them instantly and fluidly? I don't know the process going on behind the scenes, but it seems exponentially counter-intuitive that I can handle 4 files at full resolution natively but can not handle 8 considerably reduced file versions located completely in memory.

(To clarify, this lag occurs both when viewing the multi-cam editor with 8 cameras playing back simultaneously, and with multi-cam editor turned off, showing only the single selected camera in the editor.)

I would think that the codec of your proxies could be the issue.
H264 is very cpu intensive and this could be your bottle neck.
Switching to QT ProRes Proxy would be my first try.

A couple of links to help you out.
https://forums.adobe.com/thread/2287035
https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/3/994398


How to create Apple Keynote style Picture in Picture video I want to take two video sources:

A screencast of a PowerPoint presentation
A camcorder AVCHD recording of the presenter and the conference room

..and create a video in the style of Apple's Keynote videos. See here for exactly what I'm looking for:

http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2012/06/12/apple-wwdc-video.jpg

The video feed of the PowerPoint itself would take up the majority of the screen and the video recording of the room/speaker would take up another, smaller, separate area of the screen.

I'd appreciate any advice on:

What software can create this dual video effect?
What method/software would you recommend for creating the screencast?

Thanks for your time.

Any fairly basic video editing package should be able to closely emulate the look.  You just have to be able to distort the video to make it fit the shape that looks like it is 3d and then size and position the speaker's video appropriately.  I'd personally probably do it in After Effects with a 3d layer for simplicity, but most far cheaper consumer video editing packages should be able to do basic deformations to get the same look.


What does it mean to "check a waveform monitor to make sure that my highlights weren't clipping too much"? In this article Roger Deakins talks about how he would "check a waveform monitor to make sure that my highlights weren't clipping too much". What does he mean by this?

A waveform monitor is used for video rather than still images. A modern WM has has many functions, but the one he is referring to is the equivalent of the ability to detect peak signal levels using a still image histogram. Wikipedia - Waveform Monitor

In a single still image you either have never exceeded maximum level (no pixels at max value) or you have in a variable number of cases. While the usual aim is to have no pixels which are "clipping" you can have a small number do so across the while image with limited loss of quality. Too many in one area and you get obvious flat spots.

In a video signal typically 24 frames a second are viewed and the occasional frame with a small percentage of "maxed out" pixels may be aesthetically acceptable (depending on how purist you are). Hence he says "weren't clipping too much" raher than "weren't clipping". ie he wanted to ensure that the signal had not pushed further into highlight clipping than was deemed acceptable.

FWIW- gross highlight clipping is sometimes acceptable or even designed in as part of the intended image in still and in video photography. A favourite example of mine in "video" is in "The Lord of the Rings" scene in Meduseld, "Hall of the kings of Rohan" in the village of Edoras. The hall is very rak and light strems in from a large open doorway. The camera points, as it never normally would, into the light and exposure is for the characters with the light behind them. As the characters cross to and fro the area behind them washes out completely and to a variable extent as the light streams across the floor. The cameraman knew exactly what he was doing - but a waveform monitor would have done him no good at all - by all normal standards the image was junk.


How to extract MOOV atom/metadata from MP4 file? Can one "dump"/extract the MOOV atom from an MP4 file? If so, how? Hoping for an obscure FFMPEG command.

I need to be able to process/play a stream without searching for the MOOV atom over and over again. For very long streams, this can run into several megabytes of data. It's rather strange, I don't think the MOOV atom is huge, I just think that it is scattered thruout the first N megabytes (i.e. toplevel data at the begnning, with references to further atoms that are later in the stream).

Thus, it would make sense for me to extract the MOOV atom out of the file, keep it

Maybe I'm a bit late, but I'd use bento4 mp4dump, it's really easy to install on mac with brew brew install bento4

mp4dump 1.mp4

[ftyp] size=8+16
  major_brand = iso5
  minor_version = 200
  compatible_brand = iso6
  compatible_brand = mp41
[moov] size=8+740
  [mvhd] size=12+96
    timescale = 1000
    duration = 0
    duration(ms) = 0
....


Surroundings moves faster than the subject? How to edit/shoot a scene where the person(subject) in center moves normally while the surroundings(background) moves faster?

Example:

I'm walking in the street but the cars and other people that passes me are faster than me.

P.S. I can't find it in youtube or other blogs because I don't know the term of this kind of technique yet.

BTW, I am a newbie.

If you are talking about I.e. the effect used in this video by orbital: https://youtu.be/ymu_ogcXigg...  this is done by letting run the camera in time lapse mode and moving very slowly, making the surrounding appear very fast.


When and why to use Speedgrade? I read both of these questions which came up in my search for Speedgrade:

Tips to make professional looking hand-held videos using smart phones?
Adobe CC Post-Production Workflow (Story, Prelude etc.)

But I'm not seeing any broader question about Speedgrade. For making promotional / instructional videos that will be uploaded to YouTube is it necessary to use Speedgrade and what exactly does it do? Should I only use it everything is live action? Some of the videos I work on have a mix of live action footage I take with a Canon 70D as well as Flash Animation.

You ask what it does: Speedgrade is a color grading / correcting tool. Davinci Resolve is another, and there are others still. They allow you to adjust the characteristics of a video on a shot-by-shot basis.

It's never necessary to use any color grading tool, but you'd do so when you want to match scenes from different sources or shot under different conditions, or to give your video (or one portion) an overall look. The usual use is for consistency.


Why does AAC have two Sampling rates? I am working on a project that reads the meta data of video files with MediaInfo and processes the results. While testing my code with some sample files I noticed that the audio track of a .mkv file has two different samling rates. The file has two different audio tracks (English and Japanese) but they are listed separately and both tracks show two different sampling rates. Here is the according output of MediaInfo for clarification:

Audio #1
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : AAC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile                           : HE-AAC / LC
Codec ID                                 : A_AAC
Duration                                 : 22mn 46s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel positions                        : Front: L R
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 KHz / 24.0 KHz <-- here
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Delay relative to video                  : 31ms
Language                                 : English
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No

Audio #2
ID                                       : 3
Format                                   : AAC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile                           : HE-AAC / LC
Codec ID                                 : A_AAC
Duration                                 : 22mn 46s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel positions                        : Front: L R
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 KHz / 24.0 KHz <-- and here
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Delay relative to video                  : 31ms
Language                                 : Japanese
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No

Can anyone explain what this means? I always thought one audio track can only have one sampling rate. Is this just a different way of describing one sampling rate? Or is it really possible to use two different sampling rates for one audio track?
At the moment, the the software just expects single values for the meta data, so storing two different values for the sampling rate would make things more complicated. Would it be possible to either convert these two values to one value or just choose one of them?

Thanks for your help!

tracks show two different sampling rates. (...) Can anyone explain what this means? I always thought one audio track can only have one sampling rate. Is this just a different way of describing one sampling rate?

MediaInfo reports what is played by a decoder, depending of its capabilities:
- if your decoder is able to play an HE-AAC stream, the stream will be played at 48 kHz (the frequecy of the "core" + the SBR data).
- if your decoder is not able to play an HE-AAC stream, the stream will be played at 24 kHz (the frequency of the "core" AAC)

  I always thought one audio track can only have one sampling rate.

No. You can have a "core" stream with a specific sampling rate, decodable by old players, and an additionnal sub-stream in the stream with additionnal data for having 48 kHz for decoders capable of decoding such additional sub-stream.

Note that it is same for e.g. channels, with HE-AACv2 you'll get a mono "core" + PS for upgrading to stereo. or AC-3 (and DTS) can have a 5.1 "core" lossy stream for old decoders + extra data for newest decoder in order to get 7.1 and/or lossless.

  At the moment, the the software just expects single values for the meta data, so storing two different values for the sampling rate would make things more complicated.

If you are interested only in the "maximum" capability, don't care of the second value.
If you use the command line or DLL, you can say to MediaInfo to not show info about legacy players with --LegacyStreamDisplay=0 option.

Note : this is not "24-bit" as I read in another comment, bit depth in AAC is "dynamic" so no bit depth is shown for AAC (it would be shown for e.g. PCM). This output with several values is wanted by design (showing how an old decoder would decode the stream), and you can disable such behavior with the option provided.


