text:
How do I resize a image preserving aspect ratio in After Effects?
In my compossition I imported an image, I would like to scale the image in real-time (I mean using the mouse to select the image, center it in the composition and resize it to see the results in real-time because for me is more productive to do it in this way, instead of manually specifying width and height wherever) preserving the aspect ratio of the image.
In Photoshop, this can be done by clicking in a corner of the image element then holding the CTRL key while using the mouse to resize the image, so the image is scaled preserving aspect ratio, however, I can't reproduce this behavior in After Effects, if I do click on a corner of the image, nothing happens.
If this is not possible to do in the same productive and easy way than Photoshop, then how I could do it (in the less tedious way)?.

Click on a layer name. You should see the control points on its border. Click on one of the border points but don't drag it yet. Hold down Shift key and then drag it. Release the mouse button when done and then release the Shift key.

Thanks again for your help. That is was I tried before asking for help, however I just did it wrong, because after the first "SHIFT+CLICK" you can't drag the image, you need to release the mouse button (while still holding SHIFT key) and then click and hold again the mouse button in the corner (while holding SHIFT key) to drag the image, it's just very confussing, too much click hold/release steps (unnecessary in my point of view). This resize behavior in Photoshop is much more friendly to do. Sorry for my English.

No, that's not correct. Click the corner, then press and hold shift. The image will stay constrained while you drag, as long as you hold the shift key. Clicking with the shift key held down means "add to selection" if the layer isn't selected, or "remove from selection" if it is selected.

…and because there's always two ways of doing anything in After Effects:

Select the layer.
press s to reveal the scale property of the layer. Note that you don't need to hold any modifier keys like ⌘ / ctrl.
click and drag on the numbers in the scale property. If they're not visible hit f4. By default the numbers are linked so that the layer will scale proportionately - there's a link icon that you can click to unlink them if you want to stretch or squash one dimension.

This technique works for 3D layers as well as 2D

You can do it using these steps:
1.Click on the layer,  a border will show at the edges of the layer. If you can't see the edges you should zoom out.
2. Left click on the border and hold (but don't drag).
3. Now click SHIFT and hold.
4. Then drag either in or out.


text:
Why can't I select my grouped video clip to reposition it within the frame in Premiere Pro?
In my Premiere Pro CS6 sequence, I have a centered video clip with an image overlaid on top of it. I'm able to reposition the image just fine by double clicking it and then dragging it around.
When I try to do the same to the video clip, however, it won't even select, let alone move around. I've tried making a new sequence (both preset and custom), I've hid the other video lines in the sequence so only the line with this clip is shown, and I've even tried deleting all the non-video items on the sequence.
The video clip I'm trying to reposition has been split into three separate clips with the Cutting Tool and then Grouped back together (I had to remove a few seconds of audio when someone's phone rang).
How can I fix this issue so that my video can be repositioned within the frame?

The video clip I'm trying to reposition has been split into three separate clips with the Cutting Tool and then Grouped together.

This is the key to your problem (emphasis mine).
In Premiere Pro, you cannot move a video clip around within the frame in your Program Monitor view if it has been grouped together with other timeline objects. The application would have to reposition each grouped item with relation to the clip you are trying to select and reposition. This kind of chained action simply isn't supported, so it just prevents you from selecting the clip within the Program Monitor to begin with.
You will have to select each of the grouped video clips on your Timeline, Ctrl-Click to bring up the context menu, and then select Ungroup:

You will then be able to reposition your video clips within the frame. You can re-Group the video clips when you are finished, if you like.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
What does a color grading software offer over a compositor?
I know there are many color grading programs around, DaVinci Resolve being a popular one. But I'm having trouble understanding what exactly they offer over a CC node in any compositing or editing application (like Fusion). As far as I understand, "Color Grading" is merely "Creative Color Correction". I.e. color correction to achieve some creative goal.
I read examples like "directing the eye" to something, making things more vibrant, etc. Well, those can all be done with a plain color corrector in any software, right?
What am I missing?

The functionality of editing vs color grading vs compositing software is overlapping since every professional software can do a bit of everything. But they are experts in their own domain. Resolve has finer color controls (1), but also some functionality that you won't find in compositing software (2).
Will they merge some day? This does depend on the job roles. If several persons work on a project, each with his/her specialization of editing/grading/compositing, then it's better that each has his/her own program that focuses on just this task and does this best. If job roles blend (as we see with editing & grading), then we see programs emerge that are good at each of the tasks.

(1) Example: A Resolve user can choose between at least three sets of mathematical formulas for the color wheels
(2) Example: Automated shot matching

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


text:
how to add a gap between clips in adobe premiere pro?
I have a long video made of assembled cut clips and sometimes I have to insert a black gap between two clips, for instance

Commonly I would select all the afterwards clips and zooooom out and drag and drop them a bit after as to make this gap but I would like to know if there exists a shortcut or a command to do that without to zoom out and select and drag&drop because on a video with a lot of clips sometimes it is time taking..
Anything like tell adobe Premiere Pro, at this location where the cursor holds add a gap of n seconds ?

The closest thing in Premiere is the nudge keyboard shortcut. Select the clips you want to move and hit ⌘ / ctrl← or ⌘ / ctrl→ to nudge the clips one frame forward or back, and hold the shift key  ( ⌘ / ctrlshift← or ⌘ / ctrlshift→ ) to make it 5 frames.
You can increase or decrease the amount it nudges in the preferences, so if you want ⌘ / ctrlshift← to nudge 5 seconds, open preferences then look for trim and change the Large Trim Offset amount to 125 (for 25fps, or 150 for 30fps).

There is a much better way to do this.  If you have a Black Video clip (aka slug) in your Project, you can insert it (sliding all clips to the right) as follows:
Select and copy the Black Video clip.  Then at the point where you want to insert it, choose Edit > Paste Insert.
The clip or clips are pasted into the sequence, and the playhead jumps to the end of the pasted clip or clips.
If the Black Video clip you are inserting is longer or shorter in duration than what you exactly want, you can make a ripple edit to the slug and clips to the right will ripple accordingly.  See this section of the Premiere documentation.

There is a really good trick for this:
just place whatever picture you want above the main video bar(into the 2nd track line) and then start to drag that image into the video while holding down the Ctrl key. this will move the whole video sequence to the right and then you can delete the image that you just used to create this new gap.
you can also pull the image to be a bit longer first to get a bigger gap

Allthough this is a way to do it, it is way to overkill. You can simply select all clips behind this point with the tool accesible thorugh "A" and move them as far as you want to create a gap

@TimothyLukasH. what does "accessible through "A" mean?

@barlop Press the "A" key on your keyboard

you only work on 1 minute videos or how the heck is selecting ALL of the clips not the actual overkill?

This actually makes sense: as opposed to using the "A" = "Track select forward" - Tool, inserting an image / a clip in the described way will make the sequence markers move together with your clips

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


text:
Learn fine art for cinematography?
I'm new in film making and photography. Recently, I found my favorite film maker said that he loves some painters such as Edward Hoppers. The way he film is influenced by the drawings of Hoppers. So, do I have to learn about  fine art too? If yes, where do I have to start?

If you want to develop your craft beyond just technical proficiency then I'd say that being open to the broadest range of influences is crucial.

For example: if you want to learn about lighting for portraits or interviews, go look at Rembrandt or Vermeer. You can learn a huge amount from the way the old masters used light and composition.
As for where to start: go to a gallery. Walk around and find an artist that you like, whatever style it is. Read about them and take it from there. A good intro to the history of modern art movements (Impressionism onwards) is the book What Are You Looking At? by Will Gomperz.

No. You do not need to have any specific artistic genre background, as you can easily check by reading about a range of film makers.
However, if you like this guy's style and want to do something similar it could benefit you. And any learning will be good to add ideas and techniques to your toolkit.


text:
Multiple masks in adobe premiere and RAM
I am editing a video clip of 5 minutes length. I am using multiple masks on it to blurry the face of a subject. I got to a point in which I cannot keep working because my RAM (8GB) it's getting saturated and I believe it is because I am using so many masks (12 masks). Is there a way of merging them all together or solving this problem?

When you say your RAM is getting 'saturated', what is actually happening? What are the symptoms?

I cannot keep working because everything starts working very slow. A lot of lag while working on the project.

I'd second what Ham the Epic said. I use 128 GB of Ram and AE and PPro eats it up especially when there are lots of layers with masks or effects.
Your only option to work around this would be to do the painful process of Masking your source with 1 layer; Render the Output Uncompressed, Import, Add 2nd Mask, and repeat.
This way you're only working with 1 mask at a a time.

Sadly combining them wouldn't help that much. The problem is you need more memory. I have 64gb for AE and I still use all of it at times. I would say a base line is 16-32gb. I could easily use 128gb though.


text:
How to give different colors to duplicate composition in after effects?
So, I have this composition with an animated letter. Each letter is a different composition. To save me some work I duplicate the repeating letters. However I want to change the colour of one letter all of the repeated letters get the same colour. How can I disconnect in some way the duplicate compositions from the original? Thank you!
P.S. I'm newb

Are you asking how can you connect all the layers with the same letter together so if you change the color in one they all change?

I think he's asking how to do the opposite. Clone a layer, but make it have a new source.

I want the layers to be independent of each other but with the same content.

What you need to do is:

clone the layer,
right click and choose View Layer Source in Project,
duplicate the source in the project window, and finally
alt/option-drag the new source on to the (selected) cloned layer to change its source.

If this is too tedious, I've written a script that will clone the layer and create a  unique source for it in one step (it can also recursively clone all the source layers in compositions if need be). There's also a pay-what-you-want script called true-comp-duplicator on aescripts.com that will do the same job.


text:
Can duplicate frames from an h264 stream be dropped without encoding?
I have a file which from progressive 24fps was rendered into a h264 high profile 60fps file by mistake. This can be clearly seen advancing frame by frame because every other frame is duplicated except sometimes there are four equal frames. Is there any software able to drop those duplicates frames producing a 24fps stream without encoding again? Is this possible at all or would those frames depend on previous ones, making it impossible?

As @JimMack said, no. If there were no B-frames, then an experiment could be run to manually remove the duplicate frames, but it would likely fail.

Almost all encoded frames depend on the surrounding frames, so it's virtually impossible to delete anything from the encoded output without negatively affecting the video. Short answer: no, you can't do that.
One consolation is that true duplicate frames cost almost nothing in terms of file size. They can effectively be represented by a short sequence that means "repeat previous".


text:
How to improve quality of a WebCam video?
So I started making videos for my vlog on YouTube. It's still a new venture and I'm aware that I need to get myself a good video camera for high quality recordings.
But for now all I have is my laptop's inbuilt webcam.
Are there any tricks to reduce noise and make the video at least watchable on YouTube?
Any filters, restoration methods, etc?
Thanks!
PS: I'm used to Handbrake and just installed Premiere Pro.

