Title: Understanding Computers
1Understanding Computers
- What do all the computer file suffixes mean?
- When should you use them?
- What should you render your finished project as?
- How do you load a DVD into your edit programme?
- Demonstrations are in Sony Vegas
2Some examples of the significant numbers of video
file types
Video File Types (fileinfo.com) The Video Files
category includes a wide range of video formats,
which use different codecs to encode and compress
video data. This category also includes video
project files and video information files, which
may not contain video data. Common video file
extensions include .MPG, .MOV, .WMV, and .RM.
.gfp GreenForce-Player Protected Media File
.m21 AXMEDIS MPEG-21 File
.mani Mine-imator Project File
.mk3d Matroska 3D Video File
.mproj Mine-imator Project
.rdb Wavelet Video Images File
.rmp RealPlayer Metadata Package File
.rv Real Video File
.screenflow ScreenFlow Document
.sec Samsung Security Video File
.swt Flash Generator Template
.usm USM Game Video File
.vcpf VideoConvert Project File
.viewlet Qarbon Viewlet
.bnp Sony Camcorder Video Data File
.dnc Windows Dancer File
.ivf Indeo Video Format File
.mp4.infovid Parrot AR Drone and Gyro Flyer Video
.wm Windows Media File
.swf Shockwave Flash Movie
.mkv Matroska Video File
.veg Vegas Video Project
Extension File Description Popularity
.aep After Effects Project
.sfd Sofdec Dreamcast Movie
.wlmp Windows Live Movie Maker Project File
.wp3 Microsoft Photo Story Project File
.dzp DirectorZone Particle Effect File
.scm ScreenCam Screen Recording
.rms Secure Real Media File
.dir Adobe Director Movie
.mswmm Windows Movie Maker Project
.bik Bink Video File
.dzm DirectorZone Menu Template
.3gp 3GPP Multimedia File
.wpl Windows Media Player Playlist
.psh Photodex Slide Show
.ntp Natron Project File
.trp HD Video Transport Stream
.vro DVD Video Recording Format
.amc AMC Video File
.bdmv Blu-ray Disc Movie Information File
.dck Resolume Deck File
3Project Files
stores all project information, including video,
audio, effects, and timelines used to save and
load video projects.
.aep After Effects Project .aup Audacity
Project File .avp Avid Project File .dar DVD
Architect Pro File .ezp Edius Project
File .fcproject Final Cut Pro X Project
File .imovieproj iMovie Project
File .prproj Premiere Pro Project .stu/.stx Pinn
acle Studio project .veg Sony Vegas Project File
4Video Files
produced by the video camera
.hdv Format for the recording of high-definition
video on DV cassette tape HDV is a a tape-based
format and although a number of solutions for
tapeless recording of HDV video are available,
these are not covered by the HDV
specification. HDV video can be recorded or
printed back to tape. For domestic and consumer
use, HDV video can be delivered on a Blu-ray Disc
without requiring any re-encoding, or can be
converted to AVCHD and delivered on an AVCHD
disc, or can be downconverted to DVD-Video
without being too lossy. Originally developed by
JVC and subsequently supported by Sony, Canon and
Sharp, the HDV format was created so as to serve
as an affordable high definition format for
digital camcorders. The HDV format caught on
rapidly with many amateur and professional
videographers owing to its low cost, portability,
and an acceptable image quality for many
professional productions.
5Video Files
produced by the video camera
.avchd A file-based format for digital recording
and playback of high-definition video its name
is an acronym which stands for Advanced Video
Coding High Definition. The AVCHD format was
introduced in 2006 after being jointly developed
by Sony and Panasonic, primarily for use in high
definition consumer camcorders. As a format,
AVCHD favors comparably to .HDV and is a format
which is acceptable for professional
use. Playback of the AVCHD format is not
supported across all Blu-ray Disc players as even
though AVCHD does share many format similarities
with Blu-ray Disc, it is not part of the Blu-ray
Disc specification.
6Video Files
produced by the video camera
.m2t High-definition video recording format used
by many HD camcorders commonly referred to as
"HDV" uses MPEG-2 compression to store HD video
data .mts High-definition MPEG Transport Stream
video format, commonly called "AVCHD" used by
Sony, Panasonic, and other HD camcorders based
on the MPEG-2 transport stream and supports 720p
and 1080i HD video formats. .mov Common
multimedia container file format developed by
Apple and compatible with both Macintosh and
Windows platforms may contain multiple tracks
that store different types of media data often
used for saving movies and other video files
commonly uses the MPEG-4 codec for compression.
MOV files may contain video, audio, timecode, and
text tracks, which can be used to store and
synchronize different types of media. Each media
track may be encoded using one of several
different codecs. In order to play a MOV file, an
application must be able to recognize the
specific codec(s) used in the file.
7Project Properties
- Some of the decisions to be made
- Match clip settings
- Frame rate
- Interlaced or progressive
- Adjust source media
- Deinterlace method
8What type of file do I render in my project?
What is a codec? What is a format? A codec is a
compression standard. Raw video or audio is
compressed when encoding, and decompressed
(decoded) on playback. A format is a file
container that holds one or more codecs video,
audio, or even data. The container format
contains information about the video, audio, and
data tracks that it holds. Some example container
formats are mov (Quicktime), mp4, wmv, and avi.
9What type of file do I render in my project?
Each type of editing software handles files
differently so it is important to learn how best
to handle footage for example Sony Vegas Smart
rendering When you render video to any of the
following formats, unedited video frames are
passed through without recompression (smart
rendering) DV AVI DV MXF IMX MXF (IMX 24p MXF is
not supported for no-recompress rendering) XAVC
Intra MXF HD MXF MPEG-2 (for files such as those
from HDV and DVD camcorders) Panasonic P2
10What type of file do I render in my project?