Premiere Pro - How to make a slideshow/compilation I have a bunch of videos and pictures. I want to make a compilation with them. I just don't want it to be worse than movie maker. I am looking for these moving effects that you can play while the video is changing ( http://prntscr.com/29coci ) I already have experience in After Effects and Photoshop CC

Premiere Pro has a number of default transitions under the "video transitions" tab in the effects pane (usually located in the bottom left of the window). Are those what you are looking for? If you have experience with After Effects, you could also use AE's more robust effects library to animate interesting effects for your videos.

Based on your included image, it looks like you might be interested in wipe transitions.


How can I fix time-lapse image sequence exposure in Premiere? I have created some time lapse animations using my Canon EOS camera.

When I imported these sequences to premiere I noted small changes in luminosity between some frames.

Is there any way to correct these changes inside premiere? Maybe something similar to camera stabilization but for luminosity?

There is no easy way I'm aware of. It's really important when shooting a timelapse to use fixed manual exposure so that you get consistent exposure from shot to shot.  It's a non-trivial task to get color to match from one image to the next if exposure doesn't match because you have to worry about not only the black point (darkest point) and white point (brightest point) but also the gamma or rate of change of colors in between.

Additionally the actual light level may have changed while shooting and you don't want to cancel this out.  Also, depending on how you had the camera set, it is also possible the white balance may have been changed which would further complicate things.

If it is really, really far off, you could try doing a batch auto-level or auto-curves operation on all of the images in Photoshop and see if that gets a usable look or not, but if the exposure was calculated differently by the camera, then most likely the result from the auto-level and auto-curves will also differ.


Unwanted letterboxing using Wirecast When I create a 1280 x 720 pixel image in Photoshop CS5.1 for use as a title slide in Wirecast, the resulting image is letterboxed.   I have a similar problem with 720p video feeds from a Black Magic Ultrastudio 3D.

Can anyone tell me how to find the set-up parameters to fix this.  I'm suspecting it's a pixel aspect ratio problem.

Most likely, it is the 'canvas size' setting under the top level Broadcast menu. If you are broadcasting at anything less than 1280x720, then try to keep the aspect ratio the same for the lower resolution, i.e. something like 640x360


iOS - App To Change Aspect Ratio of a Video I'm a new iOS user, and previously on my Android device, from time to time I needed to change the aspect ratio of a video to 1:1 (to fit with Instagram).

So at that time, I was using this app that let's you directly type ffmpeg commands as if you were using a computer, so I it was simple to do it by using :

-vf "scale=720:720,setsar=1:1"

But unfortunately I didn't find any alternative on iOS.

So, does anyone know an app that will let me change the aspect ratio of a video?

Videon

It's a great app for the iPhone.

Not only does it have some great camera features; like stabilization, and manual exposure/WB, but you can also use it's post feature on any clip in your Photos folder.

You can crop, change aspect ratio, framerate, adjust rotation, pretty much anything... along with a ton of filters; color correcting tools and so on.

Very easy to use. And real time playback of your file as you correct it.

When finished, you can output your file by exporting it to a variety of bitrates and sizes.

A must have!


Compressing my collection of anime I have a lot of anime videos which are all encoded, I think, with H.264.

My question is rather simple: How can I make my 1tb collection smaller?

I know about FFMPEG. However, I do not know how to use it most efficiently. I am looking to reduce the size of the files while not causing losses in quality.

I have an i7-2700k at 4.4ghz and a GTX 770. Can I leverage my GPU's power to make this process faster and more efficient? What would be the most efficient way of doing this and what would it look like in command line form?

Re-encoding will introduce generation loss and encoder specific artefacts. Of course you are not going to encode a file 100 times and you are trying to preserve as much quality as possible, but with such vage ctriteria as encoding 1 TB of unkown quality, noise, bitrate, picture size, framerate and so forth there is much that can go wrong. Best advice: don't re-encode at all, particularly if you are not encoding from sources e.g. disks but web formats or already re-encoded content. Save the money spent on energy to buy more hard drives and learn to manage them (hint: ZFS). If you cant wait for encoder improvements and the next generation of super high efficient video encoders, then H.265 one of the better solutions currently available, but you'd have to take a close look at each file and how it was encoded, if you find that a video was already encoded on an i7 equal or better than yours with H.264 and that already took a day or more than you know you are going to spen 2 to 4 times as much. And you'd still have a bit of generation loss even if you got everything right. Also don't expect that software always returns perfect results, you should check every re-encoded file to be sure. And you shouldn't overclock your hardware or swap version numbers of software components used.

Buy a bigger drive if you don't want to go down this route, you save valuable lifetime and electricity.


Using smartphone sensors to stabilise DSLR video in post So I had an idea. Almost everyone has smartphone equipped with gyroscope and accelerometer. It wouldn't seem too far fetched to me to strap this smartphone to DSLR and have some app record data from these sensors while shooting video. Then you would load both the video from DSLR and data from your smartphone into computer and use the sensor data to stabilise your footage. Of course you would have to time-sync your data and video and you would probably get just 720 stabilised video out of 1080 original footage because of cropping, but you would get stable video for good coin (if you already have both smartphone and dslr) and in very portable package (unlike 3axis brushless gimbals and seadicams).

Now I am pretty sure I am not first person to think of that. Is there any solution like this? or do you see some obstacle I've missed?

SteadXp works like you describe, although it is still a product in development.  Also, it uses its own accelerometers, rather than using your cell phone's.  Presumably, this is simpler than relying on the myriad protocols of various cell phone manufacturers.


setup for recording full field sports unattended? I'm looking for setup that I can use to record field sports (like soccer) unattended, for coaching/review purposes.

Currently I'm using a Chinese GoPro knockoff mounted to a tall fence, however the 170degree lens is not wide enough to capture the whole field because the fence is too close to the field.

I'm considering a 360 camera like the Insta360 One X, but it seems like an inefficient use of money if I only need a single ~200 degrees lens. I'm also not going to need many of the `action cam features' like image stabilization.

Anyone have any setup or specific camera suggestions? I'd like to stay under $500.
I also considered using two Chinese GoPro knockoffs but from looking at other questions on this site it seemed like too much work to stitch them together in post.

While not officially supported, it is not difficult to replace the lens in a GoPro knock-off. The lenses in these action cameras are using a M12 mount and can be replaced. So: you could try to replace the lens as a first step. Depending on what you are looking for in the video, details may become too small and two cameras would be a better option.

How To Replace GoPro Lens - DIY

I have done this myself with two cameras but replaced the lens with a lens that has a narrower focus. The lens costs less than 20 USD/EUR/GBP.

72 Degree 4.35mm 1/2.3 Inch Sensor 10MP M12 Lens


When nesting clip, how to make new sequence same resolution as clip instead of original sequence? The scenario is this: I have a standard HD resolution sequence, which I drop a 4k clip into. Later I decide I want to use Warp Stabilizer on that clip in the sequence, but I get an error message saying I need to nest the 4k clip in order to use stabilizer.  The easiest thing to do then is right click the clip and choose Nest...

The problem is that the newly created nest sequence uses the resolution of the original sequence, instead of matching itself to the 4k clip resolution. This means the Warp Stabilizer still won't work.

I can get a nested 4k sequence manually with a lot of steps, but is there a better way to achieve what I want?

You can automatically create a sequence from a clip by right-clicking on it in the project panel and selecting "New Sequence From Clip". This will create a sequence matching the resolution and framerate of the clip and put the clip in it. You can drop the newly created sequence in your original sequence like any other asset in the project panel.


Extract audio from a multichannel video file I have a QT ProRes which has 8 audio tracks. L/R/C/Lfe/Ls/Rs/Ltotal/Rtotal
What I need to do is extract the 5.1 (tracks 1-6) into separate individual wav files without recompression
and the last 2 (tracks 7-8) into a stereo wav.
I made a small batch file to help me. Here it is:
CLS
:START
echo[
set /p source=enter source file name:
start ffmpeg -i %source% -map 0:a:0 -c copy %source%_51.L.wav -map 0:a:1 -c copy %source%_51.R.wav -map 0:a:2 -c copy %source%_51.C.wav -map 0:a:3 -c copy %source%_51.LFE.wav -map 0:a:4 -c copy %source%_51.Ls.wav -map 0:a:5 -c copy %source%_51.Rs.wav
start ffmpeg.exe -i %source% -filter_complex "[0:7][0:8] amerge=inputs=2" -c:a pcm_s24le %source%.20.wav
pause

The problem is that the extraction is not correct. The 5.1 channels it produces are the same.
Do you have any ideas where I am wrong?
Thanks!

