I am rendering out some video that I need to convert to FLV - what are most people doing to complete this? I want to keep the file size smaller as well.
suggestions?

David,

I've used flixpro for the last couple of years to convert .avi to flash http://www.on2.com/index.php?365 and been very happy with the results.

What did you render the original file from vegas as?

Hi David

I use FlixPro for my FLV's as well. I suspect that it might make a better clip if you use a lossless format but to be perfectly honest, I'm lazy!!! I just render the video using the MPEG2 template and use the default preset. I then change the video size to what I need using the 'custom' button and change the field order to 'none-progressive', the frame rate to 30fps (we are in PAL land), and the then aspect from 16:9 to 'square pixels'

The end result with the MPEG2 to FLV is pretty good!!! You are looking at around 35mb for a 10 minute clip encoded at 512kbs. The overall result must be acceptable to my wedding clients as they often book a wedding after just seeing on online clips and those are done at 480x270 pixels as I'm using the MediaCollege free player as it has a neat playlist so I can run multiple clips in one player.

Chris

I've used flixpro for the last couple of years to convert .avi to flash On2 Flix Pro - Professional Flash Video Editing & Encoding Software for Windows and Mac (http://www.on2.com/index.php?365) and been very happy with the results.

Also, take a look at Flix Standard (http://www.on2.com/index.php?387) on the same site. The least-expensive way to get On2's excellent VP6 codec. Here's their comparison chart (http://www.on2.com/index.php?442).

When I need an FLV I render in Vegas to AVI then bring it into OnFlix standard and render to FLV in that. The quality is very good and very easy and trouble free. Well worth it IMO.

Hi David
....... I then change the video size to what I need using the 'custom' button and change the field order to 'none-progressive', the frame rate to 30fps (we are in PAL land), and the then aspect from 16:9 to 'square pixels' .........

Chris

Surely, if you're in PAL land, that should be 25fps...??

Hi Steve
Most web video is at 30fps as TV systems don't come into play at all with web based video. It just seems to look a tad better at 30fps.

Hi Don

Just for interest, which AVI preset do you use when rendering video out to AVI for Flix???
I'm getting good results with MPEG2 files to FLV but they are obviously already "lossy''

Chris

Is this sw free?
thx

You might be able to frame serve with debugmode frameserver from Vegas and then convert to flv in Super. Both software are free.

Frameserver will spare you a render since it allows your Vegas project on the timeline to render into another application, in this case Super.


Taken from debugmode instructions:

Sony Vegas/Vegas Pro
1. Choose menu "File > Render As" to open the default render dialog (make sure your project uses 8/16 bit audio, they are the supported formats).
2. Enter a valid filename for the output file. This file is called the "signpost" file.
3. Choose "Debugmode FrameServer" as the output type.
4. Click "Save" to start FrameServing.

Chris,
when I render to AVI I just use the DV-AVI standard preset whatever that is. Too be honest I don't remember the exact numbers and my machine is off but it's just the standard preset.

Hey Don

Many thanks..I'll see if there is any marked difference ,,there should be!! In Flix I'm not using the VP6 facilities ..it looked confusing so my current clips are just done in Flash 8 at 512kbs and look fairly good to me.

Where can I get more info on using the VP6 side of Flix??? Is file size better???? An 8 minute wedding clip at the moment comes out around 35mb encoded at 512kbs in Flash 8

Thanks again Don

Chris

Is this sw free?
thx

No. No encoder that includes the excellent VP6 flash video codec is free. For free flash encoding, you either need to use the horrible Sorenson Spark codec, or, h.264. h.264 can be pretty good, and many people are using it, but, it is a highly complex codec that takes some processing power to decode.

Per recent analysis by Jan Ozer (article is online, but I can't look at the moment), Youtube is using h.264 at low resolutions, VP6 at medium resolutions, and h.264 at high resolutions. Very interesting information, to me at least.

See below for the links. Flix Standard is $40 USD, which is the minimum cost of a VP6-capable encoder. Every other encoder is hundreds of $.

