text:
Easiest way to stitch GoPro videos that have been split due to length?
I am recording 15-minutes videos with my GoPro Hero 3 Black edition. The camera starts a new file every 10 minutes of recording by default. I do not think I can change this in a setting.
When I do the white-balance and other edits in the GoPro Cineform Studio, I cannot find a function to stitch these videos back together into one continuous clip.
I was somehow expecting that if GoPro automatically splits these videos that there would be a function to rejoin them, too. Am I missing something? Is there such a function in this software or do I have to get another software to do this?
If so, what software should I get, assuming that I do not want to do anything else than that?

The latest version of Cineform can join clips together as I found out recently, so the problem solved itself.

If you are using PC, you have some great options. Avidemux is great and allows you to join separate clips together losslessy which is great. You simply open the first 10-minute movie clip in Avidemux and then choose "Append" from the File menu. Select your second clip and press OK. It should now simply be added onto the end of your first clip. Rinse and repeat for extra segments you might have. Make sure the audio/video options on the left hand side says "copy" or "stream copy" to ensure you are saving the new output file without re-encoding.
Virtualdub is also capable of this but you might need to install codecs/plugins to be able to open and use your files.
Hope that solves your problem!

For this purpose I like to use SolveigMM Video Splitter. It's very fast and lossless video tool (no recompression) and it fully supports H.264 video (GoPro records in mp4 files using h.264 compression).

Used to merge them with GoPro Studio, but it took too much effort and had too many steps.
Made a PowerShell script to quickly merge and convert videos using open source tools MKVTools and Handbrake.
With one command line, I get my files merged and compressed to about one-fifth of the original size, ready to upload using the HandBrake preset "Vimeo YouTube HQ 1440p60 2.5K".
Output file is Encoded-{original filename}-{date of subfolder}
https://github.com/alexandrosk0/GorpoMergeAndEncode
Example
.\goproMergeEncode.ps1 -dir "D:\Video\GoPro\2019-04-21\HERO5 Black 1\"

To run from command line: powershell.exe –ExecutionPolicy Bypass -noexit "& 'D:\goproMergeEncode.ps1' -dir 'D:\Video\GoPro\2019-04-19\HERO5 Black 1\' -test"
Output file for D:\Video\GoPro\2019-04-21\HERO5 Black 1\GOPR2548.MP4 is Encoded-GOPR2548-20190421.mp4
Parameters

-dir Defaults to the current directory
-preset The default preset is "Vimeo YouTube HQ 1440p60 2.5K".
-MKVMergeExtraParam Extra parameters for MKVMerge
-HandbrakeExtraParam Extra parameters for Handbrake
-test Test merge and encode three seconds of each video, without deleting the original files
-delete Delete original files if no error is found. Defaults to true
-mergeAll Ignore file naming and merge all files in the directory
-noEncoding Skip encoding step, only merge

Notes
Based on the file name format GOPR2548.MP4 and multiple files GP012548.MP4, GP022548.MP4,... and folder structure ..\GoPro\2019-04-21\HERO5 Black 1
Note that the script expects an arrangement that works for single videos for the camera models: HD HERO2, HERO3, HERO3+, HERO (2014), HERO Session, HERO4, HERO5 Black, HERO5 Session, HERO (2018)
For HERO6 Black, & HERO7 (White, Silver, Black) or other formats use -mergeAll parameter.
Requirements
Requires MKVmerge and HandBrakeCLI installed in C:/Program Files/MKVToolNix\ and C:\Program Files\HandBrake\ respectively.
Best of all, it's a text-based script, you can change it at will.

Cineform can't join clips together.
You could use iMovie (free), QuickTime 7 Pro (£30/$20), or something like Final Cut or Premiere (more).

You don't need Quicktime Pro to do this, the free version of the Quicktime Player can stitch videos as well.

I'm using lasted AVIDEMUX (2.6.911 version) for join the GoPro videos.
It's very fast and easy to use.
To start a "project", drag and drop the first file you want to join from windows explorer to avidemux window, than continue to drag and drop following the numeration of the GoPro files.
To create the new joined video, select OUTPUT format to MP4c2Muxer, and leave all the other settings default (newest version don't have the "copy" option like Henrik Söderlund said - here i'd like to thanks him! He saved me a lot of time!)
.
Click FILE, select the destination folder and file name and save. It will create a file without compression of the vido or audio.
There's an option to select the start at the timeline and end point before create the  (after all files dragged to the Avidemux window)
The best part is it's free!!!
Didn't find any other program that can do this simple task (it'S a REAL SHAME GoPro don't release something simple like this OR let the camera create big files! I really like the camera BUT the video editor provided by them sucks!)


text:
Using a parameter file for filter option of libav (or ffmpeg)
Good time of the day,
I have heard that such a feature exists, but i've lost the reference and have been unable to find it now. I am looking for a way to use the file as the input for all the fileter options passed to libav's avconv (or ffmpeg).
I know i can do that via a command line with -f or -vf, but there are two problems: i often reuse the same settings and sometimes i need to reuse the particular approach after bash has already lost that particular command line from history.
If i'm mistaken and there's no way to do that, also kindly let me know.

You can use the -filter_script option:
$ ffmpeg -i input -filter_script filtering -codec:a copy output.mkv

In this example, filtering is a file with the filtergraph.
$ cat filtering
scale=640:-1,negate

I believe this only works for simple filtergrahps that contain exactly one input and one output.
Libav stuff (avconv and their fake, so-called "ffmpeg" version) is buggy. You can simply download a recent Linux build of ffmpeg from FFmpeg or follow a step-by-step guide to compile ffmpeg.

I've accepted the answer, and wanted to clarify that it does not mean that the fud in the last paragraph is of any use. Libav does appear to have the very same command line option, and i am happy.

source: Stack Exchange

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

sort: votes


text:
After Effects - Make one frame brighter
I am using the CC version. I am making a gunshot composition and I need to have a specific frame brighter. What should I do? Remember , there shall be only one frame , not all the clip with preferences!

Its been a long time since I've been in AE, but you could do this a few ways. You could physically layer a clip of the effect(with transparency) over the section you want to 'flash', or select the frame and tweak the saturation until it looks right.
Jim has a good point about splitting it into 3 frames. It will look much less harsh, but it will make timing a little more difficult. I would make the pre-glow focused in a certain area of the frame, the hot frame be completely covered by the effect, and have post glow be a diminished version of the hot frame. This will look the most natural, as it will look like your flash is actually originating from the end of the barrel (or whatever point you choose).
If I remember correctly, there is a masking function that you could use to achieve the pre-glow frame.
Ultimately, layering the effect on top would be easier because you're not working from pre-existing effects and you have the freedom to easily move and duplicate the clip.

I'm not an AE user, but if it has the concept of an effect layer, you can add a track above your clip that has one frame of 'brighten' or blowout.
Alternatively, split your clip into three -- pre-glow, the hot frame, post-glow.

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/


text:
Video too dark on PAL TV
I have videos recorded with Canon EOS and rendered with Sony Vegas. No color correction whatsoever.
Although the rendered video looks great on any computer screen, the dark areas are always too dark when rendered to a PAL DVD and displayed on a TV set.
By comparing the histogram to some recorded TV material, I realized that the TV material's histogram usually starts around 15, whereas the Canon material starts at 0.
What I normally do now is, whenever rendering to PAL I apply a Sony levels effect and set the Output start to around 0.054 which seems to correspond to 15 in the histogram. On computer screens the resulting footage now looks quite greyish, but on TV it's OK.
My questions:

Is this the correct way to handle the situation?
What is the correct value to use for the levels effect?
Is it correct to not apply the levels effect when rendering for Youtube etc.?
In which situations do I have to use the levels effect, and in which situations better not?

Sounds like you might be having trouble with colourspace conversion. The black point on an 8-bit Rec601 image is 16, not 0 (it's to do with the way PAL transmits video data), so as a result, anything below this, from 0-15 will be displayed as black. The 'Sony Levels' effect essentially applies a LUT to your image (think of it as scaling the values 0-255 to the bounds 15-235, the 8-bit luma range). This means that your image will be displayed correctly on a PAL system, but will look flat on a computer. Can you upgrade to (at least) a 10-bit workflow?

Thanks Callum! That really helps a lot in understanding the issue. Now I know in which direction I've got to dig deeper.

No problem - want me to pop that in as an answer?

To make the distinction: PAL is just an encoding system, which only really defines the resolution and frame rate for analogue systems. Rec601/709 are  colourspaces generally used by TVs.
Sounds like you might be having trouble with colourspace conversion. The black point on an 8-bit Rec601 image is 16, not 0 (it's to do with the way analogue systems transmit video data - sync, etc.), so as a result, anything below this, from 0-15 will be displayed as black.
Video editors, DVD burners and other video processors may not take colourspaces into account or may manipulate your video, resulting in a change of colourspace, which will ultimately change the colours in your video.
The 'Sony Levels' effect essentially applies a LUT to your image (think of it as scaling the values 0-255 to the bounds 15-235, the 8-bit luma range). This means that your image will be displayed correctly on a Rec601 system, but will look flat on a computer.
Working in a 10+ bit workflow may help to solve this issue. However, to answer your points:

1. Is this the correct way to handle the situation?

Your camera shoots video in the RGB colourspace, not the Rec601/709 spaces.
Ultimately, the best way is to apply a RGB -> Rec601 LUT, essentially remapping the colours correctly across the board, but I'm not sure if Vegas supports this off the top of my head. Using the Levels effect will help with the black/white values (make sure the centre is at 0.5), but there may be some colour variation.

2. What is the correct value to use for the levels effect?

The black point should be 0.059 and the white point should be 0.918 to comply with the standard.

3. Is it correct to not apply the levels effect when rendering for Youtube etc.?

That's correct - YouTube will accept your video with the default colourspace and should display it correctly. You may as well test this, though.

4. In which situations do I have to use the levels effect, and in which situations better not?

Any time you're displaying your content on a Rec601 device.

That totally explains the issue. The levels effect with the presets "studio to computer RGB" and "Computer to Studio RGB" fixes the issue perfectly. Thanks!


text:
Transcoding Satellite online TV Channels to Internet Via Help of Cloud?
Is it possible for me to transcode nearly 25 live tv channels that run on satellite to internet. Is it possible for me to that via help of Cloud media services from most known cloud providers. As i know, i need some capturing hardware to capture satellite tv channels. Can i rent that in cloud. Can you guide me on anyhow to starting point?
Regards.