Got it.
start ffmpeg.exe -i %source% -map 0:1 -c:a:0 copy -disposition:a:0 default -vn -y %source%.51.L.wav -map 0:2 -c:a:1 copy -disposition:a:1 0 -vn -y %source%.51.R.wav -map 0:3 -c:a:2 copy -disposition:a:2 0 -vn -y %source%.51.C.wav -map 0:4 -c:a:3 copy -disposition:a:3 0 -vn -y %source%.51.LFE.wav -map 0:5 -c:a:4 copy -disposition:a:4 0 -vn -y %source%.51.Ls.wav -map 0:6 -c:a:5 copy -disposition:a:5 0 -vn -y %source%.51.Rs.wav
start ffmpeg.exe -i %source% -filter_complex "[0:7][0:8] amerge=inputs=2" -c:a pcm_s24le %source%.20.wav


Removing an undesired object from a clip in Final Cut I have a screen-cast clip. On a white background, I have an icon which I'd like to cover with a shape or something. In fact, I've tried using a vector shape and it partially does its job. The problem I'm having is that the clip starts with a fade in/out transition and I'd like to "hide" the icon also during those frames. Adding the same transition to the vector shape didn't help, so maybe I'm just using the wrong approach.

How could I hide that icon so that it looks natural also during the transition frames?

You could use a "garbage mask" to cut out the desired object on the main frame. Doing that, it will be in place during the transition.

If that does not work for you, then just duplicate the transition for the vector object.


Can't export .mov with premiere pro cs5.5? I'm trying to export a mpeg format sequence to .mov (I need it to be quicktime for a ceratin reason). When I choose the format, e.g. quicktime animation or quicktime H.264, It opens an 'encoding' window, and stays on 0% forever.

Exporting other formats works great. What could be the problem?

I'd be happy to include more information as soon as I know which info is relevant.

Sounds like your Quicktime install has been messed up, possibly by iTunes or something else installing Quicktime.  Try reinstalling Quicktime Player or the whole of Premiere if you can face it...


Can you see vimeo upload progress in Premiere CC? I'm trying to use Adobe Premiere CC's built-in Vimeo uploader.
I saw a progress bar as the h264 file was being encoded... I can't see any way of telling how long the upload is going to take... Am I missing something?

No. There's no such thing. Vimeo will show you a gauge as soon as it starts processing your video.


How to create and film ghost special effects I need to film a piece that is supernatural in nature and has several characters that are ghosts. I've thought of numerous ways of accomplishing this but would like some suggestions on which would be the easiest and produce the best results.

Fortunately I am going to be shooting at a location and I would like to have several camera angles as well as a moving camera for some scenes. The problem is I have several characters that are ghosts. I've thought about planning every character's position carefully and then doing a lot of room shots, angles, and movements, and then putting up green screens and filming each character in the same position where they would be in the video so that I may make them transparent and give them a ghostly effect. That seems like it's very complicated though and it also seems like the editing will be a pain.

Is there any easier or more effective way to give several characters a ghost effect without having to resort to green screening them? I have thought about make-up. Also, if green screening is the way to go, would it be wisest to take the green screen on location and put it over the backgrounds and run the camera through the same courses as I did when shooting the background?

There are so many interesting ways to do this.

One of the easiest ways (in-camera, no post production work) is to use a piece of glass. Film Riot did a tutorial on it, they explain it best, see below:

Or you could go with a bit of post production work, after effects being my go to tool that I use. Add a background video layer (without ghost), then add your ghostly image, same shot, but this time your ghostly image is brightly lit and everything else is dark. Then change the mode of the ghostly layer to 'add' (or other to create different effects) to create the ghostly effect. See tutorial below:

Hope that helps your ghostly scenes.


How to animate the outlines of text (After Effects) Is there a method in After Effects of animating the outlines of text as seen in the example below?

Simplest way is to use the Stroke Effect on a solid layer with separate letters as masks.

Create a new solid
Write your text in Illustrator
Convert it to a path
Seperate all letters  with the path finder or ungroup it
Setup same document size as in After Effects
Import your paths into after effects, pasting should also work with CTRL+V. Requirement is to have all of your paths from Illustrator as seperate masks on the solid in After Effects.
Note: you can create seperate paths from an image of letters within After Effects with the auto trace option (Layer > Auto Trace) - use black and white option and set it to the current frame (Note: Tracing letters isn't really accurate)
Apply the stroke effect to the solid layer which should be full of masks now
Tick All Masks option to make use of all masks
Set the paint style to transparent
Go to your first frame and set the End value of the effect to 0%
Click the stop watch of it to enable animation
Go to your last frame and set the End value to 100%

You can play with the settings of the effect, but in general this should do what you want to achieve.

Note: The order of masks determines the order of the animation. To reverse the effect simply duplicate the first keyframe and move it behind the second one.


Is there a "Take Selector" in Premiere Pro? Does Premiere have an equivalent to DaVinci Resolve's "Take Selector, or FCPX's "Auditions?"  If so, what's it called?  If not, are there any workarounds to quickly audition alternate takes on a PP timeline and have all of the other clips ripple responsively?

There might be a smarter method, but here's what I did:

When structuring your project, I recommend you use the bins in Premiere frequently. For example, as a structure, you could have:

Footage

psd
cam1

A001
A002
A003
A004

A1
A2
A2b
A3
B2

T1

ffsa7b2t1.mov

T2

ffsa7b2t2.mov

T3

ffsa7b2t3.mov

T4

ffsa7b2t4.mov

B3
A005

cam2
gopro

Solids
sequences

Using this structure of something similar might assure that you exchange or look at different takes without any hassle.


Video trim in hour:minute:second:millisecond format I'm trying to trim a video in hour:minute:second:millisecond
format. But I use this command
$ ffmpeg -ss 01.02.26.060 -i R.mp4 -to 01.02.28.785 -map 0 -c copy -avoid_negative_ts 1 out.mp4

and i got this message
ffmpeg version 4.3.1 Copyright (c) 2000-2020 the FFmpeg developers
  built with Android (6454773 based on r365631c2) clang version 9.0.8 (https://android.googlesource.com/toolchain/llvm-project 98c855489587874b2a325e7a516b99d838599c6f) (based on LLVM 9.0.8svn)
  configuration: --arch=armeabi-v7a --as=arm-linux-androideabi-clang --cc=arm-linux-androideabi-clang --cxx=arm-linux-androideabi-clang++ --cross-prefix=arm-linux-androideabi- --disable-indevs --disable-outdevs --enable-indev=lavfi --disable-static --disable-symver --enable-cross-compile --enable-gnutls --enable-gpl --enable-libass --enable-libdav1d --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libfreetype --enable-libvorbis --enable-libopus --enable-libx264 --enable-libx265 --enable-libxvid --enable-libvpx --enable-shared --enable-libsoxr --enable-libvidstab --enable-libwebp --prefix=/data/data/com.termux/files/usr --target-os=android --extra-libs=-landroid-glob --enable-neon
  libavutil      56. 51.100 / 56. 51.100
  libavcodec     58. 91.100 / 58. 91.100
  libavformat    58. 45.100 / 58. 45.100
  libavdevice    58. 10.100 / 58. 10.100
  libavfilter     7. 85.100 /  7. 85.100
  libswscale      5.  7.100 /  5.  7.100
  libswresample   3.  7.100 /  3.  7.100
  libpostproc    55.  7.100 / 55.  7.100
Invalid duration specification for ss: 01.02.26.060

What changes do I need to trim video in Hour:Minute:second:millisecond
format?

For time marks try: "01:02:26.060", "01:02:28.785"
(hour:minute:second.millisecond)


How can I correct shadow/highlight with free software? I have this short video and I'm trying to decrease the highlights on it since there are some overexposed areas in it.

