Movie Studio 14 - Workflow Issue for rendering to best quality

powergraphic wrote on 11/5/2017, 4:20 PM

I am using the new Google Pixel 2 for shooting some video. The settings for the camera are HD 1920 x 1080 60p. I am based in the UK and being in Europe would usually select 50p but this is not an option on the phone. Only 30p or 60p.

When I bring some media into MS 14 I set the project to match the same rate as the media. The actual frame rate is 60.035p.

When I render the finished project the closest I can find to match the project is to customise an MP4 setting and choose a Sony AVC/MVC format and then customise the template to a Frame Rate of 59.940 (Double NTSC). Firstly this isn't ideal as I am in Europe so PAL would be the better option but then I would need to drop the output to 50p.

When I play the raw files straight out of the camera the quality is what I would expect and very good. I am playing them via a Western Digital media player. When however I render them in MS14 using the settings above, the result is good, but not as good and the difference is noticeable when panning as things like water and trees have a sort of motion blur to them which is not present in the original file.

Any suggestions where I may be going wrong would be welcome.

Thank you.

Comments

Cornico wrote on 11/5/2017, 5:55 PM

Not only the framerate is determing the quality of renders but also and maybe more important the bitrate.
You did not say what the bitrate of your files is.

But the highest in Sony AVC is nearly 26 Mbps.
Mainconcept goes higher.
Probably your footage has variable bitrate and framerate, so also try through rightclick on the videofiles the different switches for Resampling options and see what gives the best result.
I hope you customized the right Sony AVC default template to use.

This one for your type of rendering, but while you are living in Europe, as I do, you could also try the 50p.

powergraphic wrote on 11/6/2017, 2:30 AM

Thank you. I tried this and the result is perfect. I dropped the frame rate to 50p and increased the bitrate from 16 to 26Mbps and the render was spot on :-)

3POINT wrote on 11/7/2017, 3:50 PM

The max framerate that can be rendered with Sony AVC is 59,940p. When you're original framerate is slightly more it will be rendered to 59,940p and due to resampling will result in ghost images, that's what you see when panning.

A workaround to get perfect images is to add your 60,035p footage at project framerate (59,940p), a new feature in VMS14.

powergraphic wrote on 11/7/2017, 4:03 PM

The max framerate that can be rendered with Sony AVC is 59,940p. When you're original framerate is slightly more it will be rendered to 59,940p and due to resampling will result in ghost images, that's what you see when panning.

A workaround to get perfect images is to add your 60,035p footage at project framerate (59,940p), a new feature in VMS14.

Thank you. I am also seeing a bit of shudder on moving cars when I am still and I am wondering if this is to do with the slightly different frame rate or the fact that this smartphone, although excellent, has a fixed aperture so on a bright sunny day the shutter speed is going to be very fast. On my cameras I would usually have an ND filter to allow me to keep the shutter speed to double the frame rate at around 1/100 if I am shooting 50p.

I will try your suggestion but how can I manually customise the frame rate specifically to 59,940p?

3POINT wrote on 11/7/2017, 4:13 PM

When you're footage is recorded with a smartphone it probably will have a variable framerate, which is not a perfect basis to start from.

The shudder you see with fast moving objects is normally a result of a fast shutter speed with low framerates, as you explained already. This effect is normally not visible at higher framerates.

powergraphic wrote on 11/7/2017, 4:16 PM

When you're footage is recorded with a smartphone it probably will have a variable framerate, which is not a perfect basis to start from.

The shudder you see with fast moving objects is normally a result of a fast shutter speed with low framerates, as you explained already. This effect is normally not visible at higher framerates.

Thanks I think I am just going to have to accept the limitations of a smartphone.