Michael Banks
Forum Replies Created
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Thanks for shining a light on the Offset effect, Dave.
That’s just what I needed.
-Michael
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Avid Media Composer 7 (HP Z400 Workstation: Windows 7 64-bit; Intel Xeon 6 Core W3680 CPU; 6 GB RAM); Adobe CS6 Production Premium and Adobe CC; DepthQ Stereoscopic; Digital Rapids StreamZHD. -
Thanks, Darby. Your method of creating a perfectly centered circle was what I was looking for.
One hang-up I experienced was that I was trying to apply your method to a solid layer, and the “Contents > Ellipse 1 > Transform: Ellipse 1” property didn’t exist. I had to apply the Ellipse tool to an empty comp to get your result.
Thanks again!
-Michael
*****
Avid Media Composer 6 (HP Z400 Workstation: Windows 7 64-bit; Intel Xeon 6 Core W3680 CPU; 6 GB RAM); Adobe CS6 Production Premium; DepthQ Stereoscopic; Digital Rapids StreamZHD v.3.7.4.47. -
Stan, yes, I ended up re-encoding the files as 1 pass VBR H.264 files.
The quality is completely presentable for our needs, but it is a shame that I currently can’t use 2 pass VBR to get the BEST quality possible.
Thanks for your assistance and knowledge!
-Michael
*****
Avid Media Composer 6 (HP Z400 Workstation: Windows 7 64-bit; Intel Xeon 6 Core W3680 CPU; 6 GB RAM); Adobe CS5.5 Production Premium; DepthQ Stereoscopic; Digital Rapids StreamZHD v.3.7.2.25. -
Aaahhhhh!!! Well, the “Main Profile” work-around worked for a short clip on a disk with no menus, but my actual project with long videos, a main menu, and a pop-up menu isn’t faring as well.
Out of the 4 videos I encoded in Adobe Media Encoder with the profile set to “Main”, only one of them imports as “Don’t Transcode”. And this one video is the largest file. I don’t understand.
There was one instance when I had two videos imported as “Don’t Transcode”, but I wasn’t able to figure out why, nor was I able to repeat it after scrapping that version of the project.
Due to my deadline, I must be resigned for the moment to letting Encore transcode what it says it needs to, adding huge amounts of time to a project which should’ve been done by now.
Word to the wise: Don’t assume things will go smoothly with a different type of project using the same software (in my case, a dual layer 2 pass VBR Blu-ray instead of a single layer CBR disc).
-Michael
*****
Avid Media Composer 6 (HP Z400 Workstation: Windows 7 64-bit; Intel Xeon 6 Core W3680 CPU; 6 GB RAM); Adobe CS5.5 Production Premium; DepthQ Stereoscopic; Digital Rapids StreamZHD v.3.7.2.25. -
Sorry, John, a correction about the MP4 format: MP4 can either be created using the H.264 codec (which I use) or the MainConcept MPEG4 Video codec. I believe the H.264 codec is considered a better way to create files.
In AE (CS5.5), select “H.264” from the Output Module and click its name to access the “Output Module Settings” dialogue box where you can change the necessary “format options” found under the “Video Output” heading. Doing this will apply the settings to this one output in your render queue and will not change the default H.264 settings.
-Michael
*****
Avid Media Composer 6 (HP Z400 Workstation: Windows 7 64-bit; Intel Xeon 6 Core W3680 CPU; 6 GB RAM); Adobe CS5.5 Production Premium; DepthQ Stereoscopic; Digital Rapids StreamZHD v.3.7.2.25. -
Hi, John. After my experience with After Effects (I am referencing CS4 and CS5.5 here) and creating video files for the web, I can offer the following:
1) Yes, MP4 is the same as MPEG-4.
2) The “yield” sign is just an FYI to let you know that something will be techinically, and perhaps, perceptually different in the final output file from the orginal (like PAR).
When my final file output is destined for the web, I make the dimensions of my After Effects comp safe for the web/computer screen display. You can do this simply with your encoding preset (like After Effects was telling you it was going to do), but I don’t know that you will want to let it do that for the following reason:
It looks to me that your source WMV is a wide screen video since your dimensions have a ratio of 1.77:1, or 16:9. If this is true, then allowing After Effects to “help” you by resizing it for you will ruin the aspect ratio by changing it to 1.47:1.
