Custom output aspect ratio failing

CVM wrote on 2/8/2012, 9:40 AM

Gang,

I am editing a 1920x1080 project in Vegas Pro 10. It is a mix of Jumpbacks, full resolution HD video, and photos of various sizes. The project properties match the full 1920x1080 video files.

My client needs the final video delivered as a 425x294 uncompressed MP4 so it will fit in a pre-designed web page which will display the video. I can't figure this out for the life of me. I'm guessing the proportions won't be the same from original to final, but I can't even get Vegas to create teh 425x294 file even when I specify it in the Render box. What comes out is a 448x256 file. Even when I change the project properties to the 425x294 setting, the output is 448x256.

I also tried Handbrake, and it doesn't even render it. It looks like it is (it goes through the motions), but nothing is produced. Wierd.

I'm stumped. What can I do?

Thanks.

Dave

Comments

larry-peter wrote on 2/8/2012, 10:34 AM

CVM,
First I would get your clients true specs for delivery. MP4 is a compressed format, so they should give you the bitrate they want. Uncompressed MP4 does not exist.

And if they want your full 16 X 9 frame included, you'll need to render it letterboxed to meet their pixel size requirements. Even after setting project settings to 425 X 294, I was not able to render at that exact size. Not surprising because most programs will only allow for certain evenly divisible ratios to be rendered. I was able to get a 426 X 294 render in Main Concept AVC, which should be cropped or resized easily by the player on the web site.

Used 1920X1080 footage in a project with these settings:

Rendered in Main Concept AVC with these settings:

Movie inspector shows these properties for the render:

QT will generally show MP4 as H.264, so no concern there.

Edit: I don't use Handbrake, so not familiar with its capabilities, but Adobe Media Encoder may be able to crop to the exact 425 width. I have had a situation similar where I provided files that were one pixel larger than the web site's player and it (a Javascript - based player) handled it fine.

Larry

CVM wrote on 2/8/2012, 11:05 AM

Larry... thanks for the amazing amount of time you spent in helping me! Your screenshots were spot-on. After reading your answer, I realized I had to ignore the extra pixel on the width, AND I needed to match the Jumpback I used behind the stills for use behind the HD footage so the letterboxing wouldn't be offensive. I think I'm in good shape now.

BTW... I didn't think there was such a thing as uncompressed MP4. It's compressed by its very definition.

THANKS so much.

Dave

larry-peter wrote on 2/8/2012, 11:16 AM

Good catch, DaveT2.
I did that for sake of speed while modifying an SD rendering template. Leaving "allow source to adjust frame rate" checked can bite you if you're not careful.

Larry

Former user wrote on 2/8/2012, 11:23 AM

whoops, sorry I deleted my post, but that has bit me on a few projects as well.

Dave T2

WillemT wrote on 2/8/2012, 11:35 AM

Dave, I think you are going to have problems rendering to 425x294. My experience is that most codecs require even pixel resolutions. MC wil render to 426x294 but Sony goes to 432x294, the width a multiple of 16.

As a test I set a project to 850x588, clip was 1920x1080, and used the event Pan/Crop selecting "Match Output Aspect" (no black borders - you need to pan horiziontally to select the best parts) then rendered to 425x294 using MC at 4000kbps - it ended up as 426x494 and actually looked pretty good (considering) when played back at 1:1 scale.

Willem.