@NCSGeek Hi, yeah I can't explain it, as you saw I did some searching to see why a thumbnail is chosen 🤷‍♂️

These are a couple of 640 x 360 HEVC, I can't exactly replicate your renders but you can try them & see, one is from Vegas 19 the other is Vegas 20,

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zOVOeQxUu0GfXY-oA7XLuU7VKIVqYHkY/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SSYTffFJsbMgoO_gMfCtXxq3QAMCh0tU/view?usp=sharing

If you have HOS, there is an option in Render+ to add a Custom Video Thumbnail. Here is a screengrab along with a tooltip that describes how it works. The advantage is that you can save any frame from Vegas and use that as your thumbnail.

HOS does not use FFmpeg to accomplish this, but rather another open source app called AtomicParsley (what a name!). You can download the app and write your own command line. Or, you could download the free version of HOS which includes a host of open source tools including AtomicParsley. You'll still have to write your own command line, although it's pretty simple. It should work for any mp4 or mov file.

So ppl here should probably stop troubleshooting a "problem" per-se, ya? With this info you shared, it seems that there's a feature of video files that their thumbnail can be set via some embedded property -- which AtomicParsley is doing, and I gather ffmpeg can do too, ya?

Is this a new feature request then for Vegas --

1. In project properties let users choose what thumbnail to use for their rendered thumbnails
2. On the Video Preview dialog to add a button that sets the current frame as the rendered-file thumbnail?

[...]it seems that there's a feature of video files that their thumbnail can be set via some embedded property -- which AtomicParsley is doing, and I gather ffmpeg can do too, ya?

Seems so. And yes, FFMPEG can accomplish this also. Earlier in thread I linked a simple batch script to do so for me using FFMPEG. That's why I personally did not need the HOS program he mentioned.

1. Is this a new feature request then for Vegas --
2. In project properties let users choose what thumbnail to use for their rendered thumbnails
3. On the Video Preview dialog to add a button that sets the current frame as the rendered-file thumbnail?

Might be nice as a feature, but thumbnails seem to work on most people's machines except for mine and Mega.nz (Cloud Hosting Provider)

So it must just be this specific codec/format that isnt as widely supported in some ways.

 

Alright, appreciate the info. Although if I have to manually add a thumbnail then I already wrote a quick bat script to do it for me using FFMPEG. https://pastebin.com/S85GM5i8

FYI -- tried that link.. says it's being moderated and won't open

 

Alright, appreciate the info. Although if I have to manually add a thumbnail then I already wrote a quick bat script to do it for me using FFMPEG. https://pastebin.com/S85GM5i8

FYI -- tried that link.. says it's being moderated and won't open

Works for me- I don't know. You can copy paste the link into the browser (it's just pastebin, nothing shady)

It doesn't work.

Error, this is a private paste or is pending moderation. If this paste belongs to you, please login to Pastebin to view it.

It doesn't work.

Error, this is a private paste or is pending moderation. If this paste belongs to you, please login to Pastebin to view it.

I was being dumb- I thought you meant this forum was saying that error. I had the paste set to private. I fixed it now if you wanted to view it.

@NCSGeek Without any instructions, I created a batch file and execute your script with a video file "Surround Sound with Voukoder.mp4" and placed picture file (Surround Sound with Voukoder.jpg and Surround Sound with Voukoder.png in the same folder. Here is the FFMPEG output:

Folder that file is in (No backslash at end): C:\Users\John\Desktop\Render
File to add thumbnail to (With extension): Surround Sound with Voukoder.mp4

