Zooming Videos, Resolution & Quality

digifish wrote on 12/22/2010, 8:08 PM
Hopefully someone can point out my noob mistake here :)

1. I have encoded a screen capture using Camtasia 6 at video size of 1664x936pixels. The native Camtasia capture at 1644x936 pixels looks very crisp and big. So far so good.

2. I load this into a Vegas 10 project at the delivery format of 1280x720. The screen-capture video is shrunk to 77% it's original size and fits nicely at the same aspect ratio as the original capture. Still good.

3. I use the Video clips Event Pan/Crop setting to change the size of the clip to 1664x936pixels and it zooms to 1:1 original size (as expected). BUT looks fuzzy and re-sampled.

Can anyone tell me what I have misunderstood?

Regard Scott

Comments

Spot|DSE wrote on 12/22/2010, 8:13 PM
Test it in Best/Full mode before you decide the resample isn't good.
Edit in Preview/Auto, but you'll render to Best
Camtasia definitely doesn't resample well.
musicvid10 wrote on 12/22/2010, 8:14 PM
What is your wish? Is it to render your 1664x936 video to 720x480?
Then the steps you have taken are unnecessary.

Set your Project to "Match Media Properties." Search the Sony Knowledgebase if you do not understand what this is. It is a specific procedure.

Then, render your video to the 1280x720 size you mentioned, using a relevant template within Vegas' Render settings.

If you will post your media file properties and your intended use for this video, you will find much more help forthcoming.

digifish wrote on 12/22/2010, 8:20 PM
"What is your wish? Is it to render your 1664x936 video to 720x480?"

Not really, I will be zooming in and out of the parent video. So sometimes I will be looking at a reduced full-screen capture (in a 1280x720 window) and other times I want to zoom in to native resolution 1:1 with the original capture (still in a 1280x720 window that is the output format).

It's being used for video tutorials / product demos, for example ...



- Here I was zooming into captures of 1280x720 so they look good when full-screen.

Regards Scott
digifish wrote on 12/22/2010, 8:26 PM
"Test it in Best/Full mode before you decide the resample isn't good.
Edit in Preview/Auto, but you'll render to Best
Camtasia definitely doesn't resample well. "

Well, there's no problem with the Camtasia captures and I can render them to any video format I want. They always look pixel perfect. The issue here is how do I capture a large format video and then zoom into it in Vegas and achieve the native resolution?

I thought my method would work. BTW this is not a preview issue.

Regards Scott
musicvid10 wrote on 12/22/2010, 8:34 PM
The issue here is how do I capture a large format video and then zoom into it in Vegas and achieve the native resolution?

Pretty simple. Match Media Properties in your project, and set Preview display at Best/Full.

You can't reduce the pixel dimensions in the Project/Preview and still expect to view at "native" resolution. They are exactly the same thing.
Spot|DSE wrote on 12/22/2010, 8:49 PM
If you want the best resolution for zooms, then you want to record at the highest resolution possible.
The final output won't matter much.
I understand it's not a preview issue based on your last post, so...
if you're zooming much, you're going to lose resolution. It's not just a resolution issue, although that's part of it. The techsmith codec falls apart when it's pushed much at all. It's quite fragile when you start shifting pixels.
For best crispness with Camtasia, let the application do the zoom for you. Otherise, you'll have to deal with a certain amount of softening when zooming. The other option is to push your viewing resolution and record full screen.

digifish wrote on 12/22/2010, 9:00 PM
Thanks Spot/DSE & Musicvid for your responses so far but I am not making myself clear as they don't match the problem.

I am preparing a demo project for download. However...

1. I am making a 1664x936 screen capture video (that is pixel crisp) once rendered to a .wmv format or whatever I want. When viewed prior to use. Camtasia is now out of the picture.

2. I am working in Vegas at 1280x720 project output resolution.

3. I am shrinking my 1664x936 video (that is pixel crisp) to the above size using the 'auto import/fit' option. That's not an issue.

