Best Online + Possible DVD Project Properties?

Soniclight wrote on 2/22/2011, 12:21 AM

XP OS and VP8.c and am working with both SD and HDV (Canon HV30) footage.

Subject of video: Presentation of landscaping issues of a Housing Authority property hence all footage of plants and all outside (none of my usual artsy stuff).

While I have made, submitted and had no problems with a video seen as a wmv as email attachments (technically "online" viewing so to speak) -- and that will be the first phase of its delivery, this time I have to consider that there may be a need for it to be viewed in a City Council meeting setting, i.e. on some monitor in the room.

This last step may not occur but I want to be sure that what I create would not run into glitches -- either by my making a DVD copy if/when needed (I've never made a DVD), or via conversion of the full resolution wmv that I could send them by some Council staff to be viewable on said monitor.

I say "full resolution version" because the first phase version of the video would have to be relatively small, i.e. maximum 512 x 288 or so as not to be a huge email attachment.

Yes, I've thought of posting it at Vimeo, YouTube or Facebook or even hosting at my website but such a public platform could be interpreted as somewhat of an "exposing government" threat to it that I do not want to inject into to it. This about an issue, not an attack ad.

I've been experimenting with various Project Properties but I'm getting a bit confused as what to choose, specifically in terms of pixel aspect ratio and field order in order for this to have said "Council" room viewing compatibility.

I know that most non-DVD platforms, i.e. Windows Media Player can only play 1.0 pixel ratio footage and I usually choose progressive since all my content so far has been for online/as email attachment viewing. Therefore I usually have both of those settings as Project Properties so I don't run into 1.0 > 1.33, etc. problems on final output.

So with the above information in mind and since this in not meant to be a cherished wedding memory or a Spielberg production:

1.

Thank you for your help.

~ Philip

Comments

amendegw wrote on 2/22/2011, 3:17 AM

Philip,

Pardon me for being obtuse, but I read this post 3 times and I'm not sure what your getting at. If you're asking how to prepare your AVCHD video for DVDA (i.e. burning a SD DVD), here's a "quick & dirty" tutorial re: how to do this:

Add to this a few items that are not entirely clear in the tut (thanks johnmeyer):

1. MPEG-2 render: select "Best" for the render quality.
2. AC-3 render: Dialog Normalization to -31 dB; Line mode profile and RF profile set to none.
3. Set pan crop for each event to match the aspect ratio of SD Widescreen (otherwise you get small black bars on the final video). Or.. set "Stretch Video to fill output frame size (do not letterbox)"

Your next step would be to use DVDA to produce the DVD. Several tutorials out there on this.

Or the Really Easy way is to burn the DVD straight from Vegas Tools->Burn Disc->DVD Edit: Whoops, just re-read the original post. I don't think this option is available in Vegas 8.0c - others may confirm this.

Next, if all your email recipients are Windows users, then the strategy of sending a wmv clip is probably a good one. However, if there are any Mac users, you should also include a Quicktime/.mov file.

What resolution should your email clip be? You're probably going to have to do some experimentation here. Depends on the length of the clip and as well as the bitrate for adequate quality. 512x288? Kinda non-standard size - again, you you might want to experiment.

Finally, I don't think the statement "Windows Media Player can only play 1.0 pixel ratio footage" is accurate.

Good Luck,
...Jerry

Soniclight wrote on 2/22/2011, 4:46 AM

Thanks for response, Jerry.

I have an HV30 which is tape and so AVCHD is irrelevant. Sony Capture turns all footage from my camcorder into into .m2t and that's what I edit in Vegas.

Yes, wmv files for the first "phase" are fine -- as far as I know, all government computer systems in my state are Windows OS. I'm dealing with government agencies.

While most of my footage is from the HV30 shot in HD, I don't need it to be HD -- in fact it's probably better that the maybe-if-needed DVD version be in SD (the AV departments of a Housing Authority agency aren't on Lucasfilm budgets). Hence why I mentioned 720x480.

As far as the 512 x 288 resolution, I settled on that one and similar sized ones after Johnmeyer told me that one can choose any resolution one wants but that the best result is a multiple of 16 due to how pixels are processed. It's in one of my past threads and he provided a chart on how to calculate this.

The 500 pixel range is a nice middle size - not too small, not too large. And you're right, bitrate matters, but since the .wmv version will be viewed on a desktops/locally, I have some play there. I'll decide on that once I've finished the project.

Since it seems that I haven't been clear enough, let me zero in on my main concern:

Windows Media player does not view 1.33 ratio coded files correctly (distortion happens), only 1.0 or square pixel ones. My project is currently in 1.33.

In short, I want to do the right thing on the front end so that the back end will work in both "platforms" (.wmv and DVD versions).

And my apologies if I'm still being unclear, I feel like I'm having one of those not-all-there days (not at my sharpest mental acuity)...

amendegw wrote on 2/22/2011, 5:30 AM

"I have an HV30 which is tape and so AVCHD is irrelevant"The tutorial should still apply if you're going from HD -> SD.

Give th 512x288 a shot. As I mentioned, some experimentation is probably in order. Alternately, you might try 640x360.

"Q: What should both the project and output ratio be so I don't run into problems - incl. with said possible DVD version of the video?"Follow the tutorial, the MainConcept NTSC 720x480 Widescreen template should work fine for DVDA input (you are in NTSC land aren't you?).

...Jerry

Soniclight wrote on 2/22/2011, 6:07 AM

OK, thanks. I've found a solution for the Project Properties that works in 1.0 in/out in .wmv but not too large a project - 960 x 540 (half of 1920 x 1080). If the DVD version is necessary, it should be easy to burn "down" in size to SD.