I know some Adobe products have this shadow/highlight feature (I know it from snapseed and other image processing software) but I'm on Linux and I don't have access to software like Adobe Premiere.

Is there any open source software that I can use to apply this filter? (Preferably that's available on Linux.) So far I have tried OpenShot and DaVinci resolve, but I couldn't find that feature in any of them.

Thank you!

PS: If you have some programming-based answers (like using Python), that's also welcome.

If you have Davinci resolve, use it. If you do have it, get it and use it :o)

There are several ways to handle light and shadows, you just need to understand that lights are normally the light zones and shadows, the dark... Pretty obvious.

On Resolve, you can use the color panel.

Boost or lower the highlights on the gain wheel.
Or use the curves and
Move the curve.
And see the results here.

There are more advanced ways to do it, like selecting color ranges, and you can find tutorials on the internet. But the tools are there.

Keep in mind that on the overexposed areas, if the range is clipped, no program will recover information where there is none to recover.


Film ideas at 1 million fps? So I have access to a camera that can capture up to 5 million frames per second, that actually has decent resolution (924 x 768 pixels). One drawback is it will only capture 180 frames (less than 0.2 milli-seconds at 1 million frames per second). People use these camera for capturing cracks or bullets, for example. My question is, if you could use this camera for anything you liked, what would you film?

Liquids are always an interesting subject matter. Maybe sparkling water.


Editing 4k footage in 1080p project and rendering in 4k? I edited my 4k footage in a 1080p Premiere Pro project.

Now If I render the project in 4k, will the 4k clips keep their Quality or will they downscale to 1080?

There is two option at sequence setting. Video and video previews. If the video set 4k, and the video previews set 1080, i shoud not be downscale at rendering.


Output from a TV to a 2nd monitor I do AV work at our church. We have a stage TV monitor that sits outside of and above the sound booth where it can be seen from the stage, but not from the booth.

I'd like to output from the TV to a small LCD monitor inside the sound booth so I can monitor exactly what they're seeing from the stage. I do not want to output from the video switcher to a 2nd monitor inside the booth, I want the output from that screen going to a daisy-chained monitor that I can see.

There are 2 reasons for wanting to do it this way:

The IR repeater that we're using for this monitor isn't quite as reliable as I'd like it to be. With a secondary monitor daisy-chained from it, I can turn on the "inside" monitor and, when I see an image on it, I'll know the "outside" monitor is on.
Should I ever happen to hit the wrong button on the video switcher (like I did this morning), a quick glance at this "inside" monitor will help me resolve why there are panicked looks on the faces of the musicians on stage.

I've got a old, small LCD monitor that I don't use for anything. It's only got a VGA input, but I don't mind picking up a component-to- or HDMI-to-VGA converter to use it, but I need to be able to grab the signal from that stage monitor so I know what's going on.

I realize that I could put an HDMI splitter on the cable leading to the TV to resolve issue #2, but that won't tell me if the TV is on/off which I need to resolve issue #1.

Do TVs generally have a video out that could be used for this? Since this was purchased on a church budget, it's probably not a super high-end TV. I haven't had a chance to get up on a ladder and look for a model number, and I forgot to check what brand it is. If it doesn't have a video out, what other options might I have to handle this?

I have not ever heard of a TV that has this feature (I have encountered a few).  Some high-end monitors have this, it's called Display Port daisy-chaining.  As the name implies, it uses DisplayPort and not HDMI.  It's quite a hack; but, I think that your cheapest option would be to put a camera outside the booth looking back at the screen.  Amazon has some very good deals on decent performing cameras, look at Dericam.


Why don't phones correct vertical filming? Many people get really mad at filmers suffering from the Vertical Video Syndrome and I find it hard to disagree. Phone-shot videos filmed vertically are really annoying to watch.

But there's one thing I really don't get; why doesn't the phone correct that? The lens itself is always perfectly round and obviously doesn't really have an up- or downside. As far as I can imagine, shooting every video as if the phone was held horizontally would just be a formality in the software.

Is there any reason why that's never implemented? Is there any use in vertical filming?

There is indeed no technical limitation that would prevent us from preventing vertical videos in software. The issue is more of an UX/usability problem.
While the sensor would allow us to capture virtually any part of it (video has usually always a lower resolution than the sensor can provide, when making videos the phone just records a small portion of the sensor area) we kind of don't want an auto correcting orientation as its rather unintuitive. The emphasize is on kind of.

Your phone screen is 9:16 so in order to show 16:9 video on your phone screen you either need to turn your phone by 90° or show the video with giant black bars on the top and bottom, which would be very annoying when recording a video. It's quite unintuitive to record horizontally while in a vertical position, so from a UX design perspective you would say the user wants to shoot vertically when holding its phone vertically because thats what you would usually expect your phone to act like.
Hold it vertical you shoot vertical, hold it horizontal you shoot horizontal, a pretty intuitive concept.

Though its still no reason to not at least implement an option to auto correct this and my guess why phone manufacturers aren't doing this is probably largely due to increased engineering costs in the camera module (afaik it can't be done purely in software, you would probably need to alter the functionality of your camera module a bit).

Users who shoot vertically don't really care about the fact that they have a horrible aspect ratio as they mostly just watch their video on a phone anyway. Vine is a good example for that, it really promotes doing vertical video because the aspect ratio of the device that your video will be watched on most of the time has the same vertical aspect ratio.
So the demand isn't really that huge so far to warrant such a feature but I'm certain we will see this at some point.


Black and white DSLR video quality I'm trying to achieve this kind of look on a video I'm shooting

In particular the black and white shots. So far my results have been radically different; my video is way too crispy and does not have "that" look at all.

I've made some observations on the video so far (always talking about the black and white shots):

Either static (very stable) or on a slider, but not "hand-held" looking.
Blacks and whites are blown out a lot of the times except on her face.
The main light seems to be coming from a circular diffused source with small accents here and there.

Other than that I can't think of anything else. And of course there's the always sought after grainy look which I tried to achieve with different kinds of plugins to no avail.

By the way, I'm shooting with a Canon 7D with a shoulder stabilizer and prime lenses. I'm also using a variable ND filter. The lenes are professional photography lenses. I'm shooting HD at 30fps always taking care of using the lowest possible ISO and the same shutter speed of 1/60. Of course I understand this might be somewhat irrelevant if I don't post my results as a way of comparison (which unfortunately I can't) so I understand if answers are not very precise.

What things should I consider/do to get a result similar to that of the video?

I can't help you with the set lighting but the look of the video is definitely achievable in post and in case of a modern camera you definitely have to do a lot in post to get a believable "retro" look. After Effects is recommendable due to many great plugins that help achieving specific looks but any editor that has good color tools on-board, a blur filter and a good grain filter will do the job to get the desired effect.

Punch the highlights, deepen the blacks, you generally want high contrast but don't just use a contrast effect in your editor, that won't get you very far. Level Curves are always a nice utility for these kind of things. Play around a bit.
Add a very slight blur, 0.5-2 pixel blur should be enough. Try different blurring algorithms if more than one is available to you.

The shots are also out of focus a little in almost all scenes. If you can re-create that during the shoot you could possible spare the blur in post all-together and get an even more convincing look.

Use a tool like Filmconvert to add a subtle grain to the video. You can also use onboard tools in your editor though most plugins offer a more realistic film grain than the average simple noise generator.

Filmconvert offers also to match the colors to the colors of a certain "old" film camera, which might help you. An example of a B&W movie that used the plugin: http://www.filmconvert.com/Videos/Video.aspx?id=224&order_by=staff_picks&page=6

Keep in mind to not over do it, the border is thin between unrealistic and believable "retro look".

If After Effects is available to you I can recommend the RedGiant Color Suite (many of these products also work in Premiere and other tools). Though you can also use Premiere with Speedgrade (which nicely integrates into Premiere now) which will bring you similar results with similar ease of use as with After Effects if After Effects isn't your thing. Though After Effects offers a huge amount of editing capabilities which help greatly creating very specific effects.


Why hasn't "still image camera matching" technology been used for tracking moving shots? Camera Matching adjusts a camera viewpoint so that the perspective in a background image matches the perspective of the digital world (Rotation and location of a camera in a 3D software). This allows you to place 3D objects as if they were part of the background image.