Also, take a look at Flix Standard (http://www.on2.com/index.php?387) on the same site. The least-expensive way to get On2's excellent VP6 codec. Here's their comparison chart (http://www.on2.com/index.php?442).

I frameserve directly from Vegas 8 to Flash Encoder. Works like a charm.

Ok, I have a strange issue here.
I have rendered out the files to AVI both regular and widescreen (to make the comparison). From here, I have taken them into FlixPro and rendered them out to FLV. But when I view the finished video, it looks squished. The AVI looks great (there is a ROUND bass drum in the shot, so that is my point of reference). The flv, which is rendered at 320 X 213 is slightly squished top to bottom, the drum becomes a light oval. Not sure why.
The original footage is 720 X 480 DV from the HV20. The project is set up according to the footage, and the AVI rendered looks right - but the final out from FlixPro is noticeable squished.
I maintained video ratio in the setting as well. What do you think this issue is?

Also I just noticed if I switch the VLC player to 4:3, it looks fine, but the FLV output from the FlixPro and running the FLV files natively from VLC player/video media player, it is still squished - something is up...

Hi David

Your source footage needs to be rendered out as progressive and square pixels !!
A 720x480 DV video has a non square PAR on the horizontal pixels so a TV will display it correctly but it will be squished on your computer screen and Flix will also see it as squished.

Simply re-render the clip but use the Custom button on the render screen and set your video size to what you want ... (i use 480x270 but as long as it has a ratio of 1.77777 that's fine) Set the field to progressive and the aspect to "square pixels" and render!!

In Flix I would set the Audio/Video tab so the FLV has the same dimensions as the source

Chris

Using the avi NTSC DV output, it won't let me change the rendering to Square Pixels. I changed the project to Square Pixels and made it progressive, but as far as rendering - unless I change it to compressed in Vegas, I cannot render it as square pixels - or did you mean square pixels in Flix Pro?
I have tried a bunch of settings nows and it does not work, the image for the FLV is still squished. Can't figure it out. I don't want to render to uncompressed, so I need a different way to change it to square pixels on the render. Going to try WMV and render out with that, it seems to let me choose square pixels, just don't know if FlixPro accepts it or not.

Hi David

Yep. WMV will let you do it without any issues!! I tend to make the clip 1280x720 and just set the aspect to square pixels. In Flix set the video size to suit your player but stay within the 1.777 aspect ratio.
I know that MPEG2 is compressed but Flix gives me great results converting MPEG2 files so I just render to my player size and set the interlaced footage to progressive and the aspect to square. You don't need to change any project settings at all. Vegas will render the clip correctly for you and it won't be squashed either!!

To be honest I don't see any difference in quality between WMV and MPEG2 converted to FLV.

On my sample page Sample Wedding Video Clips (http://www.weddingvideoswa.com/sample.html) the first clip in the player is WMV to FLV and the rest are MPEG2 to FLV ...with basically small video (480x270) I don't think there is an awful lot of difference!!

Chris

Thank you. You have been a big help. I went with the wmv for this project.

Just a quick addon for converting from SD 720x480 anamorphic to square-pixel 16x9 resolutions:

640x360 - A standard def equivalent that lowers vertical resolution to acheive 16x9.
854x480 - A standard def equivalent that raises horizontal resolution to acheive 16x9.

I've found myself using these two frequently, making the choice per final output resolution.

Is it possible to render out to dimensions that are used in this animation example. If so, do you have a recommendation.

I need to make an animation just like it, but without squishing all the pics together at the end.

Best that I can figure out is my project will need to be 940px W x 175px H

Animation here (http://www.morsewatchmans.com)

I don't know your original footage dimensions and therefore cannot know what sizes you can render to, but here is a calculator to help you determine optimal size for your project. I personally render to avi then use Flash to render to flv.

Adobe - Flash application: Flash video (FLV) bitrate calculator (http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flash/apps/flv_bitrate_calculator/index.html)

usually I use Video To Flash Converter PRO ( [GeoVid] Video to Flash, Flash to Video,PowerPoint to Video, Video to mp3 (http://www.geovid.com) ) ...