text:
MediaInfo Fourcc Values
I'm trying to figure out what fourcc value I need to use but I'm a bit confused between file formats and codecs.
I have a .mov file and MediaInfo reports it as shown below
I need to specify the fourcc value but can't see it explicitly listed. Is it the Color Space and Chroma subsampling values?
If it is the text I'm using suggests I call the file a .avi but does it matter if I call it a .mov?
Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : Main@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames                : 2 frames
Format settings, GOP                     : M=2, N=5
Codec ID                                 : avc1
Codec ID/Info                            : Advanced Video Coding
Duration                                 : 1h 8mn
Source duration                          : 1h 8mn
Bit rate mode                            : Variable
Bit rate                                 : 3 224 Kbps
Maximum bit rate                         : 768 Kbps
Width                                    : 1 024 pixels
Height                                   : 576 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 1.942
Original display aspect ratio            : 16:9
Frame rate mode                          : Variable
Frame rate                               : 25.000 fps
Minimum frame rate                       : 3.125 fps
Maximum frame rate                       : 25.000 fps
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.219
Stream size                              : 1.53 GiB (100%)
Source stream size                       : 1.54 GiB (100%)
Language                                 : English
Encoded date                             : UTC 2016-01-16 15:40:20
Tagged date                              : UTC 2016-03-09 18:41:42
Color range                              : Limited
Color primaries                          : BT.601 PAL
Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.601

FourCCs are Microsoft's ID tags for streams e.g. avc1 for H.264/AVC or mp4a for an AAC audio stream. The container doesn't really matter.
If you want to change the FourCC, use ffmpeg like so
ffmpeg -i input.mov -strict -2 -c copy -vtag ABCD new.mov

where ABCD is your new 4CC/tag.
You current file already shows avc1 for the video stream, which is default and expected.

I'm not looking to change the fourcc I actually want to know for sure I use the right value when I pass them as a argument to an OpenCV VideoWriter function call to split the original file into smaller segments. Does .avi or .mov matter if I have the fourcc set correctly?

Ah, don't know about OpenCV but there's broadly two steps involved - calling a demuxer so that OpenCV can locate and extract the video track. FourCC isn't involved here. And once the video track is being read, calling a H.264 bitstream reader/decoder to correctly split the video - FourCC is required to call the correct library or module. avc1 is good for the 2nd part. Don't know OpenCV, so can't help with first. Maybe, based on extension, it auto-selects?

Found this property value in OpenCV current_vid.get(cv2.CAP_PROP_FOURCC) which might do the trick for me but


text:
Export video for Broadcast TV
Just wondering, if now, as we broadcast free-to-air commercial television digitally, whether to still apply 'Broadcast Safe filters/effects'?

Are you referring to safe areas as mentioned by @richard-crowley or to the 'broadcast safe filter' (that deals with signals levels) from FCPX ?

There are three different things that get called "broadcast safe":

Colors gamut: You don't need to apply an NTSC broadcast safe filter, but you do want to make sure that your colors are all within gamut for the format you are using. If you use out of gamut colors, most of the time nothing happens. However, you run the risk of some very odd, very hard to troubleshoot problems cropping up on air.
Title & action safe: In the days of CRTs, there was a portion of the picture that would get cut off. That area varied from TV to TV and grew over time as the tube aged. Non-CRT displays don't suffer from the same issue, so the recommended safe areas are not as large as they used to be, but they still exist. Some modern displays artificially create an overscan and the bezel of some displays can block the edges even at reasonable viewing angles. Recommendations vary from 1% to 5% of the screen should be protected.
Center cut safe: 4:3 TVs do still exist in the world. How a 4:3 picture is created from a 16:9 signal varies. Sometimes it is created with a separate air chain by the broadcaster, sometimes the broadcaster downconverts the 16:9 to 4:3, and sometimes the 16:9 feed is downconverted in the viewers home. It is for this last reason that it is recommended that you still keep key elements (e.g., products, people talking, offer graphics and disclaimer text) within the center cut protected area of the picture.

In summary:

Use only colors within broadcast gamut.
Don't push important elements right to the edge of the screen.
Protect important visuals within the center cut safe area.

While most stations run limiters on the broadcast signal for limiting video levels, your clips probably will be rejected by tech QA when submitting, so while technically nothing may happen, I wouldnt risk it. Most TV stations have submission guidelines and usually there are a lot of things regulated, data / video levels of the signal only being one of them.

In my experience, after the digital/HD transition, most stations actually removed their legalizers. I even had one Creative Director tell me essentially to stop ruining his "look" because the blue he picked wasn't what he was seeing on air. Also, most local stations and cable systems don't check gamut or safe areas because they lack the skilled staff and equipment to do those checks any more.

Depends on who you ask. Old traditional people who grew up back in the bad old analog days have the Safe Action Area and Safe Title Area embedded in their brains.  But even as old analog TV receivers evolved, there was less and less danger of losing the periphery of the frame to overscan.
With modern LCD, LED, plasma, whatever, TV screens, there is ZERO danger of overscan. It simply doesn't exist anymore. I now use a rule of thumb to keep any text or significant graphics at least 2 or 3% away from the edge, mostly as an aesthetic design rule.

Notice that there are still many user watching digital content on a crt screen (for example, many digital tv receiver have a scart output). I have recently been embarrassed by such a digital receiver whose top menus where barely readable (being displayed off screen) on a crt screen.

In Australia at least the stations still have strict requirements regarding things like title safe. We still have to make our titles safe for 4:3 CRT receivers, just in case we annoy people watching on their Rank Arena 15" CRT with a set-top-box.
Best bet is to contact the broadcasters you're sending the material to and ask them.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Broadcast Television - Best specs to supply news footage
We are preparing a bunch of 10secs video bites that we hope to be picked up by news media outlets as supplemental footage for news reports.
Could anyone suggest the best specs to export the clips as before sending the links to download in our media release?
Was thinking a ProRes plus a high bitrate MP4 might suit?

ABC, NBC, Comcast and others all have their own specs. What I've found is that 1080 progressive MP4 (h.264) at 29.97 fps (some rare cases need 59.94), with audio between 192-256 Kbps, usually does the trick. You'd obviously edit in ProRes, but to submit that codec to the stations is overkill. Some outlets will even reject specs that don't conform exactly to their specifications during the upload process to their FTP.

Thanks for that - is there a safe video bitrate range for the MP4?

I am looking at the Comcast spec sheet now and for h.264 mp4 they recommend VBR 8-50 Mbps. Though this particular outlet does accept ProRes 422 with a VBR of 40-220 Mbps. But, ProRes is probably overkill :)

Getting a file format that works for everyone is very complicated. However, if you are are trying for network news, it is safe to use MPEG-2 TS 1080i29.97 (CBS, NBC, CNN) or 720p59.94 (ABC, Fox) at CBR 50Mbps, 15/3 closed GOP. Audio should be 48kHz PCM.
Local stations will accept MP4s, but you likely won't be happy with the results once it gets to air. The same goes for 1080p and 24fps flavors. Be especially careful that you have not mixed frame rates on your timeline. Pre-convert any elements that are not in the target frame rate before adding them to the timeline.
For local stations, it may be best to contact them individually. It often helps to ask if they will be transcoding an MP4 to another format and if you can just provide that format.
Be careful of any spec sheets you find publicly accessible. They are generally written for commercial copy and not for contribution content. There may be differences.

I’d sub prores for dnxhd. Not everyone is running a Mac based workflow or has a prores license with their windows one. The various standards of prores proxy lt etc roughly equal the numbers in dnxhd the lowest being a proxy the next an lt and so on. Depending on the station you could get away with an LT quality export if your uploading to the stations. I’ve used it as a broadcast codec befoe with out issue.

Over-the-air broadcast stations in the U.S. may not transmit more than about 19 Mbps. This number depends on whether a station has digital subchannels. They are confined to the same 6 MHz RF-channel bandwidth they have been since the dawn of TV. Anything over 19 Mbps is definitely overkill. The station will likely transcode your footage to a format suitable to them depending on whether they need 1080i or 720p. Best to contact the individual stations if possible.
As of 2018, just about all broadcast TV stations still transmit MPEG-2, even though the ATSC spec now allows for H.264. Audio is always AC3 stereo. 192 kHz is a good audio bit rate for broadcast TV.
This is all going to change with ATSC 3.

I disagree that "anything over 19 Mbps is definitely overkill." Many stations routinely request 35 or 50 Mbps files. Many, but obviously not all, want the best quality/size compromise source file they can have since there will be multiple codec cycles before the spot reaches the viewer. Conversely, very few stations and almost no cable systems want to receive an AC3 encoded file.

What audio do stations prefer to receive if not AC3 and why? What do they ultimately broadcast?

They do ultimately broadcast AC3. Most want linear PCM, though some take AAC and MP2, for submissions. AC3 was designed as a "last mile" codec and doesn't do well with multiple codec cycles. It is also much easier to distribute and monitor discrete 5.1 audio inside a plant.

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

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


text:
How to move logo relative video on program monitor in Adobe CC?
How to move a picture like logo which is on one videotrack relative video which is on other videotrack in Adobe Premiere CC? In previous version it was easy to do double click on the picture in program monitor and was possible to move or transform picture like in "freetransform" in Photoshop. But it doesn t work in Adobe CC.

The double click thing still works. Try clicking harder ;)

Assuming I understood your question correctly (which I'm not certain of, given your poetic writing style that appears to have transcended past the need for meager punctuation), you can still double click the image in the program monitor to get into the 'free transform' mode. I just tested it in the current version of Premiere Pro CC and it works as expected.
Alternatively, you can select the clip that you want to move/scale in the timeline and open the Effects Control panel. Click on this icon next to the Motion tab:

This will also enter the free transform mode that allows you to move/scale the clip.

Not everyone on SO speaks English as a first language. If you're looking for a place to lecture people about their grammar, http://english.stackexchange.com/ is where you need to be.

In the 2017 version I can't see it working anymore either. Yes, I can use effects. But the 'free transform' function seems to be gone. Or maybe someone has a solution in some hidden setting?