For example ,there exists a software called fSpy, that lets you place vanishing points, representing each of the axis's. fSpy will then generate camera data that you can export to your project, as seen on the right of the video. I'm sure the short video on their website, https://fspy.io/ can demonstrate much better than I can explain in words here, or this image here:

So my question is why hasn't this kind of software been applied to moving video? You can track the points, and then you only have to track 8 points, versus the many you would have to track using standard motion tracking. It also seems to be much more accurate.

Has this been done before, is there a reason why it hasn't been done before, or have I just came up with a groundbreaking idea?

You're describing augmented reality.

Try something like Carrot Weather's AR Mode or Memoji?

The answer to your question is "Many vendors have implemented 'Augmented Reality' or AR, which works similarly to fSpy.


If I have the music track and a music+vocals track, is it possible to seperate the vocals? I have two audio tracks, one contains vocals and has background instrumental music. I also have a second audio track which contains just the straight background music.

I would like to know (if it is possible) how to extract the vocals from the first track. Possibly by comparing it with that of the second and extracting the perhaps by finding differences in pitch/tone from the first track.

I have a subscription to Adobe CC master collection, so I have access to Adobe Audition CC, I'm hoping there's a way to do this using that program, but I can purchase another program if it can only be done in another one.

If the music track is identical to the music in the vocal+music track, then you could invert the phase of the music track and mix it with the combined track, which (algebraically, at least) is the same as subtracting it from the v+m track.

You may find that some additional compression, level shifting or EQ was done to the v+m track, which would make the subtraction less than perfect.


Large scale video conferencing Is there any way to providing video conference supporting large number of participants in conference (around 2000). The conference will be held in future and I should guaranty the performance. What is System Requirements for server.
Does anybody test "Lync Server 2013", "apache-openmeeting" or "BigBlueButton"?

I've messed with BBB, though no where close to those numbers.  As the presenter, you can prohibit participants from sharing their video or audio, making it a one way presentation.

I have a gut feeling though, that the server requirements would be significant for that many participants.  We ran it on an old HP G3 and it worked , but slow for a dozen participants.

From their FAQ:

  What are the minimum hardware requirements for the BigBlueButton
  Server As a minimum, we recommend you run BigBlueButton on a dedicated
  quad-core machine with at least 4 GB of memory and a 2.6+ Ghz
  processor.

  We recommend installing BigBlueButton on Ubuntu 10.04 32-bit/64-bit on
  the server (see Installing BigBlueButton).

  While the BigBlueButton VM is a good way to try out the system, we
  recommend you run BigBlueButton on a dedicated server to reduce audio
  lag. In a virtual environment, the BigBlueButton VM gets only a
  portion of the host's CPU, and any lag in the CPU cycles can translate
  to lag in processing VoIP packets.

  What are the minimum bandwidth requirements for the BigBlueButton
  Server You'll need good upstream and downstream bandwidth from the
  server. We recommend (at least) 100 MBits/second bandwidth in both
  directions.

Personally, I'd probably looking into a SaaS solution like Webex, GoToMeeting, or the like.  There are probably at least a half dozen solid options.  Without having done it before, I'd hate to have sole responsibility for a conference that big.


Adding an image above a video in imovie I need to add an image above a movie, i.e not overlaying the movie itself. I see this being broken down into two parts:

1) Change the canvas size to create a region at the top for the image to go.

2) Add the image

I've used picture-in-picture to add the image to the screen, which is fine, but that obviously overlays the video. I feel that if I can change the canvas size (I would prefer not to zoom) then I can use picture-in-picture. Is that the best way or is there a cleaner way to do this? How would you go about doing that?

As a sidenote, I have iMovie 10 and iMovie 9 so I can use either on this.

In my experience (2 years), there's not a great way to accomplish this. Here's how I would do it:

1) Make an additional "background image", in the dimensions of your typical video (16x9, I assume).

2) Drag your original image over that background image, at the top, leaving room for (later) the video clip at the bottom.

3) Save that image.

4) Bring that image into your iMovie timeline.

5) Drag your video clip onto it as a picture-in-picture.

:)


What does a flashing button mean on the Blackmagic ATEM 4 M/E front panel? What I know
The front panel of the Blackmagic Design ATEM 4 M/E is used for routing the AUXes of the mixer similarly to a Smart Videohub.
Problem
I realized that sometimes the buttons of some AUXes flash. For example I have AUX 2 where ME 3 PGM is routed but on the front panel ME 1 PGM is flashing.

What does this flashing means? Why does it flashes at a different button?

tl;dr
It indicates that ME 3 PGM is selected since there is no buttons for M/E 3 and 4.
Blackmagic ATEM Front Panel Tutorial
The switcher's front panel doesn't have a button for all routable inputs/outputs. If you click an AUX in the menu of the ATEM Software Control, you can see that you have 60 items in the dropdown, while there are only 36 buttons on the front panel.
Media Players and M/Es
You have 4 media players and 4 M/Es but there are only buttons for the first 2. For selecting the other half you have to use the same buttons by double pressing them. So to select Media Player 3 you have to double press MP 1. Buttons that work this way:

MP 1 -> Media Player 3
MP 1 KEY -> Media Player 3 Key
MP 2 -> Media Player 4
MP 2 KEY -> Media Player 4 Key
ME 1 PVW -> ME 3 PVW
ME 1 PGM -> ME 3 PGM
ME 2 PVW -> ME 4 PVW
ME 2 PGM -> ME 4 PGM

The mixer is really nitpicky when it comes to registering double presses. If you press the button to slow or too fast it won't recognize it. You have to press them in a specific rhythm with around 350 ms delay between the two presses. This might sound weird but it is true. I had to measure this since it seemed so unreliable. 180 ms doesn't work, 520 ms doesn't work. Between 250-450 ms you are good. Thanks to this neediness I would not recommend the front panel for AUX routing for these inputs when the timing is critical.
Key Masks
Every key's mask can be routed to an AUX. We have 4 upstream keys for the 4 M/Es and the 2 downstream keys on M/E 1. This means (4*4)+2=18 masks. All of these can be selected via the KEY MASK button. This button always flashes if any of the aforementioned key masks are routed to that AUX. On each KEY MASK button press it will cycle through the key masks, selecting the next key according to the order in the menu dropdown:

If the previously routed signal on that AUX was a key mask, the button press will go to the next one (below it). If it reached the end or the previous signal was not a key mask it will start from the top.


FFMPEG frame extraction I have couple of video files with sudden transition from black frame to blue frame, both frames have burned-in frame numbers, I would like to use ffmpeg to define the timestamp of this transition in order to automate the cutting of these files. Is there a possibility to do that. I guess I can either do it with some form of scene detection or by using OCR tool to check the frame number of the current frame and then extract the timestamp.

See signalstats filter description, it works in YUV colorspace only.
With it one can extract various per frame video statistics and even graph it in real time.


How to deal with reflections in a space helmet I am currently working on a short sci-fi film, and one scene involves a character going on a space walk. I've made a helmet, which has a plastic visor. The problem is that this visor is very reflective. All shots are in front of a green screen. My setup is fairly small, with a green screen stand and two soft-box lamps. The crew and equipment is fairly visible in the helmet, and I have also had keying issues with some test shots. There will be some lights within the helmet as well, but I don't think those will be enough. What can I do to reduce reflections both on set and in post?

I have read this question, but the only real answer was to use a polarizer, and I don't know how well that will work for me.

My editing software is DaVinci Resolve 15.

The best thing you can do is get as much right on set as possible. Cover cast, crew, and equipment with black fabric, hide them behind black curtains,  Get your talent as far away from the green screen as far as you can while still maintaining its utility; choose your angles carefully, and keep the shots short, because whatever you do, you're going to have to fix something in post. In a perfect world, all that would be would be the key, but the world is never perfect.

Additionally, you might consider removing the plastic visor and adding it back in post.   You'd need to capture clean plates and a mirror ball on set, so that you can re-cast the reflections on the visor (after photo shopping out cast and crew, etc) . Then you'd use object motion tracking and (if your camera moves) camera motion tracking to insert 3d geometry.where the visor should be. This approach removes some of the complexity of keying a spherical, reflective surface, but adds complexity with the motion tracking, which can really mess up your shot if the solve is even a fraction of a hair off.