It is definitely possible, however there are so many ways to do it your question isn't specific enough to answer. If you don't yet know how to transcode a channel to another form, you might be better asking a question asking about the technical process required there. The parts of your question about renting in the cloud, and the fact there is a major legal problem you will face are also reasons I'm voting to close this question.

Hey Mahhem, i am new to this transcoding field, thats why i am asking to guide on starting point about this issue. I dont know how the transcoding process through capture cards does. I dont know what program and what capture card should i use. There are a lot of garbage and out of date information on the internet

No, it isn't possible to do it through the cloud in the way you have described.  It is possible to offload transcoding to the cloud (changing from one file format or size to another) however you can't use that cloud for capture hardware as that needs to be physically connected to the source.  There are no services that I know of that will run a satellite box for you and hook it up to capture for you, so the source would have to be at your satellite box.
Also, while it is possible to have transcoding done online, to stream 25 uncompressed satellite channels over the Internet to a cloud service provider for transcoding would require a MASSIVE amount of bandwidth to be available.  You really don't have any option other than local transcoding for that kind of thing in order to get the bandwidth requirement down far enough to have streaming 25 channels to become viable.
Even then, you would have a hard time streaming 25 channels in HD quality without a massive upstream Internet connection.  Even 25 SD streams would be require more than most common ISP connections would support.


text:
Video Streaming connection speed
What is the required upload speed I need to stream HD video on web?
Curently I am in process of talking to various ISPs so I can find the best solution, but seems like they can't help me since a lot of them are offering low upload speed connections.

It depends on a lot of details you haven't covered here. You need about 3 Mbps to have sufficient overhead to maintain a well compressed 720p stream (the quality that Hulu Plus uses), but you would need specialized hardware to keep a good quality 720p stream encoding on the fly.  Most likely, you are going to be looking at significantly more than that if you are trying to software or CUDA encode on the fly since it won't be able to get as high of quality with as little data.
Note that this is only talking about sending the feed to a single system as well.  The most common case for distributing to multiple viewers is to encode and upload to either a CDN (content distribution network) or your own live streaming server that is in a data center somewhere.  With that kind of a setup, your one connection can be replicated out over a 100Mbps or 1000Mbps connection to many more viewers.
You can use overly compressed settings to reduce the bandwidth needs further, but it will start showing as a really noticeable reduction in meaningful resolution.  There might still be an HD number of pixels, but they won't have the kind of detail you'd normally expect from HD since it would be over-compressed.
There can be a lot of variation on that too though.  If you are live-streaming something that isn't real life, compression tricks can be used to make it much more highly compressed for example, so this still isn't a one size fits all answer, but it covers the general live video streaming case for professional level quality.

First of all, thank you for answer and sorry for late responding.
I will stream my screen to Twitch.tv (Games Streaming Platform), so basicaly I will connect to their server and they will send to third-party users my screen, so I guess I don't need 100-1000Mbps connection speed for that.
I am going to get 4Mpbs upload speed in next couple of days from my ISP and I hope that will be enough for, at least, streaming 720p videos?
Btw, my hardware is I5 Intel procesor, integrated Video card and 8gb DDR3

@Nidzaaaa - I expect you will not be able to encode fast enough for an on-the-fly stream at HD resolution with that setup, particularly when playing a game.  An integrated video card generally barely has the strength to play the game by itself and 8gb of ram isn't much for trying to run a game and encode at the same time, nor is an i5 a particularly beefy processor.  You can certainly try it and see how it goes since video games should take a little bit less work to compress, but don't be surprised if you run in to issues.

so your opinion is that my upload speed could be enough for 720p streaming, but my hardware isn't that good, right?

@Nidzaaaa - yes. That's pretty much it.


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Best bitrate to responsive (web) video
So, I am a multimedia developer: I develop websites and that nerd things... My last site is responsive (fluid work in all devices - mobile, computer, television,...).
A responsive website needs 4 video files:

2 MP4 - 1) for big screens and 1) for small screens
2 WEBM - for same purposes

So, recently I checked my server disk usage and I realized that videos are consuming a big percentage of it, so I guess that it's because of bitrate.
DEFAULT BITRATE OF MY VIDEOS

HD MP4 - 2,10 Mbps - 1280X720 (~77,5MB) - Duration: 04:42
SD MP4 - 694 kbps - 640X360 (~25,57MB) - Duration: 04:42

So, am I using right bitrate? Are the files small enough?

Those are the expected file sizes for those data rates.  4 minutes and 42 seconds of video is 282 seconds of video, at 2.1 Mbps, that's 592.2 Mbits.  That's around 72 megabytes or so, so your 77.5 megabyte file is the correct size (there can be some variation and sound is also generally factored in separately.)
Those are also pretty close to the minimum bitrates that you can use without getting substantial quality loss.  2.1 Mbps is around the same bitrate that Hulu uses for their 720HD streaming and they are the lowest bandwidth of the major streaming sites that I'm aware of.
If you plan to host video, you really need more disk space and bandwidth.  Hosting is available very cheaply for multiple gigabytes of hosting space with unlimited bandwidth if you look around a bit, though I haven't been in that segment of the market for a while so I couldn't tell you who is best anymore.  (I self host on a dedicated server because I need a lot of space and high performance.)

Yep, right on the edge of what I was expected! Thanks for your superb help AJ Henderson.


text:
Simple, easy to configure streaming server for linux - just transcode & stream
After spending a few hours setting up and configuring PlexMediaServer, I realized that it looks awesome for home use, but has some impediments for serving up content to the public at large.
I have 50 or so video presentations (genetics & infant healthcare if you must know) that need to be served up.  The presentations will be available on a web page, and I would simply need a link to point back to a file that the streaming server would transcode & play.  The HTML is not important - I can have simple href links for that.
Are there any relatively easy to configure and set up streaming servers that can offer this basic functionality?   My server is CentOS 6.5.

Why does it need to be streamed? It isn't clear from the question that static content wouldn't work. Why do you want transcoding to be part of the streaming, rather than part of the publishing phase? I'm sure you have reasons.

Because a streamed video can be played inline, with additional styling & features on the page itself.  I lose that when users download and play with a client.

Ok, that makes sense for why you want a streaming solution. How about the transcoding?

I think I found a workable solution in ViMP.  Installed & configured today and it seems to do just what I need.

OK, answer your own question?

Ended up with ViMP Community Edition.  Took a little while to work through some dependencies but now that it is installed everything works exactly like I want.

https://www.digitalocean.com/community/articles/how-to-stream-videos-with-nginx-and-jwplayer-on-centos-6 makes Nginx look pretty simple to set-up as the streaming server. I've not used it but I have used jwplayer and that worked well for me (I was streaming from vlc/vlm). Another good option for the player end would be jplayer.
Web Videos via Watch Folders Transcode is a reasonable approach to the transcode issue.


text:
Increasing Expression by Comp Index when access CSV File
I'm just wondering if someone can help me out. I'm getting error when trying to increase the location of the data in CSV by the composition index.
Here's code I am using
\\
var compIndex = parseInt(thisComp.index);
var dataValue = footage("data.csv").dataValue([compIndex - 1, 0]);
dataValue;

\\
The reason i'm doing this is to easily duplicate a composition and the expression will grab the data from correct location in CSV file without me going into each composition to increment it manually.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


text:
I want to edit a video just like the one in this example but have no clue what to even look up to learn it
I want to edit a video with this same type of "endless paper" background. On screen graphics, and zooms.
I was trying by importing a large paper photo, then adding all of my on screen graphics to it scaled down, and then using a 3D camera to move between graphics on screen giving the video the same dynamic motion feel as the one linked in this inquiry.
This quickly turned into a nightmare task and I can not seem to find anything on google or maybe my phrasing is just terribly off to search for this.
PLEASE can someone at least tell me what it is I need to search to learn this. I can learn what I ever I need to editing wise but in this particular case I do not know what I do not know to even begin to learn.
MTIA
"Endless Paper background in intro. and Eased zoom ins and outs

The youtube link doesn't work, but a lot of these are made using the iOS app which is literally called Endless Paper!
The illustrator draws it all inside the app, or imports sections from other drawing apps at each zoom level, and remembers where they plan to go with each pinch-to-zoom.
Then it is just filmed with a rostrum camera over the tablet.
If you wanted to achieve a similar effect using video software, I would use After Effects with a series of parented comps.  I suspect Final Cut or Premiere wouldn't be the right tool for the job (but the actual right tool for the job is the iOS app mentioned).

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


text:
Premiere Pro offline transcription engine via CLI?
How can you access Premiere's local transcription engine outside of Premiere? Is there CLI access? I want the raw (hopefully JSON) data for analysis and additional per-word processing with time codes.

Not from Premiere, but I've had pretty amazing results using Whisper on an M1 mac. It doesn't do word by word, but generates line by line with timecode for subtitles.  The large model is remarkably accurate - I'd say almost comparable to a human. https://github.com/ggerganov/whisper.cpp


text:
How to enable blue animation handles in Adobe Premiere Pro?
How can I enable the blue animation handles in Effect Controls in order to be able to shorten my sequence without breaking animation keyframes?
See also:

You can't do this to an entire sequence - it's done to individual graphics items within your sequence.
You can adjust the intro and outro times in the Responsive Design - Time section of the Essential Graphics panel:
https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere-pro/using/responsive-design-features.html
It's not totally obvious, but to get access to the "Responsive Design - Time" section in the Essential Graphics Panel, you need to select the keyframes you've made in the Vector Motion section of your graphic, otherwise you won't be presented with those options.


text:
dvdauthor ERR: Can only have 128 commands for pre, post, and cell commands
I tried to make a DVD-Video of my favorite songs with a menu.
<vmgm>
<menus>
  <video format="pal" aspect="4:3"/>
  <audio lang="DE"/>
  <subpicture lang="EN"/>

  <pgc entry="title">
    <button name="button01">g0=0;jump titleset 1 menu;</button>
    <button name="button02">g0=0;jump titleset 5 menu;</button>
    <button name="button03">g0=0;jump titleset 9 menu;</button>
    <button name="button04">g0=0;jump titleset 13 menu;</button>
    <vob file="/home/NTFS/DVD-VIDEO/tmp/dvd-tmp/menu0-0.mpg" pause="inf"/>

g2=101;if (g0 == 3) { g0 = 2; jump title 2; }if (g0 == 4) { g0 = 2; jump title 3; }if (g0 == 5) { g0 = 2; jump title 4; }if (g0 == 6) { g0 = 2; jump title 5; }if (g0 == 7) { g0 = 2; jump title 6; }if (g0 == 8) { g0 = 2; jump title 7; }if (g0 == 9) { g0 = 2; jump title 8; }if (g0 == 10) { g0 = 2; jump title 9; }if (g0 == 11) { g0 = 2; jump title 10; }if (g0 == 12) { g0 = 2; jump title 11; }if (g0 == 13) { g0 = 2; jump title 12; }if (g0 == 14) { g0 = 2; jump title 13; }if (g0 == 15) { g0 = 2; jump title 14; }if (g0 == 16) { g0 = 2; jump title 15; }if (g0 == 17) { g0 = 2; jump title 16; }