No, it's still there, I just double checked. You do need to have track targeting turned on for the track your clip is in (the track name needs to be blue), but it has always been thus.


text:
Why This Video Appears in Full Canvas?
Rookie video editor here, asking about video canvas. Don't know the right term in video editing but in image editing it's area that is not part of it.
This is the video:

As you see, ratio is good and available definitions are up to 480p.
After downloading it (and I tried different definitions) this is what I get when playing in VLC and Windows Media Player:

Do you have any idea how something what was previously invisible got picked up? And why I don't see this canvas/artifact on YouTube? No idea what that is but feels like amateur's first attempt at YouTube publishing. Maybe YouTube filters it out but only when viewed there.
How can I crop the picture out of this mess and would I need special software?
Another question is about available definitions. While YouTube displays them up to 480p, how is it definitions up to 1080p are available through KeepVid?

Thanks!

Very curious. If you scroll through the video's timeline in the embedded Youtube video you can see that the black-and-yellow bars are already there, even though the video is cropped to 16:9 in the viewport. No idea why. Regarding your second question, KeepVid will probably just upscale the video. It's probably a noobtrap, i.e. people who don't know much about video will compare it with other download helper tools, see that only KeepVid offers Full HD and therefore think it's better. I wouldn't use a site that does that, use JDownloader 2 instead.

Actually these black-and-yellow bars appear right at the beginning for less than a second. I say it's subliminal messaging...

It's weird. I see all resolutions - upto 1080p - on Youtube. And the thumbnail hover does show the full frame as seen in your VLC snapshot, but not in the playback window on Youtube.
youtube-dl shows streams in a 1:2 ratio i.e. 540x1080, 360x720, which would be what you're seeing locally.
You can use ffmpeg, a free command-line tool, to crop out the remainder.
ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -vf "crop=iw:iw*9/16,scale=0:-2" -crf 20 -c:a copy new.mp4


text:
What happens if we put 10bpc video in 8bpc composition?
What information are lost if we put a 10-bit video in an 8bpc composition in After Effects?
I'm looking for a technical explanation. Because at least they look same to naked eyes.

10-bit footage will look the same as properly shot 8 bit footage, it's how it copes with grading and effects that makes the difference. If you have 10-bit video that's a few stops underexposed you still have a lot of information in the shadows - four times as much information as the 8 bit. You won't see that extra info until you correct the exposure–particularly because most delivery formats are 8 bit, like internet, or broadcast television (but not cinema). The same holds true for over-exposure and colour balance, and any effect that works with colour information. Make the same changes in 8-bit footage and you'll just get mush, because there isn't the data, just like blowing up standard-def footage doesn't make it the same as footage shot in HD.
To understand why, consider the R, G and B channels in an 8 bit image. Each channel has 28=256 possible values*. If your footage is underexposed and the brightest highlight is at 50%, then you've only got 128 values per channel. A 10 bit image starts out with 210=1024 possible values per channel, and the same under exposed footage works out to 512 values, so it still has room to be graded and still have the same colour depth as properly shot 8-bit video.
If your project is set to 16 bit or 32 bit colour then After effects will use the full colour depth of the footage.

*this is simplified a bit, most video codecs are YUV rather than RGB, the information is distributed so there's more data for the Luma than the colour, and the exposure values aren't necessarily linear, but that's beyond the scope of this answer.


text:
Render on another machine in local network via Adobe Media Encoder
I am interested if I can set up Adobe Media Encoder so I could send render job from my macbook pro to a more powerful PC? Or at least, are there any solutions that would allow me to render videos faster and without slowing down my mbp?


text:
Workflow for batch extracting many short clips from long footage
I have longer video footage from which I would like to extract many short clips. To add some context, this is for a sign language research project where I have several long source videos, about 1 hour of footage each. I would like to extract individual signs from these videos and keep the main (long) footage intact. I would also like the ability to rename or fine tune the clip selections later on, if needed.
Can anyone recommend a video editing workflow that would allow me to select clips from the footage by setting in and out points for each clip with the option of naming each clip as I go. I need to have the ability to custom name each clip, a serialized name won't work in my situation.
Here's what I'm hoping for in my overall workflow:

Apply any needed color correction or other adjustments to the main
footage.
Apply a custom crop to the main footage.
Select and individually name short clips from within the main
footage.
Export the selected clips.

Thanks in advance for any help. I'm on Mac OSX and would prefer a solution that uses Final Cut, but I'm not sure if FCP can do this or not, or if it would require a plugin or something.

I have a solution in Sony Vegas Pro, but that is not a Mac app. I would bet Final Cut pro has similar features, but I've never used it. Let me know if you still want an answer using Vegas Pro.

You could use ffmpeg to do this using the command line.

You could try recording the screen with QuickTime X. I think QuickTime 7 Pro allows to select in and out and export, and so does MPEG streamclip

Here is the solution for Final Cut Pro, to export out all individual clips on your Timeline.  There is a FCP plugin called Primaries Exporter, in the App Store, which will very easily export all individual clips on the Timeline, to any folder you designate.  I've been using it myself for a couple of years now, and it works great.

This answer is coming from someone who uses Sony Vegas Pro to do this regularly, but the question requests Final Cut Pro.
From what I can tell, FCP cannot do everything that you want. You can select multiple parts of your clips, but you cannot name or color code them. That may be a deal breaker (it would be for me).
What you need to do is set multiple ranges in your project. It's pretty simple. Select the range tool or hold command while you click, then drag the portion of the clip that you want to highlight. FCP will remember the ranges that you make.
Larry Jordan Edit Smarter explains it better than I can: FCP X: Select Multiple Ranges. Here's a YouTube walk through.

If the inability to name them is a deal breaker, you can do it in Vegas Pro. Unfortunately, Vegas Pro is a Windows only program.
In Vegas Pro you create regions. Here's the steps:

Select the area of the video you want in the timeline.

Click R on your keyboard. This creates a region.
By default, the region has no name. You should be able to immediately start typing and it will fill in next to the region name. If not, just double click to the right of region in marker as if you were renaming a file.

Create all the regions you want in your timeline.

Export the regions. Go to: Tools > Scripting > Batch Render
Select the render profile(s) you want to create. A file will be made for each profile you select.
Make sure Render Regions radio button is selected at the bottom. A file will be made for each region.

Choose a save location then click OK.

yes this is exactly what I was hoping for. Unfortunately, I do need a solution that would work on the Mac platform—it doesn't have to be via Final Cut Pro but that would be my preferred choice. I'll be downloading the FCP trial and will post an answer if I find a satisfactory solution. I just that someone may have already worked through this issue and would be able to answer it quickly.

@JustinK I hope you find your answer, but at least other potential answerers know what you are looking for now.

@JustinK Was FCP able to help you on this? If I switch to Mac, this would be good to know.

I wasn't able to get FCP to batch extract short clips from multiple selections in a long clip. It turned out that for my project it was just easier to setup each desired short clip that I wanted to export as a separate clip (FCP calls these projects). I then used keyboard shortcuts to quickly export these clips after setting my defaults for the exporting. This works pretty well and FCP can process the exporting of multiple files simultaneously by adding them to a que.

@JustinK Well, if there's a que that you can add to while it's working, then I'd say that's functionally the same thing.

@JustinK If you wouldn't mind posting an answer with some snapshots, that would be pretty cool for the rest of us. If I ever use FCP, I know I'll need to know this.


text:
How can I specify time for text titles in iMovie for iOS
I have iMovie on my iPhone 5S so my question is specifically for iMovie on iOS. I am trying to put together a video and want to add a text object to it. However, I want it to begin X seconds into the video last for Y seconds. I haven't been able to find how to specify that in iMovie for iOS. The only options are Opening, Middle and End. But I want to specify it when to begin and how long to last - the available options really only let me display the text for the entire clip.
I know I can do this in iMovie for my desktop iMac where all the clips and text object can be dragged to a certain length; that's basically the functionality I'm looking for. Is that not available in iMovie for iOS?

If you click on the "?" in the upper right, you'll get yellow markers that show help. One of them is "Learn More" where it brings up the user manual and a search field. When I type "titles" into the search field, it gives me a list of options, the first of which was "Add a title."
According to that help section, a title lasts the entire length of the video or still you apply it to.
So, you can cut your video into 3 pieces - the piece before the title, the piece containing the title, and the piece after the title. To do that:

click on the clip and scroll to the time where you want the title to start
press the scissors icon at the bottom. This will offer some options.
Click on "Split"

Do the process again where you want the title to end.
Once you've done that, click on the piece you want to contain the title. At the bottom, click on the "T" icon. That will bring up the title selection tool. Choose your title style and click on the text to edit it.


text:
I can't open my edit in premiere as its saying it was saved in the newest premiere?
I am currently editing my project and it was saved to the newest premiere however this computer version has now been changed back and I have no access to my edit. I cant use my laptop however all the computers at university have the old premiere is there anyway to open it on there and continue with my edit?

I just tested it, and you can successfully import files from CC to CS6 via exporting to final cut pro xml and then importing that xml back. This should work with any versions, though there may be a few issues if some newer features are not supported, or cannot be exported to final cut pro.
This requires that you would have access to the latest version of premiere on any computer that can access the file.

Ok, in most cases, you can open Premiere Pro Projects going backwards with no problem. There are however "bugs" where things might not import in correct; specifically with transitions, and effects.
Premiere Pro CC Projects- will NOT open in any versions prior to CC. Period. They designed it this way on purpose to keep people out of the "Owning Software" and move them into the "Pay to Use" program.
However, I can from experience, that Premiere Pro CS5.5 will most likely open a CS6 project.
Lastly; having been a PPro user for many years, one project we had from a client required us to "jump through hoops". We had to take their project; which was (just an example) Premiere Pro CS4. CS6 would not open it.
However, CS5 would. So we opened it in CS5. Saved, then moved it into CS6.
If you are having problems opening a project saved in a later version in an older version- like you said you had at school:  You can try:
1.) Try opening it in an even "older" version. Yes I know this seems crazy but sometimes it works. Then save, then move up to the version they have.
2.) You could try to export an EDL and bring that in to premiere; although the results could be not ideal.
3.) Try to use the "Reduce Project" feature where it clips all of you files, with handles, and let it render out and wrap the project into a single Folder. This will create new clips entirely, so make sure you select a good codec to output to avoid loss of quality by the rendering which will take place.
4.) If all else fails. And you absolutely must work on the project on your schools computer:  Render out each video track as a video file, and do the same for audio.  Render each track from 0:00:00:00. Then bring in each one and lay them on tracks accordingly.
The last option would require work, because transitions, opacity, etc, may get lost depending on your project.
Hope this helps.
SideNote:  I would highly recommend to anyone NOT using CC. CS6 Suite offers nearly all of the same options as CC. I am still using CS6 (and my studio owns approximately 50 seats which is a fortune if we were to upgrade).  There is really no reason to use CC over CS6 that I can think of, unless you need one of the very few upgrades it brought with it. We have 50 seats with CS6; and its paid for and done. With CC, we'd be looking at $3500 a month perpetually to use the suite. Obscene.

