[Ivan Myles]

[david duncan] “when I open that footage up in a 1280 frame, it adjusts automatically. “

Right-click on the clip to check whether Scale to Frame Size is enabled. If so, deselect.

[Ivan Myles]

800kbps is very low for 1080p. It probably works for lecture notes because there isn’t much change from frame to frame, but blocking occurs during the transition because there isn’t enough bandwidth to handle all the changes. Here are a few alternatives:

– Keep average bitrate low but increase the maximum bitrate; this will potentially provide headroom for the transitions
– Use a wipe or slide transition instead of fade so that only part of the image changes at a given time
– Do not use a transition; just cut to black (or white, or a new title); this alternative will likely produce the best results

A few notes about your other settings:

– Render at Maximum Bit Depth matters if processing and exporting at 10+ bits per channel; you can leave it unchecked for H.264
– Maximum Render Quality is intended for use when exporting at smaller dimensions than the sequence
– Changing Stream Compatibility to Standard and Profile to Main or High will provide better compression via CABAC encoding; however, the compressed file might not play on some devices (Main Profile will be more compatible than High)
– Consider publishing low-bitrate versions at lower resolution (1280×720 or even 854×480) and encode 1080p at higher bitrate; similarly, retangular pixels (1440×1080) can help, but the video won’t play correctly in many media players

[Ivan Myles]

[Joris Bergmans] “What could be the reason it’s so slow?”

qt32server

[Ivan Myles]

Not sure if this works in CS5, but in CS6 CNTL-Click on the frame number in the composition panel to toggle between frames and timecode.

[Ivan Myles]

[Joshua Ralph] “I need a codec that will export my animation at 1920×1200 without sacrificing too much image quality.”

Many codecs support non-standard resolutions. For the built-in Adobe (MainConcept) H.264 codec go to Basic Video Settings and first set the Level to 5.0 or 5.1; lower levels do not support 1200p. Then input the desired resolution.

Note that these videos don’t always play well on Macs. The QuickTime H.264 codec is a better choice for cross-platform compatibility. Another alternative is to render an intermediate file and then transcode to MP4/H.264 using QuickTime Pro.

[Joshua Ralph] “It also needs to compress, the 1000 mb/s data rate of my last attempt is a tad excessive :(“

H.264 will probably be the best codec for your needs. The specific export settings will depend on your bitrate requirements. Max quality requires about 3 bpp; YouTube uses less than 0.1 bpp. That correlates to a range of about 5-158 mbps for a 1920×1200 video at 24fps. What is your desired average bitrate?

A high bitrate VC-1/WMV video will produce slightly better quality than H.264, but I don’t know whether the wmv file will play on Macs. Use the free version of Microsoft Expression Encoder 4 if you would like to try VC-1.

[Ivan Myles]

Two common reasons to transcode: 1) native format is not supported, 2) source files are highly compressed and you would like to reduce processing time. Quality might degrade slightly when using a second-generation copy, but any differences should not be noticeable with a production codec like ProRes, DNxHD, Cineform, or AVC-Intra. ProRes files will be larger than MTS files.

If transcoding, it is a good idea to check the source files with the YC Waveform and RGB Parade scopes in Premiere Pro to make sure luma and RGB profiles are between 0-100 IRE.

After Effects is RGB and your source files are Y’CbCr. Set AE project bit depth to 16 or 32 to minimize banding. A 10-bit codec is preferred if transcoding.

[Ivan Myles]

With a resolution of 1366×768 use Level 4.0 for up to 25mbps and Level 4.1/4.2 for up to 62.5mbps.

The optimal encoder settings will depend on your delivery requirements. What is the bigger priority: quality or file size? Will the movie be uploaded to the web, played on mobile devices, viewed only on computer, other?

In general, Baseline Profile will play on the widest variety of devices but will not compress as well. High Profile will compress better but won’t play on as many devices. Similarly, a higher target bitrate will produce better quality but larger files.

Try starting with a preset and change only a few settings as required (like resolution, for example). If you want to get more familiar with the encoder export many files from a short clip at a variety of settings, and then compare results.

[Ivan Myles]

[Joel York] “When I play back again, the last frame of any clip I moved or shortened is now a part of the first frame of the clip it preceded before.”

Please post a screen capture. Is frame blending disabled?

[Ivan Myles]

[Eric McCarthy] “Also, since I have to fade into and out of the screen capture layer, having the black bars as part of the layer would be beneficial.”

Create a separate 16:9 sequence with the 4:3 screen capture in Track 2 and 16:9 black video (or a title object with a large black rectangle) in Track 1. Treat this sequence as a clip in the main timeline.

[Eric McCarthy] “I am assuming that the render time will be less if I didn’t have to lay a whole layer of black beneath the Epiphan and could instead just lay down the pillars. (Not sure if this is even true, since the Epiphan covers most of the black…)

If this is a concern create the background title object with two black rectangles that cover just the pillar areas instead of one large rectangle.

[Ivan Myles]

After Effects Color Management allows you to linearize the working space and assign an input color profile.