  </pgc>
</menus>
</vmgm>

So, we have a list of 4 artists. Then we assign a menu of 4 songs to each artist in titleset. And one more song in this titleset.
<titleset>
<menus>
  <video format="pal" aspect="4:3"/>
  <audio lang="EN"/>
  <subpicture lang="EN"/>

  <pgc entry="root">
    <button name="button01">g1=button;g0=2;jump title 1;</button>
    <button name="button02">g1=button;g0=2;jump titleset 2 title 1;</button>
    <button name="button03">g1=button;g0=2;jump titleset 3 title 1;</button>
    <button name="button04">g1=button;g0=2;jump titleset 4 title 1;</button>
    <button name="button00">g1=button;g0=0;jump vmgm menu 1;</button>
    <vob file="/home/NTFS/DVD-VIDEO/tmp/dvd-tmp/menu1-0.mpg" pause="inf"/>

if (g2 & 0xFFF == 1 and g1 gt 0) button = g1; else button = 1024;if (g2 & 0x8000 !=0) {g2^=0x8000;if (g2==101) jump vmgm menu 1;}g2=1;

  </pgc>
</menus>
<titles>
  <video aspect="4:3"/>
  <audio lang="EN"/>

  <pgc>
    <vob file="/home/NTFS/DVD-VIDEO/tmp//dvd-cache/entry001.vob" chapters="0:00,0:30"/>
    <post>if (g0 gt 1) { g0 = 3; call vmgm menu entry title; }</post>
  </pgc>
</titles>
</titleset>

We place the remaining 3 artist's songs in separate sections below.
<titleset>
<menus>
  <audio lang="EN"/>
  <subpicture lang="EN"/>

  <pgc entry="root">
    <vob file="/usr/share/dvdstyler/data/empty_pal_ac3.mpg"/>

if (g2 & 0x8000 !=0) {g2^=0x8000;if (g2==101) jump vmgm menu 1;}g2=1;jump vmgm menu;

  </pgc>
</menus>
<titles>
  <video aspect="4:3"/>
  <audio lang="EN"/>

  <pgc>
    <vob file="/home/NTFS/DVD-VIDEO/tmp//dvd-cache/entry002.vob" chapters="0:00,0:30"/>
    <post>if (g0 gt 1) { g0 = 4; call vmgm menu entry title; }</post>
  </pgc>
</titles>
</titleset>
<titleset>
<menus>
  <audio lang="EN"/>
  <subpicture lang="EN"/>

  <pgc entry="root">
    <vob file="/usr/share/dvdstyler/data/empty_pal_ac3.mpg"/>

if (g2 & 0x8000 !=0) {g2^=0x8000;if (g2==101) jump vmgm menu 1;}g2=1;jump vmgm menu;

  </pgc>
</menus>
<titles>
  <video aspect="4:3"/>
  <audio lang="EN"/>

  <pgc>
    <vob file="/home/NTFS/DVD-VIDEO/tmp//dvd-cache/entry003.vob" chapters="0:00,0:30"/>
    <post>if (g0 gt 1) { g0 = 5; call vmgm menu entry title; }</post>
  </pgc>
</titles>
</titleset>
<titleset>
<menus>
  <audio lang="EN"/>
  <subpicture lang="EN"/>

  <pgc entry="root">
    <vob file="/usr/share/dvdstyler/data/empty_pal_ac3.mpg"/>

if (g2 & 0x8000 !=0) {g2^=0x8000;if (g2==101) jump vmgm menu 1;}g2=1;jump vmgm menu;

  </pgc>
</menus>
<titles>
  <video aspect="4:3"/>
  <audio lang="EN"/>

  <pgc>
    <vob file="/home/NTFS/DVD-VIDEO/tmp//dvd-cache/entry001.vob" chapters="0:00,0:30"/>
    <post>if (g0 gt 1) { g0 = 6; call vmgm menu entry title; }g2|=0x8000; call menu entry root;</post>
  </pgc>
</titles>
</titleset>

We repeat the same for the remaining 3 artists. So we have a DVD with 16 songs. After adding an artist with 4 songs, we get an error. The same error if we will add a song for each artist. DVD file structure ends on 16-th item.
VIDEO_TS.BUP
VIDEO_TS.IFO
VIDEO_TS.VOB
VTS_01_0.BUP
VTS_01_0.IFO
VTS_01_0.VOB
VTS_01_1.VOB
...
VTS_16_0.BUP
VTS_16_0.IFO
VTS_16_0.VOB
VTS_16_1.VOB

How to make it fit 99 items?

I've create

TITLE menu with 11 items of artists
11 VMGM menus with items of songs
99 TITLESET with menu and song

Then insert commands
TITLE menu:
jump to vmgm menu ARTISTNO
VMGM menu of artist:
jump to titleset TITLESET title 1
Titleset TITLESET title 1:
g0=1; call vmgm menu ARTISTNO;
vmgm menu 1:
(pre commands) if(g0==1){jump titleset 2 menu;} if(g0==2){jump titleset 3 menu;} if(g0==3){jump titleset 4 menu;} if(g0==4){jump titleset 5 menu;} if(g0==5){jump titleset 6 menu;} if(g0==6){jump titleset 7 menu;} if(g0==7){jump titleset 8 menu;} if(g0==8){jump titleset 9 menu;} (show menu)
titleset (root) 2 menu 1:
jump title 1;
...


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FFmpeg. Processing new jpeg files that appear
I have a directory where new files in jpeg format are periodically emerge.
How can these files be processed one by one,
waiting for the next one and convert them to a mp4 file.
I tried like this
ffmpeg -framerate 1 -i test%d.jpg -c:v libx264 -r 30 -pix_fmt yuv420p output.mp4

but ffmpeg do not wait for new files and exits.
Is there a solution?

Try https://superuser.com/questions/1375257

Thanks, interesting information


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Bringing layers forward or sending back with After Effects expressions
I have two solids right next to each other.  At certain points in the timeline, I increase the scale of one or the other for emphasis.  The problem is that one of the solids is located behind the other, so when its scale increases, it's partially blocked.
How can I modify the layer stack using expressions?  I found moveBefore(), moveAfter(), etc., but those appear to be scripting only.

After getting some good advice, there's no way to modify the layer stack via expressions.  This should be handled by making the layers 3D or by creating a duplicate layer further up the stack and flipping the opacity on and off.


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How to animate a shape to expand/morph a certain way?
I am trying to animate a square into a an isometric cube-like shape. In the image, I want the square on the left to "extrude" into the cube on the right. How can I achieve this effect?

Does this answer your question? How do I merge two shapes in one during an animation?

See https://video.stackexchange.com/questions/35663/how-do-i-merge-two-shapes-in-one-during-an-animation/35672#35672


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Handbrake Output Visually Freezes on Interstitial
I downloaded an m3u8 stream using a Chrome plugin, and it created an mp4 file which I can play fully in VLC.
Next, I am attempting to use Handbrake to encode this file to be played on an old iPod Nano.  I am using the Apple 240p30 preset.  The resulting mp4 does play on my Mac (Preview, Quicktime) and on my Nano.
However, the final video has a glitch whereby at the first interstitial (commercial) the video fast-forwards for a second and then freezes permanently, while the audio carries on valiantly for the entire 30 minutes of the video.  This happens when I play it on the Mac and Nano.
I'm a software engineer, so I tried researching this problem but I came up blank, possibly because I do not know the terminology and am not deeply familiar with the various ways that video encoding works.  The most likely lead was this thread about MCEBuddy which I believe uses Handbrake under the hood.  The description of "I have noticed similar behavior. The video freezes at the commercial cut point (chapter break) but the audio keeps going" matches what I am experiencing.
Does anyone familiar with Handbrake know how to configure it to avoid this behavior?

After some further investigation, I found that when you use the Apple 240p30 preset, Handbrake uses the x264 encoder.  I tried various command-line options for this tool but was not able to affect a change.  If the problem relates to keyframes, there seem to be options to create keyframes at various intervals in the output, but not to detect where they are in the input, nor to affect the demuxer beyond choosing which library to use (and they must be bundled with the compiled x264 software, which I can't know if they are or not with Handbrake).
Instead, going earlier on the chain, I revisited the m3u8 downloader Chrome plugin, and tried to export as a .ts file instead of .mp4, and when I ran this through Handbrake it worked perfectly.  Presumably this was then a problem with the downloader plugin and not Handbrake.  I am guessing that VLC was simply robust enough to fudge over the issue and continue to play the original file, whereas x264 was not.
Problem solved.


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Using ffmpeg nvidia/cuda overlay processing results in green output - how to get the correct colours?
Background: I'm trying to overlay a full frame image on top of an MP4, in ffmpeg, using as much hardware-assistance as possible. The inputs to ffmpeg are:

a stream from an MP4 file - with 1 audio and 1 video stream
frames from some software, which are supplied as raw RGBA frames, at the same frame size as the movie.

I struggled for some time to get something working and through various iterations, ended up with this:
ffmpeg -y -report -hide_banner -loglevel verbose
-hwaccel cuda -hwaccel_output_format yuv420p
-i movie.mp4
-f rawvideo -framerate 10.0 -s 1024x576 -pix_fmt rgba -i -
-filter_complex [0:v]hwupload[mp4_stream];[1:v]format=yuva420p,hwupload[overlay_stream];[mp4_stream][overlay_stream]overlay_cuda[out]
-map [out] -vcodec h264_nvenc
-rc:v cbr -b:v 20M -bf:v 3 -profile:v main -spatial-aq true -movflags faststart output.mp4

I picked yuv420p because looking at the overlay code ( https://github.com/FFmpeg/FFmpeg/blob/4976b102d89787d59a3aaa438b76c62aec86ad5a/libavfilter/vf_overlay_cuda.c#L94 ) - you can only overlay an image with alpha on top of an image of this type.
However, this results in a very green image! - although the overlay (the date, in this case) seems to have been overlaid with the right alpha etc.

