Dashware 60FPS output issues in Vegas (FFMPEG)

toolo4sno wrote on 5/29/2015, 2:13 PM
I have used Dashware to overlay gauges and such on my track day videos for a number of years now. I recently switched to 1080p-60FPS and was hoping (since the options are included in Dashware) that all my software would make a seamless transition.

Unfortunately, both the output options for video out of Dashware have issues. One I believe to be a Dashware problem; the other I'm not so sure. I have had success in the past using Dashware's Microsoft Media Foundation output in 30FPS. When trying that in 60FPS the video looks great for 1s then gets highly pixelated. It looks like this in Vegas, Media player, etc. Not sure why, but it's probably Dashware's problem.

The other output option is FFMPEG; which Dashware says is preferred. I have never had success with this option in Vegas. I can view the Dashware videos in Media player, VLC and such, but not in Vegas. There is audio in Vegas, but no video. This was the case with 30FPS and continues now in 60FPS. I imagine this to be a codec issue, but I am not sure how to resolve it. The little I have read on FFMPEG confuses me more than when I started.


Dashware 1.6.3 and up
Sony Vegas Movie Studio Plat. 11

Comments

TreeTops wrote on 5/30/2015, 9:35 AM
Dashware is probably using a codec that vegas doesn't like. Post media info text here so that we can see that codec. Doesn't Dashware come with software to do the overlay on your video?
musicvid10 wrote on 5/30/2015, 3:53 PM
Its an interesting story, but system specs and complete MediaInfo printout from both source and render would be necessary before anyone could take a stab at it.

toolo4sno wrote on 5/30/2015, 9:25 PM
Yes, Dashware takes telemetry data and overlays gauges on the video. In my case the data is from Harry's Lap timer that includes my car's OBDII, GPS and accelerometer.

MediaInfo says this on the Dashware FFMPEG file I made last (This is the info from the video files that Vegas doesn't like):

MPEG-4 (Base Media)
Overall Bit rate: 74.1 Mbps
1 video stream AVC
1 audio stream AAC
Writing App: Lavf55.34.101

Video Stream
74.0 Mbps, 1920x1080 (16:9), at 59.94fps, AVC (High@L4.2) (CABAC/4 Ref Frames)

The web site it directs me to is for DL'ing Quicktime. I am pretty sure I tried loading Quicktime from scratch with no success. Maybe it wasn't from scratch.

Dashware states "This SW uses FFmpeg under the LGPLv2.1"

For the Go Pro Hero 3+ output file the MediaInfo says (these MP4s play fine in WMP and edit fine in Vegas):
MPEG-4 (JVT): 2.10GiB
Overall bit rate: 25.1 Mbps
1 video stream AVC
1 audio stream AAC
1: Quicktime TC

Video Stream
25.0 Mbps, 1920x1080 (16:9), at 59.94fps, AVC (Main@L4.2) (CABAC/1 Ref Frames)

Unfortunately since Go Pro took over; the support for Dashware went from marginal to non existent. I see the DW output file has a pretty high bit rate; I use 100% Quality output (default is 80%). So maybe that needs to go back to default to get a little lower.

PC: Asus P8P67 Pro R3.1 MB | Intel i7-2600K @ 3.4GHz | Gigabyte GV-N970G1 Gaming-4GD Vid card | 16GB DDR3 RAM | Win 7 Professional 64bit
TreeTops wrote on 5/31/2015, 10:35 AM
That Quicktime TC is probably the culprit. Not sure what TC stands for ....maybe Time Code?
toolo4sno wrote on 6/1/2015, 10:04 AM
Just to clarify, I have no issues with MP4s right out of the Go Pro. I also have no issues with Dashware merged MP4s. Vegas has issues when importing the video with the gauge overlay using the FFMPEG output option from Dashware. The MMF ones edit in Vegas just fine, but are super pixelated for some unknown reason.

I have tried FFMPEG output files with a lower quality setting to try and get the bit rates before and after to be closer, but so far that hasn't helped.
musicvid10 wrote on 6/1/2015, 2:29 PM
You didn't post complete MediaInfo.
What you did post is of little help.
toolo4sno wrote on 6/1/2015, 7:44 PM
Is this the full info you are referring to?

