Can H264 achieve "equivalence" with ProRes 422? Has anyone done or seen any tests comparing Apple ProRes 422 with high-bitrate H.264?

We use 422 as a delivery format to go to DCP for theatrical versions of trailers.
The bitrate is around 150mbps.

We are wondering if it is possible to reach adequate quality with H.264. Say, with bitrates of 50-100mbps, and tweaking the GOP size/structure. (E.g., only using "I" frames.)

Assuming H264 is a more "efficient" codec, we are hoping to get smaller file sizes.

Or does H.264 just not have the color depth to compete?

It would be great to see if someone has done some real-world testing.

Update 1: I just did a quick test using 50mbps, GOP size 1, I-frames only ... and "by eye" I see no difference whatsoever. Same level of noise, same colors. The ProRes is 1.92GB, the H264 is 566MB. How would one "test" the difference technically? Or measure the color information?

Update 2: I did some more testing ... with Adobe Media Encoder, using MPEG2, and the "4:2:2" profile, the ProRes file went from 1,920MB to 290MB! And I would say, subjectively, that is is 99% as good. This is remarkable. (With H264 I was down to 500-700MB)

Well going by the numbers h264 has a lesser bit-depth and color accuracy than ProRes 422. PR422 has 10bit and 4:2:2 chroma sub-sampling, h264 has 8bit and 4:2:0 unless you encode in the Hi422P Intra profile which isn't very well supported in the wild but offers 10bit and 4:2:2.
So in that case I don't think you will have any difference what so ever between the two formats but a better compression ratio than with ProRes.

E: If you want to go real ape shit you can also encode in the 4:4:4 Intra Profile, that supports up to 14 bit of color depth. So technically superior to ProRes4444. Though you probably wont find any commercial application that supports it.

On another note, I don't think content delivery for cinema should be done in h264 nor ProRes 422 especially when you plan to encode to a lossless codec (JPEG2000/DCP) afterwards. It just doesn't make much sense to do so, all you loose is quality even though there is no need to do so, you only save space until you encode your DCP. There are other good lossless codecs, that offer very good compression, to use before encoding the DCP.

You could for example go directly to DCP, the Adobe Media Encoder offers export to 2k DCP since CC 2014, you can skip an encoding step and have a lossless codec with very good compression ratio.

Another great intermediate codec is UtVideo aswell as Schrödinger (an implementation of the Dirac codec from BBC, its available through FFmpeg).

In the end though theory always differs from practice and if you don't deliver for nation wide cinemas with excellent projectors and what not, that quality difference in your delivery chain will be neglectable.
The only thing that could be pitfall is that h264 is very complex an by that always prone for some weird visual defects, so final inspection is always a necessity with h264.


Premiere Pro takes several minutes to render six seconds I'm having an issue with the latest version of Premiere Pro (v13.1). I am trying to watch a 6-second video but the video does not play in the program panel. When I try rendering in to out, it takes a little longer than 3 minutes to render. After rending, I can view the video normally.

This is my first time using Premiere Pro in a long time but I have not had this issue in the past on this PC. I tried installing it on my laptop and added the same video in sequence and it works like it's supposed to. I can scrub normally and render in to out takes a couple of seconds.

I tried reinstalling the current version of Premiere Pro on my desktop but I still have the same issues. Both my laptop and desktop have the default settings for Premiere and I did not change anything after reinstalling fresh on both devices. In task manager, Premiere uses only 10% of my CPU and under GPU I see that it jumps between 0-10% GPU usage with the used GPU Engine column saying that it's not using any Pu except occasionally for decoding, but only for half a second here and there. I'm not sure if that information helps for I am using Mercury CUDA as my Playback Engine. Again the default settings. Also, both devices use SSDs.

Note that both my desktop and laptop have fresh installs of Premier Pro.

Desktop specs:
Intel i7 8th gen
32 GB RAM
RTX 2070
GTX 1070

Laptop Specs:
Intel i7 9th gen
16 GB RAM
GTX 1660ti

I managed to figure out my problem. I decided to try disabling my video adapters to see if that fixed my problem thinking that there was an issue with having two dedicated GPUs. I found no problem with having two GPUs but I discovered that disabling Intel graphics on my 8th gen i7 instantly fixed my problem. I'm not sure why that was causing an issue but disabling Intel UHD 630 graphics fixes the problem.


Audio gain for subclip in Premiere Pro I trimmed my sequence to short part. Now I want to normalize audio on it in timeline. However, since it is still part of bigger clip, I can't do Right Click => Audio Gain => Normalize Max Peak To:... Because there are louder sounds in another parts of video.

So, are there is any solution or workaround to Normalize Max Peak of part of clip?

I'm not sure why you would want to use normalize at all. You should use audio tracks and place the audio you need to adjust on it's own track.

Then, using the audio mixer, apply dynamics to the audio tracks. You can then use the compressor within the dynamics filter, which you can use on all your tracks, to get your dynamic range all in line.

On the clip that needs to be (from what it sounds) adjusted up, in the dynamics filter for that track/clip, you can from there manually adjust the gain up- it's a pot/knob center column bottom. Use a ratio of about 2:1 to 4:1.

Last, click the checkbox on the bottom right of the dynamics filter for each track to enable the limiter. The limiter; a good setting is -2 db.

This will balance out your audio so the soft sounds are adjusted up and can be heard, and the loud sections are not adjusted up; resulting in overmodulation. Its a much better way to smooth out your audio, decrease the dynamic range, and end up with audio that sounds far more balance.

Once you learn how to effectively use the dynamics filter on tracks, I think you will find you will never, ever, use the Normalize filter again.


Convert Uncompressed AVI to JPEG2000 in MXF I'm looking to convert raw, uncompressed video (currently in avi container) into lossless motion jpeg2000 encoded video in an mxf container. I've tried FFMPEG, but don't think it can do this. What's the best method for transcoding on Linux?

FFMPEG command tried:
 ffmpeg -i Glueck_Newsreel.avi -vcodec libopenjpeg -acodec copy ms0001.mxf

Errors:
[mxf @ 0x1f43a00] track 0: could not find essence container ul, codec not currently supported in container
Could not write header for output file #0 (incorrect codec parameters ?)

The JPEG 2000 codec in FFMPEG is still experimental. To use it you would have to compile FFMPEG by yourself with a special option enabled.

But you could use OpenDCP, which has it's documentation here. It needs TIFF images and WAV files as input, that you can produce with FFMPEG. The resulting MXF can be tested with the easyDCP player.

OpenDCP is available on all mayor platforms, but the easyDCP player only on Windows/Mac. But perhaps this is still an option for you, since you only need to run the easyDCP player once (on a friend's PC), just to be sure that the OpenDCP output is "according to the standard".


Bulk cutting and compression I am looking for a piece(s) of software that can cut bulk videos into pieces and compress them.

So say I have 10 videos each 20 min, I would like to make a setting 5 min and the output would be  1 full compressed video and 4 cut compressed videos for each video for a total of 50 files.

Is there anything out there that does this?

Edit: i forgot to mention that adding a watermark to them all would be great also.

You would use FFmpeg for that.
It requires that you are a bit familiar with using command line applications but even if you are not its really not complicated.

The things you want to do have been covered in these questions (and probably others):
Why does quality degrade so much if just cutting video with ffmpeg? (different topic but the answer tells you exactly the two ways to cut in ffmpeg, the re-encoding one is the one you want).

Add an image in front of video using ffmpeg (watermark)

What you want to do is make 5 separate ffmpeg commands, 4 for your 5 minutes segments and one for your complete video.
Put those into a batch/shell/apple script depending on your OS and loop over your files replacing the input file name for each command set iteration.


How to create a educational video by only using your voice and some photos I would like to create some educational videos in which I will use only my voice and some photos/text headlines, notes etc. on my Mac computer. I am aiming at creating videos that are as much as possible in better definition while as much as possible smaller size in order to make them upload easily. All I think is two options.
First one is I can create a video using slides and then record my voice over it by using a video editing program.
Secondly, I can create a slide and record a voice over it while screen recording.
Second one sounds easier for me because I can be more flexible on timing and duration.
I can use Quicktime for screen recording. Do you think it is a good idea for a video? Its recordings can be very large size. I do not think I need super-quality definition on my videos. 480p is good enough for me.
What are your suggestions in terms of video recording techniques and applications/programs for my situation?

Use PowerPoint.
The truth is that the latest version of it can do nice transitions so the presentation is not dull at all.
At the end, you can export as a video to Mp4. If used properly you do not need video edition at all.
Do not use less than HD for your videos. The resolution may not be important to you, but the viewers are used to Full HD.


Is there a player that allows copying currently shown susbtitles to the clipboard? I'm on Windows 7 and have video files with external or built-in (not hard-coded) subtitles. When watching the videos, I'd like to be able to somehow copy the currently shown text to the clipboard.
Do you know any video player that can do this?

You can select and copy subtitles on youtube. If you have your subs in a common format, you can upload them to youtube with the video and your subtitles will be applied according to the internal timecode in the subtitles-file. Then, when playing back the video, you can select and copy the subs.


Problems with rendering a Windows Movie Maker video I've used Windows Movie Maker plenty of times before and I've never had a problem with it... until now. I went to choose the "save to my computer" option so my video would render and after it was about 10% done this message popped up:

  "Windows Movie Maker cannot save the movie to the specified location.
  Verify that the original source files in your movie are still
  available, the the saving location is still available, and that there
  is enough free disk space available."

My files I used in the video are exactly where they were when I imported them to Movie Maker, the folder I'm trying to save the video is just fine, and I have plenty of disk space available; and the problem still comes up the same way. I tried saving it to an other place and the same thing happened. I even tried saving it to my flash drive and the same thing happened. I even tried turning my computer off and back on and nothing changed. I've looked it up online and gotten no help. I did try making a BS video with other footage and it worked but when I tried making a BS video with the same footage in this video the problem came up again, so I think it has something to do with one of my video files but I don't know.

This assumes that all the material, all the video clips are on your local disk and your telling Windows Movie Maker to save these in the same folder. Do all the clips have a suffix that is acceptable to Windows Movie Maker (see below for a complete list)? e.g. are these all .avi files?

How many clips are in the video? One or more clips may be at issue. To isolate, first save your project as it is, then remove one clip and save this as minus one. Test? if there is no change then remove another clip, save as minus 2. Test? If there is still issues then proceed to remove each clip one at a time and save each of these versions until you find the clip(s) that are having an issue.

