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I want to do my encode using Handbrake. what is a good mezzanine export from Premiere?
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[Dan Sakols] “Im just an enthusiast making fun videos,”
If this is the case, then you’re probably fine working in h.264. If you were dealing in say the broadcast/film world then h.264 isn’t the best working format. It’s an efficient codec but it throws out a good deal of information and isn’t the most ideal codec for multiple generations of re-compression. DNxHD or ProRes stand up extremely well to multi-generational encodes which can sometimes be necessary in the post-process.
Given your description of what you’re doing, I think h.264 is a fine way to go.
Ryan Holmes
http://www.ryanholmes.me
vimeo.com/ryanholmes -
[Ryan Holmes] “h.264 doesn’t play well in every program.”
Yep. I can edit it easily in Premiere but I made the error of trying to color grade said edit in Resolve… Do not bring H264 files in Resolve.
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[Dan Sakols] “The reason Im thinking about this (perhaps wrongly) is that I want to avoid quantization in intermediate decode/encode cycles in rendering.”
Premiere does not use intermediate renders for output by default. It goes back to the original media, decompresses it, processes it, and recompresses it for output.
[Dan Sakols] “From this thread I have learned that cuts and transitions will not matter (transitions don’t need to be rendered?) but composting and color correction will. if that’s the case- I frequently tweak the lighting in certain clips, it sounds like it would make sense to convert my camera clips to ProRes before going to work on it.”
The decision to transcode is not about quality; it’s about convenience. Intraframe media is generally easier for a computer to play back, which frees resources for more processing of other effects. Additionally, while Premiere will handle H.264 sources well, many other applications do not.
Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events -
True Ryan which is why I asked the question.
Your answer (need to work with other software components) and mine (older hardware) are two good reasons to consider transcoding before you get to edit.
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Hey Ryan,
I still haven’t got my head around the preview settings under “segment settings” If I want a high quality preivew to evaluate adjustments, like color or an effect, should I set the preview to the same settings as the segment? Im not sure how MPEG I frame, (the setting I see now) is usefull, as those should only occur about once a second. BTW, I took a look at your site- some very impressive work!Thanks
dan
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[Dan Sakols] “I still haven’t got my head around the preview settings under “segment settings” Im not sure how MPEG I frame, (the setting I see now) is usefull, as those should only occur about once a second. “
What dialog box are you looking at exactly? Is this when setting up your sequence? While editing? While exporting your sequence? Or are you talking about Handbrake here?
If you’re editing the h.264 file then like you said you’ll likely have 2 I-frames provided that the camera records in an IBBP h.264 format (segmented at 12 or 15 frames depending on your frame rate). Some newer cameras, such as the Canon 5D Mark III), can record in an All-I based h.264 format. So instead of having predictive frames and bi-directional frames the codec is actually recording all the information and storing it in each frame with no need for “B” and “P” frames.
In order for PPro to show you anything on your timeline it’s doing all the interpolation under the hood. So if you’ve parked your playhead on a “B” or “P” frame it’s unpacking the codec in order to show you that frame. You won’t see any quality loss if that’s what you’re concerned about.
[Dan Sakols] “BTW, I took a look at your site- some very impressive work!”
Thank you! I appreciate the feedback.
Ryan Holmes
http://www.ryanholmes.me
vimeo.com/ryanholmes -
Ryan,
Im looking at the dialog box for the sequence settings, where it specifies how previews are rendered as MPEG I frames. You answered my question tho, that PP will decode the B and P frames depending on where my play head is, and i will see the same quality as the AVC in the sequence.
After looking at Adobe Media Encoder, it looks pretty good from settings and control. Much better than Compressor 3 which I abandoned for Handbrake (I never moved off FCP 7) I still need to do some tests, and will compare perceptual quality and bitrate with Handbrake.
Im shooting at 30fps. for encodes I force an I frame every 24 frames as a rule of thumb. does that sound about right?
dan
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[Dan Sakols] “Im shooting at 30fps. for encodes I force an I frame every 24 frames as a rule of thumb. does that sound about right?”
This is entirely up to you and the resulting file sizes you want. More I frames typically means a larger overall file size when finished. If you have a lot of fast motion (cars, sports, etc.) then more frequent keyframes usually helps maintain quality. However, it’s just a guy taking against a static background then you can use less. Additionally, you can use less keyframes if you use 2-pass or multi-pass encoding as the software then analyzes the footage and decides where best to place the keyframes.
For most of what I do, I typically will place a keyframe at the same rate as the frame rate. So if I’m doing 30fps I’ll do a keyframe every 30 frames. If I’m doing 24fps then a keyframe every 24 frames, etc. So I usually end up with 1 keyframe per second. And I almost always use 2-pass encoding unless it’s a time crunch or I don’t care as much about the output (i.e. it’s just a rough preview).
Ryan Holmes
http://www.ryanholmes.me
vimeo.com/ryanholmes -
Ryan, is there an adaptive mode where the encoder will deviate from the one keyframe/sec rule for lots of random motion or a talking head? Else 1 keyframe/sec sounds reasonable. I always multipass encode.
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Not that I’m aware of….so there may be but I’ve never seen in it in Media Encoder. If you use Quicktime Pro to encode to h.264 you can set keyframes to “Auto” so it’ll determine where/when to best put the keyframes. I don’t see an option like in Media Encoder.
Ryan Holmes
http://www.ryanholmes.me
vimeo.com/ryanholmes
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