You proabably have to open the project on a machine with the same version that created the project. Exporting sequences as AAF or OMF can bring more metadata through, but will require re-linking. Here it is

Unfortunately, there isn't any way to work collaboratively across different versions of Premiere Pro. See my question here (which never got an answer, because there isn't one, as far as I know).
If you want to save a project file from the current version of Premiere Pro to be compatible with an older one, you're pretty much out of luck as well. You can only use a workaround such as exporting an EDL-file (see my answer here), but this will only export your rough cut, not any effects or other changes you made.


text:
Resize a live stream and overlay over another live stream for broadcasting
I'm working with ATEM Production Studio 4K from Blackmagic to switch between several video feeds that are broadcast using Wirecast onto Youtube from a Mac. Our ATEM product is not one of the switchers that comes with DVE (aka the ability to resize video input). I want to find a way to resize a video input and combine it with another input so I can broadcast the video to Youtube.
There are two video feeds I want to combine, a feed from presentation software and a feed from a camera filming a presenter, in a way that the presentation is smaller than full screen and moved to a corner.
I've considered ffmpeg, but I don't know how to use ffmpeg on a video stream in a way that we can combine it with another stream and send it into Wirecast, if that's possible.
An ideal solution would take a feed from our switcher and another feed from our presentation software, resize the presentation, combine it with the switcher feed, and send the result to Wirecast or Youtube. Is this possible to do for less than the cost of a new switcher? Is there a way to do this using OBS in place of Wirecast?

ffmpeg should be able to ingest feeds from Blackmagic devices, do the scale & overlay, and then stream directly to youtube over RTMP, bypassing Wirecast.

How are you routing to Wirecast? SDI/HDMI to thunderbolt? An easy solution is to get a micro/mini recorder from blackmagic and pull in that second feed directly to Wirecast through thunderbolt. Then in Wirecast you can mix the program feed and the second feed while adding layers of graphics. We do it all the time during live broadcasts. Also, having those micro/mini converters from blackmagic are priceless to have in general and they don't cost much.

Is there a way to get the feed into Wirecast if it's already going to the switcher? I think the Recorder might help pull the feed into the computer and then into Wirecast, but we need it on the switcher, too.

Great question. You indicate that you have the ATEM Production Studio 4K? For this you will need to split the SDI/HDMI feed prior to sending it to the ATEM so that you can route one feed to the ATEM and the second feed into the computer (by using a mini/micro recorder). In my case, we opted for the ATEM 1/ME Production Studio 4K because then we can route route directing into the swisher and then use an auxiliary port to send any one input out of that aux port to the computer (no need for a splitter).

Also, most Blackmagic production gadgets have re-clocking and multiple outs that are cheap. Again, the more devices you have in your gear bag the better for times like this  :)

You can do this with OBS. I do it all the time.
The Mac, can with OBS take the feed(s) and arrange/resize them and then stream it to Wirecast(?, but not necessary) or directly to Youtube.
OBS handles both input from streams and from video cards, so you can have several inputs and combine them, very easily.


text:
Infinite Video Loop in Ffmpeg?
Is there a way to infinitely loop a video in ffmpeg for a livestream? I've been looking around and can see it was possible to use "loop 1" but it appears that is no longer working.
This is what I'm currently using, but as you can see, it is not infinitely looping and entering a ridiculously high number is not an option for me due to 32-bit integer limitations:
ffmpeg -re -f concat -i <(for i in {1..10000}; do printf "file '%s'\n" /root/file.flv; done) -codec copy -f flv rtmp://a.rtmp.youtube.com/live2/xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx

Update: In my testing, I got WriteN, RTMP send error 104 (52 bytes) after a few hours so will probably just call it quits and say Ffmpeg just isn't up to livestreaming. Thanks anyway, folks!

Use
ffmpeg -re -stream_loop -1 -i file.flv -c copy -f flv rtmp://x.y.z

This option is buggy when the input it is applied to is filtered with another input, like in an overlay. For a single input - output chain, it works fine.

Unrecognized option 'stream_loop'.

You'll need a ffmpeg build from Oct 2015 or later.

Oh. How do I get a more recent version? I have Ubuntu 15.04 but it has certainly had updates since October!

Get them from here: http://johnvansickle.com/ffmpeg/

Thanks! I'll download it later today, wonder what on earth a .xz file is then pray this works. Will do it on a server though since that way there's no real chance of upsetting things on my computer such as Openshot. Do you advise uninstalling the repositories version first?

This is a static build. It won't affect anything else. Just don't put in one of the path locations to avoid it being called by other programs.

Oh, okay. I've got it.  :P
Trying it soon.

Just tried it and it outputs the video once, adds a minute to the timestamp for some reason then gets stuck.  :/

Add -fflags +genpts before -i

Same thing is happening. ./ffmpeg -re -stream_loop -1 -fflags +genpts -i ../file.flv -c copy -f flv test2.flv

I tested it here. It loops, but the timecode is buggy and jumps 30 seconds after each loop on a 10 second input. Which is to say, it's buggy.


text:
Good tools for spatial specification of a moving shot?
I'm still not very familiar with the tools available out there, so I'm hoping the community can provide some pointers:
At 10:03 in this video, they show a simple animation of how camera and talent will move for a shot.

I believe an animation like this can be done with After Effects, but are there tools specifically spatially depicting shots?  I.e. visualize the position and movement of camera & talent in the context of the set. It can be static images rather than an animation, since sometimes all the players aren't moving, but ideally the user can choose between the two.


text:
What video software is being used to display the animation of this video?
The link is from kickstarter video:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/biolite/biolite-baselantern-smartgrid-goes-off-grid?ref=category_featured

If you mean the animation of the product, it could be cinema4d, blender or something similar. I bet it could be done in after effects as well.


text:
BMPCC + rafcamera arri b to mft + optar 1.2/12mm = vignetting
BMPCC does not support super16 lens?
Example 1.3T - 16T
video test

I have an old Angénieux zoom on a 16mm Bolex that would vignette quite badly at some zoom/aperture settings, and it was made for 16mm. Maybe it's just the way the lens is?

I'm not familiar with the setup you described, but does that adapter have some sort of iris control built into it?  I have the adapter pictured below and it doesn't allow the BMPCC to adjust the aperture of the lens, which means I need to use the iris control to adjust the amount of light getting let into the camera.

The vignetting is caused by how the iris inside the adapter functions. When you close the iris, to restrict the light entering the camera, it also has the side-effect of creating a vignette.  This is the main reason I stopped using the BMPCC and went back to using the regular BMCC, because I don't have any MFT lenses.

no, arrib to mft adapter doesn't have IRIS control inside. photo

@SergeyP. thanks for the info.  I'm not sure what the issue is then, sorry!


text:
Software used for this slideshow/animation?
could someone please tell me what software could have been used to create this slideshow/animation? Could they have used a template?
http://media.boxstudios.com/17096_art_na_stills_paper_29_12_b_web_mp4_3ip.mp4

Software you could do that effect with:

Adobe After Effects
Blackmagic Fusion
Nuke
Autodesk Toxik
Autodesk Flame
Autodesk Smoke
Adobe Premiere Pro
Apple Final Cut Pro and Final Cut X
Avid Media Composer
Avid Symphony
Corel video Studio
Magix Movie Edit Pro
Lightworks
Sony Vegas
Natron
KDEnlive
Avisynth
Cinelerra
Pitivi
FFMPEG (given enough time)
Blender
Lightwave
3D studio Max
Autodesk Maya
Cinema 4d
Photoshop (yes, really)
the Gimp (ditto)
Processing (if you're handy with java)
OpenFrameworks (ditto, but C++)
many more… Pretty much any compositing, visual effects or 3D animation application, and most NLEs could do it

Could they have used a template: yes.


text:
Is it possible to use a matte pass in photoshop video editing?
I rendered out some passes in a 3d program and was wondering if I could use photoshop's video editing to composite them. Is there any way to use a matte pass to restrict the visibility of some video layers?


text:
how to get vdpau hardware acceleration using ffmpeg?
I am developing a multimedia player using ffmpeg. I am trying hard to get hardware acceleration through ffmpeg using vdpau hardware accelerator. I didn't get any success so far. Below I have mentioned details of my system specs, software and the error of the ffmpeg command line tool. Please feel free to comment if you need further information. Any quick suggestions will be greatly helpful.

Here is my system hardware specification:
Processor: Intel® Core™ i5-4570 CPU @ 3.20GHz × 4
Graphis: GeForce GTX 750 Ti/PCIe/SSE2
Os: Ubuntu-14.04 64bit
Memory: 8GiB

Software:
ffmpeg-2.8.1
other useful logs:
1. Find enable hw accelerator in ffmpeg
./ffmpeg -hwaccels

ffmpeg version 2.8.1 Copyright (c) 2000-2015 the FFmpeg developers
  built with gcc 4.8 (Ubuntu 4.8.4-2ubuntu1~14.04.3)
  configuration: --enable-shared
  libavutil      54. 31.100 / 54. 31.100
  libavcodec     56. 60.100 / 56. 60.100
  libavformat    56. 40.101 / 56. 40.101
  libavdevice    56.  4.100 / 56.  4.100
  libavfilter     5. 40.101 /  5. 40.101
  libswscale      3.  1.101 /  3.  1.101
  libswresample   1.  2.101 /  1.  2.101
Hardware acceleration methods:
vdpau

2. Hw accel decoding using ffmpeg
./ffmpeg -hwaccel vdpau -i /tmp/test.mp4 /tmp/test.ts
Error log:

libva info: VA-API version 0.35.0
libva info: va_getDriverName() returns 0
libva info: Trying to open /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/dri/nvidia_drv_video.so
libva info: va_openDriver() returns -1

3.Command: lspci -vnn | grep -i VGA -A 12

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation GM107 [GeForce GTX 750 Ti] [10de:1380] (rev a2) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
    Subsystem: ZOTAC International (MCO) Ltd. Device [19da:288a]
    Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 48
    Memory at f6000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M]
    Memory at e0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
    Memory at f0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=32M]
    I/O ports at e000 [size=128]
    [virtual] Expansion ROM at f7000000 [disabled] [size=512K]
    Capabilities:
    Kernel driver in use: nvidia

01:00.1 Audio device [0403]: NVIDIA Corporation Device [10de:0fbc] (rev a1)
    Subsystem: ZOTAC International (MCO) Ltd. Device [19da:288a]

According to here, "you may need to set the LIBVA_DRIVER_NAME environment variable to vdpau"

Hi Mulvya, I tried setting LIBVA_DRIVER_NAME variable but issue still exists. Since /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/dri/vdpau_drv_video.so library is missing, it is coming out with error.

