Wow, thank you so much for answering so fast Nick. Yes, I did read that. I don't fully understand it all, but I followed it the best I could. Yes, I can share my whole project with you with my FTP server. I just shut everything down for the night (I'm in California.). But I can do it tomorrow. That is fantastic! By the way, your underwater videos are simply off-the-chart, insanely good. Thank you so much, I will get the FTP info to you tomorrow. I can take other test clips as well. Anything... Have a most excellent evening...

-Charles

Only thing can be done about that specific clip would be a upscale to take advantage of higher bitrate from Youtube and take off some amount of compression artifacts.

Youtube only give 4mbit/s for H264 1080p@24/30fps like this one. For 1440p@24/30fps H264 it will be around 9-10mbit/s which will look better. For 4k H264 they apply something like 15-17mbit/s.

Vegas internal templates like SonyAVC and MCAVC are not ideal for complex footage. I will always take x264 through frameserver for that type of hard content or go lossless then after reencoding with a good x264 preset.

When youtube add VP9 it look better, because this one have a higher compression efficiency against H264 for low bitrates, but unfortunately they only apply VP9 randomly, mostly for popular videos.

Some practical discussion on the types of video that gives encoders fits...

https://www.vegascreativesoftware.info/us/forum/it-ain-t-gonna-look-good-at-3-mbps--98139/

Don't give up. If I can figure out which end of the camera to point at the subject, anyone can.

The best tutorials written won't replace the decades of experience that went into them.

Nick's YouTube and stock footage is best in class. In order to aspire to that level, I'm afraid you're going to have to make an awful lot of mistakes over the coming years, and savor each one as a little opportunity to learn.

Only thing can be done about that specific clip would be a upscale to take advantage of higher bitrate from Youtube and take off some amount of compression artifacts.

Youtube only give 4mbit/s for H264 1080p@24/30fps like this one. For 1440p@24/30fps H264 it will be around 9-10mbit/s which will look better. For 4k H264 they apply something like 15-17mbit/s.

Vegas internal templates like SonyAVC and MCAVC are not ideal for complex footage. I will always take x264 through frameserver for that type of hard content or go lossless then after reencoding with a good x264 preset.

When youtube add VP9 it look better, because this one have a higher compression efficiency against H264 for low bitrates, but unfortunately they only apply VP9 randomly, mostly for popular videos.

Thank you for responding Chummy. I have to admit, all the lingo you just used is truly exposing my ignorance. It sounds all Greek to me. Where do you learn all that stuff? Where would someone like me go to start learning what all that means? I read different articles here and there, but it seems like many assume you know what H264, lossless, Frameserver, etc... already is.

I think I understand that H264 is a wrapper of some sort that holds the data packets of the actual video, but I don't know it in depth, I don't know how that effects my shooting decisions, rendering decisions...

Right now I am shooting with XAVC S, 1080/24p 50Mbps. I don't even know if that is best or not...ha ha ha. I could shoot at 1080/60p 50Mbps but I heard something about that being interlaced and that it is not good. I am too ignorant to know for myself, at least for now. I will learn...

Some practical discussion on the types of video that gives encoders fits...

https://www.vegascreativesoftware.info/us/forum/it-ain-t-gonna-look-good-at-3-mbps--98139/

Don't give up. If I can figure out which end of the camera to point at the subject, anyone can.

Thank you john_dennis. I will read through that shortly. Thank you for the word of encouragement, it does indeed help.

The best tutorials written won't replace the decades of experience that went into them.

Nick's YouTube and stock footage is best in class. In order to aspire to that level, I'm afraid you're going to have to make an awful lot of mistakes over the coming years, and savor each one as a little opportunity to learn.

 

I totally get this. I know this very well as it the same with audio engineering. I agree with Nicks' videos being the best in class.

"I think I understand that H264 is a wrapper of some sort that holds the data packets of the actual video"

Sometimes it's better to just memorize the facts until you understand them completely (in spite of any trends to the contrary in the educational system).

