Google Pixel 8 videos cannot be handled properly

kazuhiko-m wrote on 10/27/2024, 8:21 PM

Hello

When I load a 1080/60p video file (MP4/H.264) shot with Google Pixel8 into Vegas Pro22, it does not play properly. The material status of the video file in Vegas shows 59.94fps. The project setting is 1080/59.94p.

There are actually two symptoms. The first is that when you watch it frame by frame, it seems to advance one frame and go back exactly half a frame at the next frame, and this is repeated. It's just like when you get the field order of an interlaced material wrong. The second is that it advances one frame, stops at the next frame, and repeats. One of these two symptoms occurs.

When I try installing Davinci19 and load this video file, the frame rate is displayed as 60.00fps. I export this at 59.94fps. When I load this exported material into Vegas, it can be treated as normal material.

If anyone knows, I would appreciate your advice.
I'm not good at English, so if there's anything that's unclear to you, I'd appreciate it if you could point it out.

Comments

Dexcon wrote on 10/27/2024, 9:39 PM

It is probable that the video from your phone is recorded in Variable Frame Rate (VFR) and not a Constant Frame Rate (CFR) - most phone cameras record in VFR. While you may set a specific frame rate for recording, the actual fps can vary higher and lower depending on how much movement there is in the scene that the phone camera is filming. The best way to find out the frame rate variation is to install a free app called MediaInfo - and let MediaInfo give you a report on one of the videos from the phone camera. Its best to select Tree or Text in the app's View menu in order to get a detailed report - it will show whether the video is VFR or CFR and if VFR the highest and lowest frame rates in the video.

With VFR video, the common recommendation on the forum has long been to transcode the video from VFR to CFR via a free transcoder such as ShutterEncoder or HandBrake.

Cameras: Sony FDR-AX100E; GoPro Hero 11 Black Creator Edition

Installed: Vegas Pro 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 & 22, HitFilm Pro 2021.3, DaVinci Resolve Studio 19.0.3, BCC 2025, Mocha Pro 2024.5, NBFX TotalFX 7, Neat NR, DVD Architect 6.0, MAGIX Travel Maps, Sound Forge Pro 16, SpectraLayers Pro 11, iZotope RX10 Advanced and many other iZ plugins, Vegasaur 4.0

Windows 11

Dell Alienware Aurora 11:

10th Gen Intel i9 10900KF - 10 cores (20 threads) - 3.7 to 5.3 GHz

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER 8GB GDDR6 - liquid cooled

64GB RAM - Dual Channel HyperX FURY DDR4 XMP at 3200MHz

C drive: 2TB Samsung 990 PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 PCIe SSD

D: drive: 4TB Samsung 870 SATA SSD (used for media for editing current projects)

E: drive: 2TB Samsung 870 SATA SSD

F: drive: 6TB WD 7200 rpm Black HDD 3.5"

Dell Ultrasharp 32" 4K Color Calibrated Monitor

 

LAPTOP:

Dell Inspiron 5310 EVO 13.3"

i5-11320H CPU

C Drive: 1TB Corsair Gen4 NVMe M.2 2230 SSD (upgraded from the original 500 GB SSD)

Monitor is 2560 x 1600 @ 60 Hz

kazuhiko-m wrote on 10/27/2024, 10:23 PM

That’s great. Thank you. 

This was very helpful.
I didn't know anything about VFR and CFR.
I guess Davinci does something similar to HandBrake.
I'll make this a mandatory step.
I hope Vegas supports this process.
Thank you so much for helping me out.

RogerS wrote on 10/27/2024, 10:44 PM

@kazuhiko-m Just for testing, if you check "enable legacy AVC decoding" in options/preferences/file io, does the file playback any better? If so, could you make a sample available for testing (a short video uploaded to Google Drive, etc.?) VP 22 has new decoders that perhaps still need to be improved based on user feedback.

If MediaInfo shows a big difference between the minimum and maximum framerate doing a conversion to constant before editing is a good idea.

kazuhiko-m wrote on 10/27/2024, 11:20 PM

Thank you for the advice. I'll try it right away.

kazuhiko-m wrote on 10/28/2024, 12:04 AM

I tried it right away. However, it didn't work.

I checked "enable legacy AVC decoding" and restarted Vegas,

but it just kept advancing one frame and stopping one frame.

I made it possible to share the folder containing the test video and the MediaInfo images. I've included the GoogleDrive URL below.

Please forgive me for the Japanese text mixed in here and there in the images.

I'd appreciate it if you could take a look if you don't mind.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-MS1lkFzp1Q0qIJcU8HgSU2S7cFu-rsU?usp=sharing

UltraVista wrote on 10/28/2024, 2:05 AM

It's a bug, Vegas is only reading every 2nd frame as you said, nothing to do with VFR. It is only reading the higher bitrate P frame and not the lower bitrate one.

kazuhiko-m wrote on 10/28/2024, 2:13 AM

Thank you for your analysis.

In addition to the frame rate, I learned that there is also a problem with the GOP structure. It can be done with the free Davinci, so I hope Vegas will also deal with it soon.

