DVD SD video and Wistia

MikeLV wrote on 1/28/2019, 1:48 PM

I have some older video content on DVD (NTSC, 4:3). Need to convert it to an MP4 to upload to Wistia for streaming video. I thought I'd be converting the video to 640x480. However, Wistia informed me that they don't support 480p:

Our video player does not actually offer a 480p option, the next quality level up would be 540p. Wistia uses a width-based algorithm, so your videos have to meet a minimum width in order to get a desired quality level for it. As an example, your video would have to be at least 960 x 540p in order to get the 540 quality option to be available in the player.

I'm using the older Vegas Pro v13, with the Vegas2Handbrake script (for when I do HD uploads to youtube, vimeo). Some questions:

For this conversion, should I use the Vegas2Handbrake script, or just Vegas? Which will result in the best quality? Encoding time isn't a factor.
Should I scale to 960x540, or should I keep the video at 640x480?
I can't do a direct conversion from the mpg video as I have to open it on the timeline to do some color, as well as sound correction, which will of course result in a re-encode. If scaling to 540p would give a better outcome on Wistia in the end, what would be the correct workflow to follow starting from when after the MPG is imported onto the Vegas timeline?

Thank you, I appreciate your input on this conundrum.

Please note that re-shooting the video in HD isn't an option, so please don't suggest it :-)

Comments

j-v wrote on 1/28/2019, 2:05 PM

I would say try both 1 and 2 and choose the one you like the most if your upload to Wistia is no problem.

MikeLV wrote on 1/28/2019, 2:35 PM

Or wait, should it be 720 x 540 to avoid the black bars on the sides of the video according to their aspect ratio calculator https://wistia.com/learn/production/remove-black-bars-from-online-video ? Actually it seems that wouldn't be good either as 720 isn't one of the widths they support https://wistia.com/support/getting-started/export-settings#formats-wistia-supports so I guess I'd have to go 960x720.. hmmm

j-v wrote on 1/28/2019, 3:14 PM

I would use at every conversion square pixels in 720x540 for mp4 in an upload to that site with its demands for minimum dimensions for your NTSC 4:3 sourcefiles I think, because I normally never use NTSC as a PAL user.

MikeLV wrote on 1/28/2019, 3:17 PM

I uploaded a video at 720x540 and Wistia indicates that as 360. I then uploaded the video at 960x720 and Wistia indicates that at 540p. So I guess the only question now is, is it better to go to 540p on Wistia, or stay at 720x540.

j-v wrote on 1/28/2019, 3:27 PM

I thinks that stays your question using that upload possibility which I do not know, I use only Vimeo