I use CQP (for Nvenc, IntelQSV) or CRF ( forx264, x265) mode to render.

https://slhck.info/video/2017/02/24/crf-guide.html

Great timing Mindmatter, I was thinking of posting the same question!

As use case matters, I generally use Voukoder for final renders so good quality and moderate size are my main criteria (okay if it takes a while).

I used the general recommended template and then customized to reduce GOP size (and think made other changes based on what I found while reading tutorials.)

crf=20.000 opencl=1 preset=medium rc=crf x264-params=qpmax=22:aq-mode=2:aq-strength=0.700:rc-lookahead=180:keyint=40:min-keyint=3:bframes=3:b-adapt=2:ref=3:deblock=0:direct=auto:me=umh:merange=32:subme=10:trellis=2:no-fast-pskip=1

I do use Zscale to reduce to 1080p with spline36 as well.

Would love feedback or ideas to improve these settings.

You've probably found this already but just in case, this from Scrapyard Films:

VEGAS Pro 19 - Absolute BEST render settings with Voukoder

Just for completeness, see in the viewers notes:

"I have been using Voukoder for Vegas 18 since I saw your video for that version of Vegas. I just installed the trial version of Vegas 19 to test it out and it seems that the Voukoder encoder will only install with one version of Vegas. Do you know how I can install Voukoder for BOTH Vegas 18 and Vegas 19 at the same time? Thanks!"

"Hello, I just heard from the developer of Voukoder who provided a work around. Here it is: After Voukoder is installed for Vegas 18: Copy the directory C:\Program Files\VEGAS\VEGAS Pro 18.0\FileIO Plug-Ins\voukoderplug to: C:\Program Files\VEGAS\VEGAS Pro 19.0\FileIO Plug-Ins\voukoderplug Copy the file C:\Program Files\VEGAS\VEGAS Pro 18.0\Voukoder-x64.fio2007-config to:- C:\Program Files\VEGAS\VEGAS Pro 19.0\Voukoder-x64.fio2007-config This worked for me."

I use Voukoder only for final renders (about 2-3 years now) and use the standard X264 rendertemplate (CRF23) without further modifications. I only created my own X265 rendertemplate.

I beware for changing those default render templates because I have heard a lot about people who have problems to play those renders on their TV, mostly due to high peak bitrates caused by a to low CRF setting.

Great timing Mindmatter, I was thinking of posting the same question!

As use case matters, I generally use Voukoder for final renders so good quality and moderate size are my main criteria (okay if it takes a while).

I used the general recommended template and then customized to reduce GOP size (and think made other changes based on what I found while reading tutorials.)

crf=20.000 opencl=1 preset=medium rc=crf x264-params=qpmax=22:aq-mode=2:aq-strength=0.700:rc-lookahead=180:keyint=40:min-keyint=3:bframes=3:b-adapt=2:ref=3:deblock=0:direct=auto:me=umh:merange=32:subme=10:trellis=2:no-fast-pskip=1

I do use Zscale to reduce to 1080p with spline36 as well.

Would love feedback or ideas to improve these settings.

 

Thanks a lot, I'll give those settings a go. What bitrate will it produce? ( I can't seem to find a specific setting for it )

 

 

What bitrate will it produce? ( I can't seem to find a specific setting for it )

You cannot predict a bitrate because that is depending besides the CRF setting, mainly depending on used resolution and complexity of the video.

Ok I just rendered an hour long interview with RogerS' suggested settings. It's a 4k source file and I forgot to look for an HD downrez setting, I was used t other presets doing that automatically. So Voukoder exported a 4k high rez file with 31gig, and 65Mb/s! It looks pristine, but...ya know😎. So I guess that's the " file size not an issue" setting. Guess I'll experiment some more.

Actually, I can't find the setting to have it render the 4k project to HD...how do I do that?

Just set the project settings to HD and render again with Voukoder. Voukoder automatically recognizes the HD resolution and renders accordingly.

Ok I just rendered an hour long interview with RogerS' suggested settings. It's a 4k source file and I forgot to look for an HD downrez setting, I was used t other presets doing that automatically. So Voukoder exported a 4k high rez file with 31gig, and 65Mb/s! It looks pristine, but...ya know😎. So I guess that's the " file size not an issue" setting. Guess I'll experiment some more.

Actually, I can't find the setting to have it render the 4k project to HD...how do I do that?

That is an interesting point. When you choose to encode using build in Vegas codecs, and use a resolution below your project resolution, Vegas appears to actually override your project settings, creating a new project setting which matches your encode resolution which seems to be a bad thing, because with many track effects Vegas can't use resolutions higher than project resolution. The obvious example would be using TRACK FX to zoom in on a 8K jpg 4x. You may have set your project to 8K to guard against the project resolution problem, but when you encode to 1080p, Vegas changes project resolution to 1080P, which will destroy your zoomed jpg and make it pixelated.

Voukoder does not do this, if you are working with a 4K project Voukoder see's all 4K of those pixels (as should be the case), it then scales that resolution down to whatever you choose for the ZSCALE filter. Because Voukoder is not 'cheating' it is actually working with 4K your render will be slower than Vegas which isn't even using you true project settings.