In any case, don't underestimate the complexity of what you're trying to do. Hire a qualified person or persons to do the work if you have the budget. If you don't, make sure you test your workflow thouroughly before you commit.


How to get a higher FPS without changing speed video through Adobe After Effects or Premiere Pro CC2014 letting the software create the missing images I have a video that has been recorded at 7 FPS. I noticed that in the Windows properties of the video file, it is tagged as 25 FPS, and I see that the recorder has inserted each second fake frames (copies of the 7 frames shot in beetween these 7 images) to reach 25 FPS in the recorded video file.

I'd like to convert it to a real 30 FPS video, without changing its duration, letting the software create missing images or replacing fake static ones (with newly interpolated images) to have a smoother play, even if it's not as perfect as what I could obtain with a native 25 FPS record.

For a quick try, I have tried to put 2 effects one after the other, one to accelerate the video at 300%, to make the fake images disapear, and another to reduce the speed at 33%, to force the soft to create interpolated images, all of this in a 25 FPS (for a try at 25) composition in AE, with no success.

Do you know how I can do this ? All tutorials I find on the Web talks about accelerating or reducing speed for slow motion, but for my own I want to keep the speed, just make the whole thing smoother.

I can't give you specific commands but since these are fairly short I'd extract the individual frames into a TIFF stack (or similar), then import them at the correct (7fps) frame rate into your editor. Then I would apply twixtor or an open-source equivalent to raise the frame rate. How well those work depends somewhat on the amount of motion. 7 fps to 30 fps is asking a lot.

You may find ffmpeg / avconv assistance in extracting only the frames that are actually different -- that is, removing the extra inserted duplicate frames.


ffmpeg produces the same output file with different bitrate settings My input is an uncompressed video captured from old Hi8 cassettes, mediainfo:
Format                                   : RGB
Codec ID                                 : V_UNCOMPRESSED
Codec ID/Info                            : Raw uncompressed video frames
Duration                                 : 1 h 32 min
Width                                    : 720 pixels
Height                                   : 576 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 5:4
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 25.000 FPS
Standard                                 : PAL

I have looked at the sources I could find and tried to come up with the optimal settings for my encoding needs, while also trying out a few dozen combinations, and the best I could come up with looks like this:
ffmpeg -i in.mkv -vf yadif -c:v hevc_nvenc -preset slow -rc:v vbr_hq -cq:v 19 -b:v 2m -maxrate:v 3m -bufsize:v 1m -c:a copy out.mp4

The output's mediainfo is:
Format                                   : HEVC
Format/Info                              : High Efficiency Video Coding
Format profile                           : Format Range@L3@Main
Codec ID                                 : hev1
Codec ID/Info                            : High Efficiency Video Coding
Duration                                 : 20 s 0 ms
Bit rate                                 : 5 142 kb/s
Width                                    : 720 pixels
Height                                   : 576 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 5:4
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 25.000 FPS
Standard                                 : PAL
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:4:4
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.496
Stream size                              : 12.3 MiB (97%)
Codec configuration box                  : hvcC

What I have found is that I can increase the -b:v 2m -maxrate:v 3m -bufsize:v 1m options tenfold, and the output still stays the same. How can this be the case? I am thinking I messed up the settings gravely, in this case, could you please correct me and set me to the right ballpark? First I tried without the bitrate options and only -rc:v vbr_hq -cq:v 19, but that resulted in terrible quality and smaller size, and then I found that I need to set the bitrate as well, unlike just the -crf like I used to do with libx265.
Abandoning -preset slow also doesn't change the result.
I have also tried libx265, which I have used beforehand, but that's a 10-20x speed decrease, so I wouldn't want to use it for this 15+ hour project. One thing I see is that with that the chroma subsamplig is 4:2:2, instead of 4:4:4. Setting it to 4:2:0 actually increases the file size, what should I do with this?
Thank you in advance for any help, and please let me know if I should give more information in order to get the help I need.

With hevc_nvenc, if cq:v is set, b:v is ignored. Change -cq:v in conjunction with -maxrate:v instead.


How do I convert anamorphic hdv video to normal h.264 video with ffmpeg? How to ensure square pixels in output? I have the following code to convert HDV video to a web ready mp4:

ffmpeg -i hdv-input.m2t -crf 28 -c:a aac -b:a 80k -ac 1 -strict -2 -movflags +faststart h-264-out.mp4

The problem is that there is nowhere in this command to specify pixel aspect ratio. If you are not aware, HDV video files are 1440x1080, but the pixels are not square. When decoded for display, the pixels are stretched to make a full 1920x1080. This is called anamorphic video, and it is something that should definitely be avoided if producing for end users.

I honestly don't know if the mp4's I'm making with the above command are being produced with square pixels, but I want to make sure they are. What are the correct parameters I need to add to this command to ensure square pixels in my output mp4? Do I also have to set resolution, and how do I do that? It seems like there should be a -c:v command as well, but I don't really know.

You can use a combo of the scale and setsar filters.

ffmpeg -i hdv-input.m2t -vf "scale=iw*sar:ih,setsar=1" -crf 28 -c:a aac -b:a 80k -ac 1 -movflags +faststart h-264-out.mp4

The scaler width to set to current width x sample/pixel aspect. If it's already 1, it amounts to new width = old width. I've added a setsar afterwards to ensure the output SAR is 1.

For MP4 format, default video codec is H.264. If that's what you want, no need to explicitly set c:v.

(For bitrates < 128k, libfdk_aac is better than the native AAC encoder.)

-strict -2 is not needed for using native AAC encoder if your ffmpeg is from after Dec 2015.


Fixing screen flicker / screen tearing I had some capture issue in OBS, where during certain parts of my screen capture some windows flicker.

Here's a sample of the affected footage:

I think this should be at least to some degree correctable algorithmically, but I don't know the tools to implement that.

Basically for every pixel in the video stream I'd have to do this:

# we need to compare the same pixel in three consecutive frames

A = pixels[x,y, current_frame]
B = pixels[x,y, current_frame + 1]
C = pixels[x,y, current_frame + 2]

# if two border pixel values are identical, but the middle one is different - we assume that to be a flicker, so we replace the middle frame with the first one
if A == C and B != A:
   pixels[x,y, current_frame + 1] = pixels[x,y, current_frame]

# let's move onto the next frame
current_frame += 1

I wonder if this is possible to do with GLSL - I don't know if it has access to frame history...

Are there any (preferably free, open-source and running on Linux) tools that could do this?

The propose algorithm can be implemented using Blender's Compositor.

Here's a working project file:
https://is.gd/TeA4xC

You need to supply the same video file as input to three input nodes - each with a specified frame offset.

This is capable of removing flickers that last no longer than 1 frame.

I tried using this for my footage, but I had issues with A/V sync after remuxingthe result with the original audio, so I dropped the idea.

Here's how the example clip looks like after being processed with this file:

You can tell the flicker is much less pronounced. There are some artifacts, but they are way less distracting.

Hopefully someone will find this useful - I ultimately didn't :/

Enjoy.


Does using an S-Video output via a SCART connector improve the output quality of a VCR? This answer reports that in order not to lose quality when digitizing VHS one should use an S-Video cable.

My VCR is a Sharp VC-M401SM and does not have any S-Video output nor a composite output. Instead it has a scart video/audio line.

Question: If I use an adaptor like the following together with an S-Video cable can I obtain a better quality than using the same adapter with a composite cable? Why? Does the answer depend on the tape quality (VHS or S-VHS)?

The answer is probably no, unless the SCART socket on your VCR is labeled specifically as "S-VIDEO". The fact that SCART connector has S-Video pins does not guarantee that your VCR provides S-Video signal to these pins. A low-end model will simply transmit a composite signal over the luminance S-Video pin and nothing over the chrominance pin.
Even my DVD player having both S-Video and SCART sockets doesn't provide S-Video signal over SCART. Only component RGB.


batch audio + picture slideshow video creation for youtube I've about 1000 audio files that I want to batch convert to videos, with some picture slideshows & upload to youtube. Is there any tool available that does this ?