MPEG-4 is now one of the most widely used
formats. MPEG-4 Movie or video clip that uses
MPEG-4 compression, a standard developed by the
Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) commonly
used for sharing video files on the Internet.
H.264 or MPEG-4 Part 10, Advanced Video
Coding (MPEG-4 AVC) is a video compression
format that is currently one of the most commonly
used formats for the recording, compression, and
distribution of video content. H.264 is perhaps
best known as being one of the video encoding
standards for Blu-ray Discs all Blu-ray Disc
players must be able to decode H.264. It is also
widely used by streaming internet sources, such
as videos from Vimeo, YouTube, and the iTunes
Store, web software such as the Adobe Flash
Player and Microsoft Silverlight, and also
various HDTV broadcasts over terrestrial
(ATSC, ISDB-T, DVB-T or DVB-T2), cable (DVB-C),
and satellite (DVB-S and DVB-S2).
11What type of file do I render in my project?
Quotes re quality There are codecs that are
lossless (e.g., Lagarith, HuffYUV) and you can
re-render 1000 times and there will be NO LOSS of
quality. Only "lossy" codecs will lose quality
"lossless" codecs will not. Also rendering
"uncompressed" will not lose quality
either.MPEG4 AVC/H.264 is lossy so
re-rendering to MP4 will always lose quality even
if it is "visually" lossless as you have
seen.People are always worrying about quality
when re-rendering and most of it is unfounded.
I've worked on projects that were shot in HDV and
we've re-rendered sections back to HDV and
dropped them back onto the timeline and delivered
the show for national broadcast a no one could
see any difference from the original HDV footage
and the footage that was rendered twice so don't
angst over it.My general rule of thumb is
"if you can't see the difference, there is no
difference" -)
12What type of file do I render in my project?
Video H.264 is currently the highest quality
video codec available, which means that it can
usually look better at the same file size, or the
same at smaller file sizes, than other codecs.
It's also widely deployed, and most web browsers
can play it (either natively, or via a Flash
plugin), and so can many mobile devices, like the
iPhone and Android. But there are licensing
issues to consider. Theora is a free and open
video codec with no licensing issues. It is
natively playable in many browsers, including
Firefox, Chrome, and Safari, but compression is a
bit worse than H.264. VP8 is a newer codec. Like
Theora, it is free and open. But it compresses
better than Theora, and about as well as the
H.264 Baseline profile. H.264 is still better in
its Main and High profiles. But that will
hopefully change as VP8, and VP8 encoders,
mature. VP8 is expected to be widely adopted in
web browsers, and can be played today in the
newest versions of Chrome, Firefox, and
Opera. VP6 is supported natively in Flash 8, and
so is widely used on the web. It is a good codec,
but doesn't compress as well as H.264. A good
option is to encode to VP6 in the FLV container,
with MP3 audio. MPEG-4 is often used in a 3GP
format on mobile devices. WMV is a Windows codec.
13What type of file do I render in my project?
ProRes is a line of intermediate codecs, which
means they are intended for use during video
editing, and not for practical end-user viewing.
The benefit of an intermediate codec is that it
retains higher quality than end-user codecs while
still requiring much less expensive disk systems
compared to uncompressed video. It is comparable
to Avid's DNxHD codec or CineForm which offer
similar bitrates which are also intended to be
used as intermediate codecs. ProRes 422 is
a DCT-based2 intra-frame-only codec and is
therefore simpler to decode than
distribution-oriented formats like H.264.
14What type of file do I render in my project?
Best setting seems to be MPEG4 h.264 for
uploading to the internet. If you upload an mp4
to Youtube they will still re-encode it as they
offer different viewing options. However I
believe they prefer mp4 since the quality can be
good and the file size small, which makes for
faster uploads.Bottom line is the better quality
you upload, the better your video will
look. Useful tools from the internet MediaInfo
tells you everything you need to know about a
file including format, codec etc Any MPEG4
converter converts all popular file formats to
MPEG 4, rips and converts DVDs, batch processes,
downloads from Youtube costs about 20 h.264
Converter converts from h.264 to other codecs
free converte. r Key decisions to be
made Bitrate Two Pass
15What type of file do I render in my project?
Bit Rate and Number of Passes Single pass
constant bitrate you pick the bitrate, the
encoder encodes the entire video at that bitrate.
If the bitrate is very low the video will be of
low quality. If the bitrate is very high the
video may be of good quality but bitrate will
probably be wasted on lots of shots that didn't
really need it. Single pass constant quality
you pick the quality, the encoder uses whatever
bitrate is necessary to deliver that quality at
each frame. Two pass variable bitrate you pick
the bitrate, the encoder delivers whatever
quality it can for that bitrate. The encoder
makes two passes. During the first pass the
encoder examines the entire video to see what
parts need more bitrate and what parts need less.
During the second pass it encodes the video using
that information. It allocates more bitrate to
parts that need it, less to parts that don't.
This produces better quality than single pass CBR
because bitrate isn't wasted on parts of the
video that don't need it. When your primary
concern is the file size you use 2-pass VBR
encoding. You're saying "I don't care what the
quality is, I want a file of THIS size." Because
file size bitrate running_time. When your
primary concern is quality you use constant
quality encoding. You're saying "I don't care
what the file size is, I what THIS quality."
16Loading a DVD into the project
Import DVD Editing programmes usually have an
option to import automatically but it doesnt
always recognise the file
17Loading a DVD into the project
Import DVD If importing automatically doesnt
work, manually choose or copy the file. Look for
the biggest file. If its a .vob
(DVD Video Object) file and your software doesnt
like it, try changing the suffix to .mpg