More Light
You're seeing noise for two reasons. One is the tiny sensor of your webcam, but since you don't want to buy a new one right now, you can't do anything about that. However, the sensor size is only an amplifying factor of the real problem: Not enough light. Webcams are built for video chats, quick and dirty recordings, not really for high-quality video production. You probably have not enough light in your room and haven't noticed it since the Webcam just bumps up the ISO/Exposure until it looks well-lit. The problem is that increasing the ISO basically means amplifying the sensor signal digitally, which will also amplify the noise and artifacts in your video.
I assume you don't want to spent hundreds or thousands on studio lighting. So start small. Gather a couple of lamps from your house and use them to light up your scene. Be aware that they will probably have differing color temperatures, but that can to some extent be fixed in post. For the positioning of the lamps, start with a simple 3-point lighting. Then check the results for any over- or undereposed parts of your face/body/scene. Adjust the lighting to your liking, then rinse and repeat. You may have to adjust the angle and distance of the lamps. Increasing the distance between the lamps and the subject will reduce the amount of light reaching the sensor exponentially. However, the farther away (and the bigger) your light source is, the softer the shadows get. There's no 'perfect' setup, it all depends on what you want your video to look like.

I was hoping for some magical function or something. But I guess more light is the best thing I can do. Thanks!


text:
How to concatenate multiple videos with ffmpeg?
Need to:
concatenate 3 mpg4 video clips (each around 1 minute long, and 800x500 size) + background mp3 -> into a 1-minute long (1920x1080) video composed of the first 20 seconds from each of the 4 videos.
So each clip would need to be enlarged (from 800x500 to 1920x1200 to keep aspect ration), and then the height (cropped down to 1920x1080 from the bottom of the video).
Then each video cut down to the first 20 seconds.
Then the 3 videos are concatenated (along with a 1 minute long mp3 file to play in the background of the final video).
Questions:

Is ffmpeg capable of doing this correctly and how?

Sure. Command is
ffmpeg -i 1.mp4 -i 2.mp4 -i 3.mp4 -i bg.mp3
-filter_complex
"[0]trim=0:20,scale=1920:-1,crop=1920:1080:0:0[a];
 [1]trim=0:20,scale=1920:-1,crop=1920:1080:0:0[b];
 [2]trim=0:20,scale=1920:-1,crop=1920:1080:0:0[c];
 [a][b][c]concat=3[v]"
-map "[v]" -map 3:a
-shortest out.mp4

Skip the -shortest if the audio is slightly longer than 1 minute. Alternatively, adjust one of the trim endpoints to make up for the shortfall.
to play in the background of the final video -> I assume final here means the output and not the 3rd video.

Is there a benefit of using -i 1.mp4 ... [0]trim=0:20... over -ss 0 -t 20 -i 1.mp4 ...? I would think that trimming within a filter takes more resources than seeking to the video locations on the input level. Code wise, this definitely seems more readable.

You will save decoding time if your -ss is inside the file, yes. But ffmpeg can only seek to keyframes so the portion between the returned keyframe and actual ss point as well as the limiting of duration via input -t is carried out by auto-inserting a trim filter at the front.

So basically the same, unless your ss point is quite far into the file? Thanks.


text:
Adobe Media Encoder included in After Effects Licence?
I currently have an anctive creative cloud licence, but I'm looking to slim down for a while. I actually only need After Effects and the Media Encoder at the moment.
Is the Adobe media encoder included in the single After effects licence? Unfortunately I was unable to find that out on the Adobe support pages. Thanks!

Yes it is. Otherwise you wouldn't be able to encode things, and that would be just dumb. Even though it happens a bit under the hood, all encodings from Premiere Pro and After Effects are handled by Media Encoder. When you install Premiere Pro or After Effects, Media Encoder always gets installed alongside it.

Thanks! That's what I thought, but I was n't sure if there was some slimed down version of rendering directly in After effects. That used to be so, right, in older versions?

@EluciusFTW I'm not sure, I mostly use Premiere Pro ... but for CC, all applications that render something pipeline it through Media Encoder


text:
How to make an image file flicker in a video? (stars twinkling)
I have an image file (jpg, 4K resolution) which is a bunch of stars in the night sky.  The image looks good when composited into a video clip, but the stars don't move or twinkle at all.
How can I make the stars twinkle?  (I tried searching for a star-twinkling effect, and I would accept one if such a thing exists, but what I'm really interested in here is the compositing problem of taking a static image and then animating it a bit.)

Different parts of the image should flicker/twinkle at random (do not do the whole image all at once, because all the stars in the night sky don't shimmer in the same way at the same time)
I don't have time to keyframe every single star in the night sky.

I'm using DaVinci Resolve 12.5 on Windows, but I also have access to a Mac with Final Cut Pro X and Motion.
What I have tried
I tried increasing the noise in the video, then setting the blending mode for the stars image to screen.  This makes it look like there is some movement in the shot, but it doesn't add twinkling.
Also, Resolve has three effects: "Waviness," "Vortex," and "Ripples." I tried keyframing various parameters to introduce some movement/flickering into the shot.
"Waviness" moves the sky itself, and even with all the parameters set to the smallest values it moves too much.
"Vortex" adds some whirlpool-like movement.
"Ripples" adds a shooting-star effect, which is cool, but not exactly what I'm looking for.

I found a "twinkling star" video on YouTube that I think looks pretty good.  The creator says it's free to download. Here's the link: https://youtu.be/EZ7la-hMNuk  You could use KeepVid.com to download it. However, I think you'd only be able to get a 720p video.

Do you have ae?

Create 10 copies of your star field image. In an image-editing program (like Photoshop or GIMP), open the first image. Pick 10 stars at random, and make them darker/dimmer. Save that image. Open the next image.  Pick 10 different stars and make them dimmer.  Do that for all of your images.  In your video editor, cycle through the images, about 3/4 second each, dissolving from one to the next.


text:
find soundtrack with the cheapest licence
Many websites provide licensed music/soundtracks you can use. For example, I like this soundtrack. It comes with a fixed fee of $49. I am wondering, there must be some other provider I am not aware, that sales the same licensed soundtrack at a lower cost. ($49 may be little for large corps, but not for small business owners).
How do you find the cheapest provider for the exact soundtrack you like? Are there any websites that search the web for the lowest price? I hope this is not off topic, because finding quality music is essential to video production.

As far as I'm aware. There is no 'soundhound' or Shazam type app for royalty free stock music. Usually these websites require that the owner only sell the music on their website rather than a competitors. I'd say the likelihood of finding the same song another site is slim.
With that being said for cheap stock music I always go to audiojungle and for the higher budgeted jobs I go to musicbed. Sometimes I will check out extrememusic just to establish what the client likes; but that sites tends to be studio-only unless you are willing to fork out $$$.

As Alex said, there's no site that I'm aware of for price-shopping the same piece of music. That said, explore https://www.reddit.com/r/NoCopyrightMusic/ and links found there for completely free music. But do verify the license terms for any piece of music before you use it.


text:
How to change output filename in ffmpeg batch?
I'm using windows and ffmpeg to convert video mp4 into audio mp3. I've come up with the following batch line that will do the job:
 for %f in (*.mp4); do ffmpeg -i %f -vn -ar 44100 -ac 1 -b:a 32k -f mp3 %f.mp3

However, the %f variable captures the whole filename with the extension, so my output looks like filename.mp4.mp3. I'd rather it look like filename.mp3.
I've tried all sorts of brackets and truncation methods I know of but I cannot get anything to work.
How can I change the filenames in an ffmpeg batch conversion on Windows?

For users looking for a Linux solution see Batch conversion into a new folder with ffmpeg.

You can extract the file name directly from the for replacement parameter. No need to set a new variable at all.
for %f in (*.mp4) do ffmpeg -i "%f" -vn -ar 44100 -ac 1 -b:a 32k -f mp3 "%~nf.mp3"

If you want to do more complicated string munging, it's much more intuitive in Powershell:
ls *.mp4|foreach{
    ffmpeg -i $_ -vn -ar 44100 -ac 1 -b:a 32k -f mp3 $_.name.replace("mp4", "mp3")
}

For the first solution, it says set was unexpected at this time.

Powershell option seems to work. Perhaps I'll just use that. Thank you.

Dang, typo. I was on my mac so I couldnt' test it. Fixed now.

Output file name now comes out %outfile.mp3. It runs, which is certainly closer, but the output file naming is not working.

Another typo. It' been a while since I used batch scripting - I do everything in zsh and powershell. Try it again if you like, with luck it should work now..

I'm sorry, but it still doesn't work. I'm just on the regular Windows cmd.exe, aka "command line". The file comes out %outfile%. You don't have to keep working on this if you don't want to; I'm content with the Powershell solution. If I were to guess, the outfile variable is not being set or called correctly, or both. Or, the %f in this context is not a string of the name, which is how we are trying to use it. It is a pointer to the file.

I've asked on SO: How to set and use filename string variables in cmd command line?

The SO guys figured it out. An elegant solution. I've put in a suggested edit. The code for %f in (*.mp4) do ffmpeg -i "%f" -vn -ar 44100 -ac 1 -b:a 32k -f mp3 "%~nf.mp3" works.

To add to stib's answer, you can also put this command in a simple batch file. Just save the code below into a .bat file, move the file to the folder you want to work on, then double click it to run. This is assuming you've downloaded and set up ffmpeg.
@echo off
title Extract MP3 from MP4 with FFMPEG.
rem Mono Channel, 32kbps.
for %%f in (*.mp4) do ffmpeg -i "%%f" -vn -ar 44100 -ac 1 -b:a 32k -f mp3 "%%~nf.mp3"
pause

Notice that the %f variables are now %%f. This is a batch file convention and is required. The script will not run if this is not changed. title is exactly that: the title of the script. rem is short for "remark": it is a comment and you can change that too. Neither lines are actually necessary.


text:
What are these two things on the side of a stage?
Currently watching a lot of presidential videos (you know why) and I noticed there are these two black things on the side of the stage:
What are they and what are their purpose?

I believe they are teleprompters. They contain the text of the speech the person at the podium is reading. In this case, the camera is very far away, so they can't be projected onto a half-mirror in front of the camera as is normally done.
Here is a close-up of one used by President Obama.

Interesting. Why would a far away camera preclude the use of half mirrors?

Because you can't read the text if it is too far away.