RogerS wrote on 10/28/2024, 3:49 AM

Thank you Kazuhiko for sharing this. I'm also seeing duplicate frames in VEGAS but not my media player. You can uncheck legacy AVC.

Your first post said "MP4/H.264" but actually it's MP4/ H.265 or HEVC, not AVC.

So the setting in preferences/ file io that seems to help is "enable experimental HEVC decoding." Normally I'd keep that decoder unchecked as it isn't very good. On my computer here it has an inconsistent framerate with this media but at least no duplicate frames.

kazuhiko-m wrote on 10/28/2024, 4:19 AM

I'm very sorry.
As you said, the video I shared was H.265.
This was taken with "Open camera" for sharing; the previous video was taken with "Pixel camera" and was H.264.
I installed several camera apps to find the cause.
However, the problem is occurring with all of the videos.
I will try out your advice regarding HEVC right away.
However, if everyone is transcoding as a preliminary step, I will do the same.

Thank you.

 

RogerS wrote on 10/28/2024, 4:47 AM

Could you also add a Pixel camera AVC file to your Drive folder? I'd like to compare it.

There isn't much variability in the frame rate so except for this bug I wouldn't transcode it (is all or most of the media you use from phones?)

UltraVista wrote on 10/28/2024, 5:08 AM


This was taken with "Open camera" for sharing; the previous video was taken with "Pixel camera" and was H.264.
I installed several camera apps to find the cause.
However, the problem is occurring with all of the videos.

I see the same problem with S23 Galaxy Ultra recorded at 60fps with Black Magic app. You've made an important discovery!

Dexcon wrote on 10/28/2024, 5:33 AM

To add to the above about the video, I also get duplicate frames in Vegas Pro 22 (properties set to that of the video on import on to VP 22's timeline). But the duplicate frames don't occur if the frame rate in properties is changed from 59.94 double NTSC to 29.97 NTSC.

The duplicate frame issue does not occur in Vegas Pro 21 even when properties is set to 59.94 double NTSC.

Like UltraVista, Galaxy 23 Ultra 59.94 fps video gets duplicate frames in Vegas Pro 22 when properties is set at 59.94 double NTSC but not when it is set at 29.97 NTSC.

Cameras: Sony FDR-AX100E; GoPro Hero 11 Black Creator Edition

Installed: Vegas Pro 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 & 22, HitFilm Pro 2021.3, DaVinci Resolve Studio 19.0.3, BCC 2025, Mocha Pro 2024.5, NBFX TotalFX 7, Neat NR, DVD Architect 6.0, MAGIX Travel Maps, Sound Forge Pro 16, SpectraLayers Pro 11, iZotope RX10 Advanced and many other iZ plugins, Vegasaur 4.0

Windows 11

Dell Alienware Aurora 11:

10th Gen Intel i9 10900KF - 10 cores (20 threads) - 3.7 to 5.3 GHz

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER 8GB GDDR6 - liquid cooled

64GB RAM - Dual Channel HyperX FURY DDR4 XMP at 3200MHz

C drive: 2TB Samsung 990 PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 PCIe SSD

D: drive: 4TB Samsung 870 SATA SSD (used for media for editing current projects)

E: drive: 2TB Samsung 870 SATA SSD

F: drive: 6TB WD 7200 rpm Black HDD 3.5"

Dell Ultrasharp 32" 4K Color Calibrated Monitor

 

LAPTOP:

Dell Inspiron 5310 EVO 13.3"

i5-11320H CPU

C Drive: 1TB Corsair Gen4 NVMe M.2 2230 SSD (upgraded from the original 500 GB SSD)

Monitor is 2560 x 1600 @ 60 Hz

3POINT wrote on 10/28/2024, 7:50 AM

But the duplicate frames don't occur if the frame rate in properties is changed from 59.94 double NTSC to 29.97 NTSC.

That's because you throwing away 50% of the available frames (when resampling is disabled) or you get ghosting frames (when resampling=frame blend is enabled).

The quickest solution is a Shutter Encoder conversion, the resulting video is shown correctly (with all frames) in VP22.

Last changed by 3POINT on 10/28/2024, 7:51 AM, changed a total of 1 times.

3POINT, Theo Houben, Vegasuser since version 5 and co-founder and moderator of the Dutch Vegasforum https://www.vegas-videoforum.nl/index.php

Recware: DJI Osmo Pocket/Mavic Mini, GoproHero7Black, PanasonicFZ300/HCX909.

Software: Vegaspro365+Vegasaur, PowerDirector365, Davinci Resolve 19

Hardware: i910900k, 32GB, GTX2080super, 2x1920x1200 display

Playware: Samsung Qled QE65Q6FN, Philips 55PFL7108

Dexcon wrote on 10/28/2024, 8:05 AM

(when resampling is disabled)

Yes, resampling was disabled in my testing with 29.97 NTSC.