Is there a tool that will do it, probably... is there a tool that will do it well and make it anything worth watching? No.

Making a quality slideshow set to music requires manual timing and ordering and a fair bit of effort on the editor's part.  It isn't something you can simply automate away.  If you don't put in the effort to make something good, it will just be adding a bunch more Youtube slideshow trash to the already large pile of Youtube slideshow trash.


What Options Are There for Importing Mini DV and Hi-8 Tapes to Thunderbolt? So, it looks like FireWire is dead, and, along with it, all those FireWire ports on Mini DV cams and A/D converters from the 2000's.  So what options exist today for getting Mini DV and Hi-8 tape footage into Macs that only have Thunderbolt (and USB)?

Well for MiniDV, you want to find yourself should budget permit, the Canopus ADVC Conversion Unit. It is by far the best realtime hardware (external small box about the size of a VHS tape), that will allow you to on the fly input in HDMI, FW-400/800 and component video and output over HDMI or FW.  (So it's flexible).

The encoder is handsdown leaps and bounds better than any of the cheap capture cards, and even the BlackMagic pocket adapters.

Hi8 Tape is Analog, unless it's Digital8. In which case you'll need to capture via Analog, and output via HDMI into your Mac. If your Mac supports HDMI capture, that will work, or you can buy an inexpensive BlackMagic h264 ProCoder to handle the input.

You will still need source decks. The Canopus box I mentioned, (which is no longer made) you might find on eBay (I found my 2nd one there). It also supports HDV, the high-definition mini-dv format, with virtually zero loss in quality (visually).

Other than that- you are going to have to set up a DeckLink card (really the only "better cheapest easiest" option in terms of a one card fits all.

You might be able to get a DeckLink card which handles all the input types you need (they have a lot of models, which differ in what they allow in/out). I'm guessing around $1500.

Then connect your decks, and capture.

As for Thunderbolt. I am sure the newest DeckLink cards support it (I would think), but will be very pricey if they even do.

My advice, either find the Canopus box I mentioned, or get a H264 ProCoder by BlackMagic; pair it with the appropriate BlackMagic converters ($300 each) to get your deck to feed to the ProCoder (Which only takes HD-SDI in), and then capture over USB 3.0. EDIT:  The newest ProCoder may accept HDMI in/out... I'd look at BM's website to see what their current lineup offers.

Hope this helps.


License for using background music in my video? I want to use the song Spirit of Life by Blackmill as background music video but I wasn't able to find any information about license to use this song. I tried to contact Blackmill as well but no response. I'm trying not to use a different song because it works so well with my video currently. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Having licensed music for videos I've produced; from having custom tracks re-recorded by one of Audio Jungles top artists (1 Million in Sales); to one hit wonders who had radio airplay; to even Katy Perry...

You need to find out what Label the album is under; meaning, who owns the rights.

Blackmill will have no say, unless they own the masters which I doubt.

The label information should be easilly found on the CD/Album info.

Contact the label; and they will either have a licensing department or they will refer you to their agency.

It is a time consuming process; there is a lot of back and forth, and it could be expensive. Very. If they are under a large label; and they don't have an agreement with a "licencing agency" like ExtremeMusic; which basically mass sells known artists and because they do so on a large scale basis they have a basic rate sheet; 1 song for x use for x type of duplication used in x such a way = this price;  if they don't have that track on a easy to buy list; it's going to involve a custom negotiation where money talks and if you don't have the money...  don't expect a return call.

Contacting Blackmill or even their manager/management is likely going to prove a waste of time.


What keywords to use when searching for a Maya plugin developer? I'm not very familiar with VFX production but I've been asked to do some research on companies that develop Maya plugins.

However, I'm having trouble locating such companies.

First, I tried Autodesk's website, hoping they would have an official developer directory, but they do not.  Edit: I did find the official Autodesk site, but the rest of my question still stands.

Then, I tried Googling terms such as hire "maya plugin" developer and "maya plugin" development companies.  However, I am getting very few hits.

How can I search for companies that do Maya development?  I do not want a list of Maya development companies (that would obviously be off topic); I just don't know enough about the terminology to perform a search, so I'd like to know which keywords have potential.

Your best bet is probably to look for developers of commercial Maya plugins and see if they are willing to do contract work.  Most studios have developers on staff to handle any project specific coding work needed.  It's a pretty specialized skill set and I doubt there is much of a market for doing it as consultants.

That said, my (limited) experience playing with APIs in 3d graphics software would tend to indicate that any developer with experience working with 3d systems should be able to pick it up pretty quickly.  The concepts, when it comes to the programing, aren't that different from DirectX to OpenGL to SoftImage or Maya.  It's still shaders, geometry, physics, etc...


Premiere export to WMV causes aliasing I have a clip made of a sequence of .png images, which I import to premiere. When I create a new sequence with different dimensions from that of the clip, add the clip to it and export it as a .wmv file, I see a lot of aliasing. However, when I make a sequence out of the clip (using the "New sequence from clip" option) and export it to a .wmv file, everything works great, even if I scale the clip in the sequence. In what lies the difference? The two sequences's settings only differ in their dimension.

OK, found out the problem: the sequence's interlacing option was turned on, while I was exporting without interlacing.


FFmpeg : Desktop Recording for YouTube I was reading YouTube Help Recommended upload encoding settings page, and I found this command from a site Youtube recommended encoding settings for FFmpeg.

ffmpeg -f gdigrab -framerate 60 -i desktop -f dshow \
  -i audio="Microphone (2- Realtek Audio)" -c:v libx264 -preset slow -crf 18 \
  -profile:v high -level 4.0 -pix_fmt yuv420p -bf 2 -coder 1 -b:v 15M -c:a aac \
  -ar 48000 -ac 2 -b:a 384k output.mp4

I modified the command to capture my desktop and microphone, but I was wondering if this is the best quality I can get or whether there are any improvements I can make. My goal is to get the best quality for a 1080p60 video.

Remove:

-profile:v high -level 4.0 - You don't need to set a profile or level because you're not targeting any specific, limited, or outdated devices. These options don't matter because YouTube is going to re-encode whatever you give it and set its own profile and level.
-pix_fmt yuv420p - You can let YouTube deal with the pixel format.
-bf 2 -coder 1 - These are already handled automatically by -preset.
-b:v 15M - This is mutually exclusive with -crf. Just use -crf instead. It will let you set the quality instead of you trying to apply an arbitrary bitrate.
-ar 48000 -ac 2 - No need to change the audio rate or channel layout. If you do what to change those do it via the dshow -sample_rate and -channels input options.

So your command can look like:

ffmpeg -f gdigrab -framerate 60 -i desktop -f dshow -i audio="Microphone (2- Realtek Audio)" -c:v libx264rgb -preset slow -crf 18 -b:a 384k output.mp4

The input is RGB, so you can avoid the RGB to YUV conversion by using -c:v libx264rgb.
If your computer can handle it then consider using a slower -preset.
You can use flac or libopus for audio (change output.mp4 to output.mkv), but for microphone it will hardly matter.
You can try -crf 17 if you think you can see a difference. I wouldn't bother with the huge file increase from using lossless (-crf 0).
You can see if dshow is faster than gdigrab for capturing the desktop. I don't use Windows so I can't test for you.

Note that a non-FFmpeg based player may not be able to decode the file, but I'm fairly certain YouTube will have no issues with it.


Trouble in Cut a portion of an audio file, and add fade in and fadeout Effect ffmpeg -i track1.wav -ss 00:00:38.160 -t 00:00:20.720 -vn -codec:a libmp3lame -ac 2 -b:a 256k -map a -af afade=t=in:ss=38:d=3,afade=t=out:st=55:d=3 output.mp3

This is how I am cutting the audio file.
My problem is, Fade in not working and fadeout working very well.
                   But if I cut audio from the beginning (0:0), Fade in and fade out working perfectly.