I was wondering if the blend mode or some other aspect of the overlay was causing a problem, so attempted to reduce the problem size. I thought that perhaps just processing the video -  movie->decode->encode - might shed some light, so I tried this:
ffmpeg -y -report -hide_banner -loglevel verbose
-hwaccel cuda -hwaccel_output_format yuv420p -i movie.mp4
-f rawvideo -framerate 10.0 -s 1024x576 -pix_fmt rgba -i -
-filter_complex [0:v]hwupload[mp4_stream]
-map [mp4_stream] -vcodec h264_nvenc
-rc:v cbr -b:v 20M -bf:v 3 -profile:v main -spatial-aq true -movflags faststart output.mp4

This is essentially the same (I hope) but just ignoring the overlay frames - still green.
However, replacing the yuv420p with nv12: -hwaccel cuda -hwaccel_output_format nv12  results in a correctly coloured image. This is no use for my actual use case, as nv12 does not support alpha overlays.

Versions:
ffmpeg version 4.4.2-0ubuntu0.22.04.1
Hardware: NVIDIA Corporation GA106 [GeForce RTX 3060 Lite Hash Rate] (rev a1)
Kernel: 5.15.0-71-generic #78-Ubuntu SMP
Driver: 525.105.17
How to get the output the correct colour, while still using yuv420p, so I can overlay properly on top of it.
I have an inkling that this is due to some planes of the YUV file being zero? But how to fix this in the command line ffmpeg - I'm not sure. Thanks!

I am wondering if it is the version of ffmpeg - I can see that scale_cuda was modified to add the option "format" in what appears to be 8.0.103 -(https://github.com/FFmpeg/FFmpeg/commit/62dc5df941f5e196164c151691e4274195523e95)  but my ffmpeg appears to be using 7.110.100 - is it just too old?

So, after some (long) time - it is a problem with the old version of ffmpeg - which is the version bundled with Ubuntu 22.04.
Using a self-compiled version of ffmpeg version 6.0 with CUDA Extensions. I can run the following command line, and everything is working perfectly.
/home/richja/bin/ffmpeg -y -report -hide_banner -loglevel verbose
-hwaccel cuda -hwaccel_output_format cuda
-i movie.MP4
-f rawvideo -framerate 10.0 -s 1920x1080 -pix_fmt rgba -i -
-filter_complex [0:v]scale_cuda=format=yuv420p[mp4_stream];[1:v]format=yuva420p,hwupload[overlay_stream];[mp4_stream][overlay_stream]overlay_cuda
-vcodec h264_nvenc
-rc:v cbr -b:v 20M -bf:v 3 -profile:v main -spatial-aq true -movflags faststart overlay.MP4

The performance of this setup is frankly incredible, and can render overlays at more than 12x real-time.


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"Error initializing complex filters" Using volume filter in fluent-ffmpeg
Thanks to the answers i got on my last question, i came up with the following if statement named string :
"if(between(t,6,12.6)+between(t,16.6,29.8)+between(t,33.8,44),0.15,if(between(t,5,6),0.15/(6-5)*(t-5),if(between(t,15.6,16.6),0.15/(16.6-15.6)*(t-15.6),if(between(t,32.8,33.8),0.15/(33.8-32.8)*(t-32.8),if(between(t,12.6,13.6),0.15/(13.6-12.6)*(13.6-t),if(between(t,29.8,30.8),0.15/(30.8-29.8)*(30.8-t),if(between(t,44,45),0.15/(45-44)*(45-t))))))))"
And i'm applying it in the following fluent-ffmpeg command thanks to this complex filter :
.complexFilter([
    {
        filter: "volume",
        options: [string],
        inputs: "1",
        outputs: 'audio',
        eval: 'frame'
    },
    {
        filter: "amix",
        options: 'inputs=2',
        inputs: ["0:a", "audio"]
    }
])

What this does is just like -filter_complex "[1:a]volume=string:eval=frame["audio"]" then it applies an amix on 0:a and audio. I'm getting the following errors though :
[Parsed_volume_0 @ 0x7fffe828d140] [Eval @ 0x7ffff0835170] Missing ')' or too many args in 'between(t'
[Parsed_volume_0 @ 0x7fffe828d140] Error when evaluating the volume expression '"if(between(t'
[AVFilterGraph @ 0x7fffe81e0400] Error initializing filter 'volume' with args '"if(between(t'
Error initializing complex filters.
Invalid argument

I tried your volume expression in the pure ffmpeg command, and it works, i.e. it is syntactically correct (but silence in first 5 seconds). So the problem is in the fluent ffmpeg part (I have no experience with it), for example you entered incorrect value in options: [string] (maybe braces have been part of the string variable itself – I only guess).

Ok i also tried and it seems like it works just in ffmpeg. Except it's not doing what i want, at all. Must have made an error somewhere. Between 6 to 12.6, 16,6 to 29.8 and 33.8 to 44 it should be at 15%. Before each of those it should decrease from 100% to 15% over 1s and after each of those it should increase to 100% over 1s.
The rest of the time it should be at 100%. I'm gonna figure out why the fluent version isn't working but i have no idea why my if statement is wrong.

Ok i managed to fix my fluent-ffmpeg command. But for some reason, no filter is applied when i use it. Even though there is one when i just use the ffmpeg command.

I would prefer to construct your volume expression by continuing the procedure in my answer to your previous question – it is a safe way. Then, if it will work, you may optimize it.

Or use directly the ready-to-use expression in the comment of Баяр Гончикжапов under my answer of your previous question.


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Converting DVD (VIDEO_TS) to MP4 (h.264/h.265) using VLC plays only audio or video but not both
Opening the converted .mp4 file with windows 10 mediaplayer doesn't play the audio but does play the video.
Opening the converted .mp4 file with the same VLC used to convert the DVD to MP4 doesn't play the video but does play the audio.

Posted this question as I wanted to share my answer to this. I found that customizing the audiocodec used for the Video - H.264 + MP3 (MP4) profile to MPEG 4 Audio (AAC) from the default MPEG Audio fixed the issue.

Actually.. this caused audio and video to both play but they went out of sync, thus this didn't solve my problem.


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Black box in new composition - After Effects CC
Hiya new to after effects and trying to follow along with a tutorial. Can't figure out though why there is a black box when I make a new composition? I've imported an illustrator file with different layers I don't think I'm zoomed in too much perhaps theres some kind of view I'm in I need to get out of?

Theres also a warning dialogue box that pops up before I open After Effects potentially that has something to do with it?

Looks like that's just the composition preview window - where you'll see what you've put into the comp. If you need to change the size of the window, right-click the comp name and go to 'Composition settings'. I also like to change the background colour of my comps to something like #8E4545 to differentiate from black elements and the 'empty' screen.
The warning message is telling you that you need more space on the drive that your disk cache is stored on (sort of like preview files that are generated when you render the content in your AE project). Go to Edit > Preferences > Media & Disk Cache to clear it out or change how much storage it's allowed to access.

Thanks @Jamie Bruce I still don't understand why my layers aren't showing? The video tutorial has her layers showing before shes started doing anything


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Use ffmpeg to "overlay" a png on top of an entire video file
I want to be able to use a command to "edit" a video to have an image over the entire length of the video. Some videos I download have hardcoded subtitles that I want to remove. But I also have a regular .srt to add subtitles back (which are better). Which means I can't just get out a notepad and cover the subs since that'd also cover the soft subtitles.
I found an old question that was similar, but their solution didn't seem to work for me. I'm not really sure what I'm doing, but here's what I tried:
ffmpeg -i originalvideo.mp4 -i imagetooverlay.png -filter_complex "[0:v][1:v] overlay=0:0:enable='between(t,0,635)'" -pix_fmt yuv420p -c:a copy output.mp4
Is there a better command that I can use that will overlay the image on the video and rerender it? The image is 1920x1080 and is mostly transparent except for the "bar" that I placed in the correct position. I think that means that it's position doesn't need to be specified, just lined up with the 1920x1080 video.
Thanks!

What happens with the command you've tried?

@Gyan It just rerenders the video with no apparent changes. Copying it, essentially.


text:
How to output the cropped resolution
Scenario
I recorded a video that looks like this:

(which is 1920x1080) But I want to crop the video to only have the actual game rectangle. In MS Paint I measured that the game rectangle is 1435x957 (although odd numbers aren't supported for mp4). So far, the cropping I've tried has resulted in black bars (which is what I'm trying to remove in the first place).
Settings
For my Project Settings > Master settings > Timeline format > Timeline resolution I have set to 1434x956 and have Project Settings > Image Scaling > Output scaling set to match timeline settings and for Mismatched resolutions files I've tried stretch and both scales (for the same result). My actual timeline's settings use the project settings. In the deliver tab the resolution is likewise 1434x956.
Steps
On the edit tab I used the frame's drop down for cropping a box which generates video cropping values of about 176.599, 180.145, 21.862, 66.592 (which aren't in pixels and thus arbitrary). The video transform section remains default (zoom 1, positions 0).
The resulting video is indeed 1434x956 (as per the file properties in windows) but it also has black bars (which can be detected by resizing the video player's window to show that the gameplay doesn't reach the edges like my normal videos do). So, despite the zoom of 1 it seems like the source was zoomed out. The crop is certainly doing something since it replaces the profile icon and controls with black bars (so yes: it is being applied to the video track of the timeline).
Yes, I tried deleting the source/timeline from the cut tab and re-adding them. Doing so didn't say anything about "source will be resized".
Work around
Instead of cropping if I use video transform of zoom 1.330 and position 5, -33 I can get it to render into 1434x956. But it seems like there should be a better way of doing this.
Question
How can I prevent my source from being zoomed out? Is there any way to crop and have the output be whatever size the resulting rectangle is (rather than manually setting 1434x956)? If not (to both), is there a way to get the crop result to auto zoom/position to fit the output size?

Exactly what I'm looking for. Crop the video and output just that. But no, the two are separate steps, and it is not clear how to just encode the cropped rectangle instead of the entire FHD video. - Note that in the Inspector, you can specify clean and straight pixel values for cropping.


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Official AOM documentation
I could not find the official description for AOM encoding options. There are some documentations available online. However I get following contradicting explanations for aq-mode. can someone help me with the correct documentation?
https://api.encoding.com/reference/adv-av1-libaom says the default value for aq-mode is 0 and "ffmpeg -h encoder=libaom-av1" gives default value = -1.

-1 here means ffmpeg will leave it up to the encoder.

Thanks! Is there a link available for libaom-av1 official documentation.