Once you locate the offending clip(s) take these to another computer, and see if you get the same results. Report back.

MORE info from Microsoft:

You can import files with the following file name extensions into Windows Movie Maker to use in your project:

Video files: .asf, .avi, dvr-ms, .m1v, .mp2, .mp2v, .mpe, .mpeg, .mpg, .mpv2, .wm, and .wmv

Audio files: .aif, .aifc, .aiff, .asf, .au, .mp2, .mp3, .mpa, .snd, .wav, and .wma

Picture files: .bmp, .dib, .emf, .gif, .jfif, .jpe, .jpeg, .jpg, .png, .tif, .tiff, and .wmf


How to get light swish/trail effect in aftereffects? Ok Im trying to emulate light path effects in aftereffects like this at this point (the weapon swing): https://youtu.be/6gX-dCaLCo0?t=66

I saw this tutorial, however it only works on windows: https://youtu.be/HxyGDekCGEs

How can I create the light glow/trail effect here in AE?

One option without using any 3rd party plugins is to track the motion of the object you want to leave a trail, apply that motion to a shape layer, then apply an echo effect to it. Additional effects like glow, and motion blur (all native effects), and playing with transfer modes and opacity will help sell it.


Interpreting pts_time in FFmpeg I have been learning ffmepg for a couple of days.
I'm struggling to understand how pts or dts works.

This is the command I entered

  ffprobe -show_entries packet -read_intervals 10%+#3 Input

   Stream #0:0: Video: h264 (High 10), yuv420p10le(tv, bt709, progressive), 1920x1080 [SAR 1:1 DAR 16:9], 23.98 fps, 23.98 tbr, 1k tbn, 47.95 tbc (default)
Metadata:
  DURATION        : 00:02:00.203000000
Stream #0:1: Audio: flac, 48000 Hz, stereo, s16 (default)
Metadata:
  DURATION        : 00:02:00.062000000
[PACKET]
codec_type=video
stream_index=0
pts=6506
pts_time=6.506000
dts=N/A
dts_time=N/A
duration=41
duration_time=0.041000
convergence_duration=N/A
convergence_duration_time=N/A
size=205369
pos=9510964
flags=K_
[/PACKET]

I guess duration_time 0.041000 means the frame last(show) for 0.041 second.

I don't know how to interpret this 'pts_time' as normal time like minutes and seconds( e.g 1 min 3 second )

I set the intervals 10%+=3, which means 3 packets after 10 seconds. I can't find the relation between 10 second and pts_time=6.506000

pts_time=6.506000 means an absolute presentation timestamp of 6.506 seconds. It's relative presentation time depends on the start_time of the file, for which use -show_entries format=start_time.

ffprobe seeks to keyframes, so it will seek to the nearest KF at or before the specified time and then print info for the stated number of packets.


How Can I Reduce Noise On a 5D Mk3? The internet is full to bursting with comparisons of noise on the 5D Mk3 at different ISOs, but there is next to nothing about how to reduce noise or work with it / around it.

I am experiencing noise across all ISO settings, but obviously worse the higher I go. I never shoot above 800 and try and stay as low as possible. I am careful not to underexpose, but I still get a fizzy noise in the midtones and shadows.

I appreciate that the 5D is flawed when it comes to video and I don't need to be told how a dedicated video camera will achieve better results; I am a stills photographer and I don't want to buy a second camera.

So given the known limitations of the 5D Mk3, how can I shoot to reduce the noise and what workflows are best for removing noise in post?

I am shooting Cinestyle and will soon be shooting RAW via Magic Lantern.

Certainly using RAW on ML will help.  With 14 bit color, your noise reduction options are a lot more advanced.  Traditional noise reduction that you are used to from photos can be used with video as well using either color grading software or editing software.  (With RAW video, it would be in the color grading software before mixing down to processed clips.)  Additionally, with RAW, you won't have the encoding artifact which you may be misinterpreting as noise as well.

That said, how bad of noise are you getting.  I'm in the reverse situation of you.  I started as a video guy and switched to photography and got the 5D Mark iii because of it's strengths in both areas.  You should not be getting significant noise issues below 800 ISO on your 5D Mark iii unless something is wrong.  The 5D Mark iii shoots outstanding video and with RAW is compared fairly closely (though still noticeably different from) much more expensive cameras like the C300 or even some lower end ARRI cameras.

It is generally applauded for it's high video quality and good low light video capability.  Can you post a sample that demonstrates the problem you are seeing?  I wonder if there might be some other issue causing your problems as my 5D Mark iii doesn't give what I would consider unreasonable noise levels on video even at ISOs like 3200 or even 6400 in some lighting conditions.

ISO 3200 video frame grab

There is some noise, but it's pretty limited, particularly considering this is in the shadows under a desk, inside, with no other light other than what was coming in through the window above the table.  There are some newer cameras in the same or lower price range that have slightly improved on the capability, but the 5D mark iii is still one of the top contenders last time I looked around.

Other than that, the easiest option, like Jason Conrad mentioned, is to use more light and lower numbered ISO.


Beyond Full-HD with Canon EOS 600D? In video mode, my Canon EOS 600D can output up to a resolution of 1920 x 1080.
Of course, this resolution is a standard (full HD). But then again, even exiftool applied to an output *.MOV file tells me that the cropped image size is 2592 x 1728 (not to mention sensor size 5344 x 3516). While such video is ready to use as Full HD video out of the box, shouldn't this allow me to obtain significantly higher resolution video output (comparable to RAW for images, though still below the next bigger standard of 4K)?

Admittedly, after editing one would certainly crop and/or scale to Full HD anyway, but who would complain about a few extra pixels in footage during editing?
Or would using this resolution cause other (technical) problems (e.g., with writing speed)?

If you do the math, you will find that a full-res video would need to process too much data per time - 22Mpixel x 30 frames x 3x14 bit color depth = 3+ GByte/second (done in my head, double-check!)

The camera sensor is probably able to provide this data, but neither the in-camera chip nor the memory card is able to process such a data stream fast enough; and the buffers would be full after 2 or 3 seconds of video. Therefore, the camera makers chose to not offer this mode.

I guess if you hack the camera software, you could it make record on that resolution for one or two seconds.


Make Youtube live streaming available to another country after end streaming I have an youtube channel that makes a lot of live streams.
But i have different countries watching at the same hour in its own time zone.

I have a live streaming on Brazil starting 6PM and finishing 9/9:30 PM (GMT -2). But i can't finish my live stream because people on USA start to watch the live stream at 6PM (GMT -5) from the start of live stream. I need to stream black until they finish to watch at their 9/9:30PM (GMT -5).

If i finish the stream, they can't watch. There is somo way to do not have this problem? Thanks!

YouTube can record the live stream so that it can be played back any time afterwards.

You need to select archiving of the live stream, and then publish that archive.

I'm pretty certain the default is to archive the live stream, so you should check it in your settings, in case you have disabled it for some reason.


How to convert 25p to ntsc dvd? I need to build a ntsc dvd from a 25p movie. I've read about different solutions:

Using twixtor to get ntsc framerate
Using DGPulldown to flag it up to 29.97fps

What is the most professional way without loosing any information?

I personally would use media encoder and let it do the conversion. Convert it to a mpeg2-dvd format and pick a preset, you can adjust the preset to your liking. ME would do most of the heavy lifting. At this point I trust them to do the best job.

I find that nothing beats actually trying it though, you're not really out anything but time. And very little time at that. It's not like your encoding each frame by hand. :)

Alex


How can I used dashed or dotted line for drawbox in ffmpeg? How can I used dashed or dotted line (instead of the default solid line) for drawbox in ffmpeg? In general, is there anyway I can customize the look of objects drawn?

I don't find anything that allows me to do that in the documentation.

This function is not implemented by ffmpeg


camera flashing in film I film a lot with the Canon C100, I've noticed that when a lot of flashes are going off I get a lot of image issues (which I think is due to how CMOS exposes line by line) (see picture), the effects are more pronounced in slow motion (the c100 only shoots interlaced).

I have a few questions:

whats the technical name of this 'effect'/issue

why is it more pronounced in slow motion (does interlacing effect this?)

and is there anything I can do with regards to shutter/speeds or utilizing 'clear scan' in the c100 to reduce this?

whats the technical name of this 'effect'/issue?

The horizontal lines are likely caused by an effect called Rolling Shutter

  why is it more pronounced in slow motion (does interlacing effect this)?
  I would have expected interlacing to reduce the visibility of the effect iff it was done on a line of pixels at a time.  However, if bands of pixels are read during the interlacing, that might make the effect worse.  That would provide a stripe of pixels at a similar exposure level and a step change when the next stripe was read.

  is there anything I can do with regards to shutter/speeds or utilizing 'clear scan' in the c100 to reduce this?

I don't believe so.  It is usually related to lower light levels so anything you can do to get more light into the camera would help.  You might find that reducing the exposure time (faster shutter speed) might help as it would force the camera to complete all the scan in less time.

(Seems a bit unsporting to use some of the question comments as an answer but they matched and expanded on what I knew.)


Recording and playing video with variable frame rate We are using a streaming camera to record and to play back surveillance video.

This camera sends a RTSP stream which will be recorded by our application as a H264 video.

In our application, the H264 videos will be stored in a MP4 container and will be published on a HTTP-server (Apache2). The stored videos can now be watched with any HTML5 web browser. So far, so good!

Our problem is, that the camera sends his frames with a variable frame rate. This is not a problem as long we watch the stream live. But when we watch the recorded H264/MP4 videos the time begins to drift. This means because of the variable frame rate, sometimes the video will be played too fast and the time is not correct!

So, does someone have experience with H264 videos with variable frame rate (VFR)? How can we play these VFR videos without time drift? Is it possible to convert VFR video to video with constant frame rate?

(All tested players like VLC seems to have the same problem...)

Here the output of mediainfo:

Complete name                            : VIDEO_REPLICA_12.h264
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
File size                                : 249 MiB
Overall bit rate mode                    : Variable

Video
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High@L3.2
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames                : 1 frame
Format settings, GOP                     : M=1, N=15
Bit rate mode                            : Variable
Maximum bit rate                         : 20.0 Mbps
Width                                    : 1 280 pixels
Height                                   : 800 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 1.600
Frame rate mode                          : Variable
Standard                                 : NTSC
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive

Are you sure the files your recorded have indeed a variable framerate? It sounds like you recorded with a constant framerate (even though you get a variable frame rate video feed) which introduced this "artifact" and the players then of course play it back with a constant frame rate even though they shouldn't.

