My 56k Render looks Lousy! Why?

will-3 wrote on 9/17/2003, 7:06 PM

I'm doing my first real V4 Rendering for the web.

-For high speed connections I used the 256k Default paramaters and it looks OK.

- For Dial-up connections the 56k Default Settings looks out of focus and blurry... and that is looking at it directly from my hard-drive... not the net.

- Customized the 56k Render quality from Good to Best and changed the bit rate from 32k to 44k... a little better but still quite poor.

- I'm Rendering for the Windows Media 9 .wmv codec.

- Next I will attempt Quick Time.

What are the proper Custom set-up spec's for a good 256k and 56k render for both the WMP and QT?

Thanks for any help - Will

Comments

Chienworks wrote on 9/17/2003, 7:13 PM

There are no settings for a good render at 56K. It's just too low a rate to get a clear image. There are some additional things you can try to help it though. In the Video tab of the custom render screen for WMV move the quality slider all the way to the right. This makes Vegas take more time to compress the frames as best it can. Check the Enable two pass encoding setting. Rendering will take twice as long, but Vegas can better use the available bits where they are most needed. Consider using a lower frame rate. I often do 56K renders at 10fps instead of the default 15. This allows 50% more bits for each frame. Since the image is rather poor anyway the slower frame rate isn't really that noticeable and is more than made up for by the image being clearer. Use the smallest frame size you can get away with. Quarter frame (160x120) is about the maximum you can get at 56K. A smaller frame than that will show fewer artifacts. Depending on your subject matter you may be able to have a result that looks better even though the frame is smaller.

nolonemo wrote on 9/17/2003, 8:04 PM

Other tips for low bandwidth video. Use low-detail or out of focus backgrounds - detail requires higher bitrate for clear render. Shoot on a tripod - movement requires higher bitrate to render. You'll get best 56k reders with large subject without a lot of detail or movement against a detailless background.

johnmeyer wrote on 9/17/2003, 8:06 PM

You have two controls you can change: frame rate (5, 10, 15, 30); frame size (720x480, 320x240, etc.). If you want both a sharp video and one that moves smoothly, you'll have to encode at a really small size, just like Chienworks says. You might also experiment with Real media. I have found that it seems to provide better quality encodes for low bandwidth connections.

will-3 wrote on 9/18/2003, 5:13 AM

Thanks for all the comments gang! Great suggestions. I'll give them a try.

What about using Sorenson Squeeze to do the compression for WMP 9 .wmv?

Will

Jay Gladwell wrote on 9/18/2003, 7:11 AM

Sorenson Squeeze will provide you with beautiful video, assuming it was beautiful to begin with. ;o)