See https://aomedia.org/docs/aomenc-command-line-parameters-draft.pdf and https://github.com/master-of-zen/Av1an/blob/master/docs/Encoders/aomenc.md#Important-command-line-options


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Problem with blur in uploaded YouTube video
A video I uploaded to youtube has clips from various sources.  All the clips from one source (Source 1) show blurred results.  Clips from all the other sources looked fine.
All the clips are 1920x1080 and everything looks good when exported from Davinci Resolve.
I’ve tried uploading several times with the same result.  And I checked several hours after uploading to give youtube processing plenty of time.
Searching google suggested that differences between the specs of clips can cause trouble on YouTube, so I’ve now uploaded another version of the video using only clips from source 1.  (The Davinci project is set to the same resolution as all the clips)
All the footage is blurred on YouTube.
This all seems kind of impossible to me and I've never had a problem like it on other videos!  Can anyone help please?
Thanks
Andy

My first questions would be:

Is the exported clip interlaced? Maybe your video player can account for interlacing artifacts in a way that youtube does differently.
Does the original clip, as used in the timeline, have a different frame rate that the others, or perhaps it is interlaced and others aren't? Maybe first transcoding it to match the others will help.

If the answer to both is no, I would start looking at the exported file. Does the blurring appear in youtube when other exported codecs are used, like H.264 versus VP9, AVC etc?
I hope that helps you find a solution.

Hi Wiley.
Thanks for helping.
In Clip Attributes/Field Dominance all the clips are set to Auto-progressive. I think that means they’re interlaced?
The problem clips are all 29.97 or 30fps but two clips that youtube handles well are also 29.97  (There are other clips at 25 but they’re ok on youtube too.)
Here’s one of my test uploads: https://youtu.be/ZJEo1w4oE8o  .
The opening shot is particularly blurred. There aren’t sharp images till 1’ in.
I could put the original render in Google Drive??
Other export settings haven't helped.
All the best

The main issue in the first shot is definitely over-compression. That image is completely full of moving detail, so youtube (or even the NLE) will have over-compress to meet its target bitrate. Compare that image full of grass to the next shot, where there are large patches of plain blue sky that barely move- a huge amount of data saved, which can be used to improve details in other areas of the image.

Another thing that can greatly affect compression artifacts is color- if there is a similar color tone/level to all of the detail, such as in low-light shots, even good compression is more likely to show visible artifacting.

Lastly, people sometimes suggest adding noise/grain to videos- this is sometimes bad advice because in theory the youtube compressor will waste bits trying to preserve the noise, ignoring "real" image details. However it could improve how detail is preserved in low-light or similar-color shots. If you've added noise, try removing it, or if you haven't, try adding it.

I don’t have noise/grain in my version of Resolve unfortunately. So there's nothing I can do to fix the 1st shot? A pity - I’ll need to replace it. And it sounds like there’s nothing more I can do to the ‘balloon woman’ shots either.
But thanks again Wiley.  I appreciate it!


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What is the standard format for transparent fire and glow effects in VFX?
When working with 3D scenes involving transparent-background fire or other glow effects, what is the standard format to render & save them in that will be compatible with VFX software, and allow overlaying the image/sequence over other footage?
This has been a problem I've run into a occasionally as a 3D artist who also creates renders and animations, and although it's not critical for my work I really want to know the answer!
As an example, take this basic scene in Blender involving an emissive square with bloom effects, and a volume with emission and 0 density. In Blender, they appear as you'd expect; but after rendering and saving as a PNG, all the glow effects are gone.

Now this is a pretty common problem I see online, and everyone says to just use EXR instead of a PNG - but when I import an EXR from Blender into Davinci Resolve, the color space ends up wrong - and correcting that issue requires downloading a custom LUT, which seems to once again remove the glowing areas, bring me right back to where I started.
And sure, I'm not a VFX artist so I may be doing something wrong, but I feel like there's no way it has to be this complicated - when I download transparent fire effects from online, they just come as a PNG sequence and work perfectly fine.
So, back to my question; In terms of image formats and alpha channels, what is the standard way to take a transparent-background fire simulation, glow effect, etc. from 3D software to VFX software? And why does everyone say that using EXR will solve the problem when clearly it's possible to have effects like this in PNG format too?
Apologies if this question is confusing or overly long - it seems like there are so many different aspects to the issue that it's hard to narrow it down to a single concise question!

This is a good question. I sometimes export PNG passes for lights etc with an alpha that can then be composited using Add or Lighten, and additional conventional passes with alpha than can be comped using the normal compositing. There's a great (and funny) video here about how alpha passes work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XobSAXZaKJ8&ab_channel=CaptainDisillusion


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Does a keyframe need to be created with a repeater? - After Effects CC
New to After Effects!
I'm following a tutorial and I don't quite understand the function of the stopwatch icon.My understanding at this stage is in order for an action/animation to happen a keyframe is needed and to activate the action you need to click the stopwatch icon to the left of that action.
In the tutorial a repeater gets added to the shape so that multiple copies of it get created making this startburst effect coming out from a centre position. For these repeater actions however the stopwatch doesn't get clicked and there appears to be no keyframe but it still seems to work? I am wondering maybe since keyframes have been created for the size and position of the original shape the copies don't need to?

please add a link to the tutorial if you can

From your screen shots, I would guess that 13 copies of the original object are being made, but they are all hidden exactly on top of each other originally before the movement starts.
The size and position keyframes are (I think) moving the position of the shape away from its origin point, which causes the 13 copies all to move relatively away from each other when those numbers are no longer zero.
Below is an example-
I've added a shape.
I've offset its position within the shape settings itself, not the transform position.
Then added a repeater to make 13 copies.
I've set a rotation in the repeater settings.
When you adjust the position control inside the shape to zero, all the shapes pull into the central position to make a star burst effect.
This is because each repeat shape is made relative to the shape before it.


text:
How can I rotate and resize a video with ffmpeg?
I use a programm that needs .mp4 video files in the resolution 1080x608 px (width x height).
My original videos have a smaller resolution - mostly 640x480 px.
I have to rotate my original videos 90 degree (CounterClockwise) and after the rotation resize to the resolution 1080x608 px. It should used the centered area of the video.
What is the correct command for ffmpeg?
For larger videos I use the following command:
md Jukebox_Converted-90_30fps_Audio_HD
cd Files_To_Be_Converted
for %%f in (*) do ..\ffmpeg -i "%%f" -vf "crop=608:1080:0:0,transpose=2" -pix_fmt yuv420p -r 30 -c:a copy "..\Jukebox_Converted-90_30fps_Audio_HD\%%f"
pause

Thanks & Regards

This will change the resolution of the videos without cropping them:
md Jukebox_Converted-90_30fps_Audio_HD
cd Files_To_Be_Converted
for %%f in (*) do ..\ffmpeg -i "%%f" -vf "transpose=cclock,scale=1080:608" -pix_fmt yuv420p -r 30 -c:a copy "..\Jukebox_Converted-90_30fps_Audio_HD\%%f"
pause

Things I fixed about your command:

Arbitrary Cropping
Use of deprecated numeric value on transpose
Wrong order of filters


text:
ffmpeg shows "get_buffer() failed". Is this a bug?
ffmpeg version 2023-06-19-git-1617d1a752-full_build-www.gyan.dev
i7-1255U, Windows 11
The command line is
"ffmpeg.exe"  -y  -hwaccel qsv  -ss 00:00:03.461  -to 00:00:12.009  -i "input.mov"   -c:v h264_qsv -global_quality 25 -look_ahead 1 -preset veryslow -c:a aac -ar 48000 -ac 2 -ab 128k output.mp4

The "input.mov" is mjpeg.
The result is:
[mjpeg_qsv @ 0000019930260080] get_buffer() failed
[vist#0:0/mjpeg @ 000001993025ff00] Error submitting packet to decoder: Cannot allocate memory
[mjpeg_qsv @ 0000019930260080] get_buffer() failed
[vist#0:0/mjpeg @ 000001993025ff00] Error submitting packet to decoder: Cannot allocate memory
[mjpeg_qsv @ 0000019930260080] get_buffer() failed
[vist#0:0/mjpeg @ 000001993025ff00] Error submitting packet to decoder: Cannot allocate memory
[mjpeg_qsv @ 0000019930260080] get_buffer() failed
[vist#0:0/mjpeg @ 000001993025ff00] Error submitting packet to decoder: Cannot allocate memory
[mjpeg_qsv @ 0000019930260080] get_buffer() failed
[vist#0:0/mjpeg @ 000001993025ff00] Error submitting packet to decoder: Cannot allocate memory

The messages above repeats many many many times. Finally, it shows:
[vist#0:0/mjpeg @ 000001993025ff00] Error submitting EOF to decoder: Cannot allocate memory

For the version 6.0-full_build-www.gyan.dev, it shows:
[mjpeg_qsv @ 000001b820955b00] Too many errors when draining, this is a bug. Stop draining and force EOF.
Error while decoding stream #0:0: Internal bug, should not have happened

I tried the same command line on a very old version, and it works fine. Is this a bug or there is something new that comes with the new version?
Thank you for your help.


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After Effects & Media Encoder different resolution clips with same content export similar size using same settings
this is driving me mad, I have one clip at 4K 3840x2160 and I export it via After Effects as h264, Constant Bitrate 16 and let's say it's 56 MBs. If I resize it in After Effects export/render window to 1080p (1920x1080) I get a 1080p file that is something like 54MBs. I thought it was weird so I made a duplicate comp, changed its resolution to 1080p, resized everything in there with a null, exported it with same settings h264 CBR16 and now its size is something like 36MBs. I thought it was a bug in the resize when exporting and from then on kept duplicating all comps, resizing them down to 1080p and exporting separately. But I now found out that the problem returned (AE v.23.4.0 Build 53) and even with the internally resized comps I still get an exported mp4 size close to 4K resolution even when the comp has 1080p natively. The only way to bring size down is to lower the CBR rate to, say, 10. Why is this happening? Should a clip with half resolution than an other 4K clip with same content have 95% its size? Am I doing something wrong?


text:
FFMpeg HLS to MXF video codec copy non monotonically increasing dts issue
I am rewrapping an HLS stream as an mxf file.  The HLS is 1080p59.94 10bit 4:2:2.  The mxf is a video codec copy and an audio conversion to pcm. The stream has video timecode burn-in for me to watch the video frames. Here is the command
ffmpeg -i "https://myinput/index.m3u8" -f segment -timecode "01:01:01:00" -segment_time 600 -reset_timestamps 1 -c:v copy output_%03d.mxf

I get the following non-fatal error
"Application provided invalid, non monotonically increasing dts to muxer in stream 1"

The file is still created, however. In VLC the file plays correctly frame by frame. But in Adobe premiere when I play frame by frame I get video stuttering and I see the timecode burn in plays in a sequence like this... 3 frames ahead, then 2 frames back... so the frame sequence would be something like ;03 ;01 ;02 ;06 ;04 ;05 ;09 ;07 ;08
It's almost like Premiere does not know how to order the frames back together but VLC does. Any thoughts on how I might change the command to reorder the dts monotonically?
When I wrap to a .ts file I don't get this issue in Premiere, but I need MXF because Premiere can play an MXF file as a growing file.