Having read this I think I see the confusion. Teleprompters come in 2 styles - You obviously can't use a camera-mounted prompter, normally used for recording presentations to camera - there are many cameras, too far away. These are speech prompters.  One or two speech prompters are normally used for speeches. But my question still stands - why use a mirror, instead of a "beam-splitter" half-mirror that the audience can see through? I suspect the answer has nothing to do with camera position, and is to do with having a bright background.

@Oddthinking you are right that it has to do with the light level. A beam splitter works when mounted on a camera because the area behind the beam splitter is dark. Typically, fabric draping will be wrapped around the lens to make sure no light gets in behind the two way mirror. Any light at all getting in there can make the prompter very hard to read.


text:
How to record HDMI video with USB?
I have a camera that can only provide a HDMI output. It does not have in-built recording capabilities as it is basically meant to be displayed directly on a screen.
My Goal?
I want to record that feed.
Components I have:

A Windows PC
HDMI to USB cable.

I asked around and it turns out that I would need a frame grabber to read the HDMI video feed, convert to a language the computer understands and send the converted feed via USB to the computer. That's pretty neat.
But My Problem
I don't have funds right now to get any new device. So how do I make the computer understand the raw HDMI feed via USB without using a separate device?
Is there a software/driver which can do that? Some sort of a signal analyser? What options do I have?

You already stated your options and you only have one that would work: you need a frame grabber.
A frame grabber is a specialized chipset that does a very specific task. Sometimes such devices are called application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC). They basically do only one thing and they do it very well. The chipset that controls the USB on your computer is designed for general use. It can do primary tasks moderately well. That's it.
A frame Grabber is designed to take a specific video input stream and digitize it into frames, which applications can easily use. A video input card is nearly an ASIC of this variety, which is why some of them can probably achieve this task by adding an HDMI input to your computer.
I'm unfamiliar with any video cards that have HDMI inputs. Such solutions require a desktop computer with an open PCI-e slot. I have used some Epiphan products with decent success (the DVI2USB3 can take HDMI input via a DVI to HDMI adapter). I used to hear mixed reviews about Black Magic products but now they seem pretty good. These solutions only require an open USB port, which many laptops probably have.
Summary: Nope, you need different hardware.


text:
What properties of After Effects project can be edited without opening the application itself
I found myself in position where I need to render 6(or more) layers in different order. For example in 1,2,3,4,5,6 then 4,2,1,3,5,6 and so on. Some of the layers blend with the former or later one. It would be great If I could predetermine the order without actually doing it manually every time.
Basically move the layers up and down in the timeline panel and set their starting point.
Can I do that using some programming tools? If so, what do I need to learn? And in general, what properties of After Effects project can be edited without opening the application itself and edit project manually?

To my knowledge there is no tool available for editing After Effects project files other than After Effects itself.
However you can script After Effect using Adobe's Extendscript language, so that it will work without user interaction, and even without showing the GUI. Extendscript is based on ECMAscript (basically it's Javascript) and allows you to do programatically anything you can do with the GUI app. It not only works in After Effects , but can be used to control most of the other Adobe CC apps.
The extendscript documentation for After Effects is here, and the docs for the more general Javascript tools including GUI elements available across the other Adobe applications is here.


text:
Loudness control LUFS level adjustments
Is there a tool that can adjust the loudness level of a video?
for example I need to make the loudness to be -23 LUFS with max deviation of 0.5 lu.
is there a simple tool/cloud service that doesn't cost too much, that can do this ?

Be careful. Depending on the length of the asset and the content, you may not want to use a tool that dynamically adjusts to target loudness over the course of the asset. If you are dealing with long assets (>2 minutes) and/or you own the content, then adjusting like that is fine. However, with short assets or when you are only playing back someone else's content, like commercials on a TV station, you should only do a simple level shift (linear normalization) to meet your target loudness.

FFmpeg's loudnorm filter can be used. Basic syntax is
ffmpeg -i in.mp4 -c:v copy -af loudnorm=I=-23:LRA=1 -ar 48000 out.mp4

The loudness range (LRA) should be 2 x max deviation.
Also see the ebur128 filter for measuring loudness.

I'm getting an error message No such filter: 'loudnorm', do I need to install it somehow?

Filter was added in May '16. Get a current version of ffmpeg from http://ffmpeg.org/download.html


text:
What part of this video is good and how to improve it?
I am new to video editing. I recently made this video and I was wondering which edits of my video is good and what improvements I can make for any future videos. I used VideoPad if you wanted to know which video editing software I used.

I would appreciate any feedback! Thanks

Since you asked for general feedback, here's a few things I noticed:

0:00 The logo animation is too long in my opinion, especially since the video itself isn't that long.
0:12 Make the text much smaller, use the same font and font weight as in the inspire of the logo, it will look more coherent and sophisticated. Text doesn't need to fill most of the screen. It also doesn't need to be centered. If you have enough good B-roll footage, you can also use that as a background for the text, makes for a nicer introduction.
0:19 In general, for this kind of impression videos, it's not a good style to use a shot that starts with camera movement (e.g. a pan) and then stops. It looks like the cameraman started out with a pan and then didn't know what to do with the camera. If a shot starts with movement, end the shot before that movement stops. Inversely, if you have a still shot, cut it off before it starts moving, it's much less distracting that way. In this case this effect is increased by the shaking of the camera, could probably use a bit of stabilizing.
0:28 Why is the font green now? Lose the color and the stroke. If the text is hard to read against the bright background, use subtle shadows, not thick strokes. It's optimal if you can read the text without a problem, but don't notice a stroke or shadow on it without a closer look. Also it sounds like you cut the Mayor off after 'to be honest', could probably end the shot after 'what a great idea'.
0:30 This looks like you just put the poster for the event into the video, it doesn't look good. Better use text annotations to communicate what the event is about, or just use the Logo with background footage. Nobody is gonna read the text in the green field or the smaller text below, so you don't need it. The poster is not very good in itself, but that's a different topic. And if you absolutely want a poster in the video, make a dedicated 16/9 graphic that only contains text and images that can be read/perceived within the 3~5 seconds for which it is visible.
0:36 In general I like the text in front of the blurred video, but there's a few problems with it:

It's clearly visible that the blur was applied in post editing. It's much cooler to use a video where the cameras focus was intentionally off by a large factor. This way you get nicer bokeh (if you use a good camera/lens combination) and graduated sharpness.
The blurred video stays in the background for too long and there's too much movement. This draws attention away from the text and onto the video. In this sense it's quite frustrating that you can't make out anything because of the blur, especially at 0:38 where the camera is centered on the little girl. For text with blurry background video, you wanna use static shots, for example a static camera that records people coming in or out of the hall at the start/end of the event. If you only have footage like the one seen in the movie available, don't use blurry video at all, just make the text smaller and put it in one of the corners.
At 0:48, if everything is blurry it makes no sense to divide the video in four parts. Again it draws the attention away from the text and onto the video. I like the composition of that scene in general, but make the text smaller and lose the blur for that part. You overuse the blurry background/text combination anyway, so that would be a good place to start.

0:52 The transition of blurry to sharp is cool in general, but again it's cooler if it happens during filming than as an effect. You can do this by setting the camera to manual focus, focus as close to the camera as possible, start recording and then slowly and steadily move the focus onto the subject. There's a name for this technique, but I can't recall it at the moment.
1:03 You can't hear what they say very well. You want to lower the volume of the music whenever someone talks. Use keyframes for gradual volume transitions (about 0.5 ~ 1 seconds), never hard volume cuts.
1:10 Not sure about the text here. I get that you want to underline his statement, but in this version it's not visible long enough to actually read this and it's too distracting from the video itself. Maybe try putting the quote in front of a black screen or again blurry footage after the man has finished talking to put more emphasis on the statement (not sure if this will look good, you will have to try it out). Or make it smaller and put it on the bottom as a caption. And again, in general be more consistent with your usage of font/color/strokes.
1:27 - 1:57 Get rid of that part entirely. It doesn't help your video in any way. Also it's way too long, it takes up 1/4 of the entire video. If you insist on having this kind of outro, make it 10 seconds at best.

General stuff: The video could use a little tone/color grading. You don't have to shoot for a high-profile Hollywood look, but adjust the brightness a bit to correct for the overexposed shots (e.g. the food scenes). Be a bit more subtle with the text, slow it down a bit, it will look more relaxed and professional. Try to be consistent with font, font size/weight, colors/strokes and placement/alignment of the text. And most important, use one shot/scene for every point you want to get across. The blurry scenes with the text do to much (communicate text and show video) and ends up being distracting.

Good advice. I agree with most of it. As a critique of the actual shooting I would add that the framing is a little too broad in some spots.


text:
FFmpeg transcoding GOP pattern IP
I need to transcode mpeg2 video via H264 codec and GOP structure should be IP.
I use the following command for this:

ffmpeg -i INPUT -vcodec libx264 -x264-params
  keyint=2:scenecut=-1:ref=1 -acodec copy -y out.mpg

Then checked it with ffprobe:

ffprobe -i out.mpg -show_frames | grep key_frame

And received the following results:

key_frame=1 key_frame=1 key_frame=1 key_frame=1 key_frame=1
  key_frame=1 key_frame=1 key_frame=1 key_frame=0 key_frame=1
  key_frame=0 key_frame=1 key_frame=0 key_frame=1 key_frame=0
  key_frame=1 key_frame=0 key_frame=1 key_frame=1 key_frame=1
  key_frame=1 key_frame=0 key_frame=1 key_frame=1 key_frame=1
  key_frame=1 key_frame=1

Can you please explain how to correct transcoding H264 and set GOP IP Pattern?

Use
ffmpeg -i INPUT -vcodec libx264 -g 2 -acodec copy -y out.mpg

As per the x264 docs, scenecut=0 disables scenecut evaluation.

Thanks for the quick answer. I tried it, but received the same result.

Works here. Run ffprobe out.mpg -show_entries frame=key_frame -select_streams v -of compact=p=0. Audio frames are also reported in your command.

Much Appreciated!


text:
What are the differences between the three bundled ffmpeg prores encoders?
I'm using ffmpeg and while looking through the list of codes with ffmpeg -codecs I realized there are actually three different prores encoders:

prores
prores_aw
prores_ks

What are the differences between them?

I found the following explanation on the ffmpeg wiki:

Fmpeg comes with 3 different prores encodes: "prores", "prores_ks"
  (formerly named "prores_kostya") and "prores_aw" (formerly named
  "prores_anatolyi"). In our testing we've used the "prores" and the
  "prores_ks" encoders and found "prores_ks" to be the best encoder to
  use. It is the only one that supports the 4444 colorspace and although
  it may be slightly slower. The color quality of the videos produced by
  these two codecs was visually indistinguishable Because of the 4444
  support we've decided to go with Kostya's version of prores.

