@Rich Parry

Try Shutter Encoder

@Rich Parry What happens when you use Handbrake, that has all the settings you'd need, is that one that didn't work?

Converting to AVC H.264 works better in Vegas than H.265 HEVC

@Gid, thanks for the response.

I am new to Handbreak so it may be a solution, but I saw no option to save the new file in QFHD (4K) format, I was only able to save it in FHD (1080) format. Under the DIMENSIONS tab in Handbreak, I am limited to 1080, Handbreak did not allow me to type 3840x2160. Did I miss the 4K save option? Where is it?

I can play the file you uploaded to dropbox with an Nvidia GPU as decoder, the first Iphone DolbyVision file I've ever been able to playback on Vegas with GPU decoder activated. I have everything on default, I will try and find my old Iphone test files to see if they now play or you uploaded a bad example that happens to play on vegas.

Does not fully play correctly. There is a black flash in first playback, that will effect your encode, I then put dynamic ram preview to 0 and the black flash went away. I am using VP18(527)

John D.

Thanks for your quick response. If none of the tools I have do what I want, I will certainly look into Shutter Encoder. I'd like to avoid a new tool, but certainly willing to give it a try if I have no other options.

Thanks again,
Rich

Todd B.

Thank you for your response and efforts to help. I did try setting dynamic ram to 0. I also turned OFF GPU acceleration. The strangest thing is that I can play the original .mov 4K 60fps file on my laptop, but not on my desktop. I'm not sure what conclusion to draw from this.

Rich

Hi Rich, Handbrake should work. Try a production preset and under resolution uncheck the box that limits it to 1080p (resolution limit: none). Under video use h.264 and framerate check constant framerate.

I just tested this with a 4K DolbyVision iPhone file and it transcoded fine. No black frames on playback.

It looks like Nvidia GPU's will decode HDR content from Iphones with latest firmware whereas it did not with earlier firmware.

The sample poster uploaded shows this in media info

com.apple.quicktime.model                : iPhone 12 Pro Max
com.apple.quicktime.software             : 15.0.2

The 2nd file in example below shows an earlier firmware that does not GPU decode

com.apple.quicktime.model                : iPhone 12 Pro Max
com.apple.quicktime.software             : 14.2

I scrub and playback both videos with Premiere and Vegas. Premiere plays back both with GPU decoding, Vegas only decodes the newer file. I have only just noticed Vegas was in 4K preview, while Premiere was in 1/2 resolution, so not a completely fair comparison. Because this is not helping the poster I won't bother test again but what is interesting is that it is possible to edit 4K HEVC VFR content on an NLE with smooth playback

@Rich Parry @Former user @RogerS 

Hi, i had a play with this HEVC file & Handbrake, like i said i don't use it often & the output file is normally good enough for me, but.. this orig file has a bitrate of 55,000-ish & the output i get from Handbrake is only about 22,000, It looks fine on screen but i know bitrate can determine pic quality, I can't find how to adjust the encode bitrate in Handbrake, i tried setting an avg rate & tried dragging the slider to 0 as it says that will be lossless, neither altered the encoded file's final bitrate, they were at about 22,000 also.

This is the 1st encode i did, In this clip i just used the preset in Handbrake, the orig HEVC file won't play in Vegas, it's a black screen, the Handbrake encoded file seems to play fine,

@Rich Parry @RogerS @Former user

Had a few more goes at encoding, 20+ goes 😂 I adjusted 'things' & finally got an encoded file that looks similar size & bitrate to the orig, It looks & plays fine but whether the quality is the same i haven't got a clue 🤣🤣🤣🤷‍♂️🤣

Encode Level 4.0 seemed to limited the bitrate but if i set it to Encode Level 5.2 i could tweak the Constant Quality slider until i got the same bitrate 🤷‍♂️😂 don't really know the difference between 4.0 & 5.2 🤷‍♂️

For rate factors I'd say 17 is about as high as you'd need to go here for quality and maybe 20-22 gives a more reasonable file size. I use the production presets over the fast ones but honestly couldn't tell you what all the settings do without consulting guides to Handbrake or x264.

@RogerS 👍 I have a few H.264 presets saved but apart from the aspect ratio either 3840x2160 or 1920x1080, & the frame rate 30 or 60 Constant, everything else is at the defaults of the orig Handbrake preset, 22 on the slider & encoder Auto-Auto. they turn out fine for me.

@Rich Parry, when you say Vegas friendly, are you referring to VP19? On my computer with VP19 dragging your iPhone clip to the timeline, the clip appears fine. But in the Video Preview window, there is no video. Playing the clip, I hear audio though.

With VP18, the video is there, plays back fine. I did no editing to it. With the iPhone clip on the timeline, I right mouse click, then Properties>General tab. I see that the plugin used in VP18 is different than the one used in VP19. See image below.

Not sure if this has anything to do with the clip not playing in VP19 or not.....