ffmpeg version N-117990-g0a959c211d Copyright (c) 2000-2024 the FFmpeg developers
  built with gcc 14.2.0 (Rev2, Built by MSYS2 project)
  configuration:  --disable-static --enable-shared --pkg-config=pkgconf --cc='ccache gcc' --cxx='ccache g++' --ld='ccache g++' --extra-cxxflags=-fpermissive --extra-cflags=-Wno-int-conversion --disable-autodetect --disable-debug --disable-w32threads --disable-sdl2 --enable-gpl --enable-d3d12va --enable-fontconfig --enable-iconv --enable-libass --enable-libdav1d --enable-libfreetype --enable-libharfbuzz --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libopus --enable-libsnappy --enable-libtheora --enable-libtwolame --enable-libvpx --enable-libwebp --enable-libx264 --enable-libx265 --enable-libvvenc --enable-libzimg --enable-lzma --enable-zlib --enable-libvidstab --enable-libvorbis --enable-libxvid --enable-libgsm --enable-libsvtav1 --enable-libaom --enable-libmfx --enable-ffnvcodec --enable-cuda-llvm --enable-cuvid --enable-d3d11va --enable-nvenc --enable-nvdec --enable-dxva2 --enable-amf --enable-vulkan --enable-libvmaf --enable-libglslang --enable-vulkan --enable-schannel --extra-cflags=-DLIBTWOLAME_STATIC --extra-libs=-liconv --shlibdir=/local64/bin-video
  libavutil      59. 47.101 / 59. 47.101
  libavcodec     61. 26.100 / 61. 26.100
  libavformat    61.  9.100 / 61.  9.100
  libavdevice    61.  4.100 / 61.  4.100
  libavfilter    10.  6.101 / 10.  6.101
  libswscale      8. 12.100 /  8. 12.100
  libswresample   5.  4.100 /  5.  4.100
  libpostproc    58.  4.100 / 58.  4.100
Input #0, mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2, from 'C:\Users\John\Desktop\Render\Surround Sound with Voukoder.mp4':
  Metadata:
    major_brand     : isom
    minor_version   : 512
    compatible_brands: isomiso2avc1mp41
    encoder         : Voukoder (VEGAS)
  Duration: 00:01:01.59, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 9488 kb/s
  Stream #0:0[0x1](und): Video: h264 (High) (avc1 / 0x31637661), yuv420p(top first), 1440x1080 [SAR 4:3 DAR 16:9], 9142 kb/s, 29.97 fps, 29.97 tbr, 30k tbn (default)
    Metadata:
      handler_name    : VideoHandler
      vendor_id       : [0][0][0][0]
  Stream #0:1[0x2](und): Audio: aac (LC) (mp4a / 0x6134706D), 48000 Hz, 5.1, fltp, 341 kb/s (default)
    Metadata:
      handler_name    : SoundHandler
      vendor_id       : [0][0][0][0]
File 'C:\Users\John\Desktop\Render\image-for-thumbnail.png' already exists. Overwrite? [y/N] y
Stream mapping:
  Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (h264 (native) -> png (native))
Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
Output #0, image2, to 'C:\Users\John\Desktop\Render\image-for-thumbnail.png':
  Metadata:
    major_brand     : isom
    minor_version   : 512
    compatible_brands: isomiso2avc1mp41
    encoder         : Lavf61.9.100
  Stream #0:0(und): Video: png, rgb24(pc, gbr/unknown/unknown, top coded first (swapped)), 1440x1080 [SAR 4:3 DAR 16:9], q=2-31, 200 kb/s, 29.97 fps, 29.97 tbn (default)
    Metadata:
      encoder         : Lavc61.26.100 png
      handler_name    : VideoHandler
      vendor_id       : [0][0][0][0]

[image2 @ 00000209ffed0a80] The specified filename 'C:\Users\John\Desktop\Render\image-for-thumbnail.png' does not contain an image sequence pattern or a pattern is invalid.
[image2 @ 00000209ffed0a80] Use a pattern such as %03d for an image sequence or use the -update option (with -frames:v 1 if needed) to write a single image.