I am able to get the hw-acceleration working through ffmpeg using Nvidia graphics card. I just thoroughly followed the steps described here.
Hw Acceleratoin guide


text:
Premiere Pro is not allowing any objects to be dragged to timeline
Premiere Pro is not allowing any objects (I have tried titles, video and audio) to the timeline. When I drag it over, it comes up with a closed hand with a crossed circle. I already have media, but now I can't add any more. No layers are locked. I haven't changed any options. Help? Me and my teacher could not figure it out.

What version of Premiere pro are you using? Are you sure you have created a sequence? Can you add a screenshot?

Where premiere allows you to drop or insert clip depends on on Source patching and Track targeting. Basically, you can only drop clips into a track that has Source patching turned on in the track header.
You also cannot drop clips onto tracks that are Locked

This video explains these features in more detail:

It's not a solution, but rather a workaround. I created a new sequence and dragged the existing sequence into the new one. I can't say why the other one doesn't work, I have no idea.


text:
What Options Are There for Importing Mini DV and Hi-8 Tapes to Thunderbolt?
So, it looks like FireWire is dead, and, along with it, all those FireWire ports on Mini DV cams and A/D converters from the 2000's.  So what options exist today for getting Mini DV and Hi-8 tape footage into Macs that only have Thunderbolt (and USB)?

Well for MiniDV, you want to find yourself should budget permit, the Canopus ADVC Conversion Unit. It is by far the best realtime hardware (external small box about the size of a VHS tape), that will allow you to on the fly input in HDMI, FW-400/800 and component video and output over HDMI or FW.  (So it's flexible).
The encoder is handsdown leaps and bounds better than any of the cheap capture cards, and even the BlackMagic pocket adapters.
Hi8 Tape is Analog, unless it's Digital8. In which case you'll need to capture via Analog, and output via HDMI into your Mac. If your Mac supports HDMI capture, that will work, or you can buy an inexpensive BlackMagic h264 ProCoder to handle the input.
You will still need source decks. The Canopus box I mentioned, (which is no longer made) you might find on eBay (I found my 2nd one there). It also supports HDV, the high-definition mini-dv format, with virtually zero loss in quality (visually).
Other than that- you are going to have to set up a DeckLink card (really the only "better cheapest easiest" option in terms of a one card fits all.
You might be able to get a DeckLink card which handles all the input types you need (they have a lot of models, which differ in what they allow in/out). I'm guessing around $1500.
Then connect your decks, and capture.
As for Thunderbolt. I am sure the newest DeckLink cards support it (I would think), but will be very pricey if they even do.
My advice, either find the Canopus box I mentioned, or get a H264 ProCoder by BlackMagic; pair it with the appropriate BlackMagic converters ($300 each) to get your deck to feed to the ProCoder (Which only takes HD-SDI in), and then capture over USB 3.0. EDIT:  The newest ProCoder may accept HDMI in/out... I'd look at BM's website to see what their current lineup offers.
Hope this helps.

They sure don't make it easy these days. I remember that Canopus converter. Somebody I knew had that back in the day. If only I could remember who! I still have an old Formac A/D unit and an old Mac I might be able to import with. I gave up on Macs a few years back but was trying to help my sister get footage off her Mini DV cam (she has only Thunderbolt on her iMac). Secondarily I was curious what my options for Windows (Premiere) importing be will be when I get around to it. I have tons of Hi-8 and Mini DV tapes. Good info!

Our production studio abandoned the Mac line a decade ago. Apple makes toys. iPhones, iShuffles, iPods, Watches and the like, that doesnt mean their computers dont work. They use the Intel chipsets now. But their architecture is totally not geared toward "real power".   - In terms of windows; Premiere can capture off basically any 1394 FW Capture card. For analog, you'll need a DA converter. I have some Canopus DV Storm2 cards I'm getting ready to sell. The DV Storm2 is a unique system; in that- you can simutaneously capture 3 streams of FW / Analog at the same time. Provided you have 3 decks.

I'd recommend looking for one of those, and throwing it in an older XP system. You will get rock solid 3 stream capture with the Storm2 (that has the extra break out box). Meaning you can capture 3 tapes at once, which is a huge time saver. If you're interested let me know, They are scarce on ebay but you can try there first.

Maybe I missed something but I use the FireWire/Thunderbolt adaptor and the cable that fits my old DV cameras. Works for live input from the old Firewire400 iSights too.

FireWire's not dead, it just needs an adapter. Your gear will connect fine over Thunderbolt.
https://www.apple.com/ca/shop/product/MD464LL/A/apple-thunderbolt-to-firewire-adapter
I use a FW400 to FW800 plug and the Apple Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter to have deck/transport control of my MiniDV Sony camera from the Mac. Works well in El Capitan.
Most of the time it's handling a daisy chain of external FireWire drives.


text:
Converting a Video from 1600 * 1200 to 1200 * 900
I have a video in the format of 1600 * 1200.
I want to convert this video into 1200 * 900.
I have done this with handbrake, but the first 10 seconds of the video is black and scrambled.
Is there a way to convert the video correctly with handbrake or can I do this differently ?
UPDATE
When I play the converted video the first time with "Windows Media Player" the first 10 seconds are not visible correct. If I replay the same video in the same "Windows Media Player" session it shows up correctly also the first 10 seconds.

Try another player such as VLC media player and see if it plays back normally there. Windows Media Player is terrible

It's the player, not the video.

Use ffmpeg with -vf scale=1200:900 option. For example
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf scale=1200:900 -c:a copy output.mp4

I havent used it in ages... but the paid version of Quicktime (I think there still is one - Quicktime Pro; it was about $20) actually had a pretty decent arsenal of rendering options, including scaling, matting, cropping, etc.
It did, at the time a year or two back, a MUCH better job than VLC. Worth the $20, which is a one time fee, and upgrades are free.

The easy but long way is using editing softwares i.e. Import the file and then export it. I will suggest Sony Vegas Pro any version you can use other paid video editing softwares too.
For open source video editing softwares you have: blender
For full featured trial version: NCH videopad (very simple and bad) : I don't recommend it tho.


text:
By which software/website this animated video was created?
I'm looking for a software or online website that creates animated videos that supports the integration of a business logo.
Example - Facebook Video
I found many online services that create animated videos similar to this but with slightly lower quality. So I'd appreciate it if anyone could tell what is the name of the software or the website this page uses for creating their animated videos.

As for video editing, this is pretty straightforward. The frame and the flowers are simply an image that has an alpha channel applied to it to make the contents of the frame opaque. The images in the frame are static (as in not animated) images with crossfade transition (as well as a static background image). You can do this with pretty much any video editing software.
As for the illustrations, I'm pretty sure they were created with Adobe Illustrator (or any other vector graphics software). While the editing for this video is super easy and can be done by anyone, I would recommend you hire a professional illustrator if you want to create something similar but don't have experience in that area (and don't want to have to rely on stock images/illustrations).


text:
Stabilize Video Rotation
How would I go about "stabilizing" a video's rotation using freeware / opensourceware?
Please also name that piece of freeware / opensourceware.

Obviously, I do not want to rotate each frame of the video by hand.
See link below for an example of what I mean (65 844 bytes)
http://s000.tinyupload.com/?file_id=08971816374946938459

Blender has a video stabilization feature based on its camera tracker.  Here is a YouTube tutorial on how to use this feature to stabilize a hand-held video:

Well "technically" you could google the download page for Adobe CS6 Production Premium - which includes After Effects.
It allows a free un-restricted 30 day trial.
Import your footage into either Premiere, or preferably After Effects. Apply the Animation Effect "Warp Stabilizer".
It does an amazing job.
But you'll only get 30 days until the software expires or you enter a serial.


text:
How to create a loop with fractal noise in AE , (offset turbulence )?
I'm trying to create a loop for footage (fog), however could only create through loop "evolution options," looked tutorials on the internet, but none teaches how to create a loop using the "offset turbulence", anyone have any idea how create this loop with evolution and offset turbulence?
It is this animation, only in loop, following example:

Notes. I created the effect of fog, just can not create the same in order to create a loop with no breaks when it restarts
Sorry for the bad English, yet I do not speak this language

I found a way to loop , follow the solution to those who are interested or have the same problem
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V55hA573yRY#
The solution in this 57:07 - Fog Fractal

Related: http://video.stackexchange.com/a/15816/6685


text:
Where to store common media files for Premiere Pro
New to PP and can't for the life of me find the best way to store common media files such as logos or commonly used video clips. Granted, I can just have a common folder for all of this, but these files are also stored on a NAS and used by others. I can set it up on my machine but other users might have the drive mapped with a different letter.
Is there a best practice for this? Right now the only thing I can seem to do is just copy the files to every new project directory.

What exactly is your situation? Sounds like your approach with one common media folder would work if you didn't cooperate with others. So am I correct to assume that you are working with other people on one project that is stored on an NAS along with the media files? Also what version of premiere are you using?

Yeah, the problem is that the projects are shared with others. I'm using whatever the latest Premiere is (since it's just the subscription now).

In that case, I would suggest you just store your media files on your NAS, it doesn't really matter if it has different drive letters on different computers. For a while now (I think since one of the 2015 CC updates) Premiere Pro remembers the last 10 media locations and automatically searches offline media when opening a project. So if you have less than ten people working on the project, it should reconnect the media automatically whenever one of you opens the project, after everyone has linked it manually for the first time after starting the project.