To properly convert variable frame rate footage into constant frame rate footage you can reside to Handbrake. It's an easy to use tool for h264 encoding that lets you choose to convert your video to a constant frame rate.


How to set an image height & width on a video in ffmpeg I have many videos and I need to put an image in them for about 20 seconds, I am adding them manually and it works fine if only the image is small in size....
please, help me out to set height and width on the image

The original command is this

ffmpeg -i in.mkv -i 3.png -filter_complex "[0:v][1:v] overlay=25:25:enable='between(t,0,20)'" -pix_fmt yuv420p -c:a copy tout.mkv pause

But it give me output as these image below

Image - 1
Image - 2

You can add a scale filter. This will scale the image to 50x50:

ffmpeg -i in.mkv -i 3.png -filter_complex "[1]scale=50:50[b];[0][b] overlay=25:25:enable='between(t,0,20)'" -pix_fmt yuv420p -c:a copy tout.mkv pause

If you want to scale the width or height and maintain the aspect ratio, use -1. For example, this scales the width to 50 and the height according to the aspect ratio.

scale=50:-1

Conversely, this scales the height to 50 and the width is adjusted by aspect ratio.

scale=-1:50


Last bit of RGB changed I'm going to compress a video but I have one problem.

Is a frame with a bit(last bit) of each color(RGB) changed unacceptable or distinguishable from the original one in HD?

Unacceptable is in the eye of the watcher, so that part is tough to answer.

Distinguishable is easier: yes, there will be a difference. It will not be obvious in every frame or circumstance, but it will be there. If you simply truncate the lowest bit, it will raise the noise floor and the effect will be most evident in low light areas. So, it will look worse, but how much worse, and whether it's acceptable, depend on the particulars.


Adobe After Effects MP4 Export Issue I'm trying to export a composition from Adobe After Effects. My Comp is 1280x720, and ideally I'd export with an mp4 container, and h264 video codec. Problem is, After Effects is giving me a PAR error, telling me the video will be resized "to meet format contraints".

Error Message:

  Video will be resized from 1280x720(1.00PAR) to 176x120(1.21PAR) to meet format constraints.

Anyone know of a fix to this? Looks like my encoder is MainConcept MP4 Video. I'm using CS6. Thanks!

In AE's "output module settings", with the format set to h.264, click "format options".  Under the "video" tab, make sure "Level" is set to 5.1.

Here is a wikipedia entry which contains a table on h.264 level dimension constraints.


What gives a local TV news show that "look"? I know little about filmmaking. I am trying to replicate the image of a generic local news show, which it seems my Canon DSLR is unable to do, since it blurs every area that is not in focus.

Local TV news has a different "look" than a standard Hollywood film, for example. I am not able to articulate the difference clearly, but with news shows, every part of the image is crisp; there is seemingly no out-of-focus areas.  I do not know the technical term for this. What is this difference that my eyes are picking up on?

What kind of video camera should I look for to achieve this "effect"? Like a general "type" of camera that shoots in this style, or specific standard camera models that news crews use (though I am guessing they are out of my budget, which is around $1000).

I assume that the camera and the camera alone creates this picture, but are there certain filmmaking techniques that I can use to do this with my current DSLR (so I don't have to buy another camera)?

The answer is both "light: lots and lots of light" and the imaging system.  But it is not f22 (which on most cameras would produce a surprisingly soft result due to diffraction limits).

The "light: lots and lots of light" is really about having not only good key and fill lights, but also lights above and behind the talent, creating a subtle rim of light around their figure.  In the literature this is known as three-point lighting, but it can be implemented with many more points of light, depending on taste.  It is true that studios are not shy about the absolute amount of light they use, but it is not only the absolute amount that does the magic--balancing key, fill, and rim lighting is just as important.

To get the deep depths of field, they don't stop lenses down to f22.  Rather, they have a 2/3rd inch sensor (approximately 1/2 the size of a m43 sensor, which in turn is 1/2 the size of FF35).  By using a sensor that's 1/4 the size of FF35, they get a depth of field that's effectively 4 f-stops deeper.  So, using an 12mm f4 lens on a 2/3" sensor has the effect of stopping down a 50mm lens down to f16 on a FF35 sensor, but without the problems caused by diffraction.

Additionally, studio-grade 2/3" cameras typically use a beam-splitter and three discrete sensors (R, G, and B).  Cameras that use a single monolithic CMOS sensor and Bayer patterns need a strong OLPF to deal with increased Moiré artifacts.  The OLPF cuts a certain amount of the high-frequency optical response we perceive as sharpness.

Finally, typical broadcast cameras have built-in sharpening that can be tuned to really make a properly illuminated subject really pop.  By combining studio lighting with a studio camera, you get a highly recognizable studio result.


How should we back-up our media files for our production studio We've had a video production studio for about 6 months, and we're revisiting how we should back-up/archive our client files and in general what our workflow should be with about a 8K limit on hardware.  We've sketched out a couple options for what hardware and procedures we're using.
Here is one:

Transfer RAW footage (we're shooting DSLR) to portable bus
powered HD
Import RAW footage into FCPX using Ext. Drive for
Scratch Disk (here we have RAW footage and FCPX project files
separated) Step
Delete SD Cards

EDIT Footage

Move FCP Projects files to RAID & Delete bus powered HD that had raw footage
Step

Delete Scratch Disks

Here is possibly another option:

Transfer RAW footage to Scratch Drives
Copy RAW Footage to RAID
Delete SD Cards

EDIT Footage Step

Move FCP Projects files to RAID
Delete Scratch Disks

My process is always to start from the recording media, move the files from recording media to a 12TB external RAID5 array with a utility that verifies the integrity of the transfer.  This is my long term working archive.

While I don't do this at this time, I'd recommend making periodic off-site backups of this array (either to a cloned array or to tape) to guard against loss of the entire RAID array.

For actually working with the assets, I copy (not move) the files to an internal scratch SSD RAID0 array.  Upon completion or archiving of a project, I move only the project files and any newly created files that need to be stored to the RAID5 archive.  I then rename my scratch folder, verify the project works when loaded on the archive array and then delete the renamed folder (which should only contain copies of the master source files.)

This protects against any corruption of original source files while editing and also minimizes the amount of data that I have to move off of the scratch disk.


Udacity - Hand under notes video effect In a typical Udacity course, the hand written course videos are displayed with the writers hand beneath a semi-transparant view of the notes (1:02 in video linked below).

I want to replicate this to record some tutorial videos, but am stuck on how Udacity managed to achieve this effect.

Here is a video of their set up:
http://blog.udacity.com/2013/06/coffee-break-episode-6-inside-recording.html

And here is some more information from one of the teachers:
https://medium.com/teaching-learning/1d7c77b857de

From what I gather, they have a Tablet that they draw on, which they then use some form of screen capture software to record the video of the notes.

At the same time, they are recording a video of the teacher writing on the tablet.

With these two videos they seem to be chroma keying the screen capture out of the video of the teacher's hand.

How are they achieving this effect? If they are chroma keying the screen capture out of the teacher's hand video, how can this be achieved?

Thanks

Most likely, they are simply using an output of the notes with transparency.  If you output the digital version of the notes with a transparent background you could just layer it over the video once properly aligned and it would work fine.

Alternately, a quicker process if they do not support alpha is to just apply a blend between the layers.  Since the background matches the video except for where the hand is, it would blend very smoothly.

Finally, what is known as a luma-key could also be used on the screen capture file to generate transparency anywhere that the luminosity (brightness) differs from the empty background.

Any of these options could be used and they are all extremely easy to use, though the first requires the most advanced technique to generate the alpha content, but would also produce the best results.


replace a clip with a different size clip but keep the scale in Premiere CC I have edited a 640 x 360 clip into a sequence in Premiere CC. The sequence includes changes to the scale for different shots. Now I want to replace the 640 x 360 clip with a 1920 x 1080 version of the same clip. When I do that, the apparent scale increases by a factor of 3; a shot in the sequence that should have a scale of 100% now APPEARS to be at 300%.

I'm sure it's because the new clip is so much bigger.  But is there a workaround that lets me keep the APPARENT zoom level of the original, tiny clip?  That is, can I make this new clip LOOK like its scale is 100% when the original sequence had the scale set to 100%? Can they look the same?

BTW, I know I can set the scale of each shot manually in the timeline.  But I may have 50 or more edits so I'm looking for a global solution.  I was hoping there was like a "master scale" setting for clips in the media browser, but I didn't find one.

After the fact, no I don't.  If you know before the fact in the future though, you can put the source on a timeline by itself and apply the scale there and make all the clips point at that timeline.  This is the same technique I use in After Effects whenever I am working with animating a base layer that I know I am going to need to change.  That way I can make a simple change to the source clip and not have it impact the overall sequence.


How can I know if a video has been manipulated/staged/faked? Recently, a video has been posted about a politician named Varoufakis sticking his middle finger to Germany.

Later, a German TV host admitted faking Varoufakis 'middle finger' video on YouTube, showing some smart germans editing it using a software.

As a skeptic person, I'm not sure which one is the real one (statements of authority, videos uploaded do not really make me believe anything).

I only believe in evidence.

How can I know or basically prove (or be 99.999%) sure that a video is faked or staged using a software? What would be the methods or procedures? I would appreciate if a video professional would help me.

Authenticity in video is dead.  It's been dead in photography for a long time.  It's just something we're all going to have to get used to.  Professional forensic analysis might sometimes disprove a video's authenticity, but it will never be able to conclusively prove it.


Audio from PA system to Camcorder I've been asked to video tape a Q/A session with a speaker, and I plan to use my HD camcorder (http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-HDC-TM700K-Camcorder-Control-Internal/dp/B0035LD0EY).

The issue is that my camcorder only has the 1/8th inch speaker cable input, and a long cable from the PA system to my camcorder could pick up a lot of noise.  Wondering what my options are as to how to get the audio from the PA system into my camcorder.  I thought of two options:

Wirelessly transmit the audio from the PA system into the camcorder
Get an XLR <--> 1/8th inch adapter for my camcorder and use an XLR cable to get the audio from the PA system.