Your command is wrong, use this one: ffmpeg -i track1.wav -ss 00:00:38.160 -t 00:00:20.720 -vn -codec:a libmp3lame -ac 2 -b:a 256k -map a -af afade=t=in:st=38:d=3,afade=t=out:st=55:d=3 output.mp3


How to encode from Premiere using nvenc Nvidia codec but still output to mp4/avi Using Nvidia's gpu accelerated codecs to encode videos is a massive time saver, it brings my encoding times down from 2 hours to 2 minutes with pascal GPU's however the problem with the codec that I am using (https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1243687) is that it outputs mkv or mk4 files which are all but useless as I can skip through the outputted video and youtube doesn't accept them at all.

I have tried running the NVenc through a filter/wrapper to package it up as an mp4 but either I was doing something wrong or it didn't work as the audio on the outputted file was always running at a different speed than the video itself, or the other way around.

Does anyone have any advice or instructions by chance?  Would really appreciate it!

It's funny how you can try solutions for hours but the moment you post a question online or to IRC you find the answer yourself within minutes.. Anyways, digging around I found tat instead of using mp4box as my multiplexer I changed to TsMux as per the thread instructions and that still didnt' work however I noticed I had one more option, mkvmerge, so I tracked that down here: http://www.videohelp.com/software/MKVtoolnix , installed it and used that instead and viola, it did the trick.  Was able to use the nvenc codec and get a video in the end that was accepted by youtube.

Now of course because I have solved this problem it would appear that the nvenc codec is no longer using my gpu at all after upgrading to the latest nvidia drivers so there's that issue to solve but at least I can use the codec and get useable vids.  Hopefully this is useful to someone else experiencing the same issue down the road


Is there any automated online service for making white board animation? I want to know is there any website or software available to make white board animation as following?

The video you showed is simply a stop motion video, not an animation.

So you aren't going to be able to simply send a jpg off somewhere and have it come back as a video.

There are plenty of video houses that will happily make you a video like this, but it is time consuming. Usually they video the entire process of drawing the art, then cut out frames - to ensure they keep in important key frames.


overlay filter with simple PNG adds black fringe Trying a simple overlay example, getting nasty black fringes:

fmpeg -y -i b.png -i a.png -filter_complex "[0:v]format=rgba[a];
    [1:v]format=rgba[b];
    [a][b]overlay,format=rgba"  normal.png

Expected over Result zoomed in

Default pixel format for overlay filter is yuv420p. Use the format option in overlay to set it as auto or rgb.

ffmpeg -y -i b.png -i a.png -filter_complex "[0:v]format=rgba[a]; [1:v]format=rgba[b]; [a][b]overlay=format=auto" normal.png


Gradually speeding up a video in Vegas Pro In Vegas Pro 17, how could you make a video speed up gradually — like 100% increasing to 110%, increasing to 120%, increasing to 140%...so it goes faster and faster smoothly?

That can be pretty simple if your video editor support this.

For example here's how you do it in Adobe's Premiere Pro:


how do you call the final "render" of a video This is a silly question:
How do you call the final "render", as used in 3D jargon, of the editing of a video, if any?
I'm searching but maybe I'm not using the right words.

When an editor is finished, the edit is said to be "locked," or in "picture lock."  Best practice for file-naming, however, is to use a date string at the beginning of the file name (such as YYYYMMDD_ProjectName.mov), and to avoid descriptors like "locked" or "final." Otherwise you end up with files named, "TVCommercial_V7_final_final_forRealthistimeFinalLocked.mov".
A locked edit doesn't mean the piece is complete, either.  Usually, sound mixing, foley, and color come after the edit room.  The video an editor sends to the sound department isn't usually a high-quality render, and might actually be a low-quality "proxy" designed to conserve system resources for sound.  The editor also doesn't pass a render to the colorist; rather, he passes a project file, XML, EDL, or similar, plus an "offline" reference video.  The colorist "conforms" or "re-links" the project files to the camera originals for "finishing," using the offline reference to check for accuracy.  Once complete, the finished piece is called a "master," but other copies might be generated in tandem for "archival" purposes, and these are usually the highest quality output.


how to convert a video to black and white color without any shades How can a video be converted to black and white color. It should not have any shades of gray color. Only two colors - black and white.

There are many options to convert colored video to grayscale - which will have various shades of black. But I want video to only contain two colors.

Is there any source where such videos can be found?

I'm only familiar with Vegas Pro, but I think many NLEs will do the same.

Begin by applying the desaturate effect or the 100% black and white effect. Then engage the Brightness and contrast effect, adjust the contrast until you have only black and white, you may need to toy with the brightness as well but not much.


Real time ffmpeg / x264 encoder behavior when input resolution suddenly changes I want to take a live HD-SDI signal being captured by a capture card and encode it in real time to X.264.

What happens when the input resolution suddenly changes? eg, from HD SDI 1080/50i to HD SDI 720/59p, etc.

Does the encoder handle that gracefully? Or would there be some artifacts/disturbance in the output? (or worse?)

FFmpeg will automatically insert scale filter to rescale to first resolution when it encounters input resolution changes. Obviously this only applies when encoding.


Can camcorder Sony HDR CX455 record videos in MP4 at 1920 x 1080i to be uploaded to YouTube? The specs of the camcorder Sony HDR CX455 states that it can record videos in the following formats:

1920 x 1080p at 24/30/60 fps (50 Mb/s XAVC S)

1440 x 1080i at 60 fps (5 Mb/s AVCHD)

1280 x 720p at 30 fps (3 Mb/s MP4)

It also says that "The HDR-CX455 records 4K and HD movies in the XAVC S format, which uses MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 for video compression and linear PCM for audio compression, while saving files in a MP4 wrapper which allows for extensive record times and easy editing. Additionally, you can chose to record HD in AVCHD (ideal for HDTV and Blu-ray disc burning) or MP4 (ideal for sharing over the internet)."

(Please note the part in the paragraph above that says "MPEG-4")

Now, unless I am mistaken, YouTube does not take the format XAVC S and AVCHD. Instead, YouTube does take the MP4 format.

But, I don't want to use the format MP4 at 1280 x 720p, which is a low resolution.

If I use this camcorder, can I record videos in the MP4 format at 1920 x 1080i so that I can load the videos to YouTube ?

Thanks.

PS: The specs of  Sony HDR CX455 can be found at this link: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1211907-REG/sony_hdrcx455_b_hdr_cx455_full_hd_handycam.html

Finally, I got the official answer from Sony Customer Service as follow:

Yes, You can record MP4 at 1920 x 1080p. Please be advised that the video format for the XAVC S is in MP4, while the AVCHD is for m2ts files. And please make sure that the File Format that is set in your camcorder is XAVC S HD:
- Press Menu.
- Select Image Quality/ Size.
- File Format (film icon) and select  XAVC S HD.

http://helpguide.sony.net/cam/1610/v1/en/contents/TP0000945876.html


Correct workflow in Adobe Premiere for work with interlaced content I have in input a DNxHD 120 in mov container 25fps interlaced upper field, I have to do various kind of edits, cuts, replace some pieces with after effects compositions and at the end of all the job export everything as a MXF 25fps again interlaced upper field.

Until now I always worked only with progressive contents so I'm unsure if what I'm doing is correct:

I imported the footage into the project
Created a new sequence based on what i think is the correct format: 1080 25fps interlaced upper field
Started cutting, pasting and replaced some after effects comps
Export with media encoder using the DNxHD SD 1080i 50 (i wonder why i can't find a 1080i 25 preset), however even if is writtend 50 it seems i can pick 25 fps.

Is all this correct ? I mean what's the best practice ? I'm keeping everything interlaced upper field. I think Premiere is a professional software able to handle all the footage in interlaced without problems.

or

Should I instead convert and make everything progressive first and then export again back in interlaced? (i fear this solution is not very good)

I also have this error if i try to rotobrush the footage:

This is starting to confuse me even more, why i should use a 50fps ?

As for how to work... it all depends on what your final destination is. Are you working on a piece to be broadcasted, or for the Web? In the latter case, the final product should be progressive. If the former... the in turn it depends on your source material, which seems to be interlaced.

So you should:

Create an interlaced project, "1080i50". The "50", in this case,
doesn't mean "frames per second", but "fields per second" (2 fields
= 1 frame).
Work as you would normally in Premiere.
Export it in an interlaced format too. "1080i50" sounds good, but again, that
depends on the final destination of your piece.