I have a potential submission that’s just over 2 minutes long. I have rendered 4183 frames as 1920x1080 @ 30fps. Is there a winning way to use the speed control or some other function in the sequence editor to reasonably downconvert to 25fps, or should I re-render?
Second question: I have only every been able to get audio linked to video using PCM as the codec. Your “render settings” example doesn’t show what you want for audio. Could you publish that? Also, you don’t list prefered encoding parameters in http://misc.macouno.com/rendersettings.jpg
I’m using max kbps which generates a 250MB file, but would love to know the really prefered magic settings for GOP size etc.
Rogper: Combining video & audio is quite easy in Virtualdub (free windows video editor). Yes if you just stick a piece of paper in the envelop saying what it’s for it’ll be fine. I’d appreciate you mixing in the sound yourself… cause… what if I do it wrong… make it your own responsibility, not mine to finish your project.
Tiemann: In the “anim/playback buttons”/Anim panel you can map from 30 to 25 frames… But then you’d have to rerender the entire thing. That would yield the best quality though. I am not a codec wizz… I just take the highest quality and leave everything else default. I also don’t normally render to avi from blender… much nicer to render to a sequence of pngs and render to avi in a program like virtualdub or whatever video editor you prefer.
Harkyman… it’s in the original post, and on the official blender.org announcement… but for your pleasure!
The three winners will receive a cool 3d printed Suzanne statue, the DVDs from Peach, Apricot and both training dvds, and EUR 250 cash!
The nominations will each get a free pick of a DVD in our e-shop.
@Tiemann 30fps is the standard NTSC frame rate I know that movies get converted from 24fps to 30fps when the are put on DVD for the regions that use NTSC. so if you can go one way am sure the should be some software out there that could allow you to go the other way from 30fps to the PAL 25fps that’
s been used. it’s worth trying to look for something like that before you re-render you film.
Do you have a preferred Xvid Quality setting, or a target max size for the final vid?
My work is under 2min, originally rendered at 1024x640 30fps but I’m prepping a custom “letterbox” framing at your size/speed specs using the Compositor & Virtual Dub. Save you some work :D. All I need is the Xvid spec to match it. My audio track is mono but I can fake a stereo split if it would be of any benefit.
PS__________
This needs to be clarified, as it isn’t a proper spec (44.1Hz???). Do you mean stereo sound originally sampled at 44.1KHz and 16 bit resolution? That’s all well and good but doesn’t provide enough info for dubbing the audio with the video using a codec.
Could you publish the Audio settings you use for dubbing? In V-Dub, using the MP3 codec, there are scads of options (though none at 44.1Hz), both stereo and mono, giving various combinations of numbers. I’d rather be able to deliver exactly what you need than guess.
@ Tiemann – you were asking about conversion to 25fps from another rate (like 30fps). Rather than re-rendering, which can screw up timing considerations on some animation and audio sync, I’ve found it best to use Virtual Dub to re-dub the original image sequence (rendered @ 30fps) to a 25fps .avi, then lay the audio on over that new dub. All timing considerations are retained, but the frame rate is now altered, and V-Dub does an excellent job with no noticeable motion glitches.
If you don’t have Virtual Dub, I highly recommend it, it’s a great adjunct to Blender.
Hey guys… well… of course I meant 44.1 Khz… not Hz… thanks for pointing out the error. If you can I would just use wav audio… not mp3. You don’t need to convert your mono track to stereo yourself… I can do that easily. If you do use mp3, don’t go under 128kb/s, but preferably stay higher.
I’m not entirely sure about the exact xvid spec… I just use the defaults at highest quality. The main thing is that if you get me your materials at the best quality at 25fps, the end result will look good. Frame rate conversions are never nice. And try to steer clear of pixel aspect ratios.
WAV audio will contribute significantly to file size.
You realize that at the pixel size you’re asking for, this will results in very large files, many hundreds of Mb or even into the Gb range, depending on length? That’s assuming you actually use an Xvid Quality setting of 1 (highest quality).
My vid’s about 1:15:00, and at Xvid Q3 with MP3 audio compression (mono track), VirtualDub cranks out a 60Mb video that causes VLC player to stutter badly. Do you have playback capability to handle this kind of file or one possibly much larger?
I’ve never had a problem if it’s done properly with Virtual Dub, and it’s really the only way to convert an animation constructed for 30fps to 25fps without actually going in and screwing around with all your IPOs or tossing in some addtional fudge factor, and still maintain sync with an existing audio track.
The thing to remember is to do the video separately, then lay in the audio, which needs no conversion.
chipmasque… just do what you think will work… we did 1024 by something two years ago… last year we did 1280, so this year we’ll do full HD… seems like natural progression. And remember all I’m suggesting is about getting your video to look best when displayed during the animation festival… if it’s too big, it’s too big… we’ll see
harkyman… Ouch… yeah last year we did the festival at 24fps and most submissions were 25, so a lot of stuff suffered, that’s why 25 this year, just cause last year that was most used.
Good enough. I’m mainly just tryin’ to save you some grief that may come from havin’ to futz with stuff that doesn’t play back well. At that size, I figure any reduction in the demands on your playback system are gonna be useful.
BTW, Xvid Q3 is a pretty good standard for intermediate-to-large scale dubs, the compression artifacts are basically unnoticeable for most subjects. MP3 audio compression is also very clean as long as the specs chosen work well with the original WAV and don’t strain the playback system. Sounds like you’ll have a primo setup, so it shouldn’t be a huge issue to have something slightly out of preferred spec.
The bottom line is that I’d prefer to make any changes to the presentation video, as I know the standards of visual and audio quality I’d like to preserve. So the closer I can get to what you want and avoid any further messin’ with it, the better for all, it seems.
Yeah I get it… and that’s why I mention this stuff as well. From previous experience though… as long as you leave aspect ratios alone, and use the same framerate it usually turns out nice. Those are the only real worries (ok and ffmpeg invariably causes trouble when trying to process video files).
Umm, how r we supposed to submit vids? I know what is says, but US to Netherlands is LOOONG ship time, and what is the highest quality video putting up place? And if our videos are to long do WE have to shorten it or will u fellas? And third, will the artists of BBB put BBB as a entry? Cuz that’ll win all three prizes at once. And can one anmation win 2 awards?