Wikipedia is a decent place to start. "H.264 or MPEG-4 Part 10, Advanced Video Coding (MPEG-4 AVC) is a block-oriented motion-compensation-based video compression standard."

MPEG-4 AVC can be wrapped in containers such as .mp4. .MOV, or .m2ts in the case of Blu-ray. Please avoid .avi as it was never intended for such.

"I could shoot at 1080/60p 50Mbps but I heard something about that being interlaced and that it is not good."

If the possible format is actually 1080/60p, then it is progressive. Otherwise, it might be called 29.97i or 60i. 

Thank you for responding Chummy. I have to admit, all the lingo you just used is truly exposing my ignorance. It sounds all Greek to me. Where do you learn all that stuff? Where would someone like me go to start learning what all that means? I read different articles here and there, but it seems like many assume you know what H264, lossless, Frameserver, etc... already is.

I think I understand that H264 is a wrapper of some sort that holds the data packets of the actual video, but I don't know it in depth, I don't know how that effects my shooting decisions, rendering decisions...

Right now I am shooting with XAVC S, 1080/24p 50Mbps. I don't even know if that is best or not...ha ha ha. I could shoot at 1080/60p 50Mbps but I heard something about that being interlaced and that it is not good. I am too ignorant to know for myself, at least for now. I will learn...

I have a Youtube channel for some years, so experience+learning about it make me get some understanding how it works over time. Like you i started from nowhere, i already done a lot of mistakes about video editing when i started and dont even know at the time what "bitrate" was.

I would keep 24fps recording for Youtube or 30 at most for 1080p, higher framerate(48,50,60fps) can be even more challenging for Youtube H264 low bitrate encoding at 1080p. But that is my point of view.

On my camera it doesn't say 24fps. It says 1080/24p 50Mbps. Is this the same thing? Sorry for my ignorance. Is there a way to render without compression? So that if I wanted to edit clips, color correct, etc... but wanted to keep it at the utmost highest quality with no compression, could I?

24 means the framerate per second(fps). "P" means it's progressive scan like john_dennis already talked about. There is another one contrary to progressive which some devices does, its "i"(interlaced), which you want avoid for your usage. If your camera does 1080/60p that's good and you can try out, if instead it does 1080/60i then you should avoid recording in that format to skip possible issues since interlaced is not meant for web streaming, webstreaming like Youtube does progressive scan. Interlaced was/is a standard for TV broadcasting. But like i said keep it on 24fps if the final stage of your content is Youtube.

When you apply changes in the image there will be needed to reencode it, what was said is to use lossless codec to keep 100% of original quality, which consumes huge amount of space( aproximately 3GB per minute of video for 1080/30p).

A codec is the software side which does the image creation, the painter of each video frame, so there is some variety of codecs which can be lossy(H264,H265). These ones discard information to save disk space which consequently loose more of original quality. Other codecs are called lossless(lagarith,UTvideo) which keep 100% quality from original source but using tons of gigabytes per minute of video file. In middle has some lossy codecs which dont save too much space like H264 and dont go too high like lossless and lets say can keep above 95% of original image, you only will notice minor tiny details being gone in some cases.

I'll try to say in simple way, if you use H264 and keep same amount of bitrate from your original source you will still keep very close to original quality, i would say higher than 95% fidelity. Mainconcept and SonyAVC templates uses H264 codec same as your Sony camera does.

A huge thank you to you Chummy, and john_dennis for your patience and kindness with me. I am very grateful and stand ready to help you in return, if I can. If you need some help with audio or anything like that, let me know...

Just to clarify, I do not see anything labeled fps when I am setting my recording settings. I will attach an image to show you what I see.

These are my only choices. Is the 1080/24p 50Mbps meaning 24 fps? Notice up above is says 60i. This has me a little confused still. Also, YouTube is not always my final goal. My ultimate final goal is to sell stock footage on shutterstock. YouTube was just a way to show my test examples along the way as I get better...ha ha ha.

