Codec render advice....

set wrote on 6/4/2018, 11:00 AM

Someone asked following question in the tutorial post ( https://www.vegascreativesoftware.info/us/tutorials/a-guide-to-renders-codecs-file-types-and-more-vegas-pro-15--111067/ )

His client requires him to render to following specification:

Required Media:

(preferred) a self-contained Quicktime file (mov)

- codecs for HD: Apple ProRes, DVCProHD, HDV, Motion JPEG-A, or H.264 (with a recommended data rate of at least 16Mbps)

- codecs for SD: Apple ProRes, DV-NTSC, Motion JPEG-A, or H.264 (with a recommended data rate of at least 16Mbps)

- resolution: HD (1280x720 preferred) .1080 accepted if files compressed to reasonable size. SD accepted

- interlacing: Progressive/Non-Interlaced preferred

- file type: Quicktime (.mov)

Perhaps someone here can help this person?

(tag @jellist1010 )

Comments

fr0sty wrote on 6/4/2018, 1:21 PM

Since ProRes is mentioned first, I'd go with it. Magix ProRes set to 720p should do the trick.

Musicvid wrote on 6/4/2018, 3:48 PM

Render the best .mp4 you can in Vegas (not getting into the Magix/MC debate here), and change the file extension to .mov

It will pass muster because the containers are indistinguishable to Apple .mov decoder.

On the other hand, Magix ProRes may not be universally accepted according to a couple of anecdotes.

jellist1010 wrote on 6/5/2018, 8:29 AM

First off, thank you for the responses. I have tried the ProRes render setting and I can not preview the file on Windows media player or Quicktime..so maybe I'm missing the proper codec reader for ProRes files? As for changing the file extension to mov. from MP4..I only get a grayed out extension tab when I go into the custom settings for Magix AVC, Sony AVC, Mainconcept MPEG2. Am I missing a step or a preference tab?

NickHope wrote on 6/5/2018, 8:45 AM

@jellist1010 This is the last Quicktime for Windows version: https://support.apple.com/kb/dl837?locale=en_US As far as I know, it should support the formats that Vegas can write, and enable WMP to play them as well as its own Quicktime Player. There *might* be an abnormality with the ProRes files that Vegas writes. My understanding is that its encoder is a reverse-engineered one and not approved by Apple. But there have been little or no reports on the forum of Vegas ProRes rendered files being rejected by clients. I would expect more if there was a generic problem there.

VLC Player will *probably* play the ProRes files without installing Quicktime at all.

Also, there are some different flavors of ProRes that you can render from Vegas, so you might try the others.

As for the file extension, I guess Musicvid meant literally just edit the file's extension in Windows, after the render.

In the past, before the days of ProRes in Vegas, I supplied a stock footage house with lot of Motion JPEG-B .mov files rendered from my HDV. That went pretty well. So you could fall back to Motion JPEG-A, which I expect would also be reasonable. Crank up the quality slider to 90%. File sizes will be much bigger than H.264(AVC) for the same quality. I would exhaust the ProRes and H.264 options first.

set wrote on 6/5/2018, 8:58 AM

Even for my Atomos-recorded ProRes codec media, the media isn't playable with standard Win10 Media Player / Movies & TV application, but VLC can read it.