So, if you want to do 4444 and need alpha channel support, prores_ks is the way to go.
This blog post also suggests that prores_ks has a smaller footprint, and that prores and prores_aw are basically the same.

Beware of 4444+alpha encoding.

@Gyan Heads up for new people, the 4444+alpha bug has been fixed. Just make sure you're running the latest FFmpeg build.


text:
.mkv file not playing in HEVC/H.265 supported player
I wanted to play UHD (4k) videos in my new LeTV (Super3 X55).
So I used youtube-dl to download 4k YouTube videos (which are humongous btw) but for some reason most of them do not play.
The TV's website specifically states:

HEVC/H.265 hardware video decoding, up to 4K@60fps

But only a few files play. I'm thinking the issue is something to do with codecs or formats.
So I compared the info of files which did play with those that didn't. But I can't figure out the difference. Here are two files which played and two that didn't.

These two files played beautifully:
File 1 :: GoPro video
C:\Users\Hackathon\Videos\HD or 4k\GoPro\NA\NA - GoPro HERO4 - The Adventure of Life in 4K.mkv
   General
      Unique ID : 98713554682895442793938602234209693471 (0x4A438A01ACFC3EF5104AF4D6A778EF1F)
      Complete name : C:\Users\Hackathon\Videos\HD or 4k\GoPro\NA\NA - GoPro HERO4 - The Adventure of Life in 4K.mkv
      Format : Matroska
      Format version : Version 4 / Version 2
      File size : 581 MiB
      Duration : 4 min
      Overall bit rate mode : Variable
      Overall bit rate : 19.2 Mb/s
      Movie name : GoPro HERO4: The Adventure of Life in 4K
      Description : All around the world GoPro users are capturing incredible experiences, from the heart-stopping to the heartfelt. Into the caldron of an active volcano, the neon streets of Japan, a refuge for wild mustangs, scaling an iceberg, the world’s biggest dance party, or a whale rescue mission, GoPros have documented every moment. See how GoPro’s new line of our most advanced cameras ever allow you to beautifully and authentically capture and share the experiences that bring purpose, adventure, and joy to your life.

Shot 100% on the new GoPro HERO4 camera from http://GoPro.com.

The HERO4 features ultra high resolution quality of 4K at 30 frames per second + high frames rates at 1080p120. Incredible low light capabilities, including our new nightlapse setting. 2X the high fidelity sound. Faster processing. Protune settings that unlock manual control of many of your GoPro’s features, and so much more. Learn more and be inspired by the most advanced GoPro cameras yet: http://GoPro.com

It’s your life. BE A HERO.

MUSIC
"Run Boy Run" performed by Woodkid
Courtesy of Interscope Records under license from Universal Music Enterprises

FEATURED CHARACTERS

TOMORROWLAND (Boom, Belgium)
Erin Edenholm
Joanna Piotrowska
Steve Aoki
Krewella - Jahan Yousaf and Jasmine Yousaf
Dimitri Vegas
Like Mike

LAVA LAKE (Ambrym Island, Vanuatu)
Geoff Mackley
Brad Ambrose

ICEBERG CLIMB (Ilulissat, Greenland)
Klemen Premrl
Aljaz Anderle
Thierry Dubois

WILD MUSTANGS (Wells, Nevada)
Clay Nannini

JAPAN STREETS (Tokyo, Japan)
Akira Nakai
Shinichi Moroboshi
Nanami Tsukamoto

ORCA RESCUE (Whangarei, New Zealand)
Dr. Ingrid Visser
Terry Hardie
Dian and her two baby orca

SPECIAL THANKS
Tomorrowland (http://www.tomorrowland.com)
Michael Dujardin
Vanuatu Heli (http://www.vanuatuhelicopters.com)
Andy Martin
Black Diamond (http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com)
Madeline Pickens (http://mustangmonument.com) (http://savingamericasmustangs.org)
Orca Research Trust (http://orcaresearch.org)
Andy Casagrande (http://www.abc4explore.com/)
Steve Hathaway
Lily Kozman
      ARTIST : GoPro
      DATE : 20140929
      PURL : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTcNtgA6gHs
   Video #1
      ID : 1
      Format : AVC
      Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
      Format profile : High@L5.1
      Format settings, CABAC : No
      Format settings, ReFrames : 2 frames
      Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
      Duration : 4 min
      Bit rate : 18.7 Mb/s
      Width : 3 840 pixels
      Height : 2 160 pixels
      Display aspect ratio : 16:9
      Frame rate mode : Constant
      Frame rate : 29.970 (30000/1001) FPS
      Color space : YUV
      Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
      Bit depth : 8 bits
      Scan type : Progressive
      Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.075
      Stream size : 566 MiB (97%)
      Default : Yes
      Forced : No
      Color range : Limited
      Color primaries : BT.709
      Transfer characteristics : BT.709
      Matrix coefficients : BT.709
      DURATION : 00:04:13.887000000
      HANDLER_NAME : VideoHandler
   Audio #2
      ID : 2
      Format : Vorbis
      Format settings, Floor : 1
      Codec ID : A_VORBIS
      Duration : 4 min
      Bit rate mode : Variable
      Bit rate : 128 kb/s
      Channel(s) : 2 channels
      Sampling rate : 44.1 kHz
      Compression mode : Lossy
      Stream size : 3.87 MiB (1%)
      Writing application : Google
      Language : English
      Default : Yes
      Forced : No
      DURATION : 00:04:13.906000000

File 2 :: Wonder Woman Trailer
C:\Users\Hackathon\Music\iTunes\iTunes Media\Automatically Add to iTunes\WONDER WOMAN Trailer #2 [2017] (Ultra-HD 4K).mp4
   General
      Complete name : C:\Users\Hackathon\Music\iTunes\iTunes Media\Automatically Add to iTunes\WONDER WOMAN Trailer #2 [2017] (Ultra-HD 4K).mp4
      Format : MPEG-4
      Format profile : Base Media
      Codec ID : isom (isom/iso2/avc1/mp41)
      File size : 222 MiB
      Duration : 2 min
      Overall bit rate : 11.5 Mb/s
      Movie name : WONDER WOMAN Trailer #2 [2017] (Ultra-HD 4K)
      Writing application : Lavf57.48.103
      Cover : Yes
   Video #1
      ID : 1
      Format : AVC
      Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
      Format profile : High@L5.1
      Format settings, CABAC : Yes
      Format settings, ReFrames : 4 frames
      Codec ID : avc1
      Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
      Duration : 2 min
      Bit rate : 11.3 Mb/s
      Width : 3 840 pixels
      Height : 2 160 pixels
      Display aspect ratio : 16:9
      Frame rate mode : Constant
      Frame rate : 25.000 FPS
      Color space : YUV
      Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
      Bit depth : 8 bits
      Scan type : Progressive
      Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.055
      Stream size : 219 MiB (99%)
      Writing library : x264 core 148 r2705 3f5ed56
      Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=3 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=7 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=6 / lookahead_threads=1 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=23.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
      Language : English
   Audio #2
      ID : 2
      Format : AAC
      Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
      Format profile : LC
      Codec ID : 40
      Duration : 2 min
      Bit rate mode : Constant
      Bit rate : 129 kb/s
      Channel(s) : 2 channels
      Channel positions : Front: L R
      Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
      Frame rate : 46.875 FPS (1024 spf)
      Compression mode : Lossy
      Stream size : 2.49 MiB (1%)
      Language : English
      Default : Yes
      Alternate group : 1

These two files did NOT play:
"In A Nutshell" video:
C:\Users\Hackathon\Videos\HD or 4k\Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell\NA\NA - A New History for Humanity – The Human Era.mkv
   General
      Unique ID : 151773273920022300678100154581510254877 (0x722E78240BE681AAC8163B7BB9E3F11D)
      Complete name : C:\Users\Hackathon\Videos\HD or 4k\Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell\NA\NA - A New History for Humanity – The Human Era.mkv
      Format : Matroska
      Format version : Version 4 / Version 2
      File size : 130 MiB
      Duration : 7 min
      Overall bit rate : 2 306 kb/s
      Movie name : A New History for Humanity – The Human Era
      Description : It is time to reframe how we think about our past.
We need a new year 0 for humanity. But which one should we choose and why?

http://www.youtube.com/timedtext_cs_panel?c=UCsXVk37bltHxD1rDPwtNM8Q&tab=2

A New History for Humanity – The Human Era
      Writing application : Lavf57.48.103
      Writing library : Lavf57.48.103 / Lavf57.48.103
      Comment : It is time to reframe how we think about our past.
We need a new year 0 for humanity. But which one should we choose and why?

THANKS A LOT TO OUR LOVELY PATRONS FOR SUPPORTING US:

Stuart Alldritt, Tasia Pele, Stan Serebryakov, Mike Janzen, Jason Heddle, August, Daniel Smith, Jonathan Herman, Rahul Rachuri, Piotr Gorzelany, Lisa Allcott, Горан Гулески, Eric Ziegast, Kean Drake, Friendly Stranger, NicoH, Adrian Rutkiewicz, Markus Klemm, Leandro Nascimento, Gary Chan, Shawhin Layeghi, Oscar Hernandez, Dale Prinsse, Vaclav Vyskocil, Sup3rW00t, Ryan Coonan, Tam Lerner, Dewi Cadat, Luis Aguirre, Andy McVey, Vexorum, Boris, Adam Wisniewski, Yannic Schreiber, Erik Lilly, Ellis, Dmitry Starostin, Akshay Joshi, Peter Tinti, kayle Clark, Mortimer Brewster, Marc Legault, Sumita Pal, Tarje Hellebust Jr., streetdragon95, Taratsamura, Sam Dickson, Bogdan Firicel, Saul Vera, Aaron Jacobs, Ben Arts, R B Dean, Kevin Beedon, Patrik Pärkinen, Duncan Graham, Johan Thomsen, Emily Tran, Adam Flanc, Adam Jermyn, Ali Uluyol

Help us caption & translate this video!