Are there any other ways?  If not, could you please recommend product options for 1 and 2. Not too expensive (around $100 if possible).  This isn't professional, but I do want decent audio quality.

Thanks

An XLR cable used with an adapter won't give you the audio quality that an all-XLR cable will. If audio quality is really important, I'd buy or borrow an external recorder that takes XLR cables directly. If this isn't an option, pick up an XLR to 1/8" adapter cable. I suggest taping the adapter to the camcorder so it doesn't move around much.

(Mic cables do move around, particularly if you have a boom operator. However, with an interview, you may be able to use on-screen mics in stands or a single, overhead mic on a stand or hung from the ceiling.)

If you need two mics for the interview, you'll need a small mixer which you can then feed into the camera.

Wireless only really makes sense if you want to use lavalier mics on the actors; wireless systems introduce additional complexities, as they're less plug-and-play than a standard cabled mic.

Balanced versus unbalanced audio:

Any signal chain will have line noise. An unbalanced system (like an XLR cable going into an 1/8" stereo adapter would be) will have more of it. XLR cables (with three connectors) are good because they deliver balanced audio, which is another way of saying that they can do long cable runs without much noise.

A 1/8" cable has also three connectors, but usually because they carry a stereo signal, which is not the same as an unbalanced one. I assume the stereo cable jack on your camera means that the cable run is not balanced - repurposing that third prong from ground to a stereo signal is what does it.

Although I think it's technically possible to have a balanced 1/8" jack, I've never heard of one. (A stereo signal carried through XLR would neccesitate two XLR cables.)

According to Panasonic's specs, your camera uses a "stereo mini" jack, not a balanced or TRS jack. Connector quality would be even more important in that case, since you're feeding an unbalanced analog signal to the camera.

If you have a little time, perhaps getting two adapters - one high-end and one inexpensive - and doing a test may be in order.

Conclusion:

In your situation, if buying or renting an external recorder isn't an option (around $300US), a good microphone feeding into an XLR to 1/8" adapter will introduce line noise, but will also give you getter audio quality than most onboard camera mics.


Increase Volume of a specific mxf channel with ffmpeg I have a MXF file with 6 mono channel (part of a 5.1 mix), How can I create a new mxf increasing the volume of the third (center) channel without reencoding video and the other audio channels?

The command template would be,

ffmpeg -i in.mxf -map 0 -c copy -filter:a:2 volume=2 -c:a:2 pcm_s16le out.mxf


Matching audio levels across multiple clips Let's say I have two video clips in Premiere Pro:

a) A clip with people talking - sound is recorded a bit low

b) A clip with people talking and a loud sound (eg. a gunshot) in the middle

How do I match the audio levels so that the people talk at the same volume in both clips?

"Normalize" doesn't work because the gunshot in the middle of (2) wrecks it.

It seems like a very basic requirement for video editing but I can't find a way to do it.

Doing it manually is very time consuming and error-prone (human ears aren't good at matching volume levels across hundreds of clips).

PS: I'm willing to use different software if needed. All I need is to string a bunch of clips together, match the audio across clips and export. Maybe overlay an image every now and again. That's it.

Export just the audio as WAV and use an app called Auphonic - it will level out, not just normalise, the audio. I use it often and it makes everything sound much nicer.


Windows Software to record from Webcam & Screen I'm looking for software which can simultaneously record video from my computer's web cam at the same time as recording the content displayed on screen.

More Detailed Requirements

Run on Windows 7
Be cheap (< ~70 USD)
Be simple (i.e. easy to learn for basic recording features at least)
Record videos up to 3 hours in length.
Quality is not overly important so long as it's possible to see and hear what's going on.
The video will be published as a file; we don't need any broadcast/streaming facilities
Basic post production video editing tools (examples below) would be useful, though not essential

adjust audio levels in sections of the video
cutting and splicing facilities
ability to switch between cam, screen, and composite feeds

Background

My specific use case: we're about to have a number of software demos for various products and would like to record these.  We can then make these videos available to the end users so they can see what was said & get an idea of what the products looked like without them needing to sit through each demo (saving them time, easing the logistics of organising the demos and keeping number of people present down to avoid too many tangents).  We're likely to also use this tool for some user training videos once the eventual products are selected.

Research

So far I've found a number of potential solutions, but have no personal experience with any.  Reading their sites though they claim to record from various input sources it's not clear if simultaneous input (i.e. cam & screen) recording is possible, or if there are limits on video length.

NCH Debut:   http://www.nchsoftware.com/capture
Open Broadcast Software:   http://obsproject.com
Many Cam:   http://manycam.com
XSplit:   http://www.xsplit.com

Any recommendations would be much appreciated; thank-you in advance.

Personally I use Camtasia Studio and SnagIt. TechSmith, the vendor, has created their own codec for their software which IMO works excellent.

You will probably find Camtasia a bit stiff when it comes to the price compared to your budget, but I mentioned SnagIt for this reason although it's primarily to capture screenshots it do have built-in video recording as well using the same codec as its big brother.

It's simpler and you will probably want to convert the result and edit it in a third-party editor (Camtasia Studio comes with its own editor which is in part why the price is higher).

I never recorded 3 hours but I did more than an hour which was without problem. The key factor here is to have enough space on the disk you record to.

My 2 cents..


How can I move an Adobe Prelude CS6 project I have a Prelude CS6 project that I need to move to a different folder but there seems to be no way to change the file path for the clips.

When I move the project, in logging mode I see the clips in the project but they have the old file path and I can't see any way to change this. When I double click on a clip I get the error. The media you are attempting to work on is offline. Please locate your media, bring it online and try it again

Found a way to do this 10 minutes later and I thought I'd share it in case it helps someone.

There might be a "proper" way to do this within the program, but this way has just worked for me. The Prelude project file is just an XML document so easy to edit and this method should be bulletproof ( make a copy of the project file first though )

Close Prelude
Open the Prelude project file in a text editor, eg notepad but you'll need Sublime Text unless you want it to take ages or if it's a very small project
Replace all the FilePaths with the new file path ( if you use sublime then it's easy to use ctrl-D to multi-select them all in one go but if you're not a Sublime user you'll need to do them one by one - only change the file paths fo each clip not anything else at all
Save the file and open in prelude

Eg, for each clip you'll have something like

<MasterClip AssetName="back-head" AssetType="AssetTypeMasterClip" ClassID="9091c12c-9d39-43b7-b55e-4de81592552c" CreatedDate="11/27/15, 12:54:25" DropFrame="false" Duration="2542700160000" FilePath="C:\old\path\tozfootage\DSCF4661.MOV" FrameRate="8475667200" ImportDate="2015-12-18 03:04:59" ParentClassID="18e728c6-1583-44f4-96da-2a830cded31a" StartTime="0"/>

change the part where it says FilePath="C:\old\path\tozfootage\DSCF4661.MOV" to your new\path\to\footage

so you'll end up with FilePath="C:\new\path\tozfootage\DSCF4661.MOV" - and so on for the other clips
in my windows 7 machine I can find the path easily by right clicking the address bar in explorer and selecting "copy address as text"


FFMPEG: Transparent background with 'showwaves' or 'showspectrum' I am trying to render a video spectrum of music using showwaves ... I need it to render with a transparent background (i think this is called an alpha channel?)...

I tried yuva420p but it's still rendering a black background... here's what I'm doing:

ffmpeg -i music.mp3 -filter_complex \
"[0:a]showwaves=s=1920x1080:mode=line:colors=white:draw=full,format=yuva420p[v]" \
-map "[v]" -map 0:a output.mp4;

Can anyone help? I know I'm close...

The default codec for MP4 is x264 which does not support alpha channel. Use PNG.

ffmpeg -i music.mp3 -filter_complex \
"[0:a]showwaves=s=1920x1080:mode=line:colors=white:draw=full,format=rgbap[v]" \
-map "[v]" -map 0:a -c:v png output.mp4;


How do I achieve a "throbbing light" effect in After Effects? I've seen this effect in a lot of lyric video, particularly when the music is quite intense. Please see these videos for references:

There is a constant pulsating/flashing light effect

The pulsating light is just the intensity of the light varying over time. There are various ways of doing that, you could keyframe it (if you had nothing better to do), you could use an expression like wiggle, or the "the wiggler" tool (if you're old school), or you could control it with the audio level of a layer that has audio.

If you're trying to drive the intensity of the light from the audio, then you need to first convert the audio levels to keyframes. Right-click the footage with the audio, and choose Animation>Keyframe Assistant>Convert Audio to Keyframes, or with the audio layer selected go to the Animation menu in the menu bar and choose *Keyframe Assistant>Convert Audio to Keyframes**. Then you can use those keyframes by either copying and pasting to your light's intensity property (and tweaking the values in the graph editor), or using an expression. This answer details how you do that.


Can I Use Long Manfrotto QR Plates on a short head? I've been considering whether to buy the 701HDV or the 502AH.

I've pretty much settled on the 502AH for its superior drag quality, but one thing a lot of people do not consider is the type of Quick Release (QR) plate they use.

The 701HDV and 501HDV both use the 501PL-type plate. The 502AH on the other hand uses 504PLONG plates, which are significantly bigger.

I have found out that you can use short plates on a "long" head by looking here, but I'm not sure if I can put long plates on a "short" head.

The reason I ask is that I have a few short plates left over from an older tripod that should fit in the 502AH, and if I buy a non-Manfrotto-branded QR adapter for something else, I can only find short plates.

So, can I use the long plate that comes with the 502AH with a short head or short QR adapter?

From looking at photos I can't see why not, but there's always a chance that it doesn't. Does anyone know for sure?

I have used the long plates on a shorter head.  Using it from a larger tripod on the monopod with no problems.


How to ignore certain type of streams (mjpeg) while encoding videos in ffmpeg I've several mkv files which have streams similar following. These files may have more than one audio stream and/or subtitles e.t.c. But my problem is mjpeg streams.

Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (h264 (native) -> h264 (h264_nvenc))
Stream #0:1 -> #0:1 (ac3 (native) -> vorbis (libvorbis))
Stream #0:2 -> #0:2 (mjpeg (native) -> h264 (h264_nvenc))
Stream #0:3 -> #0:3 (mjpeg (native) -> h264 (h264_nvenc))
Stream #0:4 -> #0:4 (mjpeg (native) -> h264 (h264_nvenc))
Stream #0:5 -> #0:5 (mjpeg (native) -> h264 (h264_nvenc))

when i try to encode my video i get this error

  Error while opening encoder for output stream #0:2 - maybe incorrect
  parameters such as bit_rate, rate, width or height

my command is

ffmpeg -i "%%~nf%%~xf" -c:v h264_nvenc -b:v 3000k -minrate 3000k -maxrate 3000k -vf "scale=1280:-2" -acodec libvorbis -ac 6 -c:s copy -map 0 "done/%%~nf.mkv"

how can i ignore mjpeg streams not to be copied to output video, or at least how to properly copy them to output video without getting error.

You can avoid the MJPEG cover art by using properly ordered selective mapping:

-map 0 -map -v -map V

What this does:

-map 0 Map all streams from input 0 (which is the first input per ffmpeg command).
-map -v Then, ignore all video streams including cover art.
-map V Finally, include all non-cover art video streams.

v matches all video streams, and V only matches video streams which are not attached pictures, video thumbnails or cover arts.

For more info see the documentation on stream specifiers and the -map option.


Remote pan/tilt/zoom cameras that aren't expensive I can't quite tell if shopping/product questions are allowed here, but...I'm not sure where else to turn on the SE network.  I have no a/v experience.

I'm trying to gather info for a project here at work where we need the ability to remotely control various cameras during a webinar presentation from a host computer.

Ideal would be the cameras have the ability to pan/tilt/zoom on their own, but as I've found out PTZ cameras are expensive.

I know we can use something cheap like the Logitech Orbit camera, but we'd really like the ability to have decent video cameras hooked up to a multi-input control video box and then also have them on tripods that can control their p/t/z if that even exists.

tl;dr - So basically:

What options do I have if I want to remotely control multiple cameras via a single computer (pan/tilt/zoom) during a webinar, so that the host/actor can just speak/present and we don't have to manually operate the cameras or have dedicated cameramen?

You want a Pan/Tilt head.  Zoom will depend on having a camera that can have the zoom remote controlled and a remote control that can hook in to the zoom.  A pan tilt head can generally either be left sitting on a table or threaded on to a tripod.  They are, however, not cheap.  Expect to spend at least $300 for a cheap one and more if the camera ways more than a couple pounds.


repeat crossfade in a sequence of images I am trying to animate a series of drawings. I have 10 drawings of 10 states of an object and I would like to have a crossfade between each states and this repeated for about 2 min back and forth.

I am using After effects and I have imported the image sequence, made a composition (30fps, 2 min long) changed the time remapping so each drawing is displayed during 15 frames (0.5 seconds).

My issue is that the change between drawings snaps and I need a crossfade between them. The other option I can think of to is create a composition with all the drawings and manualy create key images for opacity but this is going to be very long as it has to go on for 2 minutes.

Is there a way to crossfade each drawing into the next one in Affter effects?

There's always more than one way to do things in AE:

Method1

Import the drawings as separate source files, rather than as an image sequence (in the import dialog uncheck the image sequence checkbox). Once you've got all your images imported select them all and drag them into a new composition.

They will appear as a stack of layers with only the top layer visible, but don't fret. Next step is to trim them to the length you need. The easiest way to do this is to select them all and move the playhead to the last frame you want (frame 15 in your case) and hit alt/option] which is the shortcut for trimming the end of a layer.

Now right click one of the selected layers and from the contextual menu choose Keyframe Assistant > Sequence Layers…. To get a crossfade you need to check the overlap box, and use the Dissolve Front Layer transition (I have never been able to work out why you would ever use the Dissolve front and back layers option, because it means that halfway through both layers will be 50% transparent, meaning that the background will show through). You might have to go back and add extra frames to your layers to allow for the overlap, so if you want a 5 frame overlap on a 15 frame layer you'll need to make it 20 frames.

This is the built-in tool for doing exactly what you want to do.

Method 2

Do what you're doing, but make sure that frame blending is turned on for your image sequences. It's the little filmstrip icon in the switches column (you may have to hit f4 to toggle the visibility.

There are two values for frame blending, you want the first one, which is basically dissolving between frames — the second one does a kind of morph between successive frames which can do a good job in some circumstances, but can look very weird in others.

Now because frame blending is a bit computationally expensive, AE doesn't show it in the comp window by default. You'll have to turn it on to see it, and you do that by hitting the filmstrip button at the top of the layers area in your timeline:

Click it and it will go blue, and you'll see your frames blending.

Although this might be easier to set up, it does have the disadvantage that the frames are going to be constantly dissolving, with only one frame each where they are 100% from the individual drawing.


Moving image from left to right stutters I am using Adobe After Effect and created a simple transition that moves an image from left to right, simply by using 2 keyframes for the position attribute of the image.

The problem is that the movement does not look smooth. The image looks very noisy and the movement stutters. You can find an example here

My composition uses 29,97 frames per second. I tried to increase it to 40, but it did not change anything. I rendered the movie in avi and quicktime but for both outputs the transition of the image stutters. I also used MovieMaker to save compress it as a very small video file, but it still stutters.

What am I doing wrong and how can I fix it?

It seems smooth to me.  I can see some of the resolution loss you are talking about, but I think that is probably due to multiple encoding passes and using too low of bandwidth levels rather than too high.  I unfortunately don't have a large screen available at the moment to check it at full resolution.

The video in question has many small images, which is typically bad for compression as the image doesn't have large areas that can be easily described, but it also has extremely regular motion, which is good for compression as the change between frames can be described clearly.

Using multiple compressions, particularly with any low bandwidth compressions, is likely to lose the motion accuracy and result in drastically reduced compression quality.  Effectively, what happens is that the first encoding, if it handles motion well, will do a good job, but still produce some noise.  The second pass, however, will not see it as purely fixed motion, but will instead see the noise as well and try to encode that information.  That then causes the second encoding to have to spend more data on encoding the random noise and thus ends up spending less data on the hard to describe sea of faces.

Another possible issue that could be going on is drift between keyframes.  That may explain the stutter you are seeing.  One of the ways that modern compression achieves such good compression levels is that it doesn't always describe the full image.  A limited number of frames describe the complete frame.  The rest either describe themselves in relation to the image before them or in relation to the image before and after them.  The keyframe interval is the length of time between full frames being used and defines the length of a "group of pictures", which is all the frames dependent on a particular keyframe.

With very regular motion, if the compression isn't completely accurate in it's motion adjustments, it's possible that the image has to jump an extra couple pixels to get synced back up with the keyframe when it reaches the next one.  You could try reducing the keyframe interval to see if that reduced the amount of jump occurring (lower keyframe intervals is generally a good idea on high motion clips.)

Certainly I would stop trying to improve it with a Movie Maker pass or using non-standard framerates.  Both of these are counter productive as the extra encoding will just further degrade quality since you already have your initial compression and the transcode pass that YouTube does.  Using a non-standard framerate will just result in YouTube trying to do a pulldown (change the framerate) to get it to a standard framerate and will introduce other motion issues related to frame timings not being perfect.


How to speed up the process using VLC and Adobe Premiere for video compilations I need help finding a way to speed up the process creating videos compilations using VLC and Adobe Premiere.

I have a folder with 100 videos, I'll watch the videos using VLC and I'll choose 20 of those videos to use on Adobe Premiere to create a compilation.

I tried creating a VLC playlist with those 20 videos but Premiere doesn't open the playlists.

How can I open those 20 videos out of 100 on Premiere not having to do it manually?

I have to create video compilations daily so I need to find a way to speed up the process.

Why not import the folder into PP and watch and sort them in PP? After all that is the whole purpose of the application.

As you watch them you add the ones you want to the end of a timeline (hit the . key). This is called an assembly edit. Then you can trim your selected clips later.


Video editing workflow : Shall I export small sub clips as individual files from the main clip before final output? I have a one single video file captured by GoPro camera having 1 hour of duration. I would like to make sub-clips out of it from here and there for about 15-30 seconds.

First I can open a source clip in the preview window and use the In and Out points to choose just the part of the clip and export them as individual sub-clips in mp4 files. Then I can import these sub clips back to the timeline for combining them. I have seen some pros doing this (GoPro Media Proffessionals) and some products which only does this, but I'm a little worried about the quality, because I will be rendering/encoding for twice the same clip, which I may encounter a loss of quality. (I assume using a lossy codec)

Indeed, I used to open the source clip in the preview window and use the In and Out points to choose just the part of the clip and then assemble clips together in the timeline without exporting them.

My question is what should I do for the best results? If I need to export sub clips which video codec should I use?

I'm using Adobe Creative Cloud, with GoPro Sudio as a footnote.

I've never used GoPro Studio, but there's no reason you should have to export out the sub-clips individually to use them in your timeline. It may make sense for you to do that if you want to send the individual files to other editors, but even then, you could just send the raw footage with the project file. Another reason could be if you only wanted to work with a few minutes of the footage. You could export out a sub-clip of what you will work on so that you don't have to work with such a large file. However, if you are taking sub-clips from many different spots in the raw file, just work with sub-clips of the raw file in your timeline.


Video to Lens Flare on After Effects I am editing this after effects template. Two flares are there in the package as two separate videos. How do I use them in the video? When I add like this, it shows only the flare without background video. Thank you.

It's because the template you're using is referencing video files, or still images - the Lens Flare effect, which do not use an alpha channel.

This was likely done deliberatly by the template author to prevent bloating the template file size, especially if it's a motion/video file. A video flare that moves, using an alpha channel would be huge in size depending on resolution and length.

So thats WHY.

The work around is you need to set the layer's Blending Mode to a setting other than Normal. Normal will simply place the file as is... what you are now seeing. Black with Flare, nothing underneath.

RIGHT CLICK THE CLIP -> Blending Modes -> SET AS:

You will get different results with different Modes. Typically for flares, I'd use either Screen, Soft Light, Hard Light, or Multiply. You may get interesting effects with other options such as Vivid Light.

But these modes will essentially matte out areas, depending on setting, to get a superimposed effect of the flare over underlying layers.


Is it possible to edit a still image in Photoshop which is part of a sequence in Premier Pro? I'm very new to Premier Pro, and I'm working on a project which encompasses some still artwork which I've created in Photoshop.  I'm finding that as I apply vignettes etc that I'm wanted to go back and tweak the original artwork in Photoshop from time to time to get the results I want.

