[Ron Whitaker]

OK.

I just downloaded Handbrake, which is an encoder, and you can see (in the screenshot below) that there is a Quality setting. If you set the Quality to 0, it shows as Lossless.

Is this perhaps what I’m looking for when re-encoding an .mp4 to Quicktime?

[Ron Whitaker]

Okay, all these great responses have raised more questions in my mind.

1) First question: if I render out to MainConcept AVC/AAC (.mp4) or Sony AVC/MVC, those are containers, right? And I think/hope that the video codec each of those use is h264. Is my thinking correct?

2) Now, besides ffmpeg, is there a way to take my MainConcept or Sony rendered file and re-wrap/re-encode it to another container–like Quicktime–without further compressing and therefore losing more quality?

The only reason why I’d like to find something other than ffmpeg is that ffmpeg looks like you basically enter commands like on an old DOS prompt. (I left the old DOS prompt behind 20+ years ago and would rather not go back to that! But if that’s all there is out there, then I guess that’s what I’ll have to use.)

And right now, the ONLY reason why I’m having to end up in Quicktime is for my class. After the class is over, I’ll NEVER go to Quicktime again.

3) OK, one last question: my footage that comes from my camera (Panasonic GH2) is in AVCHD format. Is AVCHD compressed, or an uncompressed format? So, when I open my AVCHD clips in SV, do my editing, then render it out, it’s getting compressed again, no matter WHAT format I render to?

So, now I just need to find a way to take my SV rendered file and simply re-encode it to another container without further compression. I guess I’ll have to look more at ffmpeg. (But is there anything else?)

[Ron Whitaker]

“Is there is an option in MPEG Stream Clip that allows you to re-wrap the .MP4 file as .MOV without *re-encoding*? ie. copy video and audio streams without re-encoding?”

I have no idea. How can I tell if the program is re-encoding or not? I take it it is better to NOT re-encode?

All I do is go into MPEG Stream Clip, open the .mp4 file, then select File > Export to Quicktime.

Would it be better to use something like Handbrake?

Here’s a screenshot of the Export to Quicktime dialog box with settings:

[Ron Whitaker]

When I render in Vegas as Quicktime–and normally I wouldn’t, but for my class I have to–I select the Motion JPEG A codec as Video Format. (The options under Video Format are codecs, aren’t they?)

H264 isn’t an option in Vegas, hence my original question as to why.

How do I know if a codec is lossy/lossless/uncompressed?

For my situation, would a better workflow be:

1) Selecting something like the HD 1080p (from MainConcept AVC/AAC) or Blu-Ray 1920×1080-24p, 16Mpbs video stream (selected from Sony AVC/MVC),

2) Then opening the file in MPEG Stream Clip and exporting to Quicktime using the h264 codec.

Would that be a better workflow?

[Ron Whitaker]

Thanks for your reply.

I’m going to have to stick with the 720 x 480, just to save $.

Actually, I fixed it. What I did was went into the Pan/Crop of each event clip and deselected the Lock Aspect Ratio button at the left and drug the top/bottom lines up or down to adjust them and it resized the clip so that the bars no longer showed.

I also put the Project Properties aspect back to the original source aspect that I shot on my camera of 1920 x 1080.

So, from a workflow standpoint, when you import your footage, should you make the Project Properties aspect the same size as your original footage, and all footage and generated media that you create thereafter?

And then when you go to render, what is a good rule of thumb? Can you then render to any size you wish?

Thank you.

[Ron Whitaker]

Thanks!

That’s exactly what I was looking for! I never even thought of looking for “epic” in my search!

Anyway, I found the perfect Photoshop tutorial here:

https://loreleiwebdesign.com/2010/01/25/design-surreal-composition-fallen-angels-dream-fly/

Now I just need to figure out how to translate those steps into Vegas to get that look for video!

[Ron Whitaker]

Thank you.

I’m using a Panasonic GH2 and the footage is AVCHD.

[Ron Whitaker]

OK. I see what I did wrong.

I went into the Pan/Crop and set a keyframe at the beginning of the clip, right-clicked, then selected Flip Horizontal, then moved to the end of the clip within Pan/Crop, and selected Flip Horizontal, so that it set a keyframe there as well.

That then worked!

Thank you!

[Ron Whitaker]

When I try this, and then play the clip in the timeline, the first part is flipped, then it reverses back to the way it was.

[Ron Whitaker]

Since posting the original message, I figured that that was the way to do it.

Thank you.