I am trying to render my movie in Vegas for Amazon Video Direct, but I cannot find any render settings that match the suggestions from Amazon for high quality HD. Has anyone found good settings for this?
I haven't uploaded to Amazon, but start by customizing the Mainconcept AVC/AAC - Internet 1080P render template.
You could also customize the Sony AVC/MVC Internet 1920x1080-30p template but the bit rate is limited to 25,999,360 bps. Either should get the job done, though.
In Vegas Pro 14, there is ProRes.
I might even take a crack at Sony XAVC/XAVCS XAVC Intra 1920x1080-29.97p. If Amazon accepts it, it would be a good compromise between upload time and high quality.
Then there is Send2Handbrake...
From the Amazon support page:
Amazon Video Direct supports a wide range of video formats. For best results, we recommend exporting your video in one of three formats.
Pro-Res 422
Supported Containers: MOV
Profile: HQ
Recommended Bitrate for HD Resolution: 220 Mbps
Recommended Bitrate for SD Resolution: 110 Mbps
Key Frame Interval: Not applicable. Pro-Res files are I-Frame only.
Audio Format: PCM
Recommended Audio Bitrate: Lossless, Sample Rate: 48 kHz
MPEG-2
Supported Containers: MPG, MPEG, M2P, M2T, M2TS, TS
Profile: Main
Recommended Bitrate for HD Resolution: 80 Mbps
Recommended Bitrate for SD Resolution: 50 Mbps
Key Frame Interval: 1-second or less. I-Frame only preferred.
Audio Format: PCM or MPEG Layer II
Recommended Bitrate for PCM Audio:
5.1 – Lossless, Sample Rate: 48 kHz
Stereo - Lossless, Sample Rate: 48 kHz
Recommended Bitrate for MPEG Layer II Audio:
5.1 – Data Rate: 768 Kbps, Sample Rate: 48 kHz
Stereo – Bitrate: 384 Kbps, Sample Rate: 48 kHz
H.264
Supported Containers: MP4, M2T, TS
Note H.264 video in MOV wrappers aren’t supported.
Profile: High
Recommended Bitrate for HD Resolution: 30 Mbps
Recommended Bitrate for SD Resolution: 15 Mbps
Key Frame Interval: 2 seconds (or less)
Audio Format: AC-3 or AAC
Recommended Bitrate for AC-3 Audio:
5.1 – Bitrate: 448 Kbps, Sample Rate: 48 kHz
Stereo – Bitrate: 192 Kbps, Sample Rate: 48 kHz
Recommended Bitrate for AAC Audio:
5.1 – Bitrate: 768 Kbps, Sample Rate: 48 kHz
Stereo – Bitrate: 320 Kbps, Sample Rate: 48 kHz
Thanks, John! I'm using the HEVC mov codec, which got closest to the requested 220 Mbps. The Quicktime 7 codecs were severely limited in bit rate, for some reason. In HEVC, unfortunately, the paired audio doesn't match the high settings they request. I first looked at the Main Concept ones, which I generally use for DVDs, blu-rays, and Vimeo, but unfortunately Amazon does not list AVC as one of the codecs they want. Also, it seems they need the audio and video in the same file, which also rules out the Main Concept ones. (I also used 23.976 instead of 30p, since that's how I shot the movie.) Thanks again for your assistance!