http://www.youtube.com/timedtext_cs_panel?c=UCsXVk37bltHxD1rDPwtNM8Q&tab=2

A New History for Humanity – The Human Era
      ARTIST : Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell
      DATE : 20161207
      PURL : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czgOWmtGVGs
   Video #1
      ID : 1
      Format : AVC
      Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
      Format profile : High@L4.2
      Format settings, CABAC : Yes
      Format settings, ReFrames : 3 frames
      Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
      Duration : 7 min
      Width : 1 920 pixels
      Height : 1 080 pixels
      Display aspect ratio : 16:9
      Frame rate mode : Constant
      Frame rate : 60.000 FPS
      Color space : YUV
      Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
      Bit depth : 8 bits
      Scan type : Progressive
      Default : Yes
      Forced : No
      Color range : Limited
      Color primaries : BT.709
      Transfer characteristics : BT.709
      Matrix coefficients : BT.709
      DURATION : 00:07:52.447000000
      HANDLER_NAME : VideoHandler
   Audio #2
      ID : 2
      Format : Opus
      Codec ID : A_OPUS
      Duration : 7 min
      Channel(s) : 2 channels
      Channel positions : Front: L R
      Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
      Compression mode : Lossy
      Delay relative to video : -14 ms
      Language : English
      Default : Yes
      Forced : No
      DURATION : 00:07:52.461000000

Finally a puppies video:
C:\Users\Hackathon\Videos\HD or 4k\Jacob   Katie Schwarz\NA\NA - PUPPIES BATH IN 4K (ULTRA HD).mkv
   General
      Unique ID : 172223577613529861860930485370882755628 (0x81910DF562C189096C7EE7D95D3A0C2C)
      Complete name : C:\Users\Hackathon\Videos\HD or 4k\Jacob   Katie Schwarz\NA\NA - PUPPIES BATH IN 4K (ULTRA HD).mkv
      Format : Matroska
      Format version : Version 4 / Version 2
      File size : 311 MiB
      Duration : 2 min
      Overall bit rate : 17.4 Mb/s
      Movie name : PUPPIES BATH IN 4K (ULTRA HD)
      Description : To view this video in 4K select "Original" in the resolution menu. If you're having trouble with 4K playback, try using different browsers, like Internet Explorer, Firefox or Google Chrome.

Our friends just had puppies and we took the chance to film them this last weekend before they all left for new homes.

This video was filmed and edited at 4K (4096x2304) resolution, four times greater than regular 1080p HD. All 4K file are available upon request. Shot on Red Epic.

Follow us on twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jakeschwarz

Tech spec:
Red Epic (M642) w/ Ti Canon Mount
16-35mm & 50mm L-Series Lens
Adobe Premiere CS6 and DaVinci Resolve

Question or business inquires:
contact@mysterybox.us

Copyright © 2014 Mystery Box, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
      Writing application : Lavf57.48.103
      Writing library : Lavf57.48.103 / Lavf57.48.103
      Comment : To view this video in 4K select "Original" in the resolution menu. If you're having trouble with 4K playback, try using different browsers, like Internet Explorer, Firefox or Google Chrome.

Our friends just had puppies and we took the chance to film them this last weekend before they all left for new homes.

This video was filmed and edited at 4K (4096x2304) resolution, four times greater than regular 1080p HD. All 4K file are available upon request. Shot on Red Epic.

Follow us on twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jakeschwarz

Tech spec:
Red Epic (M642) w/ Ti Canon Mount
16-35mm & 50mm L-Series Lens
Adobe Premiere CS6 and DaVinci Resolve

Question or business inquires:
contact@mysterybox.us

Copyright © 2014 Mystery Box, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
      ARTIST : Jacob   Katie Schwarz
      DATE : 20120922
      PURL : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMwxZO2UjBw
   Video #1
      ID : 1
      Format : AVC
      Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
      Format profile : High@L5.1
      Format settings, CABAC : No
      Format settings, ReFrames : 2 frames
      Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
      Duration : 2 min
      Width : 4 096 pixels
      Height : 2 304 pixels
      Display aspect ratio : 16:9
      Frame rate mode : Constant
      Frame rate : 24.000 FPS
      Color space : YUV
      Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
      Bit depth : 8 bits
      Scan type : Progressive
      Default : Yes
      Forced : No
      DURATION : 00:02:29.651000000
      HANDLER_NAME : VideoHandler
   Audio #2
      ID : 2
      Format : Opus
      Codec ID : A_OPUS
      Duration : 2 min
      Channel(s) : 2 channels
      Channel positions : Front: L R
      Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
      Compression mode : Lossy
      Delay relative to video : -7 ms
      Language : English
      Default : Yes
      Forced : No
      DURATION : 00:02:29.661000000

I thought it couldn't play .mkv so I converted File 2 to mp4 (using ffmpeg) which worked. But surprisingly, File 1 also worked without conversion so format isn't an issue. But then all the codecs look that same for me. What am I missing?
Thanks!

Both files that don't play feature Opus as the audio codec. As per this site, Opus is not one of the supported audio codecs.
Transcode the audio:
ffmpeg -i in.mkv -c:v copy out.mkv

Wow. That was a good catch. Those specs weren't available even in their home site. Cool you could discover it.


text:
Sony Vegas Pro 13 insane 4k export size
So from my knowledge (and actual experience) Vegas 13 has one option for exporting 4k videos. My phone has a 4k camera, and recently I built a beefy computer and decided to edit some 4k footage.
The final product was exactly 2 minutes long, and (not kidding here) exactly 4GB. It was exported to NTFS formatted drive.
The video played fine on MPC-HC video player, and looked great! But why is the file size so huge?! Does Vegas 14 improve on this or is there a plugin for 13 to make it easier?
Thanks!

There may not be a direct preset for 4K, but you can simply use the Mainconcept AVC module to export 4K. Simply select one of the 1080p presets, like Internet 1080p, then customize template to choose a custom frame size and enter your project resolution e.g. 4096 x 2304. Change average bitrate to 40,000,000. Match the frame rate to your project frame rate, and you should be good to go.


text:
How do I decide between 2 column layout and single page layout for script?
I have seen some people do single common layouts which are quite common.
What about 2 page layouts?
How do decided when to use which?

Do you have images of these?  It might help site members provide an answer.

If you're writing a feature film, or television show, use single column script format. Why? Because that is the standard.
If you're writing a video script for a corporate client, you want to use Two-Columns.
Using two columns, audio for one, picture for the other, allows you to literally pace the video, like tracks.
It would look something like this, with line breaks between each video section and audio section. Also, it would bold things like titles, names, key elements, etc.
VIDEO                                  AUDIO
Black Screen...
                                       Music Track "XYZ" begins...

TITLE
"Video Name"                           We hear a helicopter approaching over the title.
fades to...

EXT. WHITE HOUSE SOUTH LAWN

We see Marine One Helicopter descend   V.O. "A new chapter in our Nation's history is
into the frame...                      begining...

                                       AUDIO SFX: Camera/Press cameras going off.

Close up shots of Marine One landing.

                                       V.O. "... A new president is arriving...

Shots of the press... on-lookers...

The wheels touch down                  V.O. "... A new direction unfolds..."

Shots of American Flag waving in
wind.

The reason this format works well is it literally reads "as the video will be produced". Secondly, it is easy for the client to understand... because they can put together how sounds will enter before/after picture elements.
The formatting is a bit more complex, you want to box each item (horizontal line), and different writers have different styles for bold/italics etc. But that's the general idea.


text:
How can we do auto exposure lock in samsung s4 similar to iphone?
How can we do auto exposure lock in samsung s4 similar to iphone?

Thanks for your help.

The exposure lock is a feature of the app. If this feature is not present in the native Android camera app, you need a different app. Eight seconds with Google later, you get this, for example.

Thanks MoritzLost You are right i get it. we need app like Open Camera. i have installed it and it gives all features what i want.


text:
How to make Premiere Pro Connect Hindi Characters?
I am using Premiere Pro CC 2017.
Recently when I try to type "Hindi"  Language via Google Input tools,
Typed text not showing "Joint word" correctly.
But my language working completely at everywhere except Premiere Pro.
Already Changed text engine to South Asian
If not understanding my question please visit this question,this problem is for android and my question for Premiere Pro.

Does the interface mention anything about "Ligatures"? That's the technical term for connecting characters. Perhaps there's a preference to turn it on or off? Also, does it vary if you change the font?

Yes..there is Ligatures feature.. I turned it on already..

@user1118321 Problem solved

Solved..
Turned On Ligatures in Preference-Titler
Changed font to Adobe Devnagari
Restarted Premiere
Thanks to @user1118321 for Ligatures Meaning

Where this ligatures preference is in Windows

No option to turn on ligature in prefrence -titler it shows only style swatches and font browser thats it


text:
are there any online Visual effect schools/courses?
If you want to learn how to animate you have a couple of options. You can either go to a raditional school or university, or you can take online courses on various sites.
Are there similar online courses for Visual Effects?
I could only come up with fx PHD or some online course from Gnomon
Are there any other online provider of visual effects training?

It depends on whether you just want to learn animation or actually need a diploma. Many online sources won't issue one, so you will 'just' learn how to do it, but not have any trustworthy certificate.
If you just want to learn, there are so many good sites that offer courses and trainings (most of them commercially), it depends on what kind of animation you want to learn. In general, lynda.com is a great source for high-quality tutorials for software. A particularly useful branch of lynda is video2brain (if you speak German, French or Spanish, visit video2brain.com, there you will find localised tutorials in these languages).
The thing is, those trainings - even the good ones - will usually only teach you how to use a specific piece of software, but not include the aesthetical/artistic side of the craft. Of course, this stuff can be learned online, but it's harder to find good resources, and they are potentially much more expensive. The two sites you found seem to do exactly that, but it would appear they have similar entrance barriers (i.e. require application and are very expensive) as traditional university courses.
That said, you can learn so much online these days, even for free, but it will take much time and effort (even to find the right resources). There isn't one correct answer as to what you should do, it all depends on where you live (some countries have student fees, others don't), what branch of animation you want to learn, what industry you want to end up in et c. Since you seem to be willing to invest some time and money into learning animation, I suggest you put an respective amount of effort into finding a university/online course that will actually be right for your specific interests and needs.

Learning the art is fine, I beleves nobody in the industry doesn't care about degrees anyway. It's only your body of work that matters.


text:
mp4 to avi/mpeg conversion
I'm trying to convert an mp4 video to play on a digital photo frame. The photo frame (Living Image Li1210) manual states:
The digital photo frame can playback MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, and AVI (dependant upon codec) video formats.
And in the FAQs: The device only works with the avi/mpeg4 files taken by most digital cameras. It is also capable of playing some compressed AVI files, such as DivX and XviD videos... The best supported resolution of a photo or video is 480x234.
I've tried various options with ffmpeg such as
ffmpeg -i in.mp4 -vcodec mpeg4 -vf scale=480x234 out.avi

but can't seem to get anything but a blank screen on the photo frame.
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

If you have a working file, share its readout by Mediainfo. Use Text mode. Typically these OEM products are particular about the codec profile and tag.