Can you not get whoever is using the machines to all map the shared drive to the same letter? That's what we do where I work.


text:
How to decide where to place and what zoom to use for a camera
We have a lecture hall (diagram below) that holds about 200 attendees.  The speaker stands or sits on an elevated platform in the middle of the room and the attendees make a semi-circle around him.  We recently added an option for attendees to connect to the lecture remotely using GoToMeeting.  To do this, we added a laptop (2) to the room and ran wires to the sound box (1).  We have a simple webcam on a stand beside the speaker (3).  The problem is, we get a really bad angle on the speaker with this setup!
We want a new solution where we'll be able to see the entire speaker's platform on the video.  This will allow the speaker to move around without going off screen.  We also want a straight shot at him.  I thought we could put a camera in the back of the room (6) and connect it to the laptop with a long cable.

Would a traditional USB webcam get a clear picture of the speaker at that distance?  (It's about 30 feet from the speaker's platform to the back)
Could I use some kind of zoom lens to compensate for the distance?  Would that distort the picture?
Is there a better place to put the camera to accomplish this goal?

The sound box.  Has the mixer, amplifier, wireless mic receiver, etc
Laptop running GoToMeeting.
Stand on the speakers platform with a monitor and webcam for the remote attendees.
The internet connection
The wirelss mic
Suggested new camera position

You're on the right track. Your set looks okay to me and that's probably what I would do. But, no, there is no webcam I've ever seen that would be a good fit for this. You need a proper camera and possibly some additional hardware and software to assist in the upstream process.
I believe you can best accomplish what you want with a consumer grade camera. There are plenty of consumer grade camcorders that also have an optical zoom at 10x or higher, and they are fairly cheap too (I assume budget/time is tight, hence the webcam/gotomeeting solution). I would get something with at least 10x optical zoom. Completely ignore digital zoom specs and if you can, turn it off in whatever camcorder you get.
It seems there are camcorders out now that can send the video signal over USB, for exactly this purpose. I've never use that, however, and it may not work that well with Gotomeeting. I would use a camcorder with an HDMI out, then incorporate an HDMI to USB hardware option, which should be able to connect to Gotomeeting as if it were a webcam. There's several hardware recommendation found here.
You will also need to change to location of some of your set. First, I would move the sound box and the laptop running GoToMeeting to the back with the camera (item six on your diagram). Whenever possible, always put all tech in the same location: "The tech table". The primary reason is the ease for your techs to manage the equipment. The secondary reason is the lines. USB and HDMI can't run very far without additional hardware, also longer runs means more work, more expense, more risk, etc.
Here's your new diagram:

For this set, you will need:

Camcorder as previously discussed
Tripod that moves nicely
HDMI to USB converter as previously discussed
HDMI and USB wires
At least one tech managing mostly the camera, plus the other hardware.

If budget and time are not big factors here, I would consider adding one or two more cameras, possibly reposition the original camera, and add a video mixer. In this kind of audience set, called "arena", a dynamic speaker will tend to turn frequently and rapidly to address and engage all the attendees. This means he will be facing your camera less than half the time, which makes for a boring and unengaging shot for your remote attendees. Adding one or two more cameras would significantly increase your set complexity and cost, however, it would add a level of professionalism that is worth it if you have the budget, time, and space. Consider this resource that discusses specifically using multiple cameras for Gotomeeting.
Here is a diagram for that, where 7 and 8 are cameras and 9 is a video mixer:

For this set you will need much more:

3 Camcorders as previously discussed
3 Tripod that moves nicely
3 HDMI to USB converters as previously discussed
HDMI and USB wires
HDMI extenders. There's several varieties, discussion of which is too much for this answer.
Video mixer, some of which are discussed in the resource link.
At least 4 techs managing mostly the cameras:

One for each camera
One managing the video mixer

It total, I would say this set would cost 5 to ten times more than the first set, most of that being labor.
Source
I work for a company that does this all the time. If you need professional help with content production you can find information in my profile.

Thanks for such a thorough answer!  What's the advantage to using an HDMI to USB converter instead of pluggin the camera's USB directly in to the computer?

@just.another.programmer For me, familiarity with a proven method. If you find a camcorder that claims to stream the video over usb, then feel free to try it. It probably will work, but I would personally check that it will work with whatever software you plan on using (Gotomeeting).

HD TV is almost a 2:1 aspect ratio.  You want about 3' of vertical (mid-chest to above head) and thus almost 6' of horizontal field of view (f.o.v.).  To get 6' fov at 30' you need about an 11 degree field of view.  Which is like a 200mm lens in 35mm photography or a 100mm lens for m43.  For tiny, 1/3 inch sensors, you need a 25mm lens.

Could you explain the math you used to calculate these numbers?

The first part of the math is basic trigonometry: one can calculate an angle knowing an altitude (distance to the subject) and the base (one half the width of the subject) of a right triangle.  The hypotenuse is the square root of the sum of the squares of the altitude and the base (Pythagorian Theorem).  The sin of the angle is the opposite (base) over the hypotenuse, so the angle is the arcsin of the opposite over the hypotenuse.

The second part of the math is using a resource that tells you field of view for a given lens using a given image format.  If a given lens has a 46 degree field of view and you calculate you need an 11 degree field of view, then you need a lens that's approximately 4x the focal length of the given lens.


text:
Missing media prompt top box is missing. Have no idea what it's asking for
For some reason the dialogue for the missing media looks like this:

The top is missing. I don't know what media it's referring to which is a huge problem. How would one fix this? Restarting the program and the computer doesn't do anything.

Is this the only clip that is missing? If so, can you offline the clip, then look into your project to see what's missing. Even if there are multiple clips, you can just offline all, go into the project monitor, you can sort by status in the last column:
After you sort, right click on each clip that is offline, then click on link media.
Assuming you remember what clip you want when you right click, even if it won't give you the clip, you'll know what you're replacing.


text:
How to export maximum quality in minimum size
I want to export (i'm using premiar / edius ) video at maximum quality but my target size have to be maximum 400 mb (the movie length its about 40 min. ) and if it can be lower then 400 mb its even better.
what is the best way to export the movie so its will be quality and steel in a minimum size?
(by quality i want something Hd or more if its possible , if not so the most quality i can get in this size target)

You will want to use the H.264 codec, as it has one of the best quality/filesize-ratios of all the codecs out there. For this codec, your file size (and consequently it's quality) is mainly determined by the bitrate settings.
Let's do the math:
40 min = 2400 sec
400 MB = 3200 Mb (Megabit)
3200 Mb / 2400 sec = **1.33 Mb/s**

So you can set your Maximum Bitrate to 1,33 Mbps and the Target Bitrate to the same value or slightly below that. Make sure to change your Bitrate Encoding to VBR, 2 pass for best results (this will take longer than exporting with 1 pass though). This is already quite low, with these settings you will probably get significant artifacts in your video. However, Youtube uses an even lower bitrate for it's video encoding (at least up to Full HD, not sure about 4k), so you could argue that people are used to it anyway. The amount of quality loss also depends on how much entropy (that is, small particles et c.) is in your video, watch this for an explanation.

If you set the target & max bitrates to the same value, you've nullified their use - and the point of 2-pass VBR. The bitrate is not "variable" anymore, and the 2nd pass' analysis won't be used for much. Might as well do a 1-pass CBR.

First, you meant 400MB, not 400mb.
It is extremely small for a 40-minute video. Probably best to lower the resolution to something like 480p.
Use 2-pass VBR, set the target bitrate to 1.33Mbps, that will ensure a 400MB file size. The max depends on whatever the playback systems can handle, and the video's content. In this case, without knowing those variables, I'd guess you can set it to 4Mbps and reap benefits from that.


text:
What is the difference between mov, mpeg, and dnx hd formats?
I recently was trying to get some old videos converted to digital and a company listed several file formats: Film Rescue PDF. It stated that one can convert video into .mov, .mpeg, or dnx hd formats. I was wondering which of these formats might have the the best quality in terms of being non-lossy ceteris paribus (all other factors being the same). Would anyone have any input? Thanks!

MOV is a container i.e. a wrapper for media streams, and doesn't identify the video codec of the stream wrapped inside.
MPEG refers to a set of standards and could refer to MPEG-1 (from 1980s) or MPEG-2 (DVDs or many TV broadcast streams) or MPEG-4 Part 2 (Xvid, DivX..) or Part 10 (H.264 / AVC). Of the MPEG standards, the last one is the latest and best at preserving quality for a given file size.
DNxHD is a proprietary codec by Avid used as an intermediate format for editing on their systems. DNxHD streams are usually stored in MOV or MXF.
Just going by the bare information here, I'd say DNxHD will offer the best quality but also the largest file sizes and playback compatibility isn't broad. Depending on the video codec used in MOV, say, PNG or MJPEG (likely), that may be the best option in terms of quality and compatibility but you should get details first.