ADDED: In Preferences>File I/O, I unchecked Enable Legacy AVC decoding, and the video is present on the timeline in VP19 and the Plug-In in the Properties>General tab reads so4compound....and I can render to whatever settings I choose.

@Rich Parry

Works OK here without issue. I can import the file directly into V19 and it plays both video and audio, albeit at a very low frame rate. A proxy is definitely needed for editing. You can also rewrap (no transcoding) and convert to a constant frame rate using the ImportAssist tool of HOS (which also worked OK). I would avoid transcoding since that inevitably leads to some quality loss unless using a lossless intermediate.

@Reyfox A little different here, VP19,

I tried turning off Enable Legacy AVC, it made no difference, no video pic is shown on the timeline or plays,

If i leave Enable Legacy AVC on & turn off Enable Legacy HEVC the video shows on the timeline but playback is jumpy with the black flashes,

With Enable Legacy AVC on & Enable Legacy HEVC off, & GPU off, it plays ok & renders with Magix AVC/AAC no prob with no flashes in the rendered file.

@Former user I am using an old AMD graphics card, which I would love to upgrade when prices drop down to some sort of reality. I can get 50fps playback with Good Auto. The Video Preview window is 1558x876. It's big enough for me on the 4K monitor.

In the File I/O I have nothing check marked and have Hardware decoder to use: AMD.

@Reyfox Ah 👍 for me it was turning off Enable Legacy HEVC that enabled the video to show on the timeline, but if yours wasn't ticked then that makes sense,

Yeah we'd all like a new GPU 😁 I considered NvLinking another RX3090 to mine, or getting a .... I can't be spending more 😂😂

 

If i leave Enable Legacy AVC on & turn off Enable Legacy HEVC the video shows on the timeline but playback is jumpy with the black flashes,

With Enable Legacy AVC on & Enable Legacy HEVC off, & GPU off, it plays ok & renders with Magix AVC/AAC no prob with no flashes in the rendered file.

@Former user In the video comparison I show Premiere compared to Vegas, rather then Resolve because Premiere was laughably bad at playing back VFR content, it would lose sync and video be jerky and not smooth. But look at the difference now. In VP16 the audio sync problem with VFR was fixed but playback of VFR smoothly is not smooth. If Premiere and Resolve can make 4k HEVC VFR playback smooth so can Vegas

Had a few more goes at encoding, 20+ goes 😂 I adjusted 'things' & finally got an encoded file that looks similar size & bitrate to the orig, It looks & plays fine but whether the quality is the same i haven't got a clue 🤣🤣🤣🤷‍♂️🤣

It's confusing if you don't just want to use a default template. It's highly un-intuitive to me. Shutter Enoder though is much more logical still a bit confusing when you first see the interface but start clicking and everything becomes obvious... except hardware encoding option hidden in advanced section.

@Rich Parry Someone would have asked this by now, but do you have latest drivers?

We're both using vp18(527) with same settings, and most people are seeing the video with other versions, don't have enable legacy HEVC decode ticked, that is the only thing I can do to get the black screen. It's so strange if you have no drivers to update may be time to reset vegas

Had a few more goes at encoding, 20+ goes 😂 I adjusted 'things' & finally got an encoded file that looks similar size & bitrate to the orig, It looks & plays fine but whether the quality is the same i haven't got a clue 🤣🤣🤣🤷‍♂️🤣

Encode Level 4.0 seemed to limited the bitrate but if i set it to Encode Level 5.2 i could tweak the Constant Quality slider until i got the same bitrate 🤷‍♂️😂 don't really know the difference between 4.0 & 5.2 🤷‍♂️

@Former user Yes the Level does affect the max bitrate available. See the Levels table in this Wiki page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Video_Coding

@EricLNZ Can't say i understand a lot of it but that chart is interesting reading , thanks👍

PROBLEM SOLVED: Updated Video driver

I would like to apologize for my stupidity and thank everyone. After @tood-b suggested updating my video driver, I gave it a try and it solved the problem. VP18 no longer crashes when I put a HEVC file on the timeline. Preview isn't smooth, but that is understandable and solvable via proxies, etc.

Thank you again, you guys are great. I learned a lot in this thread.

Rich

@Rich Parry 👍 Hope it works out, I've got to repeat tho if you have problems it's prob the HEVC & you'd be better swapping to AVC, 👍 I think you can change the setting in an iPhone camera to Most Compatible,

I stated above Handbreak can transcode my original QFHD file to FHD, but not QFHD. It was my unfamiliarity with Handbreak that led me to this conclusion. Thanks to comments in this thread, I realized I needed to select PRODUCTION STANDARD from the PRESETS menu. I was then able to transcode my QFHD file and keep QFHD resolution.

After learning of my error, I did some experimenting trying different ENCODER LEVELs. In this unscientific test, I learned an Encoder Level of 4.2 or 4.1 closely matched the original file size and bit rate. 4.1 and 4.2 appear to have given similar results. These are my results if anyone finds the test useful.

Rich