Novice needs rendering help

Allen D wrote on 10/19/2010, 10:52 AM
Hey all, I have a few questions I hope someone can answer for me.

I have a JVC Everio vid camera which captures 16:9 at 640 BUT it records in .MOD format. So, according to JVC, I have to run it through Cyberlink Powerdirector and "produce" it into another format. I use MPEG2 to keep my 16:9 aspect ratio. The downside is they don't have a 640x360 option so I have to "produce" at 720, no big deal, I think???

So from there I open Vegas MS Platinum 9 and drag the clip into the timeline and add/edit to get what I want then try to render.

My "clips" aren't long at all, usually 3 minutes and don't have too much in the way of editing usually. Here's what I usually add. I created a short animation of my logo for the intro and add that in, then maybe a little contrast and an overlay with a few transitions and again the logo at the end.

When I play it in preview it plays ok and looks good BUT when I reneder it the video is choppy and isn't sharp at all.

My PC is Windows XP Pro with a 2.4 Quad Core processor and 3GB of 667 ram. I have 2 SATA HDD's internal and also externals. When i render, I can open up the task manager and look at it's performance and it's maxing out my CPU which is obviously causing the poor render.

Now for the questions, I know I'm probably not setting up the system and video correctly and it's causing the issue so can anyone help me understand what to do and how to do it so I can get decent clips for promo's?

I've read a number of the posts here and haven't, I believe, come to a solution for my issue.

Thanks in advance for your help and patience with a novice.....

Comments

vt7dust wrote on 10/19/2010, 12:02 PM
First of all, try changing the extension on one of the files from .mod to .mpg. This may allow you to import it directly. If that does not work, I'd guess you've chosen poor render settings in Powerdirector and/or Vegas. I've never used Powerdirector, but I would have to think there is someway to set a custom resolution to render to.

Maxing out your CPU to render is fine. That certainly will not affect the quality of the render. A slow system could playback the file poorly and make it appear choppy, but your system isn't slow.

One thing you can try in vegas is change the resample setting to disabled for the video you captured on your JVC Everio. Right click the media on the timeline and go to its properties to change the setting.

What is the fps of the video you import into vegas?
What render settings have you selected in Vegas?
TOG62 wrote on 10/19/2010, 12:05 PM
When i render, I can open up the task manager and look at it's performance and it's maxing out my CPU which is obviously causing the poor render.

There's no connection between the quality and the level of processor activity.

So, according to JVC, I have to run it through Cyberlink Powerdirector and "produce" it into another format.

Have you tried importing directly into VMS? It would definitely be worth avoiding a double render. If you do have to go through PowerDirector use the highest possible quality setting.

What final format are you trying to achieve?
Allen D wrote on 10/19/2010, 12:10 PM
Ok here's an update.

I am trying to dig deper and decided to try rendering the logo intro only. The intro is a whopping 3 seconds long with a gif picture and a short audio clip. The whole file is 15kb.

I have 1 animated effect, I am using the New Blue 3D Explosion transition and that's it.

When i play it in the preview pane and watch my CPU in teh task manager it plays perfectly smooth and barely bumps the CPU up to 8% BUT.... When I try to render it all 4 of my processor banks max out and the video slows up and stuters at the transition point.

The end result is a crappy video.

The project properties, currently, are:
640x360 29.970 fps
Field Order = None
Pixel aspect ratio=1.000 (square)
Full-resolution rendering quality=Best
Deinterlace method=Blend Fields

I'm trying to encode with .wmv V11
Mode=CBR
Format=Windows media video 9
Image size=Keep original size
Pixel aspect ratio=1.000
Frame rate=29.970
Seconds per keyframe=4
Override default compression buffer=unchecked
Video smoothness=60
Target bit rate=High speed internet 250K

This seems odd that in the preview all works great BUT when i try to render to anything above 320 it's choppy and/or poor quality.

Please help...
Paul C wrote on 10/19/2010, 2:19 PM
Your video in the preview window will stutter at points where your processor has to work harder to render the frames, such as at transition points. This has no effect on the final video.

To confirm - are you saying the final WMV file stutters when you play it back?

As for the result being "crappy video" - the main culprit for this is the Target Bit Rate. 250K is far too low, especially for the frame size you are using.

It would be useful to tell us how you are intending to show the final video (web, computer playback etc), however initially try increasing the bit rate and/or reducing the image size in the Windows Media export settings and see if the quailty issue improves.
Allen D wrote on 10/20/2010, 1:23 PM
Thanks Paul. The preview plays perfectly and uses very little in the way of PC resources, it's the final product that's choppy and fuzzy.

The best I can describe the playback issue is it looks like strobing. You know how people look like they're moving in choppy motions under a strobe light? It's like that. Also the final product looks very grainy and pixilized, if that's a word.

Target bit rate is too low? Where should I set it? I'd like to keep my videos in 640x360, as my camera records if that's possible...

My main purpose for these videos is for YouTube promo pieces for my company. I own a production company doing sound, lighting and DJ's so the videos don't have to be feature film quality but they do need to be nice and help me showcase my services.

Does that help identify the issue?

I know above, others have said that rendering shouldn't be affected by the CPU but why does my quad core max out when rendering and I can see when the CPU max's out it's also where the rendering has "slowed" a bit according to the preview window.

Paul C wrote on 10/20/2010, 2:40 PM
For setting the bitrate, select a preset, then click the 'Custom' button. Change the settings in the window as in the picture below:



For good advice on rendering to YouTube, there is a good post on the subject here

I'd try rendering to a higher bitrate with WMV or try a different format, and let us know if you are still experiencing quality issues.

Paul
Allen D wrote on 10/21/2010, 1:10 PM
AWESOME Paul, THANK YOU! It was the bit rate. I changed it to 3 M and Viola the video looks pretty decent.

So what exactly IS the bit rate?

Thanks to all who've chimed in, I appreciate it.
Paul C wrote on 10/21/2010, 1:41 PM
Glad that sorted it for you.

Bitrate is a measure of the amount of data per second your video is compressed to. It is normally measured in kilobits or megabits per second. In the case I showed, 3M means 3 megabits per second.

This bitrate is only one factor which affects the final output quality. The format you choose is also a factor. For example, newer formats like MPEG4 are more efficient at compression than older formats like MPEG2 (which is the format used for DVDs). Video compressed in MPEG4 at 3 mbps would need more like 6 mbps in MPEG2 format to achieve similar quality.

Also, your frame rate and frame size will be factors, as lower values of these at the same bitrate will give higher percieved quality as there is less image data to compress.

Paul