Keep your fingers crossed

peternap · May 07, 2010, 04:03:38 PM

I started this project at 8:00 PM yesterday and am just now finishing.

Updates in a couple more hours

MountainDon · May 07, 2010, 04:09:42 PM

what a teaser.

May 07, 2010, 05:08:00 PM

OK...

One's finished.

When I got the Canon 7D, I had no interest in Video at all. It's a different world and I didn't know or want to know anything about it.

That didn't last long. Generally, with the high end Canons, the video is commercial grade at about a tenth the cost of RedRock and others. A number of movies and television directors are using them now because of their versatility. The season finale of house has been made entirely with a Canon DSLR and I've seen the trailers...It's good.

Anyway, there is a learning curve with them and there is also a conversion problem. They produce video in MOV format (There are a lot of variations) and it doesn't convert well with a lot of the software out now. Adobe CS3 won't do a direct conversion well and requires it be converted to an 1820P MP2 before going to an H264 or MP4 for online.

Most of the converters are lossy and you lose a lot of quality. The professionals are getting around this by using proxy files. This is time consuming and unless you have the right software, chancy.

I did a Mothers Day video that I really wasn't happy with so I decided to find a solution. That consists of finding/buying or stealing CODECS, until I came up with the right combination of software and Codecs that gave a good showing on line.

I think I hit it now.

This is a crappy video I did of the second amendment march. It was handheld in bright sun and a lot of noise.

The first one I put up was done in CS3 Premier Pro after converting with MPEG streamclip to an AVI, then to an MP2.

It's size is way off with ghosts and artifacts.

http://www.photos.oldva.org/displayimage.php?album=33&pos=170

This is the same series of videos that I just uploaded using CODECS from Pinnacle. It's a high end H264 but not High Defination.

I have an HD compression of the same Video in the oven now and it should be uploaded in about an hour if all goes well.

http://vimeo.com/11563903

peternap · May 07, 2010, 05:56:23 PM

Hmmm. I didn't think the HD would be any better than the High end Non HD because of Vimeo's compression, but it is.

http://vimeo.com/11565208

I guess I'll try a full resolution HD later and see if there's still more improvement available.

NM_Shooter · May 08, 2010, 11:25:41 AM

Quote from: peternap on May 07, 2010, 05:56:23 PM
Hmmm. I didn't think the HD would be any better than the High end Non HD because of Vimeo's compression, but it is.

http://vimeo.com/11565208

I guess I'll try a full resolution HD later and see if there's still more improvement available.

This one is pretty nice. What was the size of the uploaded file? What was the final upload format?

May 08, 2010, 12:18:17 PM

Quote from: NM_Shooter on May 08, 2010, 11:25:41 AM
Quote from: peternap on May 07, 2010, 05:56:23 PM
Hmmm. I didn't think the HD would be any better than the High end Non HD because of Vimeo's compression, but it is.

http://vimeo.com/11565208

I guess I'll try a full resolution HD later and see if there's still more improvement available.
This one is pretty nice. What was the size of the uploaded file? What was the final upload format?

The size of the HD was 65.1 MB (68,308,992 bytes).

They are all MP4's going up. Remember though. there are a lot of MP4 CODEC's...It's enough to give you a headache.

That's the trick, to get an MP4 Codec that still retains the quality in a small package. If I recall, I shot those at 29FPS which presents some issues of it's own...but in theory, gives a silkier flow to the video. It matches film rates.

peternap · May 08, 2010, 12:22:11 PM

Just to give you an idea how picky the MP4 Codecs can get, this is an MP4 that I shot this morning while riding. It runs beautifully here on earth but see what happened after conversion. I haven't picked it apart yet to see whay but I suspect it is the interlace.

https://s198.photobucket.com/albums/aa57/peternap/?action=view&current=breakfastdashcam.flv

NM_Shooter · May 08, 2010, 12:58:40 PM

blaach!! That's nasty.

I've frequently tried to find some compromise for quality vs. size and have been struggling. We use a mac for video editing, and imovie has limited options for quality. We use a Canon video camera; I have not tried to shoot video with my Nikon SLR.

peternap · May 08, 2010, 01:30:07 PM

Quote from: NM_Shooter on May 08, 2010, 12:58:40 PM
blaach!! That's nasty.

I've frequently tried to find some compromise for quality vs. size and have been struggling. We use a mac for video editing, and imovie has limited options for quality. We use a Canon video camera; I have not tried to shoot video with my Nikon SLR.

It is a learning experience for the DSLR user. What people know about photography does no good with the video. DSLR's should be used (in Video) with the contrast, sharpness and saturation almost flat and added back in during post processing. That's easy enough but they need to be shot with the lens wide open and the shutter set for two times the frame rate and use the ISO for exposure control...You should still shoot a little to the right of the Histogram but not enough to clip the detail in the file.

Most people agree the MP4 is the best compromise but them....you have to find a CODEC that's 100% compatible and not lossy.

You might want to try Pinnacle Studio Ultimate Collection. It works very well with most makers CODECs and isn't as fussy about the presets as Premier Pro or Vegas.