text:
x265 encoding test: 12bit results a bigger file size than 8bit of the same config?
Just got curious of this x265 HEVC format, and tried it on a 1920x1080i BDMV stream video, one encoded with 8bit depth and then another encoded with 12bit depth. The results are, the 8bit output was smaller. Both outputs are 1280x720.
I wonder why is this so.
Here are the MediaInfo:
8bit:
Frame rate                     : 23.976 fps
Color space                    : YUV
Chroma subsampling             : 4:2:0
Bit depth                      : 8 bits
Writing library                : x265 1.9+54-291beccb6760:[Windows][GCC 5.3.0][64 bit] 8bit+10bit+12bit
Encoding settings              : wpp / ctu=64 / min-cu-size=8 / max-tu-size=32 / tu-intra-depth=2 / tu-inter-depth=2 / me=3 / subme=3 / merange=57 / rect / amp / max-merge=3 / temporal-mvp / no-early-skip / rdpenalty=0 / no-tskip / no-tskip-fast / strong-intra-smoothing / no-lossless / no-cu-lossless / no-constrained-intra / no-fast-intra / open-gop / no-temporal-layers / interlace=0 / keyint=250 / min-keyint=23 / scenecut=40 / rc-lookahead=30 / lookahead-slices=4 / bframes=8 / bframe-bias=0 / b-adapt=2 / ref=4 / limit-refs=2 / limit-modes / weightp / weightb / aq-mode=1 / qg-size=32 / aq-strength=1.00 / cbqpoffs=0 / crqpoffs=0 / rd=6 / psy-rd=2.00 / rdoq-level=2 / psy-rdoq=1.00 / no-rd-refine / signhide / deblock / sao / no-sao-non-deblock / b-pyramid / cutree / no-intra-refresh / rc=crf / crf=18.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / ipratio=1.40 / pbratio=1.30
12bit:
Frame rate                     : 23.976 fps
Color space                    : YUV
Chroma subsampling             : 4:2:0
Bit depth                      : 12 bits
Writing library                : x265 1.9+194-6d3849d648f0be5a:[Windows][GCC 5.3.0][64 bit] 12bit: KG7x [x265.ru]
Encoding settings              : wpp / ctu=64 / min-cu-size=8 / max-tu-size=32 / tu-intra-depth=2 / tu-inter-depth=2 / me=3 / subme=3 / merange=57 / rect / amp / max-merge=3 / temporal-mvp / no-early-skip / recursion-skip / rdpenalty=0 / no-tskip / no-tskip-fast / strong-intra-smoothing / no-lossless / no-cu-lossless / no-constrained-intra / no-fast-intra / open-gop / no-temporal-layers / interlace=0 / keyint=250 / min-keyint=23 / scenecut=40 / rc-lookahead=30 / lookahead-slices=4 / bframes=8 / bframe-bias=0 / b-adapt=2 / ref=4 / limit-refs=2 / limit-modes / weightp / weightb / aq-mode=1 / qg-size=32 / aq-strength=1.00 / cbqpoffs=0 / crqpoffs=0 / rd=6 / psy-rd=2.00 / rdoq-level=2 / psy-rdoq=1.00 / no-rd-refine / signhide / deblock=0:0 / sao / no-sao-non-deblock / b-pyramid / cutree / no-intra-refresh / rc=crf / crf=18.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / ipratio=1.40 / pbratio=1.30

Why would you expect the 12-bit to be smaller? Higher bit-depth = more bits to store. Now, for certain materials like animation with flat colors or smooth gradients, you can compress it better, but does not apply in general.

I also fail to see the reasoning here, 8bit has less information than 12bit thus making 12bit bigger, even simple maths can answer this without having to go through the whole encoding / compression process

So is it safe to assume that compression would've worked better on higher CRF, and it depends on sample videos since some might have grain, some might have more high motion than others therefore I couldn't utilize the compression algorithms efficiently and instead just compromised the data size for no apparent compression gains?

Yes, you are not gaining anything from expanding an 8-bit source to 12-bit. I would suggest using this source to play around with the encoder: https://mango.blender.org/

Just wanted to clarify that this is true for 265 only. 264 video will benefit from bit expansion. See discussion here

@AdamMannPro: that kind of simple math doesn't work for lossy codecs that quantize anyway before feeding data to an entropy coder.  See my answer.  The answer to the file-size question has everything to do with x265's CRF ratecontrol behaviour, and very little to do with whether 12-bit x265 is better, equal, or worse quality per bitrate when converted back to 8-bit.

crf=18 rate-control produces bigger files in 12-bit mode.  If you're trying to find some encode settings that work well for some content, you shouldn't assume that the same CRF at different bit depths is going to be the same.  (Either the same SSIM or the same perceptual visual quality).
You haven't said anything about quality, or quality-per-filesize.  Presumably the bigger files also look a bit better, since 12-bit x265 has about the same quality per bitrate as 8-bit x265.  (I've tested with 10 vs. 8, but not with 12).
CRF is not an exact target-quality setting.  So if you want to compare settings, use 2pass with the same bitrate for both and look at quality.  Use either SSIM or preferably human visual inspection.  (Some people like to pause/zoom, but don't just do that.  Some kinds of artifacts / distortion are noticeable when the video is playing, but many are a lot less noticeable.  Pause/zoom helps when checking your visual impression of "sharpness" / "more detail", so figure out what was giving you that impression, and maybe also other things to look for to see if you can still notice them while playing the video.)
For actual encodes once you find settings that you like, CRF is great, but it's no good for comparing the quality-per-bitrate of different encode settings.

8-bit vs. 10/12-bit
There may still be some gains in compression efficiency for x265, but they're definitely smaller if they exist at all.  10 or 12-bit might even look a tiny bit worse.  See discussion on doom9, linked by Michael in a comment.  I haven't followed the latest discussions, so I'm not sure what the current consensus is on 10-bit x265 for 8-bit video.  Even if there is a small gain, it may not be worth the speed penalty.
It's definitely nowhere near a factor of 12/8 like some commenters are suggesting based on "simple math".  A lossy video codec like h.265 isn't very similar to simple lossless compression like ZIP.
x264 does benefit in general from running in 10-bit mode even when the original source is 8-bit, and so is the final display (but again, you shouldn't expect the same CRF to give the same bitrate or the same quality at different depths).  8-bit h.265 has higher-precision motion vectors than 8-bit h.264, so that part of the reasoning doesn't apply to x265.
Remember that both h.264 and h.265 store the information in the video as quantized frequency-domain coefficients.  With trellis / rdoq, it even tweaks the quantization to compress well with the final entropy-coder (e.g. CABAC in h.264), so the same number of bits can represent the same amount of information, whether the entropy-coder had 8-bit or 12-bit input.  8-bit is in some ways just a speed-hack.
More bits means that you can get closer (smaller error) while still having some error.  So the encoder has more choice when trading off distortion vs. bitrate.  This may be partly why 10-bit x264 suffers less from "banding" artifacts in gradients: it has more choice in representing the DC coefficient, or in having small values in the AC coefficients.

The higher the input bit-depth (for a given output bitrate), the more bits the encoder has to throw away.  A lot of those extra bits are zeros if your original video was 8-bit.  (Lossy encoding already throws away a lot of bits, like from 12 bpp per frame (for YUV 4:2:0 chroma-sub-sampling with 8-bit components) down to 0.15 bits/pixel/frame and still look pretty close to visually transparent, especially at high resolutions where typical video has its information content distributed over more pixels.)
If you're going to rescale, presumably going to 10 or 12-bit before rescaling will let the rescale blend pixels with less loss of information.  (e.g. a 10-bit value can exactly store the average of four 8-bit values.)


text:
Video player that has a cross dissolve option when changing the clip
so I need a Video Player, that can change Videoclips, using cross dissolve or overlay. It will be used by a DJ and he would like to be able to switch the Videos live by himself but not having any hard cut.
Do you have any ideas?
Thanks

The functionality you seek is standard for a item called a Video Switcher.  Video switchers can be found as both standalone units (low-end to 4K broadcast) and as software (also low-end to high-end).  In the latter case, the computer running the switcher needs video I/O functionality, which typically requires adding one or more special cards (video I/O is different than a graphics card driving a computer monitor).


text:
How do high-speed film cameras work?
In Wikipedia's high speed camera page, there was this thing 'High-speed film cameras can film up to a quarter of a million frames per second by running the film over a rotating prism or mirror instead of using a shutter...'
There was no other info about this. So, can someone explain me this prism or mirror thing... with a diagram?

A normal film camera has a mechanism for stopping the film in the gate every frame while the shutter is open, then when the shutter closes pulling down the next frame, stopping it, exposing it, and so on. If the film isn't perfectly still while the shutter is open the image will be blurred.
To do this with high speed film is impractical, the forces involved in pulling down the next frame in 1/500,000th of a second and bringing it to a dead stop would simply destroy any film you could put in it. So in a high speed camera the film doesn't stop, instead there is a rotating prism, as stated in the article. The prism bends the incoming light as it rotates, and it does so in a way that the image follows the frame of film as it passes through the camera.
A good article explaining it here, this illustration in particular:

In this illustration the frame of film would be on the right side, moving downwards, following the spot of light.
The reverse of this can be seen in a Steenbeck editing machine that also uses a rotating prism to hold the image on the screen steady while the film moves continuously through the viewer.

There are also high speed cameras that use whats called a platter - think a large plate like wheel, with the film (a single layer) wrapped around the outside. The entire wheel is enclosed in darkness, sometimes so much as in a vacuum space to reduce both dust and friction of air/heat that would build up. The wheel is then rotated, using a high speed motor and perhaps a basic transmission, spinning up to a very very high RPM. And then the gate/shutter is opened. These cameras can achieve ridiculous speeds, the downside is they only record perhaps a few hundred frames a most. But that is suffice, for say capturing somthing like a bullet exiting a gun... triggering the timing of the camera to the event is the difficult part. Because in real time, the camera only records for a very short time, think 1/2000th of a second of "real time". But you have as a result, 300 frames which represent 1/2000 of a second. 300x2000 = 600,000 FPS  The cameras that do 1 Million plus, which actually capture light traveling across a room as in, light turns on you can see the light actually move across the room. That is a whole different technology, where by they actually take millions of executions, separately, triggering the camera to record a frame in steps of 1/1M of a second later each time.


text:
How to achieve this type of transition?
I've been looking everywhere to try to figure this out. I am trying to figure out how to make a video transition where the background changes before everything else. Is this just done with a mask?
https://instagram.com/p/BF-K-V5ges1/

Yes. It's a very fast transition so depending on the footage you can also try using a luma key or some kind of color key for a rough matte. Your favorite software package is?

According to the comments on that page, it is rotoscoped - which is (from Wikipedia)

the technique of manually creating a matte for an element on a live-action plate so it may be composited over another background.


text:
Color Grading in Adobe premiere elements
I recently started to film with my drone(phantom 4). I read somewhere that it was recommended to use some "flat" preset, like D-Log or D-cinelike, which I did.
Now I've very flat video, and I've some hard time to find how I can easily restore the color back on adobe premiere elements(which I'm using over adobe premiere pro because of the dynamic titles).
Can someone explain how to restore the colors easily?
I found severals things(tridirectional color corrector), but I can't find how to bring nice colors back.
I was able to do such things with Adobe lightroom for pictures, by adjusting the histogram to have it filling the whole spectrum, adjusting low/light, saturation and that's it, but here I cannot find how to do it?
Thank you very much

The easiest way would be to use 3 way color corrector.
Do a first pass color correction to get it to a standard look.
Then do a 2nd pass within the same filter (lower down on the filter) to grade.
Or get Resolve (paid version), or Color Finesse, which is also very good.

