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Best Video Codec?

Martin Leufray IIIMartin Leufray III Posts: 107
in Daz Studio Discussion

I am running DS4.9 on Win 7 Pro 64-bit.

When I make a movie, either my system cannot play it, or the results are horrifying.

What is the best video codec for DS4.9, and if I don't have it, where can I find the product recommended?

Thanks,

Martin

Comments

  • thd777thd777 Posts: 943
    edited January 2016

    Don't use any video codec directly in DS. Render to an image series and then combine the images into a movie in dedicated software ( I use Sony Vegas or Adobe After Effects). That way you have complete control over the format and output and also can easily recover from any render desasters or replace frames if necessary. For the final output I usually use a .mp4 format.

    Ciao

    TD

    Post edited by thd777 on
  • ToborTobor Posts: 2,300

    Ditto this ^^^^

  • Martin Leufray IIIMartin Leufray III Posts: 107
    thd777 said:

    Don't use any video codec directly in DS. Render to an image series and then combine the images into a movie in dedicated software ( I use Sony Vegas or Adobe After Effects). That way you have complete control over the format and output and also can easily recover from any render desasters or replace frames if necessary. For the final output I usually use a .mp4 format.

    Ciao

    TD

    I have purchased both of the products you specify in the past which should grant me license to download both at no cost.

    I must admit I will probably require some handholding as I have never gotten what I wanted out of either product. If you can break your thought into click-click-click I would be immeasureably grateful.

    Thanks in advance,

    Martin

  • ImagoImago Posts: 5,248

    Try Lagarith Codec. It's free and widely supported.

  • Martin Leufray IIIMartin Leufray III Posts: 107

    I'll try your suggestion. Sony is taking a long time handling my ticket.

  • thd777thd777 Posts: 943
    Martin Leufray III said:
    thd777 said:

    Don't use any video codec directly in DS. Render to an image series and then combine the images into a movie in dedicated software ( I use Sony Vegas or Adobe After Effects). That way you have complete control over the format and output and also can easily recover from any render desasters or replace frames if necessary. For the final output I usually use a .mp4 format.

    Ciao

    TD

    I have purchased both of the products you specify in the past which should grant me license to download both at no cost.

    I must admit I will probably require some handholding as I have never gotten what I wanted out of either product. If you can break your thought into click-click-click I would be immeasureably grateful.

    Thanks in advance,

    Martin

     

    Martin Leufray III said:
    thd777 said:

    Don't use any video codec directly in DS. Render to an image series and then combine the images into a movie in dedicated software ( I use Sony Vegas or Adobe After Effects). That way you have complete control over the format and output and also can easily recover from any render desasters or replace frames if necessary. For the final output I usually use a .mp4 format.

    Ciao

    TD

    I have purchased both of the products you specify in the past which should grant me license to download both at no cost.

    I must admit I will probably require some handholding as I have never gotten what I wanted out of either product. If you can break your thought into click-click-click I would be immeasureably grateful.

    Thanks in advance,

    Martin

    If you have access to both, I would start with Sony Vegas. While After Effects is more powerful, it is also more complex. For how to combine the images, check out this video tutorial (he is working with a bunch of photos, but the method is the same). Where he adjusts the timing, you want to set it so that it matches your render settings (24 fps for example or what ever you used). There are many tutorials out there for this, a lot of them deal with making time-lapse videos from photos. So searching for "Sony Vegas, Time lapse, tutorial) will get you a lot of good info. If you run into specific problems feel free to ask me, either in this thread ot via PM. Have fun!

    Ciao

    TD

  • Martin Leufray IIIMartin Leufray III Posts: 107

    @THD777,

    I am trying to get Sony to restore Vegas for me to download. They seem to be ignoring my ticket. Then again, I expect companies to have immediate response (less than 5 minutes 24x7) to tickets. Every help desk / support center I have every built responded within this limit. The US is working its way to the bottom of the heap on support. Soon, no live human will be able to get a job in any support anywhere.

    Martin

    P.S. Is there a way to get DAZ to spell-check during message composition? I have to read my messages several times before I post and it's just stupid for any 21st century system.

