Josh Olenslager
Forum Replies Created
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That sounds like some tough luck Nicholas. Still, here’s a couple of more things you might try — that original mov export that came out synced, instead of reimporting that into FCP (it sounds like you’re doing that) take the file and just do a flat export out of quicktime. See if that manages to work for you. OR you might try exporting using QT conversion out of FCP. Instead of selecting DV, do something like prores 422 or PhotoJPEG at full quality. You could also export via compressor if you have that installed. You can create custom settings in that program with codec and audio combinations. When you’re making your selections there is a sound option. Try opening the options for that and selecting AAC (it defaults to PCM which I know telestream is still working on a bit in development). That might treat the audio a bit better than the uncompressed PCM. OR — and just reaching in the dark here — export using CBR instead of VBR. I’ve run into VBR, when there is a sudden ramp up in playback rate, things can get a little out of sync. A CBR will help keep the speed more evenly paced through out. This might cause some other side-effects, like larger file sizes, but it’s worth a shot just to see what happens. OR — and I learned this the hard way: have you been viewing your exports exclusively in the QT player? If so, take one of your clips with sync issues and watch it in the Windows player ( or MediaShout or whatever you’re going to present through ). I know it sounds weird, but even with flip4mac, QT can be a bit unreliable. You might find that it suddenly, and perhaps magically, works. LASTLY — if worse comes to worse, you shift your audio a couple of frames in the sequence and then export it hoping it will align. Not the best work around, but sometimes . . .
I also noticed on your Facebook video that there are some interlacing issues with that particular file. I am watching on a progressive monitor (not an interlaced monitor), but there are definite interlacing issues on the transitions and motion. You might try selecting the deinterlace option in QT when you export — or compressor — or as a last resort, add the deinterlace filter in FCP to your sequence. Be careful of this, especially with DV footage, as it can really mess up graphics. Still, I think it’d be worth your while to look at it. It’s a pretty simple fix, and it works most of the time.
Anyway, as usual, good luck.
Josh
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Bhavik,
encoding for the web is tricky for sure. Not sure exactly what your specs are as far as robust file size, data rates, etc. It looks like you’re losing some of your highlights and a bit of detail in the color. Unfortunately, that’s sort of part of the bear of compressing for the web. I haven’t used Squeeze much myself, but you might try selecting “main” instead of “baseline” for your encoding profile. That should loosen up a few options for you. Try increasing the b-frames to 3 or 4 and then lowering your i-frame count to 24 (or about 1 second). That will let you balance the file size and output quality a bit, but try forcing a stand alone frame more often (the i-frame) and increase the b-frames (reference frames used). Usually that helps all the frames around it, the ones referencing it, to have a greater chance of retaining their detail. You’re actually running a pretty steep data rate that’s going to demand a lot for web browsers and end systems to play back smoothly. Of course, the lower the data rate, the greater chance that you lose some of that detail. Play around with the compression profile and find a balance that works. Try using CABAC as well. It’s a little more robust on the decoding end of things. Too bad we all can’t stream prores, right?
If you’re really worried about the picture darkening up a bit, see if there’s a leveler filter you can apply in Squeeze. I’m not sure how advanced that software is exactly, but my suggestion is to play around with the data rate, the i/b frames, and just find a balance you can live with. Most of the time with web encoding, that’s what it comes down to.
best,
Josh
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Brilliant indeed. Finally a bright spot after 3 years in stock!
Thanks —
Josh
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Hi Bhavik–
what exactly are you seeing in your encode? There are a lot of possibilities of what could be contributing to your quality concerns. If you could provide your source and target settings, that is invaluable, perhaps a screenshot that is a good example of the quality hits you’re identifying would be useful as well. What are you seeing? Blocking? Pixilation? Gamma? Color bleeding? There’s a lot that could be going on. I will say that the more “intense”the corrections are, whether that is grading, filters, transitions, etc. the greater chance for a quality hit in compression. Maybe we could help you out though if we had a bit more information to work with.
Josh
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Hey Nicholas,
did you try David’s idea of exporting out of QT as a .mov (instead of .wmv)? If not try it, then just export out of QT with your setting. As far as compression, DV is a type of compression, as is HDV, prores, photoJPEG, etc. DV is finicky, too, especially with graphics — mostly with how they look, but it could have some hidden audio glitches, too. When you say you’ve exported without graphics and music, was there any audio at all? Dialogue for example? If there is dialogue and it is staying in sync, but the music track is falling out of sync, you’ve sort of isolated that as a problem, so check there if that’s the case. Could be a difference of frame rate issue where the speed is slightly altered. How long is your edit anyhow? I believe the free version of flip4mac, aside from the regular transcode limitations, also truncates the files themselves. I.E. it will only trancode half the file (or the first 30 seconds depending on the file length) into WMV. You might look around for other programs as well, that might give you a little more control. A 2-pass option certainly wouldn’t hurt. Also, if you’re exporting for a presentation-style program, are you embedding the file in a PowerPoint or other program? You might check to see if h264 could work as an alternative; that would allow you more options and possibly more control. Some options to look in to if you are seriously stuck.
Josh
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Save out of photoshop as tiff or targa files. Make sure that naming is some kind of numerical order so that they sort from frame one to the end. Once everything is touched up and saved (in a single folder — depending on clip length could be thousands of files so you’ll have to be a bit patient with finder if you get into the folder) launch QT and select open as image sequence. It’ll ask what frame rate you want, so simply choose that, select your image folder as the source, and QT will compile the individual frames back together in numerical order. Save that out in your editing codec and import the compiled file back into FCP.
There may be a better or easier way to go about this, but it’s how I’ve always done it. Seems to work pretty well.
Josh
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What format is the audio on your original QT edit? I’ve run into problems with flip4mac with certain video/audio codec combinations. Try AAC, PCM especially has some slight issues. But what are your settings for your QT export? What type of frame rate are you running as well? Seen issues originate there, too.
Josh
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I’ve also had the mish-mash of Windows / QuickTime problems. Generally I’ve let be known early on that QT is the preferred screening method, and if that won’t work have asked to be informed more up-front in the process. I’ve also, more frequently, devoted a dedicated “preview” web page that I can upload a flash file to and simply send the link. It’s never been perfect, but it’s made it easier knowing early on what type of software they (and here’s a real sticky point) INTEND to use to view any preview files. I’ve also used the old DVD fall back many times. But yes, thank you Telestream.
Josh
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you could also try setting in/out points at the head and tail of the sequence. I’ve used that to bypass general export errors before as well.
Josh
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I absolutely agree with Shane on this one. I’ve seen Kona do some magical things with footage, and the IOHD is smooth; then again, some footage, like people say, is what it is. But I’ll second the opinion that it’s something to look in to for sure.
Josh