I have not tested any of this btw, it just suddenly occurred to me when I saw your question that the way Vegas does the lower resolution encodes is a bad idea. Any corrections would be appreciated

Just set the project settings to HD and render again with Voukoder. Voukoder automatically recognizes the HD resolution and renders accordingly.

No you shouldn't do that as a rule, If you know you have not zoomed in on anything with a Track level effect it may be ok. but as a rule dont' do that

The last line of my first post is how to rescale. Add a filter in Voukoder.

For file size you can also reduce the CRF quality a bit. Try 23 or even higher values if your source material doesn't require greater.

@Former user I edited a lot of 4k footage in FHD projects and rendered to FHD with Voukoder. The quality of those renders is hardly to distinguish from the original 4k footage on my 4k 65" TV.

For my kind of videos, I never use track based fx or track motion to zoom in. For this purpose I still use pan/crop tool which uses resolution of footage and not the resolution based on project.

The big advantage of Voukoder is that downscaling 4k to FHD gives an incredible better quality then using Magix AVC/HEVC for this purpose.

@ 3point, todd-b

I've had nomerous issues in the past with track motion vs event crop in terms of render quality.when working and zooming inside 4k projects intended for FHD.I now ALWAYS stick to pan/crop..

It was of no surprise that when I tried setting the Vegas project properties to HD to get Voukoder to render to HD, the quality wasn't great.

So thanks todd-b,for the info and RogerS, (I had actually overlooked your last sentence to use a filter to downscale." I do use Zscale to reduce to 1080p with spline36 as well." ) I hadn't seen the filters in Voukoder as they only show when you click on "add".

I'll have a look at that now.

It was of no surprise that when I tried setting the Vegas project properties to HD to get Voukoder to render to HD, the quality wasn't great.

Doesn't stroke with my findings. As said before I can hardly distinguish downscaled 4k footage with Vegas and rendered with Voukoder from the original 4k footage on my UHDTV. Unfortunately my internet connection is very slowly otherwise I would share some examples here.

I found it to be less defined and sharp, especially when zoomed in to almost 1080p.

Small comparison test 2160p50 (100mbps DJI Osmo Pocket) clip in Vegas 1080p50 and in Vegas 2160p50 timeline and rendered with Voukoder, the 2160p50 timeline rendered with Voukoder with zscale filter to 1080p50.

Rendering 2160p50 in 1080p50 timeline takes 0:09 with default Voukoder X.264 CRF 23 :

Rendering 2160p50 in 2160p50 timeline takes 0:18: with Voukoder X.264 CRF 23 and zscale filter added:

Resulting bitrate and filesize are almost identical, I can't see a difference...

Just downloaded Voukoder and had a quick play...

This video uses Vegas template "Internet HD 1080p 29.97 fps" File Size: 9.77 MB

This video uses a Voukoder of my own settings based on Josh's video (see above) File Size: 1:12 MB

For an 89% reduction in file size the quality is ... well, impressive!

I tried a comparison using stills from a timelapse. I made a 6000x3376 timeline and then output as 1080p using Voukoder + filter and then using a 1080p timeline and Voukoder with no filter.

Visually it's hard to tell the rendered files apart:

and then punched in with picture in picture:

I think I see some more aliasing on the 1080p timeline one but it's subtle.

Using a CRF of 20 I got:
6K project: 17.2 Mb/s
1080p project: 19.4 Mb/s

Feel free to check it out yourself as you may have a larger 1080p monitor than I do.

Render from 1080p project: link
Render with 1080p filter in Voukoder: link
MagixAVC render to 1080p (default bitrate): link

(each file is about 50MB; MagixAVC 36MB)

MagixAVC looked especially rough in motion (right side)

I'm using Vegas to edit video (mainly 2160 footage in a 1080 timeline). Downscaling from 2160 to 1080 is peanuts, just factor :2.

Using stills instead of video with other resolutions were downscaling is not exactly factor :2 is a little misleading. Those edits will probably have advantage from better downscaling algorithms available in Voukoder.

Keep in mind that such algorithms are also not available in Magix AVC/HEVC.

@Selina Filesize is mainly depending on complexity (details) and movement of video. Those "simple" animated graphics you're showing are not compatible with video. Therefore you get such extremly low filesize. I can show video examples were filesize is even larger when rendered with Voukoder instead of Magix. (but quality is also visible better).

@3POINT do you mean "comparable to live action video"? Yes, I would agree - still it's worth noting that space can be saved and that is a premium on my machine at the moment - having to seriously think about upgrading the 'old' girl. I'm old too - hope I don't get 'upgraded' or worse still chucked for a 'newer' model ... 😿

I just also took time to watch Josh's "Best Voukoder render settings". Josh explains some settings without really changing anything beside activating NVIDIA NVENC GPU rendering support. This only results in faster rendering but not automatically in better rendering quality/filesize.

Personally I prefer the (slower) CPU X264/X265 rendering with the default Voukoder template Video:project default, Audio:project default which gives very good quality/filesize renderings. I use these renderings for playing my videos on my UHDTV and for upload. The quality of these renders is visible better than when using Magix AVC/HEVC render. Quality has always my preference above render speed but must be visible. Makes no sense to me to put a lot of effort in making quality only measurable better without seeing the difference.