I would need the input HLS package and the output MXF file.

@MarkusSchumann Here is an example stream
ffplay -i https://547f72e6652371c3.mediapackage.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/out/v1/3fc62e3339d54d9786d176453584c594/index.m3u8 -live_start_index -1
Here is an example output mxf I created.
https://testbucket-forstackoverflow.s3.amazonaws.com/Test_output_000.mxf


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How can internal software clip the 'From Software' channel on my Apogee Duet?
I noticed this the other day: the Maestro mixer on my Mac was showing the 'From Software' channel clipping. It happened to be that Radium was playing internet radio and the volume slider on the Radium app was maxed. The sliders on the 'From Software' channel in Maestro were set to 0dB.
How can it be that an internal audio signal, completely digital, can clip a channel like this? Even dropping the sliders down on the channel didn't stop the clipping. I had to reduce the volume via the volume slider in the Radium application. That's got me scratching my head a bit and wondering if the app is really clipping it's audio line or if it's the Maestro mixer's channel strip monitors showing me something that isn't actually happening. I couldn't hear any discernable digital clipping on my monitors.
Here's a picture of it occurring...

It may be that it counts 0dB (i.e. full-scale) as clipping - I've seen this before.

I was wondering the same thing -- that'd mean it's a Maesto monitor issue. I found it perplexing because I wasn't hearing clipping.

This is correct.  Remember that your software has no way of knowing if it goes over the maximum value... just if it hits that maximum value, because that is the maximum value.  0dB in this case is clipping.

@Brad - Only multiple successive samples at 0dB would result in audible clipping - I think this is how some digital meters show clipping (i.e. only if 2 or more successive samples max out).

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/


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What's the difference between an Engineer and a Producer?
People seem to be making a point of the distinction of the role of Engineer and Producer. What's the difference?

The engineer is the "equipment operator".  His expertise is choosing the right equipment for the job and using it in the right way to achieve the desired effect.  His role is analogous to that of the cameraman in film production.
The producer is kind of like a project manager.  His job is to get all the individuals - musicians, vocalists, engineers - to each do their part to achieve the overall goal.
For example, he might decide a certain song should be quiet and soothing, so he'll advise the musicians to tone down the accompaniment, the vocalist to soften her voice, and the engineer to add the necessary processing to achieve that soothing sound he's after.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_engineering

Producer, engineer, mixer Phil Ek has
  described audio engineering as the
  "physical recording of any project—the
  placing of microphones, the turning of
  pre-amp knobs, the setting of
  levels—and the producer is the guy who
  directs that process."

Producer says: "Make the bass beat phatter". The engineer does it.

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/


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ffplay does not play hls continuously and it stop after a few first segments
I am using the following command to read a RTSP stream from an IP camera and record it as HLS:
ffmpeg -i rtsp://<user>:<password>@<ip>:<port> -c:v copy -c:a copy -hls_segment_type mpegts -segment_list_type m3u8 -hls_list_size 5 -hls_wrap 5 -hls_time 5 -hls_flags split_by_time -segment_time_delta 1.00 -start_number 1 -segment_list live -reset_timestamps 1 -movflags faststart  live.m3u8
Everything goes well. However, while I am using ffplay as ffplay -i live.m3u8, it only plays a few first segments. Even VLC does play a few first segments too! What am I missing? shall I change my ffmpeg command or what?
Thank you all in advance.

You've mixed options from the segment muxer alongside the hls muxer. Use only one, preferably hls.

I just simplified the command as follows. BUT no changes and the problem is still there :(
ffmpeg -i rtsp://<user>:<password>@<ip>:<port> -c:v copy -c:a copy -hls_segment_type mpegts -hls_list_size 5 -hls_wrap 5 -hls_time 5 -start_number 1 -reset_timestamps 1 live.m3u8


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Does rackmount hardware attach only on the faceplate?
I've just purchased a few simple hardware rackmount devices, and a rack case.  I've never set anything like this up before.  I've been told that the devices' faceplates are screwed to the rack, and no other support is required.
Is this true?  Are rack devices only attached by the faceplates, and there's no other support?  Some of these devices are kind of heavy and it doesn't seem like enough support to handle the weight, particularly during transport where they bump around.
I want to make sure I'm not missing something.

Yes, almost all rackmount devices are designed to bear their loads on the front plate. Only in very rare circumstances have I seen a piece of rack gear that has not remained rigid while mounted in a rack, and that was only after years of being in one. There are also some rack pieces that have a second set of mounts in the back, but I haven't seen that in a long time.
My Crown power amp, which has got to be 50+ pounds, is only front mounted, as is my Akai S5000, which is about as unwieldy as it gets. You should be fine. Make sure you use four rack screws, and be careful not to overtighten them. You may also want to use rubber or nylon washers, but that's a whole other topic in itself.

Rackmount gear is almost universally designed to bear all its weight from the front panel, yes. As Zeronyne points out, even fairly heavy gear is fine, as long as it is mounted properly.
I will simply add that I have on rare occasions seen rack gear that had optional mounting hardware for both the back in addition to the front. This is quite uncommon, however, and generally just an added precaution--not required.

The unit is almost always balanced with the majority of the weight up front, so that it will balance when attached via the front plate. For longer units, or incredibly heavy units, additional mounting may be required, though such a case is quite rare.

1U Rack mount computer servers will often have mounting rails or other things to support them, but nearly all audio kit or servers that use several U are usually just attached from the front.


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Methods of Amplifying Poor Audio from Camcorder Recording?
I have a recording from a camcorder (with a broken mic) where the audio is 1) largely white noise and 2) almost in-audible sound from people chatting in a room.
What methods could be used to amplify the "almost in-audible" parts (and remove the white noise)?
I guess what consumer level audio tools could do this?

From your description of the audio, it is going to be hard to fix, as white noise tends to cover a very broad frequency spectrum and so is hard to get rid of without losing what you want to keep.
A decent starting point for you would be to use a freeware audio editing program like Audacity. Here is a noise removal tutorial using Audacity.
You can also use audacity to cut out sections where there is no background talking. Then you can use an effect called a compressor to attempt to raise the level of the speaking to a better level, although you may still find you are amplifying some background noise. Here's a description of the audacity compressor.


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How to handle extreme dynamic range in a vocalist?
Just finished a tracking session with a singer who has a huge dynamic range. This musician is otherwise very professional, and is a joy to have in the studio, and I'm not in any way criticizing her. However, there are some variables I'd like to know how to handle should they recur (with either her or another musician):
The was musician playing guitar while singing live in the studio. By the end of the session, we got the takes we needed, and their quality was good. She never needed more than a few takes, but we had to do a few retakes on top of that because of a little clipping. (But hey, six songs in three hours...not bad.) But this is making me wonder:
The extreme dynamic range makes using the pad setting problematic, coupled with a slightly noisy environment. (Read: lotsa planes and trucks today in my normally quiet neighborhood.)
In general, what can one do to cope with a situation like this? Should the tracking engineer ride the trim pot in a situation like this, or would that make the recording choppy? Suck it up and use automation and light compression on the audio in post? Run a second mic for the vocal?
Here's my rig. (Today was the first non-test session with a new computer and interface, after a recent rig meltdown.)

Macbook Pro with Garageband, wille export to Logic for mixdown
MOTU Audio Express interface
SM58 on her vocal and a Studio Projects C1 on her guitar, with a bit of bleed between the two (as anticipated)

This question should have been migrated to SOund Design years ago, but we must have missed it - too old to move now, so I'll close it.

What Kim Burgaard said is very true. The vocalist has a lot of control over how their voice is recorded. As I'm a much inferior vocalist to those I record, it can be difficult teaching them this technique, as you just want to get a good take.
So what I end up doing is have the vocalist scream. Well, I ask them to warm up and hit the loudest levels they can. I then adjust via that. I try not affect overall sound with compression in the analog domain. With the takes in 24bit, I can use envelopes or a compressor in the mixing stage.
I would stay away from ridding the level during recording. It's more difficult to get the levels right in the mixing stage.
You mention running a second mic for the vocal. I would hope that is what you are doing anyway. I don't think recording the mic and guitar with one mic is a good idea at all. You'll not be able to mix anything.

No no no no no. A second mic for the vocal; I already had a mic for the guitar and a mic for the vocal.

But yeah, I do the "what's the loudest thing you'll be singing" question, and set the trim based on that, then add a little for safety. When I add a little more, I always misunderestimate and go too low. Performers often get caught up in their energy and go louder than they thought they would; I'll try asking them to scream!

I see what you mean. I don't think two mics on the vocal will help this situation any. It sounds like you are doing the right thing. If you have a nice pre with a good compressor, that should help a lot. Though, you'll probably have to play it safe with that MOTU and bring down the levels. It takes time to get to know a singer and how they perform. It sounds like you are going at quite a pace!

@Kim Burgaard, Of course you raise the noise floor. While 24bit helps, it won't be as good as a silent studio with a great pre and analog compressor. However, it looks like the MOTU Audio Express and a noisy room is the environment.

@sims - Well, "learn to live with it" is an option. :)

@Neil Fein, I'd probably change that to "learn to deal with it". I'm sure you can get some good sound out of what you have. ;)

In the end, the sound was quite excellent. I delivered good, clean tracks to the client. Thanks for the advice.

So I am a singer with a huge dynamic range. I think it is useful to let the singer hear the problem (i.e. the clipping or etc.) and then to ask her/him to adjust distance to the mic for particularly loud passages. I think this comes quite naturally to many singers as most of us have seen our favourite singers do this. I also think that it's worthwhile to let them know that many technical solutions have drawbacks (let them hear these). I also think that reminding them that they are in studio as opposed to on a stage, and that as such, that there are more options apart from volume to communicate intensity is also a good idea. Letting them play around and listen to the effects is something they can do before getting into studio (with a mic and computer at home) or depending upon the studio something they can experiment in studio.

