Best Format/Render Options to Archive Final File

panzer948 wrote on 2/1/2015, 2:07 PM
Jumping back into Sony Movie Studio after stepping away from video editing a couple of years. I previously used Platinum 11 so looking at upgrading to 13 after I play around with the trial version a little more. One of the things I was always confused by were the tremendous amount of options you can save your final output file. I want to save my final edited files at the highest quality possible and in a format that can still be readable/used years down the road. That way I can either play the file back or convert it to some other format, depending on needs. If I want to share said file on the web; I would simply convert it into one of the recommended formats for a particular site (FB, YouTube, Vimeo etc.). So what is the current census on the best settings for the final format and render options. Not overly concerned with file space.

Thanks,
Bryan

Comments

Chienworks wrote on 2/1/2015, 2:55 PM
If file space really isn't a concern then go with uncompressed AVI. Be prepared to have LOTS of drive space available though.
musicvid10 wrote on 2/1/2015, 9:31 PM
Best archive format is a copy of the source file.
You didn't say what that format is, but I doubt it will become obsolete.

MSmart wrote on 2/1/2015, 9:48 PM
Check out panzer's posts, this is a recycled Q.
panzer948 wrote on 2/2/2015, 12:01 AM
Wow MSmart. Guess the forum police are snooping after me...... You really bothered to look that up?? So what if I asked this like 2 or so years ago. This technology changes all the time and to be quite honest, I didn't get a good consensus when asking this a few years ago. If I had then I wouldn't have to revisit it when jumping back into video editing (just yesterday). If you look at my question above carefully, I pretty much explain that. I was all ready to jump into a more entry level editing solution this time around to save time on the relearning factor but they all seem to lack a few key features that Sony has. I just wish Sony would make the front end properties setup and the movie final rendering/save functions alot simpler. If you get away from this for any period of time it can be quite confusing to relearn. Besides, when I was using Movie Studio 8 and later 11, I never felt confident that I was saving my final files for archiving or sharing on the web at optimum settings due to all the choices. Not everyone is an expert at this stuff. I am actually considering buying that Avis converter just to save files after editing them on Sony based on how i want to use the vid (i.e., Vimeo, Youtube, Facebook, etc.) so I don't have to know all the details. Sometimes simpler is better.

panzer948 wrote on 2/2/2015, 12:15 AM
Thanks for your reply and help. I have a few sources I will be combining to make videos as I tend to use at least two cameras at a time when shooting to get more than one angle. Two of them are from Canon Cameras. One is the 7D SLR and the other is a simple Canon Point and Shoot (S100). They both record as MOV files using AVC / H.264 compression. I also recently picked up a GoPro 4 for Christmas. I will also shoot that with 1920 HD but it is MP4 format.

So after I combined these file types on the timeline and edit the footage, add transitions, titles, etc. I would be ready to save to a new format. Are you saying save to a format like one of the two original files (MOV or MP4). At that point wouldn't it be best just to save as an AVI uncompressed as suggested above?

In the past others had said that MP4 might be the way to go for future compatibility and save a little file space. I know I indicated space wasn't an issue but maybe I should revise that. If the quality and future proof is nearly the same as say a uncompressed .avi file then I would consider that a plus. Just curious if any of that has changed.
Chienworks wrote on 2/2/2015, 7:53 AM
Unless you can smart render, which you can't entirely since you're adding transitions and titles, a compressed output will *ALWAYS* be poorer than the source. There are no exceptions to this, ever, nor will there ever be. That being said, it might not be much worse. If you use a high enough bitrate the degradation might be so small as to be unnoticeable.

Then again, if you have the space, you should always save the original source files. As you say, technology is always changing. Maybe a few years from now there will be software that will be able to do the edits you want much more cleanly and produce a much better output, but only if you saved the originals.