None of the settings in the image I uploaded say anything about H264. How do I know I am shooting in H264? Or is that something only related to rendering?

Ok, I am going to stop being a pest with so many questions that are probably super obvious (but not to me ha ha.)

Thank you all very much

-Charles

These are my only choices. Is the 1080/24p 50Mbps meaning 24 fps? Notice up above is says 60i. This has me a little confused still.

Looks like your camera shoots progressive segmented frames. Enough to fry anyone's brain. See here:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_segmented_frame
• http://wolfcrow.com/blog/understanding-terminology-progressive-segmented-frames-psf/
   

None of the settings in the image I uploaded say anything about H264. How do I know I am shooting in H264? Or is that something only related to rendering?

H.264 is the same thing as AVC. It's a hugely common video format for both capture and publication. It can reside in many types of container ("wrapper") including MP4 and MOV. See here to analyse your media: https://www.vegascreativesoftware.info/us/forum/faq-how-to-post-mediainfo-and-vegas-pro-file-properties--104561/

H.265 (HEVC) is gradually coming in but very processor-intensive, often buggy, and still not supported by YouTube.

Thank you.

Here's an exercise that anyone can do in the privacy of their own home.

Follow Nick's Mediainfo link and install the program. Notice it also has a right-click option so when you're navigating through your media files you can invoke it without the Start Menu or the Taskbar. Hint: If you drop a dime on the developer, you'll get your own private link to download updates so you can bypass the crapware offers. I did.

Whip out your camera (but don't shake it) and shoot a few seconds in each mode offered.

Study all the details of all the different modes until you start to see, really see encoders used, bit rates, frame rates, interlace / progressive characteristics.

If you use Windows side by side viewing you can easily compare two different reports.

I've developed a tick such that I'm likely to right click on the media to see what's in it before I double click to watch it.    

PS,

Don't forget about MPEG-2. With all the talk of h.264 and h.265 we could get the impression that that all of this started with the arrival of youtube. Some years ago I was reminded by John Cline how great MPEG-1 could be in its day.

Thank yo all so very much. I am actually packing up right now to go do AV support at a three day conference in which I will also be doing an audio only program, and a video too. When everything is done, I can share the video with you guys if you want to see it. Hope all is well...

-Charles

I think it's great that so many of you guys chimed in, in response to the OP's cry for "hope." And the first "hope" offered came in the form of Nick Hope, among others. Kudos. It demonstrates the value of this site and its participants.

These are my only choices. Is the 1080/24p 50Mbps meaning 24 fps? Notice up above is says 60i. This has me a little confused still.

Looks like your camera shoots progressive segmented frames. Enough to fry anyone's brain. See here:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_segmented_frame
• http://wolfcrow.com/blog/understanding-terminology-progressive-segmented-frames-psf/
   

None of the settings in the image I uploaded say anything about H264. How do I know I am shooting in H264? Or is that something only related to rendering?

H.264 is the same thing as AVC. It's a hugely common video format for both capture and publication. It can reside in many types of container ("wrapper") including MP4 and MOV. See here to analyse your media: https://www.vegascreativesoftware.info/us/forum/faq-how-to-post-mediainfo-and-vegas-pro-file-properties--104561/

H.265 (HEVC) is gradually coming in but very processor-intensive, often buggy, and still not supported by YouTube.

FYI Vimeo allows h.265 uploads and I have been able to upload h.265 to Facebook as well

"Color Correction for Video"; Steve Hullfish & Jaime Fowler (Focal Press)

From one ex-audio engineer/music mixer to another....... The next time someone posts an audio question such as how to bring out the dialogue recorded at a location along an expressway with a generator running nearby, you'll be able to do a payback for all the advice available in the forum offered for your issues. Audio EQ, compression, limiting, and noise reduction are as foreign to many video producers as all the video capture, FX, and rendering choices are (were) to us audio guys. Have a good session/shoot.

"...a location along an expressway with a generator running nearby..."

Been to that location. Shot it on Friday. Does everyone use the same location?