I'm no audio engineer, but I wonder: When doing multitrack-recordings anyway, why not place a "backup microphone" at some distance?
So if the main vocal microphone starts clipping, you could blend over to the backup microphone that has a lower input level.
Maybe you'll have to compensate for the runtime of the audio, too.
The other thing is that 24-bits covers a huge range, allowing for a safety margin (meaning: don't head for 0dB) unless your equipment is rather noisy.


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Sony TV RCA output into Yamaha HS80M input via RCA male to XLR male: Is it safe?
Title says it all really. Just want to check up before I do this.
I have a spare set of Yamaha HS80M monitors lying around. Rather than just having them sitting on the shelf, I'd like to connect them to a Sony LCD TV directly.
Is this safe? Is it advisable?
I plan to use a cable that looks something like this:

I realize the signal isn't balanced. I'm really most concerned as to whether this is in some way dangerous.
Cheers.

Not dangerous at all. You may have impedance matching issues though. And possibly lots of noise in the signal because of the unbalanced source and mis-matched impedance.
Start with the volume on the Yamahas all the way down and, with something playing on the television, nudge the volume up ever so slightly until you can hear the source. You want to make certain a too-hot signal from the TV doesn't rip your speakers apart.
For best results a DI with properly matched inputs for the TV would be my advice. Something like this would do the trick.

Thanks a lot Ian. I've hooked them up (minus DI for now - cheers for the link) and things are fine. TV has never sounded so good! I'm surprised how little noise these cables are picking up. They are rather short and that's all I can put it down to.


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What exactly is AVCHD?
Is it a codec? I don't think so; I believe it uses MPEG4/H.264 for video and AC3 for audio.
Is it a container format? Doesn't seem to make a huge amount of sense; there are enough out there already and it's likely that a suitable one already exists.
Is it simply a specification that specifies a particular combination of pre-existing technologies? But this would imply that AVCHD files could also be called something else, like "MPEG4 container with H264/AC3 inside".
So what exactly does AVCHD mean?

This question seems more broadcast and compression specific than AV Production! Inviting experts to a new site proposal Broadcast and Media Technologies which aims to capture more architectural and theoretical views around subjects like this. Join and invite others.

I think this image from Wikipedia says it best:

AVCHD is not a codec, but it is also not just a container.
Just like "every other" container, AVCHD features:

Video streams
Audio streams
Subtitles

But in addition, for example:

Playlists
Menu presentation (like in a DVD)

Is it simply a specification that specifies a particular combination of pre-existing technologies?

Yes.

But this would imply that AVCHD files could also be called something else, like "MPEG4 container with H264/AC3 inside".

But who would like to call it that? Several other specifications take already existing specifications, remix them, and they aren't called "Open Source Container format for XYZ".
I think it's a "one format fits it all" mentality, which is why you'll find AVCHD on many consumer devices.

AVCHD is basically just a consumer name for H.264, which in turn is another name for the ISO standard MPEG-4, Layer 10. It is one of the most significant steps forward in video encoding in recent times.
To the very best of my knowledge, it is a codec since it is used to encode and decode video but it is also a specification.

That is completely wrong. AVCHD is a wrapper that uses h.264 multiplexed into an MPEG Transport Stream. The confusion might stem from the fact that MPEG-4 Part 10 is also called AVC. But AVC and AVCHD have nothing in common. see the Format Specification.


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Convert a 60 fps video to a 24 (film) video - is it possible?
This may not be as simple a problem as it may seem at first, so read carefully.
When I set my (Canon 60D, but this doesn't really matter at all) camera to record at 24 fps (I think it's actually 23.976 fps, but again, this shouldn't really matter), the film fps, it looks so "perfect", like any Hollywood movie. It is a bit stuttery, kind of "low fps" on the first sight, but it's exactly how it should look - a perfect film - and this is exactly what I want.
Now, the problem is, when I record at 60 fps to have a few more frames in case I need a slowmotion, the movie (when played back at 60 fps) looks too "fluid, fast", like a low-budget documentary movie or something like that.
The question: Can I record all my scenes at 60 fps and then somehow "convert" the 60 fps footage so that it looks like it was recorded at 24 fps ?
The reason: I need to record all the scenes in 60 fps, because I don't know which of them I will need in slowmotion later. I cannot record in 24 fps, but I do want the final cut to look as if it was recorded in 24.

Cleared non-applicable "off-topic" comments after migration.

If it really is 60fps video (and not just field-doubled), you could do essentially the reverse of 3:2 pulldown.
That is, take the third frame, then the second after that, the third after that, and so on.
It would look quite watchable, though not as natural as anything shot at 24fps (or 48, or 72, etc).  It would have a slight effect analogous to 3:2 pulldown, an effect Americans are very familiar with from all the 24fps films shown on their TVs and DVDs.  Pans would appear slightly more busy or as having an extra ghost.  Rolling credits may be affected more than other content and may need to be re-generated, if best results are to be desired.

60D 60fps video is indeed progressive.

I disagree with @Jedrek Kostecki
gfilm is a incredible plug-in which saved my life many many times. Sure, not an ad!
Gives a 60fps footage a very close 24fps effect.

As @JaredK said above, 48fps would be the frame rate to use, the problem is that consumer cameras do not shoot with this frame rate. Therefore, use 50p instead with at least 1/50 shutter speed. You will be able to convert to clean 25p by throwing out every other frame, or to 25p with 0.5x slo-mo. 25p is fine for YouTube. If you want actual 24p, just slow it down 4%.

If possible, film in 48 FPS. You can remove every-other frame to make 24 FPS, and you've got up to a 2x slowmotion effect available in post where you want to add it.


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Things to do during shoot to prevent loss of quality during extreme colour grading in post?
I am doing a shoot where I will need to increase the saturation quite a bit in post. You can only really push it so far before you get artifacts etc. so I'm just wondering if there is anything I should be doing with my lighting/camera beforehand to ensure that I have the most data possible to work with. The cam itself shoots in HDV to a firestore (well, the sony equivalent of one) - it's an HVR-S270U (hard drive is an HVR-DR60)
I haven't used the X.Y Color feature of the camera. I'll do some test shots and see what works best, has anyone had any experience with that?

The biggest factor in planning for aggressive grading is your wardrobe and set design.
Eric Escobar gave an excellent speech about this in 2009 at the SF Supermeet, which the MacVideo guys made available online: "Plug-ins Won't Save You".
I know this isn't the technical solution you were looking for, but the nature of contrast and saturation is that they're more dependent on context than on absolute color values.

http://www.colorcube.com/illusions/chrmadptb.htm
http://www.colorcube.com/illusions/chrmadpt.htm

As you figured, underexposure will quickly destroy your ability to push your colors around.  Digital cameras love to underexpose the blue channel, so it really helps to have on-set monitoring like with OnLocation, or with a monitor with scopes, to help nail your exposure.
It appears that x.v.YCC (x.v. Color) information will only play through the camera's outputs, and it'll be down-sampled back to where you started if recording to HDV.  This is because the HDV standard is an 8-bit color depth, which can't represent the 16 bits of x.v.YCC.  If you did capture the x.v.YCC stream, you won't get higher contrast and saturation though, since contrast and saturation are more about the distribution of your colors, rather than their detail and accuracy.  It might occaisonaly make your colors a little less brittle, but I doubt you'd ever notice.
I'd shy away from color features in-camera, especially when going out to HDV.  Shoot as flat a profile as you can (grey and washed-out), and you'll have the most latitude in post.

Thanks! This does help quite a bit. I actually saw that presentation back in '09 haha it was a good reminder though. Sometimes we get caught up in the technical stuff and we forget that we are telling a story.
Also, I believe the X.Y feature does not modify the Gamma Curve. From what I understand, it allows for a larger colour gamut. I guess the real question is whether or not this extra information will carry over to FCP correctly.
Cheers

Ahh.  To answer that part of your question, I went back and added a paragraph on what I think your camera is doing with x.v.YCC (x.v. Color).


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Producing DVDs that play everywhere
I produced a DVD a couple months ago and found out that people in the States had trouble viewing it.
I am not totally sure what the problem is (could be PAL vs NTSC - I thought every modern US player would play both as is the norm in Europe and elsewhere).
What needs to be done to ensure that a DVD will play uniformly well on all players?

You can't make a DVD that plays on all players.
Unfortunately for your distribution, @Flimzy was correct with his explanation of most compatibility problems, and only left out the PAL/NTSC issue, which simply put, means that even if you don't have region encodings, or if you get them correct, then many (if not most) DVD players won't play the opposite type.
The best you may be able to do, is focus on media types.  Replicated (pressed) DVDs (not burned) are going to play back on the most devices without trouble.  After replicated disks, in a distant second place for compatibility, comes re-writable disks.  Least likely to play are single-write disks.  But, when you use writable and rewritable media, your disk is either more or less likely to play on any single DVD player, depending on the make and model.

My DVDs have been pressed. So I guess the issue is PAL/NTSC. I have to say I am quite amazed to see this is still an issue after all these years.

Well, the technology exists to play both formats, but the vast majority of DVD players have been around for years. So, even when the manufacturers decide to make multi-format players (which the industry doesn't actually want them to do), most people would be forced to upgrade in order to see the benefit of this technological progress.

when you say "single-write discs," are you referring to the media itself and not the "disc-at-once" burn method?

I was referring to the media itself.  I was assuming something like "disc-at-once" was always being used, since not doing so makes it even less compatible.

Speaking from the UK side of the pond, sometimes the player will play both PAL and NTSC disks, but the telly that you've connected it to might not cope with the incoming NTSC signal, or it may only cope partially - for example interpreting an incoming 60Hz signal as PAL 60, rather than NTSC, so the picture is black and white.

Make sure you burn your DVDs without any region encoding.  Commercially produced DVDs often/usually are encoded only to play on players manufactured for a certain region.  Typically "homemade" DVDs are burned without this encoding--aka "region-free."  So I don't know if that's actually your problem or not.
It could also be that the media you're using just doesn't work in certain players.  This is less of an issue these days than it has been in the past, but it could still creep up--especially on cheap/old media or cheap/old players.

No that's not the problem.


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Removing an undesired object from a clip in Final Cut
I have a screen-cast clip. On a white background, I have an icon which I'd like to cover with a shape or something. In fact, I've tried using a vector shape and it partially does its job. The problem I'm having is that the clip starts with a fade in/out transition and I'd like to "hide" the icon also during those frames. Adding the same transition to the vector shape didn't help, so maybe I'm just using the wrong approach.
How could I hide that icon so that it looks natural also during the transition frames?