What's the best way of doing this?  I've been exporting JPGs from Photoshop thus far and adding them to Premier.  Is it possible to avoid this and have the documents linked together so that I can edit the still frame which are part of my movie?

You can import Photoshop files to Premiere Pro, so that whatever change you make in the Photoshop file also appears in Premiere, like this:


The 4k videos from Sony a7iii are quite large by default, suggestions on HQ ways to compress? The videos directly from the Sony a7iii set to 4k 100mbps are quite large. I've tested compressing them separately and see little video loss. I wonder if the camera has an option to by default apply some minimal lossy/lossless compression to keep the quality but reduce file-size?

Well first, the a7iii at 100mbps is far from lossless or even minimally lossless. It's highly compressed in a 4:2:0 or 4:2:2 colorspace depending on your recording selection. The files are incredibly compressed when compared to what's considered minimally lossless or lossless compression algorithms. Shooting 4K at a "near" lossless level would require 4:4:4 and a codec such as REDCode at a compression of 4:1 or 3:1. These files are astronomically larger.

As far as in camera, you're limited to what the camera provides as options, in terms of 50mbps, 100mbps, and so on.

Your only real option to compress down and reduce file size would be to run the files through an encoder, either a real time "live" encoder which captures the video from the camera's HDMI out, or in post production, using Adobe Media Encoder or a similar application.

With 4K, you could compress down, if you are happy with the color and don't plan to do any additional color correction later, to a 4:2:0 H.264 or H.265 codec using an MP4 wrapper. Using a Variable Bitrate, depending on your content/how much motion/detail/etc, you could likely get very good results with bitrates in the 25-50mbps VBR, allowing a Max Bitrate to be set up to 100mbps.

Adobe Media Encoder is available from Adobe and comes with Adobe Premiere. Your best bet if this is something you need, is to run some trials, and to find the best "acceptable" bitrate you can live with for archival purposes.


How much is a good framerate for slo-mo recording? As per the title, how much fps count should I be considering on a camera if I am looking to do slo-mo shots without framerate lag taking effect on video settings?

On a side note, I don't know if this is counted as Photography or videography. I'm looking at digital cameras that have a good video framerate, though.

In tecnical terms of Slow Motion, you can record at any speed, the fact is that actually slow motion... is achieved when each film frame is captured at a rate much faster than it will be played back.The technical term for slow motion is overcranking which refers to the concept of cranking a handcranked camera at a faster rate than normal (i.e. faster than 24 frames per second).
A third technique that is becoming common using current computer software post-processing (with programs like Twixtor) is to fabricate digitally interpolated frames to smoothly transition between the frames that were actually shot. Ciberlink PowerDVD uses that interpolation for ex.

Answering your question, you can achieve slow motion with any video recorder, the more frames per second, the better or smoothly... and of course you can use software post-processing to smooth frames out.

Hope this answer your question.


How to create sound wave art? I have a sound file of my daughter laughing and I want to convert it into an image like the one attached, not just the typical line style of sound waves. Does anyone know a program that makes sound waves like this, I have illustrator and photoshop, so could always take a screen shot if I found a program. Or even better if the program would let me import it to use as a vector file would be amazing!

https://www.istockphoto.com/nz/vector/abstract-music-vector-background-with-sound-voice-audio-wave-equalizer-waveform-gm953559194-260322211

Any sound editing program can show you the audio waveform. Audacity is a free cross-platform one, or you could use Adobe's Audition (subscription based though there is a free trial). They don't specifically export waveforms as images, but you could screenshot the waveform and beautify it with the image editor of your choice.

Alternatively you could use one of the many online visualiser pages. This one is a good example, it can export the waveform as an SVG graphic. https://www.misha.studio/waveformer/


Hardware solution for live video conversion To briefly summarize: I am looking for a video conversion box that will accept any resolution/refresh rate/color space and split out a properly converted feed.

I utilize a hardware H.264 encoder/video switcher called the ATEM Television Studio for live-streaming company events. It's worked wonderfully for all intents and purposes, except it requires precise audio and video inputs.

For audio, I use a Behringer DEQ2496 to convert my audio into a usable AES/EBU digital signal and to provide an audio delay (when needed). Super useful.

For video, I have a laptop that sits at 720p and I've set a 59 refresh rate--and it is accepted as a 720p59.94 signal. As such, it requires any other video input be precisely 720p59.94.

In the past, I've requested A/V companies I've worked with to supply the video signal at precisely 720p59.94. This has caused some issues, the last conference we hosted I was barely able to get working (they had to find a spare video conversion box on-site, as the first box they were using did not give a correct signal).

I would like to take the A/V company out of the video conversion process and be able to accept any video input, and convert it. I would like to be able to accept both HDMI and SDI inputs of any resolution/refresh rate, and be able to convert that signal into something usable.

I am looking at a Blackmagic Broadcast Convertor, but the lack of documentation about it has me slightly concerned. I'm not very familiar with any non-Blackmagic solutions for this problem.

Does anyone have any familiarity with the above equipment, or have a similar piece of a equipment they've used for live, on-site video conversion?

That or the UpDownCross converter should meet your needs as long as the frame rates are the same.  I'd personally stick with BlackMagic's hardware as you already have their ATEM and they make some of the most cost-effective hardware around.  They aren't the top quality brand for sure, but you won't beat the value for the price pretty much anywhere else.

If you need to change the frame rate, you will need some kind of frame buffer that can interpolate on the fly, which is likely going to get pricy.

Alternately, is there a reason that you can't vary the output of the laptop to fit whatever quality is needed for the feed from the A/V company?  This would avoid the need for a converter and seems to be the easier option.  A better output for the laptop may well be a cheaper solution.  The Intensity Shuttle for example is only $199 if you have a thunderbolt or USB 3 port.


Archiving AVCHD from camera for later processing What is the recommended way to copy AVCHD data from SD card to a hard drive for later processing? My video camera would be going on an extended trip and the post-processing will be done after the trip.

Should the whole top level folder ("/private" in my camera SD Card") be copied to individual folder on the hard drive?

Or is there a better method so that post-processing would be easier?

the way I do this from my Canon 7D / 100D is pop the CF or SD card into my Mac and copy the whole card to a folder with a very simple structure

Project_Name_Date

RAW_Cards

Camera_Name_Card00x
Camera_Name_Card00x

If I would add in a DATE Folder under the Poject_Name for multiple days/Dates, When I get back to the studio to start editing I can then just ingest these into my system.

You probably find the same system will work on a Windows PC as well.

The other alternative would be to use a card copy application to do all of this but might make it to complex for the user in the middle.


How to correct aspect ratio I have a movie in AVI format from a toy helicopter that reports an corrupt or missing index but still plays in VLC very wide and short.  When I click Video -> Aspect Ratio -> 4:3 the file plays as it should, but I have to do this each time I open a file.

Video file info: Video: mjpeg, yuvj422p, 720x240, 59.94 fps, 59.94 tbr, 60 tbn

The video dimensions are 720x240 and according to the instructions the video should be 720x480

I am looking for suggestions for video conversion software that will allow me to change the aspect ratio.  I am using a Mac, but have access to Windows PC as well.  Freeware is preferred.

I have tried Handbrake 0.9.9 on Mac, but I can't seem to find a method of increasing the vertical size beyond the original 240.

FFMpeg has an option to modify the aspect ratio of a video file without actually modifying the video, see http://www.ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg-all.html#Video-Options

For example, in your case, the desired aspect ratio is 720 / 480 = 1.5 (3:2) (which is NOT 4:3, it should be 540 in that case)

So your command line may look like:

ffmpeg -i input_file.avi -c copy -aspect 1.5 output_file.avi

This copies both audio and video streams unchanged to the output file, and specify into the file's metadata that the aspect ratio is 1.5 as a hint for video players.


Why can't add I Motion Graphics Templates to Premiere Pro 2020 Timeline So basically, the issue I am running into is as described in the subject. I am trying to add a motion graphics template that I made in Adobe After Effects 2020 and installed to Adobe Premiere Pro 2020. I simply can't add it. Premiere won't let me add it to the timeline. I've tried adding other templates that come with Premiere and those don't work either. I am really new to Adobe Premiere and other Adobe products so I must just not know something simple.
My basic system specs are: Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7700 CPU @ 3.60GHz, 3601 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s), OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Home, Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 16.0 GB, Total Physical Memory 15.9 GB, Available Physical Memory 8.12 GB, Total Virtual Memory 25.6 GB, Available Virtual Memory 15.5 GB.
I have attached a link to a video file showing me trying to add the different templates and failing. Let me know if I should add anything else.
loom video link to me trying to add mogrts

I don't work with MOGRT too much but I assume this is similar to working with AEP comps that you live-edit within Premiere.
Try either dropping into the project first, then into timeline.
Try rolling back to last 'main' version of both AE and PP - so still using 2020 but e.g from 14.5 to 14.0 - often issues appear with PP/AE mismatch during small updates and dynamiclink can be unpredictable.
Hope this helps


Video codec for simple animation? I am generating an animation in Matlab, composed of simple diagrams. The images are characterized by fine structures, strong contrasts and mostly discrete colors, e.g. there are few-pixels wide black lines, dots or small patches of uniform color, few-pixels high antialiased text, etc. Here's a screen shot of a typical frame:

What changes from frame to frame are the colored patches on the left, the time ("t = "), and the position of the black dot in the right panel.

Using a standard video codec on this which was designed for full-frame moving photographic imagery generates strong artefacts even with weak compression. Without compression however, the video file becomes unmanageably huge.

My question: Is there a video codec that is optimized for this kind of material? If possible, it would be optimal if an encoder is included in ffmpeg, and if there is a decoder (codec implementation) available for Windows.