General
Complete name : D:\Video Editing\2-Dashware Rendering\Audi S4 HPDE - Grattan Raceway 150523 - Session 5 - Front Video (Telemetry) - GOPR0005.mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media
Codec ID : isom
File size : 10.5 GiB
Duration : 20mn 17s
Overall bit rate : 74.1 Mbps
Writing application : Lavf55.34.101

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.2
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 4 frames
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 20mn 17s
Bit rate : 74.0 Mbps
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 59.940 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.595
Stream size : 10.5 GiB (100%)
Writing library : x264 core 142
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=3 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=7 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=12 / lookahead_threads=2 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=21.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Color range : Full

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : 40
Duration : 20mn 17s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 128 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 18.6 MiB (0%)
musicvid10 wrote on 6/1/2015, 8:02 PM
There's nothing out of place with your 60p source, so you'll need to look downstream from there.
I was looking for VFR and a couple of other x264 nasties that Vegas doesn't always like.
Might try the same file in the MS Platinum 13 trial.
MSmart wrote on 6/1/2015, 11:27 PM
Isn't the bitrate of 74.0 Mbps quite high?

Try lowering it.
musicvid10 wrote on 6/3/2015, 2:05 PM
That bitrate is pretty reasonable for 1080 60p.
That doesn't mean you could play it, however . . .

Encoding CRF is 21, so the conclusion is the video has a fair amount of detail in motion.

Another thing the OP could try is encoding with Main Profile.
Probably more friendly on VP9.
toolo4sno wrote on 6/3/2015, 3:03 PM
I am going to keep trying to get the bit rate lower on the Dashware output files. Just to see if anything gets working that way.

Next I will try the demo to Vegas MS 13 Plat. I was thinking of an upgrade anyway. Getting my files to work as is will just seal the deal.

"Encoding CRF is 21, so the conclusion is the video has a fair amount of detail in motion.
Another thing the OP could try is encoding with Main Profile.
Probably more friendly on VP9."

I only have the options in Dashware of Microsoft Media Foundation or FFMPEG. Unless you mean convert it after the fact.
musicvid10 wrote on 6/3/2015, 4:00 PM
You're sure the ffmpeg/x264 options aren't accessible?
Seems a bit odd.
toolo4sno wrote on 6/4/2015, 9:00 AM
Dashware's output options aren't plentiful.

If the link works; here is the video output screen with the auto options turned off.

http://i402.photobucket.com/albums/pp102/toolo4sno/Dashware%20create%20video_zpsf6ridgqd.jpg

Here is the other mention of FFMPEG.

http://i402.photobucket.com/albums/pp102/toolo4sno/Dashware%20FFMPEG_zpsk3kwwaeo.jpg

I have tried the demo for VMS13Plat. It appeared to accept the FFMPEG output files from Dashware that VMS11Plat wouldn't. That said, I haven't done any editing or rendering to see if everthing comes out ok, but it looks good so far. I am excited about actually having a 64 bit program to get use out of my RAM.

I can't say I'm a fan of the 13 UI. In the 4 minutes I was in there I couldn't even figure out how to fade a video or audio track. I'm sure there are settings to tweak and so on, but it's not so intuitive. I had read that about 13, but didn't quite think it was this cumbersome.
musicvid10 wrote on 6/4/2015, 9:36 AM
Their are cheap deals on VMS 13 Platinum.
I got mine for $40 from the Sony website.

toolo4sno wrote on 6/4/2015, 9:46 AM
I know; it's really a no brainer, but that UI was atrocious in the 4 minutes I had to give it. I'll have to toy around with the demo, but since it appears to have offered a solution my problem; I'll likely give it a go.

I technically found a work around to my problem a while ago, but it's time consuming and not so elegant. I essentially FRAPs captured the FFMPEG files that I couldn't import into VMS11 and cropped out all but the gauges in editing. Then slapped that on top of the original. Example in link below.



It doesn't take much to see that the gauge overlay and original aren't really lined up. Not the end of the world, but during shifts it's really noticeable.