To avoid this, disregard what After Effects tells you about your WMV having a PAR of 1.22 (this is the PAR for widescreen NTSC Standard Definition, and I think the WMV format may be showing you the adjusted frame size dimensions instead of the actual pixel dimensions of your clip).
In AE, right-click your footage and select “Interpret Footage>Main”. In the “Main Options” tab and under the “Other Options” heading, change the “pixel aspect ratio” to “Square Pixels”. Now your footage will display in AE as it should appear on the web.
Drag your footage to the “new composition” icon at the bottom of your project panel, and your new comp will be set to 576×324 with square pixels (if it isn’t, change your comp’s frame size to 576×324 with square pixels and scale your footage to fill the frame). The “yield” icon will not appear when you output this video to a video file with the same dimensions.
As far as creating an MP4 (H.264) file, try modifying your “Output Module” settings to:
Video: “Profile: Baseline”; “Level:3.0”; “VBR, 1 Pass”; “Target Bitrate: 1 Mbps”; “Maximum Bitrate: 1.5 Mbps”.
Audio: “Codec: AAC”; “Audio Quality: High”; “Bitrate Settings: 96 kbps”; “Precedence: Bitrate”.
Multiplexer: “MP4”; “Stream Compatibility: Standard” (though you can set this to “iPod”, I have used “Standard” to produce files for iPad).
P.S. It is generally a good idead to output your final video files, whether to the web or desktop use, as close to the video clip’s original frame dimensions and pixel aspect ratio (or intended display dimensions) as possible to preserve the quality of the original as much as possible.
P.P.S. To get a look at what’s under the hood with various video files you may work with, I recommend downloading “MediaInfo” from https://www.download.com.
-Michael
*****
Avid Media Composer 6 (HP Z400 Workstation: Windows 7 64-bit; Intel Xeon 6 Core W3680 CPU; 6 GB RAM); Adobe CS5.5 Production Premium; DepthQ Stereoscopic; Digital Rapids StreamZHD v.3.7.2.25. -
Thanks for the explanation and extra information, Stan.
It’s frustrating to deal with overestimated media sizes in Encore since I want to maximize the video quality on my disc (my run time is very long, 7 hrs 20 mins), but I now know what kind of shenanigans I am dealing with when using Encore for such a large project.
Thanks again! Your quick response to my post is greatly appreciated!
-Michael
*****
Avid Media Composer 6 (HP Z400 Workstation: Windows 7 64-bit; Intel Xeon 6 Core W3680 CPU; 6 GB RAM); Adobe CS5.5 Production Premium; DepthQ Stereoscopic; Digital Rapids StreamZHD v.3.7.2.25. -
Soryy. Correction: Encore registers the media @ 49.97 GB, though it is really only 45 GB.
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Stan, that work-around was the trick! In my H.264 Blu-ray export settings I changed the “profile” setting from “High” to “Main”, and the test file I created via Adobe Media Encoder imported into Encore with no need to transcode it. I don’t get my wasted encoding time back, but that’s what nights and weekends are good for. Thanks again!
A couple more annoying aspects to Encore that perhaps you can shed light on: why does Encore misrepresent the disc space available? I know that my dual layer Blu-ray disc is only 46.6 GB, but Encore reads it as 50 GB. Furthermore, the total file size of my encoded video files was 45 GB, but Encore told me that my media size was over the disc’s capacity. Why does this happen?
-Michael
*****
Avid Media Composer 6 (HP Z400 Workstation: Windows 7 64-bit; Intel Xeon 6 Core W3680 CPU; 6 GB RAM); Adobe CS5.5 Production Premium; DepthQ Stereoscopic; Digital Rapids StreamZHD v.3.7.2.25. -
Awesome information, Stan. I may try the profile work-around. My files were encoded at “High” and not “Main”. Thanks!
-Michael
*****
Avid Media Composer 6 (HP Z400 Workstation: Windows 7 64-bit; Intel Xeon 6 Core W3680 CPU; 6 GB RAM); Adobe CS5.5 Production Premium; DepthQ Stereoscopic; Digital Rapids StreamZHD v.3.7.2.25.