  • Martin Leufray IIIMartin Leufray III Posts: 107
    Imago said:

    Try Lagarith Codec. It's free and widely supported.

    I installed it. How do I use it?

  • Martin Leufray IIIMartin Leufray III Posts: 107

    @THD777,

    I have downloaded Sony's 15 day trial of Vegas and I will probably purchase their entry level product after I am satisfied with the trial.

    I will report again when I create a movie.

    Thanks for your suggestions,

    Martin

  • artistb3artistb3 Posts: 188

    Those who want a free solution that that is very simple to learn can download Windows Movie Maker (works fine under Windows 10).  The images can be compiled into a .MP4 or .WMV format.  After loading the images use Edit->Duration of 0.03 and then File->Save Movie and select prefered option.

  • ImagoImago Posts: 5,248
    Martin Leufray III said:
    Imago said:

    Try Lagarith Codec. It's free and widely supported.

    I installed it. How do I use it?

    When you render the animation, just before saving it DAZ will ask you wich codec you want to use. Choose "Lagarith Lossless Codec" from the drop-list menu in the middle. Then choose "Enable Null Frame" and "Use Multithreading" and "RGB (Deafult)" mode from the options.

  • ImagoImago Posts: 5,248
    artistb3 said:

    Those who want a free solution that that is very simple to learn can download Windows Movie Maker (works fine under Windows 10).  The images can be compiled into a .MP4 or .WMV format.  After loading the images use Edit->Duration of 0.03 and then File->Save Movie and select prefered option.

    Windows Movie Maker is WAY TOO SIMPLE to be a good solution for animations.

  • Martin Leufray IIIMartin Leufray III Posts: 107
    Imago said:
    Martin Leufray III said:
    Imago said:

    Try Lagarith Codec. It's free and widely supported.

    I installed it. How do I use it?

    When you render the animation, just before saving it DAZ will ask you wich codec you want to use. Choose "Lagarith Lossless Codec" from the drop-list menu in the middle. Then choose "Enable Null Frame" and "Use Multithreading" and "RGB (Deafult)" mode from the options.

    I'll try it.

    But I'll also try Sony Vegas and compare the results.

    If your solution really is lossless I may go with the free product.

    I'll not post the actual movies because they will involve full frontal nudity but I may buy some nighties and try dynamic cloth and post those results.

    Thanks for all the help and being patient with this issue.

    Martin

  • Martin Leufray IIIMartin Leufray III Posts: 107

    @Imago,

    I'm keeping the free one. It's very fast and it is lossless.

    Thank you very much,

    Martin

  • ImagoImago Posts: 5,248

    You're welcome!

  • Serefina_MoonSerefina_Moon Posts: 106

    I found the image sequence to NLE a more reliable method then rendering to a video file within previous versions of Studio,... and most other apps for 2d and 3d artwork.
    When I have video stuff to edit, I got shown an app called Edius, which only ever crashes when you install something that kills it - software from goPro and BlackMagic design do that. Edius has a '30 day trail' version available.

    I've tried to get in to Lightworks as well - it has a free version - but it doesn't make sense in my head.

    Blackmagic does a free 'lite' version of Resolve, which is a colour correction app, it's another that's crazy to get your head around, but it is designed for doing 'raw' workflows, which is all image sequence based,....

  • Martin Leufray IIIMartin Leufray III Posts: 107
    Serefina_Moon said:

    I found the image sequence to NLE a more reliable method then rendering to a video file within previous versions of Studio,... and most other apps for 2d and 3d artwork.
    When I have video stuff to edit, I got shown an app called Edius, which only ever crashes when you install something that kills it - software from goPro and BlackMagic design do that. Edius has a '30 day trail' version available.

    I've tried to get in to Lightworks as well - it has a free version - but it doesn't make sense in my head.

    Blackmagic does a free 'lite' version of Resolve, which is a colour correction app, it's another that's crazy to get your head around, but it is designed for doing 'raw' workflows, which is all image sequence based,....

    "Lagarith Lossless Codec" becomes a choice of rendering a movie after install and it is very very fast. I would recommend it to anyone.

     

    Martin

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