I read up a bit and made some experiments with lossless codecs, getting decent results. I'd be interested in comments on this, especially if there are lossless or lossy alternatives that I overlooked.
I tried the following codecs / formats in ffmpeg:

Lossless Motion JPEG2000 / AVI
ffmpeg -i test.avi -vcodec jpeg2000 -strict -2 -pred 1 test_jpeg2000.avi
compression ratio 19.59%

Lossless VP9 / WebM
ffmpeg -i test.avi -vcodec vp9 -lossless 1 test_vp9.webm
compression ratio 0.52%

HuffYUV / AVI
ffmpeg -i test.avi -vcodec huffyuv test_huffyuv.avi
compression ratio 37.42%

Lossless H.264 / MP4
ffmpeg -i test.avi -vcodec h264 -qp 0 -preset veryslow test_h264.mp4
compression ratio 0.53%

Since HuffYUV did not perform well, I excluded it from further tests.
I then tested playback support on Linux and Windows, trying mplayer, xine, vlc, chrome, and firefox on Linux (Debian testing) and vlc, windows media player, chrome, and firefox on Windows (8.1). I included browsers because WebM is specifically designed for web video. Results:

Lossless Motion JPEG2000 / AVI
plays on Linux with mplayer

Lossless VP9 / WebM
plays on Linux with vlc and chrome and on Windows with chrome and firefox

Lossless H.264 / MP4
plays on Linux with mplayer, vlc, and chrome, and on Windows with vlc and chrome

That a video "plays" means it is supported by the player out of the box, and playback is correct. I found several cases where the video was "supported" but playback was buggy.
Though Lossless VP9 has the best compression ratio (by a tiny margin), for the time being I decided to use Lossless H.264 because it has better playback support.


Concat files of different encodings? I have nearly 130 files that I want to burn onto a DVD as an end result. I've gone down a bit of a rabbit hole and ended up at ffmpeg trying to combine all the files into a single giant 2 and a half hour mp4 that I can then use avidemux to burn onto a DVD. Note that combined, the videos are 4.13GB.

If there already is an easier method to this, I would absolutely love to hear it.

I started off by trying

ffmpeg -f concat -safe 0 -i mylist.txt -c copy output.mp4

But this gave a ton of Non-monotonous DTS in output stream errors. I figured (after extensive googling in a topic I am not familiar with), the encodings are not the same causing some kind of desync. I resolved to re-encode them all into a standard format and then concat them.

    ffmpeg -f concat -safe 0 -i mylist.txt -c:v libx264 -crf 18 -preset superfast -c:a copy output.mp4

The video still has video/audio sync errors. I reduced mylist.txt to be about 10 or so videos just so I don't have to wait so long. The resulting log can be viewed in full here.

The main points I assume the errors are coming from are lines such as;

...
...
frame= 2340 fps= 69 q=21.0 size=  194048kB time=00:01:18.22 bitrate=20320.3kbits/s speed=2.29x
frame= 2375 fps= 69 q=19.0 size=  196864kB time=00:01:19.23 bitrate=20354.3kbits/s speed=2.29x
[mp4 @ 000000000060f760] Non-monotonous DTS in output stream 0:1; previous: 3831808, current: 3520405; changing to 3831809. This may result in incorrect timestamps in the output file.
[concat @ 00000000006084c0] DTS 1226511 < 7174903 out of order
[h264 @ 0000000000559960] Invalid NAL unit 1, skipping.
    Last message repeated 1 times
[h264 @ 0000000000559960] no frame!
[mp4 @ 000000000060f760] Non-monotonous DTS in output stream 0:1; previous: 3831809, current: 3521429; changing to 3831810. This may result in incorrect timestamps in the output file.
[mp4 @ 000000000060f760] Non-monotonous DTS in output stream 0:1; previous: 3831810, current: 3522453; changing to 3831811. This may result in incorrect timestamps in the output file.
[h264 @ 0000000002820480] Invalid NAL unit 1, skipping.
[h264 @ 0000000002820480] no frame!
[mp4 @ 000000000060f760] Non-monotonous DTS in output stream 0:1; previous: 3831811, current: 3523477; changing to 3831812. This may result in incorrect timestamps in the output file.
[h264 @ 0000000002820960] Invalid NAL unit 1, skipping.
[h264 @ 0000000002820960] no frame!
[mp4 @ 000000000060f760] Non-monotonous DTS in output stream 0:1; previous: 3831812, current: 3524501; changing to 3831813. This may result in incorrect timestamps in the output file.
[mp4 @ 000000000060f760] Non-monotonous DTS in output stream 0:1; previous: 3831813, current: 3525525; changing to 3831814. This may result in incorrect timestamps in the output file.
[h264 @ 0000000002820e20] Invalid NAL unit 1, skipping.
[h264 @ 0000000002820e20] no frame!
...
...

There are also a bunch of Past duration 0.998665 too large errors but I read that's not a big issue.

I'm thinking now to use Vegas Pro and just render all the videos together in the timeline but ffmpeg sounds like the cleanest (and fastest) way. What am I not understanding?

So, you've got two targets there -- on one hand you said you want to go to DVD, and the other, you're encoding to H.264. Pick one. :)

Assuming you want DVD still, use -target ntsc-dvd

ffmpeg -f concat -safe 0 -i mylist.txt -target ntsc-dvd video.vob


What type of 360 format is this? I want to download this video and view it in Premiere Pro:

After downloading and scrubbing through the video, it appears to be two (seemingly identical) scenes stacked on top of each other.

This seems to be very different from the equirectangular footage I output with my GoPro Max after converting from .360, for instance.

Question

How do I get  360 videos from YouTube into equirectangular format and view them in Premiere like on most GoPro Max workflows?

Namely, I want to change the tilt and zoom to create the “tiny planet” effect. I can make that effect easily with equirectangular videos, but when I tried with the above video, it didn't work at all.

Youtube 360 videos are in EAC, equi-angular cubemap format. FFmpeg have filter named v360 that can convert such videos to equirectangular or stereographic (also known as tiny planet) format (among many others) by using CPU.


What Happens to Frequencies Above the Nyquist Limit? If I record a sound at a rate of 8,000 samples per second, I know that the highest frequency that can be reproduced from the sound is 4000Hz. What I want to know is:

If the sound contains frequencies above 4000Hz, when I play the sound back what would I hear and what frequencies would be produced at the points where the frequency of the original sound is greater than 4000Hz.

Sounds above the Nyquist limit (in this case 4000 Hz) will seem to fold back into the allowed range. For example, a tone 100 Hz above the limit will appear as a phantom tone 100 Hz below it. So a frequency of 4100 will seem to appear at 3900, one at 4200 will appear at 3800, and so on.

This is called 'aliasing' or 'folding'. The apparent 3900 tone is an alias for the 4100 tone. Since actual, complex sounds are composed of many frequencies, the audible effect is not as clean as theory describes it.


Am I increasing dynamic range by increasing the bit rate of video? My smartphone allows me to change bit rate. Will I increase the dynamic range by doing that ? Thank you

It won't increase dynamic range per se like using a 10-bit encoder would, but it will throw out less information in shadows and highlights when it compresses, so the extremes of the dynamic range will look better.


Is it possible to create an endless loop using concat? Basically I have 4 movies I would like to stream in a continuous loop (ie: like a 24/7 tv channel).

Here is the ./test.txt list of videos:

file 'video1.mp4'
file 'video2.mp4'
file 'videoN.mp4'

Here is the ffmpeg command:

ffmpeg -re -stream_loop -1 -f concat -safe 0 -i ./test.txt -bsf:v h264_mp4toannexb -c copy ./test.m3u8

It starts to play the stream and I think it even loops, as the video files are 10 second clips...but then I get an error "Illegal Seek".

Here is the output:

$ ffmpeg -re -stream_loop -1 -f concat -safe 0 -i ./test.txt -bsf:v h264_mp4toannexb -c copy ./test.m3u8
ffmpeg version 3.1.1 Copyright (c) 2000-2016 the FFmpeg developers
  built with Apple LLVM version 7.3.0 (clang-703.0.31)
  configuration: --prefix=/usr/local/Cellar/ffmpeg/3.1.1 --enable-shared --enable-pthreads --enable-gpl --enable-version3 --enable-hardcoded-tables --enable-avresample --cc=clang --host-cflags= --host-ldflags= --enable-opencl --enable-libx264 --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libxvid --disable-lzma --enable-vda
  libavutil      55. 28.100 / 55. 28.100
  libavcodec     57. 48.101 / 57. 48.101
  libavformat    57. 41.100 / 57. 41.100
  libavdevice    57.  0.101 / 57.  0.101
  libavfilter     6. 47.100 /  6. 47.100
  libavresample   3.  0.  0 /  3.  0.  0
  libswscale      4.  1.100 /  4.  1.100
  libswresample   2.  1.100 /  2.  1.100
  libpostproc    54.  0.100 / 54.  0.100
[matroska,webm @ 0x7f9791809c00] Auto-inserting h264_mp4toannexb bitstream filter
Input #0, concat, from './test.txt':
  Duration: N/A, start: 0.000000, bitrate: N/A
    Stream #0:0: Video: h264 (High), yuv420p(tv, bt709), 1920x1080 [SAR 1:1 DAR 16:9], 23.98 fps, 23.98 tbr, 1k tbn, 47.95 tbc
    Metadata:
      HANDLER_NAME    : VideoHandler
      DURATION        : 00:00:10.046000000
    Stream #0:1(eng): Audio: opus, 48000 Hz, stereo, fltp
    Metadata:
      DURATION        : 00:00:10.001000000
[hls @ 0x7f979105a600] Using AVStream.codec to pass codec parameters to muxers is deprecated, use AVStream.codecpar instead.
    Last message repeated 1 times
Output #0, hls, to './test.m3u8':
  Metadata:
    encoder         : Lavf57.41.100
    Stream #0:0: Video: h264, yuv420p(tv, bt709), 1920x1080 [SAR 1:1 DAR 16:9], q=2-31, 23.98 fps, 23.98 tbr, 90k tbn, 47.95 tbc
    Metadata:
      HANDLER_NAME    : VideoHandler
      DURATION        : 00:00:10.046000000
    Stream #0:1(eng): Audio: opus, 48000 Hz, stereo
    Metadata:
      DURATION        : 00:00:10.001000000
Stream mapping:
  Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (copy)
  Stream #0:1 -> #0:1 (copy)
Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
Error while filtering: Illegal seek time=00:00:09.60 bitrate=N/A speed=   1x
frame=  220 fps= 22 q=-1.0 Lsize=N/A time=00:00:09.98 bitrate=N/A speed=0.998x
video:4821kB audio:152kB subtitle:0kB other streams:0kB global headers:0kB muxing overhead: unknown

I'm unclear what I'm doing wrong. I tried with just one file entry in test.txt list of movies and it still chokes.

ffmpeg concat demuxer supports nested scripts
 with the header "ffconcat version 1.0".

