Ivan Myles
Forum Replies Created
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If the source footage from the client is too dark, use the Levels effect in AE or the Fast Color Corrector in Premiere Pro. If the final delivered video that the client creates is darker than your DNxHD output file, render another copy of your file using a different codec.
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[greg howell] “the most annoying thing about this is that ill view it, and it will be fine, then an hour later ill come back and the quality would of dropped enough that you will see blocks of colour in one part of the video. “
[greg howell] “is it something to do with bandwidth dipping up and down?”
Probably. Try downloading the Vimeo files to view off-line.
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Is the clip being played by Premiere Pro or as an encoded file in a media player?
If Premiere Pro, is the video monitor set up as a full screen display using Edit>Preferences>Playback>Video Device?
Also, have you tried rendering a preview? Premiere might just be coughing up when trying to play in real-time.
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Are the keyframes Linear, Bezier, Continuous Bezier, other? Sometimes non-linear paths go to undesirable locations.
The motion path can be adjusted as follows:
1) In the Timeline panel, expand the track.
2) In the track header click on the small arrow next to the keyframe diamond and ensure Show Keyframes is selected.
3) Drag the track header up to make the track taller.
4) Go to the clip in the timeline, click the pulldown next to the clip title, and select Motion>Position.
5) Click on one of the keyframes; there should be handles to adjust the incoming and outgoing curves. Adjust the handles to ensure smooth motion between keyframes.
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In order to separate Speed/Duration from other potential causes, please confirm whether the video monitor can play AVC-Intra clips at normal speed.
Also, how is the AVC-I clip being played: from Premiere Pro on a secondary full screen display (Edit>Preferences>Playback>Video Device), with a media player outside of Premiere Pro, other?
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Are you referring to the videos you encode or the recompressed Vimeo files? If Vimeo, are you downloading the files or viewing online?
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Great comments, Angelo. Thank you for the acknowledgement in the article.
Greg, it is OK to submit higher bitrate files. H.264 average bitrate doesn’t usually go above 15-18mbps when using 2-Pass encoding on 1280×720 video at 24-30fps. To go any higher generally requires a short keyframe distance, 1-Pass encoding, or 50-60fps frame rate.
The Level parameter relates to maximum allowable data rate. In most cases setting Level to 4 or 5 for 1280×720-24/25/30 video just allows higher peak bitrates. The differences in quality you are observing between Levels 3.1 and 4.1 might be the result of peak bitrate being clipped in high-motion scenes.
[greg howell] “I guess to summarise, is there any problem with me exporting out at 1280 x 720, high profile, target and max bitrate 5 mbps and level 4.1 when uploading to vimeo and youtube? ..as this seems to look fine at the moment. “
Bitrate will depend on how much motion and variability there is within the movie. I have had success uploading ~12mbps 720p files, but there is not much observable difference compared to 5mbps. As a general guideline set max bitrate to 1.5x average bitrate.
High Profile produces the best results when bitrate is constrained. If there is plenty of headroom all of the profiles will produce good quality.
Ultimately, test a short clip at several settings to see what works best with your footage. Upload the test files and compare the recompressed Vimeo videos. There might not be much difference after being reduced to 2.5mpbs.
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[Simon Matthews] “I added the effects in After Effects, exported as AVI, which made the file size jump to 2.26Gb, with a bitrate of 1,193,231Kbps. I then imported this footage into Premiere Pro CS5 and added the sound effects.”
Your workflow can be simplified by using dynamic links between Premiere Pro and After Effects. As an alternative, work on the sound without the video and import an uncompressed wav file to AE. There is minimal advantage to creating an intermediate file in this case.
Otherwise, I agree with the recommendations to use a 10-bit all-intra 422 codec. I have experienced color issues when going from DNxHD to QuickTime H.264. If the final output from the client is darker than expected, try using another codec instead (eg AVC-Intra, Cineform).
[Simon Matthews] “So I have an uncompressed file and I’ve loaded it into Quicktime Pro. Which format do I then choose?”
DNxHD can be exported directly from AE; it will appear as one of the options under the QuickTime format.
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I agree with the previous comments. Here are some additional thoughts:
– The Samsung 840 Pro is a good choice.
– mSATA SSDs function like SSDs but have a form factor similar to mini-PCIE cards. Use one slot for Adobe cache files. Whether or not to populate the second slot depends on several factors (budget, accessibility, typical usage scenarios, HDD or SSD file storage).
– If it is within budget, think about installing a 960GB SSD instead of a 1TB platter drive. (Crucial offers one for about US$600.) If you go HDD, populate the second mSATA slot with a 240GB SSD for current files.
– 32GB RAM might be overkill unless you are doing intensive AE compositions. It’s the easiest hardware upgrade to make, so you might think about starting with 16GB. Put the money to a GPU or SSD upgrade instead. But if you have the budget, 32GB is great.
– The 770M graphics card should be fine. Consider the 780M if you plan to keep the laptop for a few years because it’s difficult to upgrade the GPU later.
– I’d recommend the Intel Wireless-AC 7260. Consider upgrading your wireless router to dual-band AC, too.
– Matte versus glossy display is a personal choice. The tradeoff is pretty straight-forward: glossy provides clearer images but higher reflectivity. It might not make much difference if you plan to use an external monitor(s).
– Get some data backup hardware, whether NAS or just external USB3.0/eSATA drives.
Overall it looks like a great system. Good luck with the purchase.
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Under the hood should be OK. Memory might be a constraint if you do intensive AE compositions. My biggest concerns are the 14″ screen size and HDD. First available money should go to a monitor and SSD. Another option would be the Precision notebook; similar hardware to Alienware but with Quadra graphics and matte screen. Look for outlet discounts if budget is tight.
