[Seth Kopchu]

See my reply here about the update to my situation.

[Seth Kopchu]

Update: I may have found the solution to my problem.

The reason why the majority of the .mov’s won’t open is because they were transcoded to XDCam in a QuickTime (MOV) container. Apple specifically pays for that (and therefore charge you when you buy their software.) This is why my footage isn’t working. Apple doesn’t pay for/sell/own the XDCAM codec in the QuickTime wrapper in Windows.

A company called Calibrated software can license this for $149. I downloaded it, running it as a demo with its watermarks, and so far, it runs A-OK in Vegas Pro 13. It would seem that using this small piece of software (which extends QuickTime capabilities in Windows) I can natively edit the QuickTime (XDCAM) files that I’m struggling with. So far, I haven’t seen any generation loss (would there even be any?).

Now I move on to a separate challenge for creating an EDL from Avid Media Composer and try to send it over to Vegas Pro 13…

[Seth Kopchu]

I’ll look into Avidemux.

Going with your suggestion to use Handbrake, I did, and it worked. It was able to convert one of the many .mov file’s that won’t open in Vegas to H.264. However, I now deal with the annoyance of trial and error – what are the most optimal settings for each .mov file to be re-transcoded that quality and generation loss (if any) won’t occur? Any suggestions are welcome.

Per your request, here is a link to a .txt file for a MediaInfo report on the one .mov file that does open in Vegas, and another report for the one that doesn’t.

[Seth Kopchu]

What about Adobe Media Encoder? Could I use that to transcode the xdvd .mov’s over to avc1-H.264? Again though, regardless of the transcoding message, is there an issue of generation loss?

[Seth Kopchu]

The renaming didn’t work – I had a feeling that’d be the case.

However, running GSpot gave me some information that may help me out here.

Here is a link that shows a screencap of the type of .mov that won’t open in Vegas Pro 13. The codec is xdvd.

Now here’s another link of a screencap of the type of .mov that DOES open in Vegas Pro 13. The codec is avc1, and it’s a H.264.

So I guess now I have to find a program that will re-encode the xdvd .mov’s over to what I need, the avc1-H.264’s. Any and all suggestions, let me know. I’ll assume this is what will fix my problem opening the non-compliant .mov’s into Vegas then, no?

[Seth Kopchu]

John,

Taking your advice, I created the MP4. I also, just to humor myself, rendered my project out as a .WMV using the specifications I listed earlier on in this thread.

The result was that the MP4 was much darker looking than the WMV – the WMV retained all the visuals that the project had before rendering. So while I believe your statement about the MP4 version being superior, what would cause it to make my whole project look darker than what it actually is?

[Seth Kopchu]

Alright. I will first take Mr. Rofrano’s advice and see how I feel about the results.

Is there any particular reason why you would opt to render the project out as Sony AVC as compared to any other file format, such as .AVI and .mov? And will AVC play in Windows Media Player (although I do have VLC, I just, by habit, use WMP as my default 99% of the time)?

Also, I don’t have any of Sony’s DVD authoring programs. Taking your advice and rendering out the two file formats, the audio and the video, will any DVD burning program be able to recognize the two or is what you’re telling me to do a process reserved exclusively for DVD Architect?

EDIT:

Attached is a screen shot of the AVC settings that I’m creating:

https://i.imgur.com/IjGj8.png

What you see is how I have it set. Now, some questions:

1. Should the video format remain as AVC, or should I change it to one of the other two options, Memory Stick or AVCHD?

2. I’ll assume my video’s are in widescreen (16×9) and not letterboxed (4×3), since I’m sure that HD only shoots in 16×9. If what I just said matters or is relevant at all, should I check the “Allow source to adjust frame size”, or leave as is?

3. As for profile, it’s currently set to “Main”. The other option is “Baseline”. Change it?

4. There are two types of Entropy coding. I have it set to “CABAC” right now, whereas the other option is CAVLC. Again, change it or no?

5. What about all the settings and such listed underneath the Entropy coding?

6. Finally, when I click the “System” tab, I set it to “Video elementary stream (.avc)”. Should I keep it at this, or change it to either of the two other options, MP4 file format (.mp4) or MPEG-2 transport stream (.m2ts)?

Lastly, I have, under “Project”, have the setting set as “Best” for video rendering quality.

View post on imgur.com

[Seth Kopchu]

So far, all of your responses have been very helpful.

What about just rendering the project out as a .WMV with these specifications:

Audio: 192 Kbps, 48,000 Hz, 16 Bit, Stereo, WMA9.
Video: 23.976 fps, 1440×1080,
PAR=1.3333, WMV V9 CBR Compression, Smoothness 90.
Use this setting for high-quality HD video playback on a 3.0 GHz computer or better.

I’ve always created files in .WMV in the past both for PC playback and for burning to DVD, but this current project is ultra important to me, hence why I want to retain the best quality possible. Do you guys feel that this template would do me well, not only in PC playback, but as well as Internet and burning to DVD?

Also, I don’t have DVD Architect. What free programs could you suggest? And would what you suggested for burning the project to DVD still work for any program, or would that just be limited to DVD Architect?

[Seth Kopchu]

Two good questions, as I should have covered them in the first place without anyone having to ask. My mistake.

I’m looking to play it back on exactly those three formats: DVD, computer, and YouTube/Vimeo.

I not yet rendered it out in any format whatsoever, as I want to make sure that I’m doing it correctly so that I can get the best quality video.

[Seth Kopchu]

Thank you for the two replies.

The rule of your audio hitting somewhere between -12dB to -20dB is apparently an NTSC broadcast standard, as this is what my friend who went to college for sound engineering told me. Now, being made for broadcast and being made to be screened in a theater (even being made just to be shown online or through a DVD) may or may not be different, and I’m sure it’s up to the sound editor to make that call. If there is any other standard I should know of, and whether or not this one is a legit one in itself, please let me know.

I’ve been editing with my iPod headphones on, PC volume set to 75, and I’ve been monitoring everything in Vegas so that it does hit between -20dB to -12dB. However (again, probably a no-brainer), when I remove my headphones, while no overblaringly loud, the volume overall is softer I noticed that what all of it was before I went in to re-edit them for my film’s final cut. Is this because that my ears were so used to hearing them through the headphones that they need a couple moments to readjust to hear the film in a different style, or should I boost up the volume in all my tracks? Or is there a Track FX Vegas can give me to help me out?