Hi, I just saw the lumetri effect, which seems to be a much easier way of doing things. Is there something that I can not do with it but with the 3 way color corrector? About resolve, what is the difference between the paid and free version? Do you still use adobe premiere or not at all?

The 3 Way Color Corrector will accomplish what you are trying to do, without using a X-Rite, color cards, or resolve. You need to read up on basic color correction, and then grading. They are two separate passes on your video. You first want to get your video to what you would consider "base". Meaning- this is how it should look with video. Then you can grade. The codec from the GoPro is limited, as it's compression is I believe 4:2:0, so theres only so much room to grade. But - the easiest way to get a decent image:  Increase Contrast. Increase Saturation. Then Apply an S-Curve.

Read up on adding an S-Curve to your video footage using the curves effect. You can add the curve to the master channel or any of the RGB channels respectively. But it's more than I can type here, and there are many videos online on youtube, and google, if you just search S-Curve Video Premiere. You'll find plenty of how-to pages on how its done. The video out of the go-pro is flat for a reason. The reason it's flat is so the blacks arent crushed and the highlights arent blown out. The limited gamut allows you to expand it to your taste in post.

Thank you very much. But can you just tell me the difference between the lumetri and the 3 way corrector? For me it seems the result could be the same, only the way to do it was different? (Ps, with my Phantom 4, it's not a GoPro but a Phantom camera(sony I think).

Im honestly not familiar with lumetri... Heres a very very down and dirty CC I did to show how using just RGB curves, next, HSL, last Video Limiter, changes it from flat to descent. It could be much much better. I just grabbed the photo off the internet. But the curves, specifically the luma (white) and adding the S curve I added, will make your video pop. Hope this helps.   LINK TO ALBUM OF FILTERS AND BEFORE AFTER:  http://imgur.com/a/Gd0rD

Nice this helps me a lot. I've to take some lessons on how to do such things, but the issue with youtube video is that you have 10 different explanation for the same thing.What is the "Video Limiter"?


text:
How to repair a corrupted .mts video?
I've got hold of some .mts video files from work, the source is unknown so there is no hardware recovery option. Unfortunately I'm left with these files and they seem to be corrupted, how do I fix it?

Which players have you tried?

VLC, flash I even tried importing it into Final Cut Pro everything failed.


text:
Manfrotto quick release on Dolica ball head?
I'm considering buying a dolica tripod with ball head, and my question is if the dolica ball head will accept manfrotto quick release plates. I figure it probably won't, so is there any any adapter that will make it work? How do you guys deal with quick relases and different platforms?


text:
Final Cut Pro X Sharing to DVD 66% error? Slideshow compression?
I created a Slideshow in Final Cut Pro X.  I need to burn a DVD, I need to upload to YOUTUBE and I need to put on a jump drive.  I can export to Master File, however when I try to burn to DVD it only burns to 66% and stops.  I tried to "Add" background before burn to get it work to no avail.  The Slideshow is majority photos with very small small video at the end.  Specs are 720/42:22 minutes/42.4GB.  I just downloaded Wondershare video converter and feel perhaps I got ripped as it it stating conversion to 3.1gb will is taking 200 minutes.  I need help.  Any suggestions on how I can get this to burn to DVD, bypass 66% error, or compress smaller?

Open Activity Monitor. I found that every time share (from fcpx) hangs @ 66% the app "DSPPublishing Server" wasn't responding. Look down the list of active Process Names and manually terminate it. This should allow Create DVD to restart.

Manually force quiting "DSPPublishing Server" was exactly the case for me. I force quit it and my DVD's burn successfully, thank you!
I've had to delete this on several occasions, not sure why I have to keep doing this, but I'm satisfied that at least there is something that does the trick now. I can burn short DVD's no issues, but once I'm burning larger files such as 1.41 gb and higher, I have to go through this process.

Unfortunately the app "DSPPublishing Server" does not
exist on my iMAC running FCPX.
DVD exporting jams at 66% .. there seems to be no cure ..
Only a problem with larger files (3gb .. 1hr 20 mins)


text:
How to move clips without loosing transitions?
Any transition disappears when one of the two joined clips are moved in the timeline.
In Vegas you can reposition clips without loosing the transitions. Can this be done in Premiere as well?

The "Slide Tool" tool makes it possible to move a single clip without loosing the transition connected to another clip.

You can move two clips simultaneously, and then the transition between them will stay. If you move only one clip, how program shall understand, which clip shall keep the transition? And what kind of behavior we need to expect, if new place of the clip will not have any other clip next to it?
You can choose one transition, and remake it anywhere in your composition with shortcuts.


text:
After Effects Multiple instances hangs when rendering using PHP and Command Line
I am trying to render video from Adobe After Effects using PHP through command line. When i try to render video from After effects render Queue, i can see in Task Manager that all CPU cores are using. i have following PHP script which takes AE template file and render video.
<?php
  exec('aerender.exe -project myproject.aepx -comp "Final" -mp  -output video.mov')

 // -mp - Additional processes may be created to render multiple frames simultaneously
?>

When i execute this PHP file from command line like
php /path/to/above_script_file.php

its working fine too. All CPU cores are using and video is rendering.

BUT when i execute same script from browser using WAMP server, rendering starts, all instances get starts but suddenly close and 1 or sometimes 2 After effects instances are running but in hanged position. No memory or CPU is changing.

These are my After Effects preferences

UPDATE:
When i am trying to render using below command
    aerender -project /path/ -comp Final -mp -output out.mov
its working and using multiprocessing. but when trying to render from web app it show below error message in log file
There is an error in background rendering so switching to foreground rendering after 0 frames completed out of total 601 frames.

Message interpretation:enter link description here
The multiprocessing feature was unable to use all instances beyond a     certain point in the rendering process. This is an error that only shows     in the render log file.

You may want to try to write the output of your task to a file and tell your system to start it as a background task by adding the &:
exec('aerender.exe -project myproject.aepx -comp "Final" -mp  -output video.mov >/dev/null &')
It might also be something in your server setup, the max. memory maybe?


text:
Network video rendering
So I have a weak tablet with Windows 10 on it and a useless PC with alright specs without monitor, mouse and keyboard which I want to turn into a server in order to remotely edit and render videos on it from my Windows 10 tablet.
I discovered that network video rendering is hard to set up in latest versions of Adobe Premiere Pro or Sony Vegas Pro (which even doesnt have such option in latest versions). So I thought I could run normal desktop windows 10 on this PC and connect to it via remote desktop application which can be found in store but i doubt that it will work because the PC doesnt have monitor, keyboard and mouse, so it will be impossible even to log in the user at the startup.
OS doesnt matter as long as I will be able to remotely edit and render videos on the server from my Win10 tablet so I am just asking for an editing software that can be used the way I described above.

Google the config setup to have the computer auto-login, bypassing the login screen. You can change a setting in regedit and it will auto login to the default profile, which cannot use a password.
Over Remote Desktop, you can then control the system.
If it crashes, you'll have to do a hard reboot.

As a second option which I played with and it did work (to a point);
Is you can setup an Amazon AWS account:
Build a Workstation Render System; install all of your software; plugins;  etc. You can do your build on a simple 4 or 8 core machine; with a 2nd attached SSD drive.
Then create images of your system, and delete the system.
When you need to do major renders; or fast; you can deploy as many systems / at whatever spec setup you want (cores/ram/etc).
You'll be prompted for Adobe Serials if you're using core applications; but this is a great way to quickly and cost effectively launch 10 48 core systems in an hour or two; while uploading your trimmed project; which can all be accessed from your guest systems, and render the video in sections with tails of a few frames to piece together back on your host side.

Pick up a used server host on EBay for about $500.00 with 2 x 3GHz I5 8 core Hyperthreaded CPU's (equivalent to 32 3 GHz cores) and 128 GB RAM.  Load it up with Windows and watch the lights dim as you start rendering.
Caution: wear ear plugs. They're built for speed and reliability, but sound like jet engines.


text:
How to perfectly combine clips
Sorry if this is posted elsewhere, but I can't find it.
I'm a novice video editor. I videoed my niece's wedding. For some reason, my camera split the ceremony into 3 clips. I imported them into Premiere Pro 2015.2 (Creative Cloud) and added them to the timeline. It put them back to back to back. The problem is where it switches from one clip to the next, there's a small gap of silence noticeable in the audio (music is playing in both the spots, which compounds the problem) instead of smoothly transitioning from one clip to the next.
I've searched high and low and can't find a way to make the transition seamless (if that's even possible). Can anyone provide guidance? Remember, I'm a novice at this.
Thanks!
Kirby

First, check to make sure that neither you nor the app have created handles on your clips. Handles are a few frames at the beginning and end of a clip that are used to overlap with another clip when doing a crossfade or other transition.
If you're sure that the in and out points of the clips really are the first and last frames of each clip, then you're probably out of luck. (See below for 1 possible solution.) Why does this happen? Without knowing the camera you used, I can only guess. There are 2 reasons that cameras will break clips into smaller pieces:

U.S.E.U. Tax Code - When importing a camera from another country, if the camera can record 30 minutes or more (I think - don't quote me on the exact time), then it is considered a video recorder and is taxed at a higher rate than a still camera. To skirt this issue and keep prices low, many low-end cameras will limit their record time to 1 frame less than the minimum required to be considered a video camera. Many will even automatically create multiple clips that are no longer than the limit. Here's a link that explains it
File System Limits - Older file systems (particularly DOS's FAT file system which is used by lots of cameras) may have a maximum file size limit of either 2GB or 4GB, depending on the implementation. If your clips are long enough to be bigger than 2 or 4GB, some cameras will split the clip into multiple files automatically.

So it could be the camera auto-split for one of the above reasons. The thing is that some cameras will drop frames during the splitting of files, and when they do, there's nothing you can do to get them back. You might be able to create in-between frames using a tool like Re:Vision FX Twixtor, or a similar product.


text:
How peoples create video highlights from matches?
I want to know how peoples create those fancy highlights for a match, as match goes for over 90 minutes and highlights show every thing in just 3 to 4 minutes ... which tools or techniques are used to create those highlights ? I want to create those ones for my self and for my channel .... any one idea please share with me

By match do you mean football match or the like? You create a highlight reel by editing and perhaps make it fancier with motion graphics and music. People go to school or self study for years to learn these skills. Please be more specific.