Apologies I'd being faffing with different scaling settings and must have got my files mixed up. The following (quoted in the question) does in fact work on this product - Living Images Li1210.
ffmpeg -i in.mp4 -vcodec mpeg4 -vf scale=480x234 out.avi

However the following scaling seemed to produce better results when converting from 1280x720 (youtube standard download)
ffmpeg -i in.mp4 -vcodec mpeg4 -vf scale=416x234 out.avi

And I think this addition from this question produced a slight improvement
ffmpeg -i in.mp4 -q:v 6 -vcodec mpeg4 -vf scale=416x234 out.avi

In the absence of a q:v or bitrate specification, ffmpeg defaults to 200 kb/s for mpeg4. Your first scaling is disproportionate relative to the source. Your 2nd isn't.


text:
Do any iOS video apps record in log color space?
Is there an app for iPhone or iPad that will let me record log color space video? It seems like with such an abundance of instagram-ish "filter" apps, developers probably have access to raw sensor data. Are there any apps designed to record it in a flat color profile for postproduction grading?

This announcement article dated January 11, 2017 indicates that there will be an upgrade to the app FiLMiC Pro which may accommodate what you are looking for. Note that the FiLMic Pro App Store web page indicates the latest release is 12/23/2016 - I do not know when the update the article speaks of will be available:

The forthcoming update will introduce a new log mode that allows
  filmmakers to shoot videos with a flat picture profile containing
  additional stops of dynamic range.

Also check out FiLMic's website - I couldn't find any details, but I was interested to read that they develop it with Apple's Swift language.
Of note, they have apparently released a beta version for testing and demo of the LOG capture. Compare in particular the dark area of the dashboard in the lower left hand corner in this example of source video vs. the same footage after grading with BlackMagic Design's DaVinci Resolve. Disclaimer - these videos are from the article and the quality of the color grading vs youtube compression and such is relative. Also, as an example of the extra detail shooting this way may afford, note in the third shot, the shadow detail of the hat before and after.
Likely you don't need this information, but here is a recent article which provides a decent overview of what it means to shoot in log color space , or, record a "flat color profile." Also, some related VideoSE Q&A about shooting considerations.

I knew it would only be a matter of time after Apple started pushing "wide color."  Hopefully more options won't be far behind.  Thanks for the useful links, too.  There's some interesting stuff in there.

@JasonConrad some additional info about Apple and color profiles in this recent thread: http://apple.stackexchange.com/a/272068/216401

True Log recording is not possible in iOS till date. There is no access to raw sensor data when it comes to shooting video on iOS. RAW is possible only when you click a picture, not video. I hope iPhone was fast enough to process 30 RAW pictures per second but right now it can't handle more than 3 per second. I hope iOS 12.0 offers developers better access to the sensor to shoot real LOG videos, i.e. when developers can apply gamma curve of their choice when A2D conversion takes place in Bayer array filter.

LOG recording is now available on iPhone 15 Pro

How I understand from this question "Which color space the iOS devices is used?" iOS have only one accessable color space.
According to this, even RAW photos from iOS are not really RAW.

In the first link, they're talking about the color space of the iPhone's display, not the color space of it's camera.  In the second part, I'm not really looking for RAW, I'm looking for log.  I'm not totally sure that just because developers don't seem to be able to produce RAW stills, that they couldn't produce log video, if they tried.  Maybe you're right, but I'd need a little more explanation in your answer before I upvote.

The iPhone display and camera are already in logarithmic color spaces. I think you are asking about linear color space.
I very much doubt that Apple allows direct access to the camera hardware. I haven't seen any apps that required it.
But even if you somehow could, you'd find that the conversion to sRGB/BT.709 is done in the camera hardware, as is the compression. And even if you could access the raw sensor, you'd find the data noisy and unwieldy.
So, no. Sorry.
Added:
See:
https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/AVFoundation/Reference/AVCaptureDevice_Class/index.html#//apple_ref/occ/cl/AVCaptureDevice

No.  I'm asking about log color space.  Like Canon C-log, Sony S-log, or BMD Film.  Has any third party developed their own flavor?  I know Apple hasn't, or I wouldn't be asking.  And you're wrong about the camera and display being log.  They're closer to sRGB.  Again, if they were log, I wouldn't be asking.

What you are asking about is EOTF (gamma, PQ, HLG) and not color space. But the answer is the same.  The gamma defined in BT.709 isn't ideal for professionals, but we're stuck with it.

What, exactly is that link supposed to show me?  There's no mention of color space, gamma, EOTF, PQ, HLG, BT.709, or any of the other terminology you've used.  I suspect your information is incorrect.  Please cite your claims.

@JasonConrad - the link is just pointing out what iOS makes available to developers for interacting with the camera.  It is extremely limited.

I'm not a programmer, but it looks like some of those variables enable high dynamic range video recording, specifically, automaticallyAdjustsVideoHDREnabled and videoHDREnabled.  If the sensor can image a wide latitude, and the OS has variables which acknowledge it, it seems like it should be a matter of simple mathematical transformation of the data.  I'm looking for an authoritative answer.  If the answer is, "no, not possible", that's fine, but such an answer should include enough expertise and explanation to actually answer the question, not just point me to some arcane developer site.


text:
Voice Over Record doesn't record, displays "Finishing" then stops
I've been consistently getting this behavior, it's not clear to me what is causing it.  If I switch to another clip, often I am able to record.
I am using an external ASIO recording interface to do the recording.

I think I've figured it out.  I've been setting my in point to the start of the clip and my end point to the end of the clip.  By moving the start in point after the first bit of footage, it records just fine.


text:
How to read frames which are separated by a specific number ? [ffmpeg]
I have around 1000 frames in *.png format, which are named like frame-0.png, frame-1.png, frame-2.png and so on. I read them and generate a movie by following command :
ffmpeg -f image2 -r 20 -i frame-%00d.png -vcodec mpeg4 -y movie.mp4

Let's say I just want to read frames like frame-0.png,frame-20.png, frame-40.png and make a movie out of it. How can I achieve that ?
One possible way I know, is to make movie from all 1000 frames then generate a new movie by skipping frames from the following command :
ffmpeg -y -i movie.mp4 -filter:v "select='mod(n,20)'" out.mp4

Is there any direct method ?

The direct way to do this is by using the concat demuxer, where the text file only mentions the selected files. Besides being a hack, you no longer get to use the image2 options. The better way is to combine your present commands.
ffmpeg -framerate 20 -i frame-%d.png -vf "select='not(mod(n,20))'" -c:v mpeg4 -y movie.mp4

This works only if all the frames are present. What If I have only frame-0.png, frame-20.png, frame-40.png available.

Then, you use the demuxer or pipe the images. To pipe, on Win: cat *.png | ffmpeg -f image2pipe -framerate 1 -i - -r 20 -y out.mp4

Command in comment above will also work on Linux & macOS.

Also, I forgot about image autodetection, so you can likely omit the -f.


text:
Is there an equivalent to Vegas' "select to end" feature in DaVinci Resolve?
Vegas had an option in the context menu after right clicking on a track to select all clips to the end of that track. Does Resolve have the same feature?

It's called "Select Clips Forward On This Track", and it's activated by placing the playhead (the tall orange marker) over the first clip you want to select and doing one of the following:

Select Clips Forward On This Track: Y
Select Clips Forward On All Tracks: Alt/Option+Y

There are more of these available in the Timeline menu ("Select Clips Backward", "Select Clips Forward").


text:
AfterEffects Text Templates - Do changes Progagate to Instances in PPro
I have created a number of Live Text Template Capsule (.aecap) files from AE CC2017. And used them a number of places in multiple timelines in a Premiere project. I now need to make a tweak to background layers. If I make the change in AE do I need to re-export the aecap file and if so, do I overwrite the old cap file? I don't want to loose all the instances in my PPro timeline and the unique text associated with each.
What's the proper way to update the AE portion of Text Templates after they are used in Premiere?

Updating in AE does not update the template in PPro directly -like updating a direct linked AE project-composition does.
To update Live Text Templates that are already used in Premiere: Update the composition in AE and export Composition as Text Template (.aecap) and Overwrite the previous .aecap file. It will update in Premiere after a RESTART without loosing the unique text in the instances you've already used. Note: just making the element offline and then relinking does not seem to update it. It's possible if I deleted the preview files it would work, but I haven't tried it. So far a Restart of PPro is required to update the Live Text Template.


text:
How to change AviSynth plugins directory?
I installed anew version of AviSynth+ and besides solving some problems with its DirectShowSource.dll I discover (from the Setup Log file) that it consider C:\ as its autoload directory.
It helped me - I copied DLLs there. But it is neither elegant nor useful solution (as I have installed both 32- and 64-bit versions).
How to change configuration to return to default plugins+ and plugins64+ directories?

Consult the docs.

@Mulvya: Thank your for your valuable advice. I followed your link and created appropriate registry keys and for 32-bit it works! - If you will write it in the form of an answer, I will accept and upvote it.

@Mulvya: Do you know, please, what to do with 64-bits plugins? I tried guess the name of the key from 32-bit version name( PluginDir+), e. g. PluginDir64+, but without success.

As the docs indicate, you have to create registry keys to tell Avisynth+ where to look. They are
PluginDir+ in Software/Avisynth in HKEY_CURRENT_USER
PluginDir+ in Software/Avisynth in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
PluginDir2_5 in Software/Avisynth in HKEY_CURRENT_USER
PluginDir2_5 in Software/Avisynth in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

There is no separate key for 32 or 64-bit. Since 32-bit AVS will not load 64-bit plugins, I suggest setting the first key in the above list to the 64-bit plugins folder, and the 2nd to the 32-bit. The 64-bit AVS DLL when loaded will use plugins from the first folder. The 32-bit DLL will skip them and load from the 2nd folder.

