Settings for master & upload nVIDIA ShadowPlay?

StormEye wrote on 12/15/2013, 11:59 PM
Hey guys,

I am very new to video editing, or at least doing it on a more complicated state. I had been playing around with very simple video editing tools that basically did its job, but I wanted to do something more, so I purchased Vegas Pro 12, which was recommended by lots others.

Anyway, I take a lot of gaming footage with nVIDIA ShadowPlay (I have dxtory and FRAPS too, but ShadowPlay offers best gaming performance), and I would edit footages to make a master file at best quality possible for personal archiving. And then, I would also upload it to YouTube, whether it be just uploading that master file or re-rendering for YouTube format.

I tried using Vegas Pro 12 to edit the video and uploaded to YouTube (using several different settings suggested in YouTube videos), and quality is worse than the basic tool I used before. So, I must be doing something wrong here.

I would like to get some help in getting two video settings correctly.
1. Master file - Best quality possible (on-par with original footage taken by nVIDIA ShadowPlay)
2. YouTube upload - I know its commonly addressed, but I just did not have success. So may be I need to special tailoring, since I am using nVIDIA ShadowPlay, not dxtory or FRAPS.

Once again, videos are taken with nVIDIA ShadowPlay (not sure if it matters, though).

Comments

Steve Mann wrote on 12/16/2013, 8:41 AM
Never heard of Shadowplay, but, then Pong was state of the art for me.
Get the free file Mediainfo and see what codec was used to make the file.
YouTube recompresses everything, so you give YouTube the best format that you can and cross your fingers.
larry-peter wrote on 12/16/2013, 10:20 AM
Probably the most important thing with screen captured video is to set the project properties to the exact frame rate of the captured footage. I'm not familiar with Shadowplay either, but in the far past I found that many times the captured footage would be at odd, sometimes fractional frame rates.

As Steve suggested, use Mediainfo or a similar tool to make sure the project properties, including frame rate match exactly. A frame rate difference with resampling set to the default "smart" will make all your footage look soft. You can set your project properties to a different framerate than the source if need be, but you'll need to disable resampling and accept that frames will be dropped occasionally. I generally upload 720p HD to YouTube at 8MB/sec in mp4. There are much better rendering techniques on this forum if you search, but YouTube isn't worth the added time, for me.
StormEye wrote on 12/16/2013, 7:45 PM
Thanks for the replies.

I will definitely give a go with Mediainfor for video properties, and try to match that.

Any suggested topics already created about YouTube settings in the forum that I should check out?

As for nVIDIA ShadowPlay, its a video capture "software" provided by nVIDIA (for free) that uses built in H.264 encoder hardware on the graphics card itself to capture the footage, which only nets 1% (may be higher depending on cared you use) of my card's performance. Its absolutely amazing when you are not dedicated in making video game footage all the time, but when you just want to take few footages here and there when necessary. FRAPS and dxtory does give better quality, but their performance impact and resulting file sizes are humongous.
Warper wrote on 12/17/2013, 1:53 AM
From what I've seen shadowplay produces main profile h264 files in 4:2:0 YUV with computer RGB levels.
Generally you do the same as you do for fraps:
1. Project in 8-bit, studio gamma, with progressive scan (fields order: none), square pixel, 25.0/30.0 fps (same as captured video or fraction of it)
2. Select "disable resample" in event settings for every clip to avoid "ghosting" in resampling fps.
3. Apply Color levels FX with preset "Computer RGB to Studio RGB" to match levels with mainconcept avc. I prefer to use it in Output FX, but it can be more appropriate in media, event or track FX if you mix material with studio levels media (like master copy of previous video).

There is no special tailoring for shadowplay. Youtube reduced bitrate limits this year. If master copy looks great on your computer it's youtube fault in a first place.
StormEye wrote on 12/17/2013, 3:16 AM
Thanks for the input Warper.

I am going to make a test video off of a same video I have done before for comparison.

BTW, do you suggest that I should re-render my master file before uploading? Or should I just leave it alone and let YouTube handle it?

The extra time for the upload in the master file is a LOT longer than for me to probably just re-render it, but if the quality difference will be great, then I would have to think about it.
StormEye wrote on 12/17/2013, 6:32 AM
Whoa, thanks for the advices.

The video looks WAY~~~~ more amazing with the new settings I have used.

The only thing I was not able to do was Color levels FX thing, since I have no idea where to locate that.

Uploading to YouTube right now, and going to see how the end result looks like as well.
Steve Mann wrote on 12/17/2013, 9:03 PM
"Or should I just leave it alone and let YouTube handle it?"

YouTube is going to re-encode it anyway, so you just give it the best you have. Every re-encode takes a quality hit, advertising notwithstanding.
Warper wrote on 12/18/2013, 4:24 AM
do you suggest that I should re-render my master file before uploading?It greatly depends on your situation - internet speed, quality drawback you can afford, what settings (bitrate) you use for master.
Generally I do not do master copy for safekeeping, just render in 20Mbit/s and upload. As my videos are short enough, I don't need smaller size for upload.
You can re-render with lower bitrate if material allows it, but none can say beforehand what bitrate will be acceptable.

Color levels FX thing, since I have no idea where to locate that
Right-click on event in timeline, select Event FX. In opened window select Sony Levels and press ok. Then you are in effect window, select preset in combobox and close the window.
Small preview will look awkward - washed out colors. That's ok. Set up full window preview to your display, check color correction for studio gamma (sRGB). After that full window preview will show correct colors (as they should appear in proper video player and youtube player).
Note, that this color correction should only be applied if you render in sony internal codecs like mpeg-2, sony avc, mainconcept avc, Sony YUV. It is not generally applicable for wmv, external video for windows (vfw) codecs like xvid, avi uncompressed. If you are in doubt, try both ways and check for youself.
StormEye wrote on 12/18/2013, 11:15 PM
Got it. Time to warm up my room (that is once I get back from work...) with lots of test renders.

Thanks for the help.