[out#0/image2 @ 00000209ffe9abc0] video:3404KiB audio:0KiB subtitle:0KiB other streams:0KiB global headers:0KiB muxing overhead: unknown
frame=    1 fps=0.0 q=-0.0 Lsize=N/A time=00:00:00.03 bitrate=N/A speed= 0.2x
ffmpeg version N-117990-g0a959c211d Copyright (c) 2000-2024 the FFmpeg developers
  built with gcc 14.2.0 (Rev2, Built by MSYS2 project)
  configuration:  --disable-static --enable-shared --pkg-config=pkgconf --cc='ccache gcc' --cxx='ccache g++' --ld='ccache g++' --extra-cxxflags=-fpermissive --extra-cflags=-Wno-int-conversion --disable-autodetect --disable-debug --disable-w32threads --disable-sdl2 --enable-gpl --enable-d3d12va --enable-fontconfig --enable-iconv --enable-libass --enable-libdav1d --enable-libfreetype --enable-libharfbuzz --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libopus --enable-libsnappy --enable-libtheora --enable-libtwolame --enable-libvpx --enable-libwebp --enable-libx264 --enable-libx265 --enable-libvvenc --enable-libzimg --enable-lzma --enable-zlib --enable-libvidstab --enable-libvorbis --enable-libxvid --enable-libgsm --enable-libsvtav1 --enable-libaom --enable-libmfx --enable-ffnvcodec --enable-cuda-llvm --enable-cuvid --enable-d3d11va --enable-nvenc --enable-nvdec --enable-dxva2 --enable-amf --enable-vulkan --enable-libvmaf --enable-libglslang --enable-vulkan --enable-schannel --extra-cflags=-DLIBTWOLAME_STATIC --extra-libs=-liconv --shlibdir=/local64/bin-video
  libavutil      59. 47.101 / 59. 47.101
  libavcodec     61. 26.100 / 61. 26.100
  libavformat    61.  9.100 / 61.  9.100
  libavdevice    61.  4.100 / 61.  4.100
  libavfilter    10.  6.101 / 10.  6.101
  libswscale      8. 12.100 /  8. 12.100
  libswresample   5.  4.100 /  5.  4.100
  libpostproc    58.  4.100 / 58.  4.100
Input #0, mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2, from 'C:\Users\John\Desktop\Render\Surround Sound with Voukoder.mp4':
  Metadata:
    major_brand     : isom
    minor_version   : 512
    compatible_brands: isomiso2avc1mp41
    encoder         : Voukoder (VEGAS)
  Duration: 00:01:01.59, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 9488 kb/s
  Stream #0:0[0x1](und): Video: h264 (High) (avc1 / 0x31637661), yuv420p(top first), 1440x1080 [SAR 4:3 DAR 16:9], 9142 kb/s, 29.97 fps, 29.97 tbr, 30k tbn (default)
    Metadata:
      handler_name    : VideoHandler
      vendor_id       : [0][0][0][0]
  Stream #0:1[0x2](und): Audio: aac (LC) (mp4a / 0x6134706D), 48000 Hz, 5.1, fltp, 341 kb/s (default)
    Metadata:
      handler_name    : SoundHandler
      vendor_id       : [0][0][0][0]
Input #1, png_pipe, from 'C:\Users\John\Desktop\Render\image-for-thumbnail.png':
  Duration: N/A, bitrate: N/A
  Stream #1:0: Video: png, rgb24(pc, gbr/unknown/unknown), 1440x1080 [SAR 4:3 DAR 16:9], 25 fps, 25 tbr, 25 tbn
Stream mapping:
  Stream #1:0 -> #0:0 (copy)
  Stream #0:0 -> #0:1 (copy)
  Stream #0:1 -> #0:2 (copy)
Output #0, mp4, to 'C:\Users\John\Desktop\Render\_Surround Sound with Voukoder.mp4':
  Metadata:
    major_brand     : isom
    minor_version   : 512
    compatible_brands: isomiso2avc1mp41
    encoder         : Lavf61.9.100
  Stream #0:0: Video: png (mp4v / 0x7634706D), rgb24(pc, gbr/unknown/unknown), 1440x1080 [SAR 4:3 DAR 16:9], q=2-31, 25 fps, 25 tbr, 12800 tbn (attached pic)
  Stream #0:1(und): Video: h264 (High) (avc1 / 0x31637661), yuv420p(top first), 1440x1080 [SAR 4:3 DAR 16:9], q=2-31, 9142 kb/s, 29.97 fps, 29.97 tbr, 30k tbn (default)
    Metadata:
      handler_name    : VideoHandler
      vendor_id       : [0][0][0][0]
  Stream #0:2(und): Audio: aac (LC) (mp4a / 0x6134706D), 48000 Hz, 5.1, fltp, 341 kb/s (default)
    Metadata:
      handler_name    : SoundHandler
      vendor_id       : [0][0][0][0]
Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
[out#0/mp4 @ 000001d4d9651e00] video:72106KiB audio:2570KiB subtitle:0KiB other streams:0KiB global headers:0KiB muxing overhead: 0.089888%
frame=    1 fps=0.0 q=-1.0 Lq=-1.0 size=   74742KiB time=00:00:00.04 bitrate=15307260.6kbits/s speed=0.967x