Alot of times there is someone who tracks the game and writes down specific times. Say there was a goal at the 35 min mark, they jot down "Goal - team name - 35:26" or something related to that. Then later on they have a list of different times as well as different events (goals, saves, close shots, etc.) and choose the best ones. Then the editor opens a recording of the whole game in Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere and goes to those times, trims them quickly, add cool transitions and exports. I have experience with it and for a 3 period hockey game, I can normally edit and export in under an hour. The log file saves you from having to scrub through and find the best shots.

Creating game/match highlights really all comes down to logging the game. You need to identify the in and out times of all of the relevant plays. Depending on how many simultaneous games you are recording, how quickly you need to turn around the highlight package to air, and several other factors determine what tools you will use. If you are just working on one game and have lots of time to turn around the package, you could probably get away with creating your own Excel logging template and edit with any software. However, the more simultaneous games and the quicker you need to get to air, the more you will need specialized software. You will also need to add more thorough and accurate metadata, so that you can search to find the right shots for the highlight package.
There are sport specific logging tools that allow you to quickly build up the metadata about the shot (like this one from Dalet) and integrate with editing and asset management systems.


text:
I'd like some help with something
I'm working on a YouTube video based on a Radio Play called, "The Hitchhiker". I asked David Von Penn to use his video for my plans. enter link description here
Again, I asked him permission, and he said yes. Unfortunately, I can't get it on YouTube Video Editor. It only has creative commons, but the video is of standard YouTube license. Any suggestions?

YouTube does not offer a simple way to do this.
Your two options are:

download the video yourself using one of the numerous 3rd party tools for downloading YouTube videos
get the original from the owner


text:
After Effects : shortcut for next keyframe on current layer?
I know about the J and K shortcuts for the previous/next (visible) keyframe on the timeline.
I was wondering if there was something similar to reach the previous/next keyframe on the current layer.
Seems it exists for Flash (Animate CC) but can't find anything about it in After Effects.
Any idea ?
Thanks !

I use the Page Up/Page Down keys to jump to the past/next frame.

Yeah, but that is to reach the next frame, not keyframe...

Doesn't exist and I wish it did. I've been requesting it for as long as I've been using AE.

I don't believe there is a shortcut for this.
Here are a couple of 'near alternatives' that might help:
1. The keyframe navigator arrows on the property will jump you from one keyframe to the next on that property alone.
2. Drag the playhead while holding shift to snap to keyframes.


text:
How can I add captions to videos?
I'm looking forward a way to add captions like some media companies do, in order to inform some news or tell a story on Facebook videos. Take Futurism videos as an example: https://www.facebook.com/futurism/videos

Can you be more specific about what you are trying to do? Captions can mean different things (e.g., closed captioning and lower thirds). What type of videos? What level of professionalism? What is your target audience? How are you distributing the videos?


text:
Is there something like nvenc for free codecs (VP8/9)?
I'm new to video encoding. And I was looking at h264/265 and VP8/9.
I'd like to use VP8/9. But it seems like nobody except Google is pushing it.
I just want to know does someone else support VP8/9? Specefically is there a hardware acceleration for encoding.
And decoding VP9 on my Linux box looks very slow (when navigating in video it lags for 2sec, while vp8 is instant).

There is a hardware-accelerated VP8 encoder recently released by the University of Milan. Source and standalone binary for 64-bit Linux and  compute 3.5, 5.0 and 5.2 capable NVidia GPU cards available at https://github.com/Italtel-Unimi/libvpx
They say they have integrated the code into libav libs i.e. FFmpeg, but this hasn't been pushed into the FFmpeg master branch.

Cool! Do you know why it is not part of ffmpeg yet?

Recently released, so it has to be tested and committed into libvpx master, then their libav code will be tested and pushed into FFmpeg.


text:
AviSynth mp4 Not Supported
(Total beginner) Trying to process an MP4 file using an AviSynth script, as follows:
    DirectShowSource(inputFile, fps=25, convertfps=true, logfile=logFile)
Error message: "DirectShowSource: couldn't open file SomeFile.mp4. Cannot play back the file. The format is not supported."
The file is valid, i.e. it can be played in a video player.
Using Windows 10 64-bit, and AviSynth 2.60
How can I process this file using AviSynth?

In the end, I made it work just as posted above, by installing the Haali Media Splitter. I have seen posts by people who say that this software is needed to process MP4 files.

You'll have to use another source filter, such as FFMS2 or LSMASHSource


text:
Which DSLR to buy for best Video capture?
I would like to upgrade from a point and shoot camera to a DSLR. I would be capturing nature and wildlife with the new camera, still photos and videos. Which camera should I buy? My list includes D5300 / D5500 / D7200 / D750. Which one is the most suitable of the above considering the auto focus capability while shooting videos? Any recommendation is welcome!
Thanks in advance!

Highly recommend taking a look at the Sony lineup, particularly the A7S mk II and the just released A7R mk II (S would be better for video).
The A7S is amazing in terms of low light capability. And the A7R is unmatched in resolving power.
If all your glass is Nikon, you can get a Metabones adapter for roughly $700 which would do the job giving you a Sony to Nikon mount thats tack sharp.
While not reflex, the OLED viewfinder is superb, you really have to see it to believe how sharp it is. And the swing out monitor on the back which rotates up and down, is fantastic for doing handheld video work above head or down low.
All of the new glass that is coming out, 70-200s, L-Series, Zeiss, they are all making their lenses for Sony... the new beast in the low cost camera lineup. (Body under $5000)
A final note, most people think Reflex (SLR/DSLR) is superior to non-reflex, but in fact the opposite is usually true. Compromises must be made for the reflex mirror system and curtains, which mean the engineers must make concessions when dealing with the optics and the plane of view.
In truth, the sharpest cameras ever made, are non-reflex. The Hasselblad SuperWide is considered the sharpest lens ever designed to date (I love mine and still use it to date).  The lack of a reflex finder isnt really an issue as it's wide. With todays digital backs, and a led viewing system- it's really the way to go.

Based on your question, specifically the part about autofocus (a must for nature and wildlife), I would recommend Canon's 5D Mark IV or their more affordable 80D.
The 80D might even be a better choice with the crop sensor as you'll likely be farther away from your subjects than other situations. Additionally, wildlife/nature shooting usually offers a lot of light so the full-frame sensor isn't as big of an advantage.
Both offer excellent video capabilities with their stellar dual-pixel autofocus that locks on subjects cleanly when shooting video.
I do agree with Martin's response above and mirrorless cameras are the way of the future.
However, the problem is right now there aren't a heck of a lot of mirrorless bodies on the market that are capable of providing reliable AF for video.
Here's a reference article to give you more insight on using DSLRs for video: https://thetechreviewer.com/tech-tips/what-is-the-best-dslr-for-video/


text:
Batch encode to X265 on the Mac
I need to encode thousands of MP4 H264 (mostly) files in a folder hierarchy to H265. Unfortunately Handbrake that I'd normally use have dismal support for batch processing of hierarchies.
The separate project HB Batch Encoder doesn't seem to support X265.
Preferably I'd want a method that can

Accept all source movie files in a selected hierarchy
Encode to X265 as good as Handbrake
Automatically pass thru AAC, re-encode any other audio
Output to the same directory as the source
Move the source to the Trash
Works on OS X 10.11

Can you suggest a tool and method for this that achieves this set of features?

Notice that starting from H264 encoded files to encode them into H265 might lead to a loss of quality as you are chaining two lossy encoders. Don't you have access to not-lossy-encoded masters ?

Nope. These are just referral backups, so it's not quality critical. More space critical than quality.

FFMPEG of course. Being a command line application it can be easily integrate into any batch process no matter how convoluted, with the benefit that you get to learn about the power of the command line while you're at it (worked for me).
I haven't explored h.265 encoding much yet, but using settings I stole from the ffmpeg wiki here's how you'd encode a folder full of .movs:
cd "/the/path to/your/folder/"
mkdir "for the trash"
for i in *.mov; do;
  ffmpeg -i "$i" -c:v libx265 -preset slow -crf 25 -c:a copy "${i/\.mov/.mp4}"
  mv $i "./for the trash/"
done

Note that this won't delete the files, it will move them to a new folder called for the trash. This is because if you delete files with the command line they disappear instantly, you don't get a second chance if you change your mind or make a typo. There are trash command line utilities, but that's beyond the scope of this answer.
here's the wiki entry I based my ffmpeg command on, it does a good job of explaining the options used (I'm a bit thingy about lossy compression so I wound up the quality settings somewhat. I also used the slow preset which gives smaller file sizes. Depending on how much time you have you could use anything from ultrafast to placebo to achieve results that vary in file size but with the same quality. placebo being so named because the tiny bit of difference it makes at the expense of greatly increased processing time is mostly in your head):

In this example, we will use the following settings:

default CRF of 28. The CRF of 28 should visually correspond to libx264 video at CRF 23, but result in about half the file size.
medium preset. The preset determines how fast the encoding process will be – at the expense of compression efficiency. Put differently,
  if you choose ultrafast, the encoding process is going to run fast,
  but the file size will be larger when compared to medium. The visual
  quality will be the same. Valid presets are ultrafast, superfast,
  veryfast, faster, fast, medium, slow, slower, veryslow and placebo.
AAC audio at 128 kBit/s. This uses the ffmpeg-internal encoder, but under AAC you will find info about more options.

ffmpeg -i input -c:v libx265 -preset medium -crf 28 -c:a aac -b:a 128k
  output.mp4

Handbrake also works on the command line.
And lastly if you are allergic to the colossal power lurking in terminal.app there are GUIs for ffmpeg, like this or this. Not sure how well they deal with batch encoding, and this is not a recommendation, because I don't use any of them. Time to toughen up and use the command line!

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll try ffmpeg on the command line. I'll report how it works out.
However you seem to have missed my complaint was about Handbrake batch processing not respecting hierarchies, that is it misses files in a folder hierarchy.

@MiB if you're looking for a GUI for ffmpeg, try iffmpeg. I used it for a few days until I got a good handle on the command line tool. It handles batch encoding, but you have to play around to make sure you getting the settings right for everything in the batch. If you consider yourself tech-savvy, but aren't comfortable with the command line, I'd recommend it