Cameras: Sony FDR-AX100E; GoPro Hero 11 Black Creator Edition

Installed: Vegas Pro 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 & 22, HitFilm Pro 2021.3, DaVinci Resolve Studio 19.0.3, BCC 2025, Mocha Pro 2024.5, NBFX TotalFX 7, Neat NR, DVD Architect 6.0, MAGIX Travel Maps, Sound Forge Pro 16, SpectraLayers Pro 11, iZotope RX10 Advanced and many other iZ plugins, Vegasaur 4.0

Windows 11

Dell Alienware Aurora 11:

10th Gen Intel i9 10900KF - 10 cores (20 threads) - 3.7 to 5.3 GHz

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER 8GB GDDR6 - liquid cooled

64GB RAM - Dual Channel HyperX FURY DDR4 XMP at 3200MHz

C drive: 2TB Samsung 990 PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 PCIe SSD

D: drive: 4TB Samsung 870 SATA SSD (used for media for editing current projects)

E: drive: 2TB Samsung 870 SATA SSD

F: drive: 6TB WD 7200 rpm Black HDD 3.5"

Dell Ultrasharp 32" 4K Color Calibrated Monitor

 

LAPTOP:

Dell Inspiron 5310 EVO 13.3"

i5-11320H CPU

C Drive: 1TB Corsair Gen4 NVMe M.2 2230 SSD (upgraded from the original 500 GB SSD)

Monitor is 2560 x 1600 @ 60 Hz

kazuhiko-m wrote on 10/28/2024, 8:41 AM

Thank you all.

@RogerS I tried shooting with the Pixel camera, and to my surprise, the problem was solved. I noticed this problem when I re-edited footage I shot in January this year in September, so I would like to check the update history of the Pixel camera so far. (Android changed from 14 to 15 in the meantime.)

However, the problem still occurs with the Open camera.

@UltraVista I also tried using the Blackmagic camera, but I encountered Similar symptoms. I stopped using it because I was not satisfied with the image quality (especially the autofocus tracking).

@Dexcon Yes, as you say, in my case, it also improves when I set it to 29.97fps. However, I wanted 59.94fps as a goal for video shooting, so I was looking for a solution. I'm surprised this doesn't happen with VP21. Thank you for your advice.

@3POINT I understand. As mentioned above, if the problem with the Pixel camera is improved, I think it will be easier to use in my case.

RogerS wrote on 10/28/2024, 9:43 AM

Just to confirm, when you retested the Pixel camera in VEGAS 22, both legacy AVC and experimental HEVC were unchecked?

kazuhiko-m wrote on 10/28/2024, 10:47 AM

Sorry, but it seems I wasn't careful enough when checking the footage after checking "Enable Legacy AVC Decode".

After checking this checkbox, I checked the "Open camera" footage again and the symptoms had not improved. I was surprised that when I checked the "Pixel camera" footage with that setting, the symptoms improved. Now, I unchecked the checkbox and checked the "Pixel camera" footage again and the symptoms still occurred. I noticed that the two types of footage behaved differently when the checkbox was checked. I'm not sure of the reason behind this, so I shared the two types of footage with explicit file names.

I'm really sorry for the trouble.

Howard-Vigorita wrote on 10/28/2024, 11:27 AM

Checking Experimental HEVC in vp22 makes the problem go away on my laptop. Otherwise, I see what looks like frame skipping in VID_20241028_133157.mp4 with vp22. It is most apparent when the camera moves towards the sky... only every other frame moves.

Btw, I also see some frame-by-frame changes to the brightness of the grass near the beginning. That shows up in Resolve too.

mark-y wrote on 10/28/2024, 11:41 AM

Hi @kazuhiko-m

Using the free Shutter Encoder, make only the following changes, and encode .h264/mp4, and see how it works for you. This is a standard fix for VFR footage in Vegas.

Welcome to the discussions, and best of success!

kazuhiko-m wrote on 10/28/2024, 4:27 PM

Thank you, everyone

@Howard-Vigorita I forgot, the codec for "Open camera" video is HEVC.
Checking "Experimental HEVC" here also improved the situation.
Your comment is very helpful.

@mark-y I tried using Shutter Encoder. It improved.
Thank you for your detailed explanation of the difficult settings.

john_dennis wrote on 10/28/2024, 10:41 PM

@mark-y

Me, being me, I'd probably use these settings in Shutter Encoder.

When it's all done there is a slight uplift in file size going to AVC from HEVC (and using PCM audio).

PCM audio has one fewer generation of loss.

Group of Picture of 30 is overkill, but "it's me". I do screen recording with Apple Pro Res.

... and you can do this...

!!! No Quicktime was used in this effort. !!!

kazuhiko-m wrote on 10/29/2024, 12:10 AM

@john_dennis Thank you.
The settings you provided are aimed at high quality sound.
I'll take that into consideration.

RogerS wrote on 10/29/2024, 1:56 AM

I'm not sure the conform part is necessary, what is the purpose? ShutterEncoder automatically makes it constant framerate.

mark-y wrote on 10/29/2024, 9:12 AM

@RogerS Thank you. The GUI has changed recently, and I haven't used it, so that step may not be necessary. Will test next time I do one of these.