I've personally recorded the video and it's not a logo. It's a placeholder on a blank page, which we originally used to avoid the speaker to write in that specific section. But thanks for asking.

In the end, I've kept using a vector shape. Just, I've setup two keyframes - one at the beginning of the transition and one at the end - for the "color" property, and used the "Select Color" tool so the colour matches the current background. When needed, I've added extra keyframes. It now looks fine.

You could use a "garbage mask" to cut out the desired object on the main frame. Doing that, it will be in place during the transition.
If that does not work for you, then just duplicate the transition for the vector object.

I've tried this. The problem is that, during the transition, the screen goes from white to black, while the mask goes black to white and you notice it during the transition.

This is a job better accomplished with a compositing program like After Effects (or maybe Motion if that's all you have), and not with your editing program.
Also, here's a tutorial that covers how to deal with some difficult situations in object removal:
http://library.creativecow.net/articles/drozda_jerzy/SimpleObjectRemoval.php
Even if you're not an After Effects user, the approach and techniques used in the tutorial are worth knowing.

Put the clip in question in it's own sequence. Apply the vector shape but not the transitions. Then drag the sequence from your browser window into the preview window, then put it into your original timeline as if it were the original clip. Then apply transitions.

If you're using Final Cut X, make the vector shape and the icon into a composite clip, and then apply the transition to that. That way they're both fade in and out together.


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How to insert dynamic data into a produced video
I was wondering if anyone knew the technique or how to place dynamic information into a produced video?
The idea is that you could, say connect to facebook, and then display your friends faces in a movie about missing persons or similar. It's the same principle as the Intel Museum of Me where you grant access to facebook and it creates a gallery of your facebook pictures.
Or similar to this video where you can upload your face into a video, http://vimeo.com/25392805
I've been searching for ages for a method or technique for this but I can't find anything. Searching for "how to insert pictures in video" or "how to load dynamic data into video" doesn't seem to yield the right kinds of results.
Thoughts appreciated.

You should try googling for something like green screen software or chromakey software
There is a wide range of free, cheap and very expensive applications to do this. Some of the free ones actually work okay - depends on your requirements.

If you don't need to do anything too complicated, you might be able to overlay data or photographic elements on video in Adobe Flash (cringe). You'd create a flash object, and send it variables that would control what would be overlaid on it.
An alternative would be to create a script to render a video, and then play that normally.
The main trouble with doing something like this is the time it'd take to render the video. Blender for example, has compositing features, and is scriptable using Python - although there'd be a lot to figure out (mostly the framework to interface between Blender and your site).

usualy, this types of tricks are done in flash, video overlayed with your custom data in a separate container.
if you do it offline, you can script after effects with you prepared video, to render the sequences with your custom data in it. Its a trick with coma delimited spaces...excel export to coma delimited, get a script from aescripts and youre good to go!

trip your face is fbapi with flash


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What is the difference between a fishpole and a boom pole?
What is the difference between a fishpole and a boom pole? I think I have heard the words interchangeably, but I really don't know the difference between the two.

To be honest, man, I've never heard anyone use the term 'fishpole' in regards to video/film production. Recording audio with a microphone that is connected to an extendable rod is called booming. There are people in the film industry who make a living solely from being a boom swinger.
I think fishpole is just another word used for the same thing, although if someone referred to a boom pole as a fishpole onset they would probably get laughed at.
So yeah, unless you are getting filmmaking mixed up with the honorable profession of capturing sea-dwelling animals, I'd say there is no difference between the two.

Ok, I've seen it on several sites...can't remember where, but I have.


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Creating a sith lightning effect
How do you create a sith lightning effect? I am getting into special effects, and was wondering how you do this. I have FCE 4 & 3.5. I'd rather not have to use a different program, but...

Is that "sith" as in Star Wars?

Yeah, I am starting to get into SPFX. I am getting familiar with how to create SPFX and was curious about sith lightning.

With FCE I think your best option would be a plugin or something. I know you can make them with Apple Motion and After Effects though, or a really simple one with good ol' iMovie HD.
Good luck in your search for the force.

How can you make them with Motion and After Effects? Could you elaborate a bit?

After Effects has built in lightning effects. Tutorials are all over the place... for example http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puN_qxndOoI. As for Motion, I don't think it has a built in plugin, but according to this post you should be able to find loops you might then edit. http://forums.creativecow.net/thread/170/862970

No problem :) I'm glad it did!


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How can I put a camera with a standard tripod point on my head?
I've got a video camera with a standard screw-in tripod point. I would like to put that camera on my head to make a video while cycling.
Are there any helmet mounts or similar I can purchase designed to work with a standard tripod mount?
(GoPro have lots, but I understand those use a different mount than the standard tripod point. If thats right, those won't be suitable.)

Two words:  Duct Tape  :)

At least use gaff tape, so you can easily peel it off later.

Not sure what size your cameras is, but a quick search at B&H turned up this:

Midland XTA-104 Vented Helmet Camera Mount

It's a Sony Webbie. This item looks ideal. If only they would deliver to England. :)


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How to make sense of video file formats?
In digital video, there are all these different kinds of files: m4v, mov, mkv, mts, mp4, mpeg, and a host of others, and I can't seem to find a clear answer as to what each is good for.
(By contrast, when you're taking still pictures, you have two choices: JPG or RAW; with JPG, you basically know what the file contains, and with RAW, it's going to vary by camera manufacturer. I know it's a little more complicated than that, but it's nothing like the explosion of options available in digital video.)
Furthermore, it seems like the video's file extension doesn't tell you what's inside the file. From what I understand, a .mov file (for example) could contain just about anything.
Then there is this whole thing about h.264, AIC, ProRes, iFrame, AVCHD, DV, HDV -- at least I think those all belong to the same category, but I'm probably mistaken.
Can anyone help me understand all the different variables that are in play here so that I can make intelligent choices about what I do with the files coming off my camcorder?

There are way more formats for stills than just JPG and RAW.  Gif, Tiff, PSD, PNG, and PICT are just a few that come to mind.  Also, I don't really think RAW is an actual, codified, formalized format anyway.  That's maybe what your Canon camera calls it, but it's probably a DNG, EXR, CineformRaw, or something.  Point is, image storage and compression is complicated.  Increase that complexity by adding a temporal dimension and an aural one, and you've got a slew of codecs, containers, and other options (delivery method, e.g.) to consider.  Each is best for different purposes.

File formats are essentially wrappers, a container of sorts. The video information is encoded in a codec (Coder/Decoder). Some file formats only work with certain codecs. This is due (in part) to corporate/organizational pissing contests (or format wars - remember dvd+ vs. dvd -?). Codecs come with varying degrees of compression. The more compressed a codec is, the smaller your files will be, but they will also potentially be losing information, in the same way that a RAW file saves everything from CCD, and JPEG compresses the file by dropping repeated information. Also, most pro level NLEs (like Final Cut Pro (not FCPX)) play nicer with codecs that are less compressed. The more compressed it is the more the computer has to work to decode and re-enconde the information when you make changes (moving on the time line, cutting, adding effects etc.)
Recommendations:
For recording and editing (HD), pick a low compression, high quality codec such as DVCProHD, AVCHD, Apple ProRes.
To export for sharing I recommend H.264. It is supported nearly universally and is very good quality with relatively small files. BluRay videos are actually encoded in an ultra high quality H.264
One other note: if your camcorder saves files in a weird format (ie. not mov, mpeg, mp4), you will need to use a transfer process in your NLE. Be sure to save the ENTIRE folder structure from your memory card, not just the mts, mxf, or whatever files.
More tips: if you're not sure what codec a file is in, you can open it in QuickTime and hit cmd+i to open the inspector window. It will have all the codec information there.
Additionally, on Windows there is a small utility called G-SPOT which can show you what codec are you using on that file etc.

So there are two variables -- file format and codec? Sounds like the codec is more important than the file format. Right?

That's right. Some codecs only go in certain file formats (eg. ProRes will always be a mov), but some span multiple types (eg. H.264 can be mov, mp4, m4v). While some players can occasionally be finicky about file format, they're more finicky about codecs.

Actually, no. It depends what you want to do with the video. If you only want to compress it and store it in the minimum space then codec is most important. If you want to play it back real time with random access, synchronized sound and other bells and whistles then format is more important.

I don't know an incredible amount about video codecs, so I'll explain my top two and why I use them.
The MP4 format is designed to take up a small amount of space, this makes it good for sharing online and recording on devices with limited storage. The drawback is that you lose an extensive amount of quality, especially in particularly dark footage.  The mpeg format is also proprietary, meaning if you edit on Linux you have to buy the codec.
AVI is a very nice format. It isn't proprietary and there is very little loss in quality. This means AVI files can be very large, but I always use the format whenever it's feasible because of the quality.

You described two containers that can have any format of video.  You could, in fact, have an AVI that uses an h.264 video stream and an MP4 file that has a super high quality stream in it.  Also, much of the MPEG stuff can be used for free as long as it isn't commercial software, but commercial software has to license.


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De-Interlace footage in Avid Media Composer using standard effects
What's the best way to De-Interlace footage in Avid Media Composer using fairly standard effects?  Assume the project media format and footage are interlaced.

The Timewarp motion effect (adjusted with the Motion Effect Editor) can be used to deinterlace with the following settings:

Type: Both Fields
Source: Interlaced
Check Adaptive Deinterlace Source
Output: Progressive

Source: http://community.avid.com/forums/p/99392/572313.aspx


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What are some tips for shooting green/blue screen footage?
I am completely new to shooting on a green/blue screen. What are some tips to getting good results when shooting on a green/blue screen? Is there a difference in the way you shoot green screen footage, as opposed to blue screen footage?

Jonas Hummelstrand has a great guide over on his blog - General Specialist that details out a bunch of tips for it (including descriptions and pictures), I'd recommend checking that out.
Ultimately the #1 key is lighting - you have to maintain a smooth and consistent lighting job on the backdrop so that the camera "sees" a consistent blue/green free from dark and light spots.  Not only does this make it easier to remove the background, but it means you can use a smaller "slice" of the color spectrum and thereby makes it less likely that you'll accidentally remove part of your foreground subject.
The #2 key is separating your foreground subject from the background (once again, to make the edge definition clear and easy to define).  You want to put at least a few feet between them and the screen (to reduce the amount of green/blue light reflected off the wall and onto them).  If you're using a greenscreen, it often helps to use an amber backlight for your subject (being the opposite of green means that amber cancels any bounced off green light).