4. What is an issue is that when I zoom on the 1664x936 media so that it should be 1:1 (but cropped obviously) the video looks fuzzy. I am not magnifying/zooming past the original screen-capture size.

...example project to follow.

Regards Scott
digifish wrote on 12/22/2010, 9:17 PM
Ok so here is an example...

http://flstudio.image-line.com/help/downloads/ZoomingVideo.zip (11 Mb)

In the .zip are

1. A source video at native resolution - 1536x864_Capture.wmv (looks great assuming you can view it at 100% original size)
2. The project - ZoomingVideo.veg
3. An example of the project output 1280x720 video - ZoomingVideo_RenderedExample.wmv (looks fuzzy when the source is zoomed to 1:1).

Regards Scott
Spot|DSE wrote on 12/22/2010, 9:30 PM
So...you're rendering from Camtasia to wmv and then editing and rendering again? Do I understand that correctly??
digifish wrote on 12/22/2010, 9:35 PM
Yes.

You have to turn the Camtasia format into something Vegas can work with.

Regards Scott
Spot|DSE wrote on 12/22/2010, 9:37 PM
A-WMV is about the worstsource you can work with.
B-Vegas works with Camtasia files just fine.
Open the 32bit version.
musicvid10 wrote on 12/22/2010, 9:39 PM
OK, I finally understand. Your render isn't as sharp as your source.

I can't look at your project because it's from a different version than mine.

However, you are rendering from 1536x864 to 1280x720?
That represents a 30% loss of native resolution; that's math, not mystery.
Hint: Invoke the Sharpen filter and leave it at 0. You'll be amazed.

Also, why are you using wmv at all? Byte for byte, it's one of the softest codecs in use.

Douglas, it's nice to see you back in the fray. How are you doing?
Spot|DSE wrote on 12/22/2010, 9:51 PM
Been a very busy 9 months, travel seems to leave me exhausted. Between CBS' implementation of Vegas at many houses, the skydiving world, and some of the new marketing content we've been building for Win phones...I've dropped a few activities. Hangin' around here is one of them, but I've missed it.
Lotsa new faces, guess I'm kinda one of em' again, eh? :^ )

I believe Digifish's bigger problem isn't one of resolution, it's one of recompression. Rendering to WMV at any resolution isn't helping matters, and then trying to zoom in on twice compressed media only makes things worse.
digifish wrote on 12/22/2010, 9:54 PM
"I believe Digifish's bigger problem isn't one of resolution, it's one of recompression. Rendering to WMV at any resolution isn't helping matters, and then trying to zoom in on twice compressed media only makes things worse. "

So what format do you recommend I work with out of Camtasia?

...although I am sceptical because if I use a 1280x720.wmv source from Camtasia (no need to zoom on that) I can edit that in Vegas, render it and it looks as crisp as the original.

Regards Scott
musicvid10 wrote on 12/22/2010, 9:55 PM
God Bless, Douglas,
My nephew's pelvis, lower back, and one femur exploded in a skiing accident, and I think of you every time I talk to him (he's doing fine and back to work at a new job he likes better than the previous one).

Lotsa new faces, guess I'm kinda one of em' again, eh? :^

Yes, lacking the frame of reference, it's hard for some to know just who they're talking to.
;?)
Spot|DSE wrote on 12/22/2010, 10:08 PM
Digifish, we use Camtasia every day. All day. VERY familiar with how it works with Vegas.
Camtasia 4-7 hasn't changed much.
The Camtasia AVI files work very, very well in Vegas 32bit (won't open at all in 64bit) so you're editing native source vs a recompress.
.camrec is the default format for Camtasia, you can change this in your Tools | Options | General menu in Camtasia 6/7.
There is no way to zoom in on a wmv file and have it look identical native source. Mathematically, visually, practically it can't happen. It's twice recompressed with pixels changing position and recompression of already heavily compressed media.
You'll also save significant time working with native source 1920 x 1080 or even 1660 source files to 1280 x 720@ 10Mbps for YouTube or other UCG sites. The closer you can keep your source to a divisible value of your delivery, the better off you'll be. Faster, sharper, easier.