Ideas on best way to Show U/W Videos at Trade Show

danv wrote on 6/28/2012, 8:37 AM
No Matter what I do in encoding with Vegas, there is a BIG drop in sharpness and gradation quality from dark to light ( big issue in u/w video) going from the perfect look of the cineform 4-2-2 or 4-4-4 avi's, and the BluRay. I tried doing BluRay encodes with Sorrenson Sqeeze---and while the encoded file looks better than the Vegas version, the Squeeze H264 for BluRay is apparently not actually legal or workable for BluRay, so that was 5 hours of wasted time !

Would others here go with building a fast but small PC or Mac to play Cineform AVI's or MOV's with at Trade shows, or would most work toward a BluRay solution I have not heard of or thought about yet? I have seen BluRay movies, like Avatar, where the crispness and detail appears equivalent to Cineform 4-4-4......but my understanding this was because the film resolution was so high, that on downsampling to h264( or whatever they use in the BluRay rom) they create a much better final product than I can get from my Canon 5D Mark II....
Bringing my desktop to tradeshows is not smart...too much risk in transport for damage and replacement issues :-)

Thoughts?

Comments

Kimberly wrote on 6/28/2012, 8:49 AM
Hello Danv:

I could be misunderstanding your questions on showing the videos trade shows but here goes . . .

How 'bout buying a cheapee Blu-ray and HDTV player and taking those to the show? You can get a decent Internet ready BD player at Costco for around $100 and it's tiny. On the HDTV, the size of course dictates the price. But then you can use them in your dive shop after the show as well.

Regards,

Kimberly
rs170a wrote on 6/28/2012, 9:43 AM
I've personally never used them but you could take a look at some of the hard drive media players.

Mike
Tom Pauncz wrote on 6/28/2012, 9:51 AM
I would investigate the use of Western Digital's WDTV.

Costs about $100, you can easily hide it behind an HDTV and it can play content from a HDD or even a USB key.

Has a remote controller and you can even set a specific video to loop.

Tom
danv wrote on 6/28/2012, 6:27 PM
KImberly,
I actually have a very high end BluRay player from Panasonic I could use....but my gripe is that BluRay kills the quality of a video so much, I was looking for better alternatives, when "mass distribution" is not involved...like at a trade show.
videoITguy wrote on 6/28/2012, 7:16 PM
Blu-ray quality for the prosumer -production level cannot be beat. If you are not seeing "crispness" - that you would like - it is most likely do to something going wrong in your workflow. I work with top-end $8,000+ plus camera capture - move through Vegas workflow (ususally Mpeg2 encoded) and burn one-offs for display on 42 inch screens at tradeshow booth. YOU cannot beat it.

You are absolutely correct that Hollywood input level is at a much higher resolution than you are getting in low-cost production formats.
That makes a difference.

As far as codecs like h264 - you may want another way to encode..I know of several different workflows better than VegasPro.
Laurence wrote on 6/28/2012, 8:05 PM
For $100 you could get a Roku 2 XS with a USB port that will let you play video off a USB thumb drive. If there's wifi handy, you could also play it off Vimeo.

http://www.roku.com/roku-products#3
robwood wrote on 6/29/2012, 2:59 PM
"No Matter what I do in encoding with Vegas, there is a BIG drop in sharpness and gradation quality from dark to light ( big issue in u/w video) going from the perfect look of the cineform 4-2-2 or 4-4-4 avi's, and the BluRay. "

imo something's wrong in the workflow... guessing its a colorspace wrangling issue on output.

-i use the MPEG-2 "Blu-ray 1920x1080-24p, 25 Mbps video stream" template
-use your scopes to make sure black is 16 and white is 235 for output render
-if your workflow is sRGB, blacks should normally read OOO, unless you have the Computer to Studio filter in place, in which case it's 016... where you want to be when rendering BD
-i dont like the mp4 render from Vegas 10 so i batch lossless (with the Computer to Studio filter in place), then re-batch to HandBrake or After Effects; not ideal but i haven't used it much so...

edited for clarity
[r]Evolution wrote on 6/29/2012, 7:38 PM
If this is something you do regularly; I would suggest a dedicated Laptop & HDTV combo as well as investing in a branded Kiosk display.

You could use the Laptop to Edit new pieces when on the road so the Media Rotation of your Kiosk would stay 'Fresh'. I enjoy taking B-Roll of the building and Trade Show floor, adding this to my current Video Loop, and letting people absorb the 'Now' factor as I feel this says "We're up to date and pushing the limits." Others may feel different.

I know money is always an issue but you can get a decent laptop & HDTV combo for under $1,000. Way under if you excercise do-diligence.