Thank you again - now both 64-bit and 32-bit autoload directories are recognized by `AviSynth+', so all things work.


text:
How do you load gopro footage into Blackmagic Fusion?
I'm trying to get started with Fusion. I have h.264 encoded video in a mp4 container. When creating a loader I get an unhelpful error of 'Loader1 failed at time 0'. Googling around I found some mention of not having the codec installed, so I pulled the CCCP and still had no dice.
ffmpeg also seems to be able to work with the files fine. I see some mention of Direct Show in the file format selector, but there is no option in ffmpeg to encode to that.
If I just try and mash a h.264 encoded stream into a container that appears to be supported, like avi, using:
ffmpeg -c:v h264_cuvid -i preaudio.mp4 -c:a copy -c:v h264_nvenc preaudio.avi

I get errors that look like:
Loader1 failed at time 0
Loader1 failed at time 0
Loader1 failed to load file "<pwd>\preaudio0000.avi" (clip "<pwd>\preaudio.avi" at frame 0)
Loader1 failed at time 0
Loader1 failed to load file "<pwd>\preaudio0000.avi" (clip "<pwd>\preaudio.avi" at frame 0)
Loader1 failed at time 0
Loader1 failed to load file "<pwd>\preaudio0000.avi" (clip "<pwd>\preaudio.avi" at frame 0)
Loader1 failed at time 0

Googling Loader failed at time 0 yields nothing.
TLDR; I know nothing and want to get from a file like this:
Input #0, mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2, from '.\GOPR0047.MP4':
  Metadata:
    major_brand     : mp41
    minor_version   : 538120216
    compatible_brands: mp41
    creation_time   : 2017-02-20T21:24:36.000000Z
    firmware        : HD4.01.05.00.00
  Duration: 00:11:49.72, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 45115 kb/s
    Stream #0:0(eng): Video: h264 (High) (avc1 / 0x31637661), yuvj420p(pc, bt709), 1920x1080 [SAR 1:1 DAR 16:9], 44960 kb/s, 59.94 fps, 59.94 tbr, 60k tbn, 119.88 tbc (default)
    Metadata:
      creation_time   : 2017-02-20T21:24:36.000000Z
      handler_name    :         GoPro AVC
      encoder         : GoPro AVC encoder
      timecode        : 21:45:04:55
    Stream #0:1(eng): Audio: aac (LC) (mp4a / 0x6134706D), 48000 Hz, stereo, fltp, 127 kb/s (default)
    Metadata:
      creation_time   : 2017-02-20T21:24:36.000000Z
      handler_name    :         GoPro AAC
      timecode        : 21:45:04:55
    Stream #0:2(eng): Data: none (tmcd / 0x64636D74) (default)
    Metadata:
      creation_time   : 2017-02-20T21:24:36.000000Z
      handler_name    :         GoPro TCD
      timecode        : 21:45:04:55
    Stream #0:3(eng): Data: none (fdsc / 0x63736466), 13 kb/s (default)
    Metadata:
      creation_time   : 2017-02-20T21:24:36.000000Z
      handler_name    :         GoPro SOS

To something that Fusion will let me work with.

End answer was dnxhd/mov. Use something like:
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v dnxhd -b 440M -c:a copy out.mov

The -b argument should be adjusted based on your input resolution. 440M is the correct choice for 1080p @ 59.94 fps.


text:
3D object from CINEMA4D has glowing edge in After Effect
I have a composition of a video and a 3d object on it, coming from CINEMA 4D. There is a ~1 pixel wide glowing artefact around the edge of the imported 3d object. What can be the reason and how can I fix it?

On the screenshot, the preview quality is set to draft, but the final quality has the same issue.

Have a look at how AE is interpreting the footage (right-click it in the project and look for Interpret Footage>Main). Specifically look at how it is interpreting the alpha channel, it could be interpreting a straight alpha channel as pre-multiplied or the alpha channel might be pre-multiplied with another colour instead of black). Have a go at switching between alpha modes, or try setting the pre-multiplied colour to white instead of black.
If that fails you'll need to de-fringe the layer in your comp. A simple choker effect would do the trick.


text:
Animate title mask from location a to b in Adobe Premiere CC 2017
I am very new to Adobe Premiere, but have worked with Final Cut Pro a long time ago, so you can say, I understand the basics.
I am attempting to create a "fancy" lyrics video. Fancy in the sense that the lyric text (a Title in Adobe Premiere) gets filled with a different a colour in sync with the artist singing the song.
I am attempting to achieve this with a mask (solid colour) placed over the title, but I do not know how I can animate the mask from location A to location B. I have created a Screencast to show where I'm stuck.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

You need to use keyframes instead of tracking. You can find them here:

For better understanding of how they work, read about them, or watch the video.
Long story short, you need to create keyframe in the first place, where motion starts. After that you need to have keyframe in every place, where is key place of position. If you will just move the mask, after creating first keyframe, other ones will be created automaticly, after you move mask.
To create keyframe, press on the middle round button, in the place highlighted on screenshot above.

Thanks @Shultc. I'll have a read and try and do what you've suggested when I get back home this evening.

it worked flawlessly, thank you very much! Is there an easy way I can get a hold of my Mask 1 shape? Right now I'm having to use the mouse between inserting each frame

I didn't really understood your question.... But you didn't need to make keyframe every frame. Only in start and end positions of the movement. Try to play around with it, to understand it better. Like creating one keyframe in one place, and another keyframe in another place after about 10 seconds. And watch movement between. There also are different types of keyframes and graphs, to adjust them.... But I don't think you need it in your case. Good luck!


text:
Making background element out of a part of a video
I have this shot which has the right door color corrected to make it look dark and red :

How would I go about making it part of the "background" so that when someone comes in front of it, he is not affected by the correction like in the shot below :

I tried looking into Masks as background or 3D layers but couldn't seem to find what I'm looking for. I'm sure it's an easy thing to do but I just need guidance on what to look / search for.

You need to rotoscope every object in front of your "background". There is not simple solution, because AE cant tell the difference between you foreground and background. Even I can't tell, because people drop shadows on your "background", etc.
You can try to use rotobrush for that, but if you have there a lot of people, it will require a lot of work.

Ok but once I track the motion of the person coming in front what do I do with him to tell AE "this person shouldn't be affected b the mask"

Put it in a new layer above your video and adjustment layer. So adjustment layer can't affect it.


text:
How to quickly remove unnecessary sounds in FCPX?
I'm editing audio in Final Cut Pro X; I have exported the audio from Davinci Resolve because FCPX has a variety of equalizers and noise reduction built-in.
In this audio, I am talking but I occasionally smack my lips together and make other unpleasant sounds.  So, I am trying to remove them as fast as possible.
I realize that there is no good way to automatically identify them, so I am listening to the track and, when I hear an unneeded sound, making four keyframes using ALT+K as shown in the photo:

This isn't too difficult to do but it is a little inconsistent for the following reasons:

After I make the four keyframes with the keyboard shortcut, I have to select the middle two keyframes to pull the audio down with the mouse, and making this selection is tricky sometimes even with the timeline zoomed in.
When I pull down the audio, it's usually about -30 db, but it's hard to precisely line up; when I do this several times per file, I am unlikely to make them all exactly the same.  This probably isn't a big deal but it is inconsistent.
There's no way (I can tell) to copy-and-paste sets of keyframes.

Is there a faster way to do this, or is what I'm doing about as good as it gets?

There are 2 methods that might help with this.

Press the I and O keys to mark a range around the audio you want to fix. Then press CTRL+OPT+L and type a number value for the amount you want to the audio to drop (eg:-60db)
Make your keyframes, select them, then OPT+SHIFt+C to copy them, then OPT+SHIFT+V to paste them where you need them.

Method 1 is probably more flexible as you can customise the range if need be.

Thanks, it's much faster to make the keyframes with in-out points and then adjust the curve/handles manually than to do all of them with ALT+K.


text:
Unlink two layers after a certain time in After Effects
In After Effects, I want to have a layer (let's call it Leader) that moves and another one (let's say Follower) that is linked to the first one, so it will have the same movement, but at a specific time (t) it should "unlink" from the first layer and stay in that position. I have tried the following:
p = thisComp.layer("Leader").transform.position;
t = 1; // Stop following after 1 second
if (time <= t) {
    position = value + (p.value - p.valueAtTime(0));
}
else {
    valueAtTime(t - thisComp.frameDuration);
}

But for some reason I don't understand, at time t, the Follower goes back to its original position instead of staying in the place in which it was "unlinked" from the Leader. What am I missing?

valueAtTime returns the keyframed value of the property, before any expression is applied.
change it to:
p = thisComp.layer("Leader").transform.position;
t = 1; // Stop following after 1 second
if (time <= t) {
    value + (p.value - p.valueAtTime(0));
}
else {
    value + (p.value.valueAtTime(t) - p.valueAtTime(0));
}

or more simply:
p = thisComp.layer("Leader").transform.position;
t = Math.min(time, 1); // time increases until it hits 1, then stays there
value + (p.value.valueAtTime(t) - p.valueAtTime(0));

This avoids the if() statement which means it should evaluate faster.

Great! It works. I also like your simpler version, it works jut as good. Just in case, let me point out that it should be p.valueAtTime(t) instead of p.value.valueAtTime(t), shouldn't it? Anyway, thanks a lot!

Interesting. I usually use [property].valueAtTime() rather than [property].value.valueAtTime(), it seems to work just as well for expressions, but you do need to use the second form for extendscript scripting.


text:
How do I convert anamorphic hdv video to normal h.264 video with ffmpeg? How to ensure square pixels in output?
I have the following code to convert HDV video to a web ready mp4:
ffmpeg -i hdv-input.m2t -crf 28 -c:a aac -b:a 80k -ac 1 -strict -2 -movflags +faststart h-264-out.mp4

The problem is that there is nowhere in this command to specify pixel aspect ratio. If you are not aware, HDV video files are 1440x1080, but the pixels are not square. When decoded for display, the pixels are stretched to make a full 1920x1080. This is called anamorphic video, and it is something that should definitely be avoided if producing for end users.
I honestly don't know if the mp4's I'm making with the above command are being produced with square pixels, but I want to make sure they are. What are the correct parameters I need to add to this command to ensure square pixels in my output mp4? Do I also have to set resolution, and how do I do that? It seems like there should be a -c:v command as well, but I don't really know.

You can use a combo of the scale and setsar filters.
ffmpeg -i hdv-input.m2t -vf "scale=iw*sar:ih,setsar=1" -crf 28 -c:a aac -b:a 80k -ac 1 -movflags +faststart h-264-out.mp4

The scaler width to set to current width x sample/pixel aspect. If it's already 1, it amounts to new width = old width. I've added a setsar afterwards to ensure the output SAR is 1.
For MP4 format, default video codec is H.264. If that's what you want, no need to explicitly set c:v.
(For bitrates < 128k, libfdk_aac is better than the native AAC encoder.)
-strict -2 is not needed for using native AAC encoder if your ffmpeg is from after Dec 2015.

So this command will output square pixels, but at the same resolution size as the input?

At the same display resolution as the input.

I think you need "... setsar=1:1,setdar=16:9 ..." - See: http://video.stackexchange.com/questions/9947/how-do-i-change-frame-size-preserving-width-using-ffmpeg .

