Optimal Video: Pixel Resolution, Bit Rate, Format? Sony Vegas Movie Studio
 

I have been playing around with Video that originates in my Sony SR11 High Definition Camcorder. I use Sony Vegas Movie Studio 9.0b Platinum ProPack to edit these files. I can convert well to HD Format for YouTube, and it looks/works great there. I'm now trying to find the optimal way of getting these videos on my TP2.

I have CorePlayer (in addition to Windows Media Player) for playback.

I have been trying all kinds of formats (wmv, mp4, mpg, avi), various resolutions (320x480, 480x680, 480x800, 288x640), and a variety of BitRates (128 kbps, 1 Mbps, up to 5 Mbps). Obviously there are a heck of a lot of permutations and combinations, and I could spend weeks trying them all. (And then add in the various playback options within CorePlayer!!).

I saw the post here recommending settings for CorePlayer:

mp4 using H.264, 288x640, 1.6 Mbps

I tried this and it works pretty well, except I'm definitely having dropped frames - not a huge number, not noticeable. I dropped the BitRate down to 1.0 Mbps, and dropped frames are nominal, and it looks pretty good.

(I'm a bit confused why that 288x640 resolution plays beautifully full screen on my TP2, whereas when I view it on my Desktop, it's almost square in aspect ratio, but whatever...)

What are people here finding to give them the best playback in terms of quality, smoothness, and smallest/most efficient file sizes? Sony Vegas Movie Studio gives me a plethora of options, so there should be some set of variables that might even work better than my current 'best.'

Thanks!

Re: Optimal Video: Pixel Resolution, Bit Rate, Format? Sony Vegas Movie Studio
 

Bump - any video or Sony Vegas users out there?

Thanks.

Re: Optimal Video: Pixel Resolution, Bit Rate, Format? Sony Vegas Movie Studio
 

Off topic. Does the video out have the bluescreen flicker or look really slow?

Re: Optimal Video: Pixel Resolution, Bit Rate, Format? Sony Vegas Movie Studio
 

My Video out cable is ordered and en-route; can repost when I get it and try it out. If I forget, don't hesitate to pm me.

Re: Optimal Video: Pixel Resolution, Bit Rate, Format? Sony Vegas Movie Studio
 

I convert movies using Magic DVD Ripper and use the following settings:

H.264 MPEG-4
480x320 size (for widescreen)
1500k bitrate
3X audio (for louder sound - sounds like a movie theatre!)
Original frame rate
Under settings - Force audio sync

Average output size is about 1gb per movie but well worth it. There are nearly no dropped frames and the video plays smooth and the audio is in sync. I use the standard album player and have no problems.

Re: Optimal Video: Pixel Resolution, Bit Rate, Format? Sony Vegas Movie Studio
 

Thanks for the post. I assum you mean 1500k as the BitRate (not the resolution)?

I'll have to give those settings a try and see how it works. I think there are various "flavors" of h.264/MP4, depending on what codec is used, how efficient they are, etc. But I'm definitely out of my league when dealing with those aspects of video.

My source is different - not DVD - so I'm not sure whether Magic DVD Ripper would be applicable to my situation, but I'll have to check it out and see.

Best,

Re: Optimal Video: Pixel Resolution, Bit Rate, Format? Sony Vegas Movie Studio
 

I bought the one from Expansys and it does not. The quality is great!! I hook it up to my 52" Sony 1080p and it still looks great. I know there are homemade versions for cheap, but I have heard of issues with quality from that. I have no problems at all and everyone is amazed when I plug it in and start a movie :headbang:.

Here is a link to the one that I have : http://www.expansys-usa.com/p.aspx?i=170917

Re: Optimal Video: Pixel Resolution, Bit Rate, Format? Sony Vegas Movie Studio
 

That is a bug in CorePlayer. If the video is set to QTV display, it will blue flicker on video out.

If it is set to DirectDraw it won't do that.

~John

Re: Optimal Video: Pixel Resolution, Bit Rate, Format? Sony Vegas Movie Studio
 

Album & WMP do not do the blue flicker thing.

~John

Re: Optimal Video: Pixel Resolution, Bit Rate, Format? Sony Vegas Movie Studio
 

DLCPhoto I would be interested in your exact process in rendering from Vegas. There are 2 different options for rendering .mp4, Sony AVC and MainConcept AVC. Both of these create files that crash TCPMP and don't play in Album or Media Player. I've tried exporting H264 MP4 out of Quicktime, but when played on the phone all I get is audio if anything at all...

Re: Optimal Video: Pixel Resolution, Bit Rate, Format? Sony Vegas Movie Studio
 

Here you go:

Project...Render As...

Save As Type: Sony AVC (*.mp4, *.m2ts, *.avc)

Template - Select Custom...

Project...Best

Video:
Video Format: AVC
Custom Frame Size width 640 height 288
Profile....Baseline
Entropy Coding...CABAC
Frame Rate 29.970 (NTSC)
Field Order...None (Progressive Scan)
Pixel Aspect Ratio 1.0000
Bit Rate (bps)... 1,000,000
(The "Allow Source to adjust" boxes are both left unchecked)

Audio:
Audio Format...AAC
Sample Rate...48,000
Bit Rate... 128,000

System:
MP4 File Format

You can type something descriptive into the name and description fields and save this as a custom template for easy future use, to store these settings.

Then let it do its thing!

I'm using CorePlayer, rather than the older TCPMP, and don't know if that will make a difference or not. Actually, I have the old TCPMP on my Palm TX - if I can find time, I'll copy one of those files to an SD card and see if it will plan them.

ETA - put one of these files on an SD Card on my TX, with TCPMP 0.66J2 - it played without error, but can't keep up with the frame rate, so it was pretty jerky in motion.

These files do not play correctly in Windows Media Player on the TP2 - funky video, if I remember right. I've tried so many permutations and combinations that I've lost track!

Let us know how it goes.

Re: Optimal Video: Pixel Resolution, Bit Rate, Format? Sony Vegas Movie Studio
 

Thanks, I'll have to try it this weekend. I did discover that with Quicktimes, you can just open them and use the Export for Web option, unchecking all output formats except for iPhone. Once it's done, the file is decent quality/resolution and plays nicely in Album or Media Player. My only problem with this is that I feel we should be able to take full advantage of the HD screen on this phone. Playing upscaled content seems like a lame solution.

Re: Optimal Video: Pixel Resolution, Bit Rate, Format? Sony Vegas Movie Studio
 

what setting are you guys using in coreplay??? I'm not asking for the setting you rip your movies at, but the actual coreplayer settings