Example of endless recursive playlist script "test.txt":

ffconcat version 1.0
file 'video1.mp4'
file 'video2.mp4'
file 'video3.mp4'
file 'test.txt'

ffmpeg command:

ffmpeg -re -f concat -i ./test.txt  -c copy -f flv rtmp://....

Note: all file paths must be "safe",
  because the header "concat version 1.0" also resets the safe option to 1.


clean HDMI output camera - on start I am looking for a 4K camcorder or DSLR camera for live streaming (tangential question: is camcorder or DSLR better for that?).
To have live streaming, I need pure HDMI output.  Currently I do it with an old non-4K Canon camcorder and it works well, but if the camera restarts, I need to reconfigure it to have pure HDMI picture. I would like to hook it up in a wifi controlled outlet so that I can turn the camera on remotely and start streaming.  So I need the camera to boot into pure HDMI output w/o me having to mess with the controls.

First: 4k for livestreaming is pretty overkill. Please remember that your streaming device (your computer) and internet upload speed need handle this... AND to top things of not all of your viewers will be able to watch the stream in 4k because of their internet and missing out 4k devices.
Alpha Gaming (Harris Heller) is covering everything you want to know about cameras (and livestreaming) in video form on youtube.
Here are the most popular (and very professional but "only" 1080p not 4k) cameras for livestreaming with very helpful information: a sony should be your choice
And here are some additional information for you before you choose your camera and lense: equipment all around your camera
IMHO, this should be your question: How much FOV (field of view) and DOF (depth of field) do you want?
If you really want to live stream in 4k (only 30 fps) then the SONY A6100 should be a good choice.


Second a day video "counter" I'm trying to edit my 1 Second a day type of video and I'm unsure how to put a date below which increases every second?

The text would look something like this: "April 6 2016",
then after a second it would change to: "April 7 2016".

Any idea how I could do it?

In Sony Vegas you can use Text Wizard from Vegasaur Toolkit. It can easily create various counters. Vegasaur has free 30-day trial, so just install it and go to menu View > Extensions > Vegasaur > Timeline > Text Generation Wizard.
Please note that the appearance of the text (font, color, size, etc.) is determined by the selected preset.


Head/Vision Tracking At the 1:20 mark of this video, the author incorporates a line of sight marker to track the players line of vision. Any suggestions on how he did this? What software he might have used, etc?

I want to try and reproduce in some of my own videos.

Thank you.

It doesn't really look like it is actually being tracked.  It looks like a manual overlay of a line on to it based on the head movement.  It really doesn't look particularly accurate either from what I can tell.  Something like Adobe After Effects (paid) or Black Magic's Fusion (free) can easily be used to accomplish this, though they do both have a learning curve.


Recorded video changes dimensions while play I have recorded a video of a blackberry simulator using Cam Studio and i use Nero for playing.

I used fixed region dimensions of width 454 and Height of 762 inorder to capture simulator dimensions to show app working.

Now i want to edit this video.I used Windows movie maker inorder to edit and add few things like:

Title

Captions

But when i play after performing necessary edits in Windows media player,it shows full screen dimension.As a result of which the simulator video looks enlarged and magnified.

I want to avoid this and retain original dimensions that i used during record.How to go about it.

Please help.

Windows Media Player by default will re-size the video to fit the screen.  To get it back down to the actual video resolution you will need to press F11 to exit full screen mode.

If it is still not the correct size right click on the video and select 100% from the Video sub menu.

As for preventing the video player from resizing the video, I don't think it is possible.

(These instructions are for WMP 12, but should be similar to previous versions)


Which video editing software can create this style of title graphic? I'm trying to find out what video editing program does this type of graphical layer to input title over video.

Here are several videos edited with this same program but no reference of the video editor used.

google image search

If you are just looking for what video editor can do a title over a video, the answer is any of them that are worth paying for and most of them that are free.  That's the majority of the point of a video editor is to blend video together and that more or less inherently requires supporting transparency.

If you are looking for the particular template used in that video, I'd suggest asking the people whose YouTube videos used it.  There are many motion graphics template vendors who provide templates that can be used for similar looks if you don't know how (or don't want to bother) to make one yourself.  There are often even some that are free.

That particular effect could be for any number of editors, composition programs or titlers though.  It might come with one directly as an included template or it might come separately.  Nobody is going to know all templates everywhere, so the best bet is to ask the people that used them.

If you are just looking for software in general, I use Adobe After Effects for most things like that, but it's a professional level product so you may not want to go that high end.  Premiere Pro is also able to do a level of motion graphics, though it is more limited.  I'm not sure on the lower levels, but if text overlay or layer transparency or something similar is listed on the features of a product, it should be able to do something reasonably similar.


Are there any free ways to increase the framerate of a video? Suppose I have some footage at 30FPS that I'd like to have a copy at 60FPS with tween frames generated by interpolation (at this point I don't care too much about potential quality or artifacts.) And suppose I'm working on a tight budget, so I'd need stand-alone software that's free, or free plugins to other software that's free1. What options are available at this (lack of) price point?

Through my own Googling, the only thing I've been able to find is: Convert videos to 60fps. Unfortunately the software doesn't work for me (after installation, it won't open! :D), and after tons of troubleshooting I'd rather look for a different method.

I know that there are things like Twixtor out there, but right now they're beyond my budget, so any suggestions would be appreciated.

1. I'm willing to hear solutions that do involve money, but the cheaper the better!

what about creating image sequences and then using somehting like ImageMagick to interpolate between the frames.

So (assuming bash, zsh or similar shell) this should work:

mkdir tempdir
mkdir outputdir
ffmpeg -i input.mov -f image2 tempdir/temp_%06d.png #create a png sequence
len=$(ls -1 tempdir|wc -l) #count the files in temp dir
for f in {0..$len}
do
    old=printf %06d $f #number of current frame
    next=printf %06d $((f+1)) #number of next frame
    new=printf %06d $((f*2)) #number of output frame from current
    newInt=printf %06d $((new+1)) #number of output frame from interpolation
    convert -morph tempdir/temp_${old}.png tempdir/temp_${next}.png outputdir/output_${newInt}.png #create the intermediate frame with imagemagick
    mv tempdir/temp_${old}.png outputdir/output_${new}.png #rename the old frame with a new number and move it to the output dir
done
mv tempdir/temp_${next}.png outputdir/output_${new}.png #move the last frame
ffmpeg -i outputdir/output_%06d.png <<codec etc. options here>> output.mov

basically that creates a temp folder, makes a png image sequence from ffmpeg, creates an intermediate by morphing the two frames into each other using imagemagick, and turns the output image sequence into a movie.

If this is too slow you could do a quick and dirty interpolation by just blending the two frames together. In that case you'd use

composite -dissolve 50 tempdir/temp_${old}.png tempdir/temp_${next}.png outputdir/output_${newInt}.png

in place of the convert -morph... line
Obviously you'll need to have imagemagick and ffmpeg installed, and you have to substitute your input and output filenames and preferred output video file format and codec etc options.


What is the most user friendly projection mapping software? I'm setting up a projection map for a non-profit that will have images projected onto angular and unusually shaped walls. I use modul8 on my mac in the past, but this case is different. They use PC (in fact their whole show runs off of a laptop) and they want the ability to change the images based on the theme of the show. They have an A/V guy, but I don't want to suggest complex software that is going to be hard for a beginner to use. What software should I recommend and then use to set up their show so they don't have to keep calling little old expensive me?

EDIT: I should also mention that this is a small non-profit, so free or really cheap would benefit them greatly.

I'd hate to answer my own question, but just wanted to share what I found in case anyone else is interested.

PaintingWithLight has a feature rich demo that is very beginner friendly, and only costs a bit over $50 for a full license. Compared to other projection mapping software out there, this is an amazing bargain.

VPT 7 is completely free and feature rich, but not as intuitively user friendly. Luckly it comes with a pdf documentation with lots of pictures to walkthrough someone through every feature.

Dynamapper is a $5 app that also works, but requires some additional hardware (to connect a smartphone or tablet to a projector) and some 3d modeling experience.


ffmpeg drawtext filter - create transparent background with text I am currently working with the drawtext filter. So far I have only been successful with drawtext option configurations to use the right font and place the text horizontally centered. How could i get drawtext to display text on a video as shown below?

ffmpeg

ffmpeg -i "/media/test/test.mp4" -vf drawtext="fontfile=/usr/share/fonts/truetype/open-sans/OpenSans-Regular.ttf:text='Title of this Video':x=(w-tw)/2:y=(h-th)/2"  /media/test_edited.mp4"

Use drawbox for the box, and drawtext for the text.

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf \
"format=yuv444p, \
 drawbox=y=ih/PHI:color=black@0.4:width=iw:height=48:t=fill, \
 drawtext=fontfile=OpenSans-Regular.ttf:text='Title of this Video':fontcolor=white:fontsize=24:x=(w-tw)/2:y=(h/PHI)+th, \
 format=yuv420p" \
-c:v libx264 -c:a copy -movflags +faststart output.mp4

drawtext has a box option, but as far as I can tell it can't be an arbitrary width and is relative to the text size, so that is why drawbox is used instead.
The format filter is used to improve the color of the drawbox area; otherwise, depending on your input and output formats, the area could look de-saturated or monochrome. The format filter is then used again to ensure that the pixel format of the output file is compatible with all players.
The audio is being stream copied in this example because you may not want to needlessly re-encode it.
Old ffmpeg users will have to use t=max instead of t=fill.


Lossless extracting of JPEGs from an MJPEG video Using the Timelapse app on my Sony NEX-6 camera, I get an AVI which contains an MJPEG stream.

However, I'd like to take all the individual frames into Lightroom as normal photos, to do my post-processing. Is there a way to extract the individual JPEG frames in a lossless fashion, e.g. without resaving them? As I understand it, MJPEG format is essentially just a lot of JPEG files contained within (in this case) an AVI container.

I would prefer to do this on a Mac (I normally use Lightroom and Photoshop), but any application that does it would be fine, I'll find an OS to run it!

The easiest way is to use ffmpeg or avconv.

The command:

ffmpeg -i mjpegvideo.avi -vcodec copy frame%d.jpg

will create a series of jpeg without reencoding.