All setdar does is alter the SAR so that the resultant video when displayed has width = DAR x height. For the OP's use case, setdar would be redundant. For other videos, it would force display to be 16:9,

Do I need to do something (download, etc) to use libfdk_aac? I changed -c:a aac to -c:a libfdk_aac and I get the error "unknown encoder 'libfdk_aac'".

Due to license incompatibility, binaries cannot be distributed with that library included. You'll have to compile ffmpeg yourself with that library. I use this script to autocompile ffmpeg. First run will take 4-5 hours on an i7. Further runs, 2 hours or so.

@Gyan what if when you run this command, you get the "width not divisible by 2" error?


text:
How to speed up playback speed like YouTube using Camtasia?
I have video tutorials that I am producing using Camtasia using the following process:

Write Script.
Record a voice over.
Record screen while listening the voice over steps.
merge sound and screen recording.

My recordings are little a bit slow and boring and I would like to speed them up like YouTube speed 1.25X, but whenever I speed them up my voice tone changes badly (get more thinner) unlike YouTube Playback, the voice flows at higher rate and voice tone is normal.
How Can I speed them up without affecting my voice tone?

Have you considered using ffmpeg to split the audio and video tracks? By processing only the video, the audio will remain unchanged. Of course your audio will be out of sync with the new shorter duration video track, Whether this is a problem largely depends on the length of the content and might be resolved by selectively removing silence from the audio track. Sorry, I'm not familiar with Camtasia. I hope this helps.

@ElderGeek This feature is available in Camtasia, but as you said the audio will be out of sync especially when we are talking about 3 to 5 minutes videos. and it's hard to remove silence.

On a voice over? over 3 to 5 minutes? I guess I imagined a narration where the voice isn't synced to the imagery.  You'd only need to cut 45 - 75 seconds of audio to match the duration. Perhaps I'm not fully understanding your issue. Would you be do kind as to [edit] further detail into your post to help clarify the issue?

It may not be as hard to remove silence as you think.

Youtube speed adjustment feature is a client side script (the browser is doing it with javascript). There is no extra encoding process to make this feature available. If you are Web delivering this content in your control on your site, you can use javascript to auto play your videos at that speed.

Where and how are these videos being distributed?

@fredsbend on Youtube.

@mahdi Then you don't need to do anything. The feature is already built in to the youtube player. You can use an annotation note to tell viewers to turn the speed up.

@fredsbend I don't want workarounds. I already know that my pace it too slow and boring. I appreciate your help.

As I am familiar with Audacity I have found it through Effects -> Change Tempo...

You don't do this in Camtasia as it doesn't appear that Camtasia supports pitch shifting at this point although there has definitely been some discussion of the topic for quite some time.
There are alternate solutions however, ffmpeg has this capability through the atempo and aserate audio filters, I understand that you can do this with audacity and sox as well. If you have any interest in any of these approaches and would like further detail drop me a comment and I'll do my best to accommodate you.
According to @Mulvya you can also accomplish this with an ffmpeg build compiled to support librubberband You can compile it your self or there are Windows XP compatible builds available here which I've confirmed run under Wine
There's also a stand alone utility that I haven't used that you can obtain from the librubberband link above. It appears that that is limited to adjusting WAV files.
Some sources:
https://superuser.com/questions/292833/how-to-change-audio-frequency
https://superuser.com/questions/1118826/change-tone-pitch-for-file-audio
https://www.ffmpeg.org/documentation.html
https://feedback.techsmith.com/techsmith/topics/speeding_up_the_video_speed_without_effecting_audio_pitch

The OP doesn't want to change pitch, so atempo and asetrate won't work. ffmpeg can be compiled with an external lib - rubberband, that will preserve pitch through tempo change. I don't know of a redistributable ffmpeg binary that has it. But it's also available as a standalone binary that works with WAV.

@Mulva Yes rubberband. That's in my second source. Thank you. Is it your contention that chaining the filters aserate and atempo won't work on the source file before speed adjustment of the output file after speed adjustment. Thank you for your clarification.

@Mulvya edited answer

@Mulvya is right, I need to speed up the video but maintaining the same pitch. I have found it in Audacity which I am families with, through Effects -> Tempo. I am wondering what is equivalent to YouTube 1.25X in Audacity Tempo.

Mathematics says 1,25X = 125%


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Why does Adobe Premiere CC change my "Ease Out" keyframe interpolation to "Bezier"?
In Adobe Premiere CC, I keep trying to set my position keyframe's temporal interpolation to "Ease Out". After I set it, I recheck the context menus immediately, and it has reverted to "Bezier".  Why does it do that, and how can I get it to keep the temporal interpolation that I set?

Have you checked if the Ease Out is applied though? What does the keyframe graph look like?

Thanks for the suggestion.  The keyframe graph looks like a parabola - like the path of a rocket shooting up, reaching the apex, and falling back down. I'm almost certain that's a Bezier.  Plus I wouldn't trust it if it said "Bezier" even though it was "Ease Out". I tried adjusting the keyframe graph but I just don't like the interpolation, and it doesn't match the other videos I've made that use Ease Out / Ease In.

This is the expected behaviour. It's a bit confusing, but as you can see in your screenshot, the Temporal Interpolation context menu is split in two parts. The part above the seperating line (see your screenshot) sets the keyframe type. From the documentation:

Linear: Creates a uniform rate of change between keyframes.
Bezier: Lets you manually adjust the shape of the graph, and the rate of change, on either side of a keyframe. You can create very
  smooth changes using this method.
Auto Bezier: Creates a smooth rate of change through a keyframe. As you change a keyframe’s value, the Auto Bezier direction handles
  change to maintain a smooth transition between keyframes.
Continuous Bezier: Creates a smooth rate of change through a keyframe. However, unlike the Auto Bezier interpolation method,
  Continuous Bezier lets you adjust direction handles manually. As you
  change the shape of a graph on one side of a keyframe, the shape on
  the other side of the keyframe changes to maintain a smooth
  transition.
Hold: Changes a property value without gradual transition (sudden effect changes). The graph following a keyframe with the Hold
  interpolation applied appears as a horizontal straight line.

The two options below the seperating line – Ease In & Ease Out – are rather like presets or shortcuts. They switch the keyframe type (since easing in/out requires bézier curves and is therefore not possible in Hold or Linear modes) and set a smooth transition. If you open up the graph view in the Effect Settings panel, you can see the effect the two options have:

Linear.

Ease In.

Ease In + Ease Out.
You can still adjust the velocity interpolation manually using the Bézier handles seen in the screenshots above.

Thanks for this description and all the screenshots. Are you saying that the "Ease In" and "Ease Out" never show a checkmark next to them?? That would be REALLY confusing. And that's what I'm seeing:  there is no checkmark next to Ease In or Ease Out after I select them. I'm almost certain that I've seen a checkmark next to each of them in other projects.... I'll have to research this later, when I can access my project again.

@BrettFromLA Yeah, they don't. Well I said it would be confusing :D They are more like a shortcut to get you started or provide a quick easing transition, not a keyframe type of their own. Could be that they used to show checkmarks in previous versions, but I've just checked in the current version of Premiere Pro CC and there are no checkmarks. I think that's also why there's a seperating line above them.

Well since that's the case, I'll mark your answer as the answer! I still don't understand why they're in the drop-down list if they can't be selected. That's just terrible UX. (When I say "can't be selected", I mean that when you select it, you can never tell whether you actually selected it or just meant to select it, because there's no indication - checkmark - that you selected it.)


text:
Is it possible to ripple edit Adobe Premier?
Prior to using Adobe Premier, I used Sony Vegas as my primary video editing software. While using it, I have gotten accustomed to using a feature called ripple editing. When enabled, it allowed you to make changes to the video timeline such as deleting clips and it would snap the remaining video forward. The ripple effected all of the tracks to ensure the remaining part of the video is not out of sync. Is there an easy way to achieve this with Adobe Premier?
Thank You!

Yes, you can use the Ripple Edit Tool. See here (Tools panel and Options panel section)

Thank you for that... I did run into it and was wondering what its purpose was. Essentially, it is to shorten a clip from one end and have the following clips collapse into take up the room. Now the problem that I am facing is that I work with a lot of long clips (often have video with a single shot) that need to be edited into multiple smaller clips. In vegas, I would use the splice tool to mark the start and end of a cut and delete the clip. The remaining parts will ripple down to join the beginning of the cut. How can I achieve this with premier?

to ripple-trim the start of a clip put the playhead where you want the clip to start and hit q. To do the same for the end of the clip, hit w. To ripple-delete a clip select it and use shift+delete.

@stib - Sorry for the late response... is there a shortcut for the razor tool? I think shift+delete does what I want, but I need to easily make cuts at the location of the played head.

@ShadowZzz CTRL+K to cut the clip at the playhead. Hold Shift in addition to cut all clips in all tracks at the playhead position. Or press C to select the Razor Tool

@MoritzLost - Thank You! That's exactly what I was looking for...


text:
Downloading VLMC
I have been looking for a video editor, and among the recommended editors is VLMC. However, when I go to the site, I can't find anything resembling a download link. Is VLMC still alive? Is there an official place to download the latest version? I have found a few non-official channels, but I am leery of downloading anything that isn't linked from an official page, and they all seem to say something along the lines pre-alpha, if there is any information at all. How can I try this software, or is it a lost cause?

You must have missed this text which is fairly prominent on the VLMC page: "Note that VLMC is still under development and therefore not ready for beta testing or production yet."

Who recommended VLMC to you? It's still in early development, best thing you will get is an unstable developer alpha, nothing close to being usable. It also says so right on their website:

Note that VLMC is still under development and therefore not ready for beta testing or production yet.

To be honest I don't see this project going anywhere any time soon. It's been around for year, I'm not even sure if it's still actively being worked on, and even if it is, it will be a long time before you can expect a workable beta build.
Just do a websearch for free video editors (though if you are willing to spent some money, there are some good options as well) and you will find plenty of free software. Among the typically recommended ones are Lightworks (free and paid versions available), Avidemux (free), Hitfilm Express (partially free) and Blender (free open source 3D program with NLE functionality). There's plenty more for all price ranges, up to industrial standard software such as Premiere Pro and Avid Media Composer, you just have to look for something that fits your needs and budget.

It was recommended in this answer from 2011: http://video.stackexchange.com/a/2301/18342. It seemed odd that something recommended side by side with others in 2011 should still be in alpha. That answer doesn't show any signs of having been edited since, unless I'm just not able to see them or something.

@Trevortni It would appear that answer was wrong.

The project seems to be alive (at least was 3 months ago). There's build instructions in the repository if you want to test it. You can follow and contribute in GitLab