Thank you all for this information. I see long "print outs" of settings in VPX and have no idea where you are printing them from or screen grabbing them, and where the settings are. I know if I say I want to export an mp4 I can click on advanced settings, but they don't look like this. What am I looking at.

Also does anyone have a suggestion to try other than filmhub?

Thank you

I'll be honest and say my machine struggles to play such files back smoothly.

 

@CubeAce Hi, try using MPC Player for these ProRes files, I'm using it all the time now as VLC Player seems to be a bit rubbish sometimes,

MCP Player - https://sourceforge.net/projects/mpcbe/

@doug_mccarron

The 'long printouts' are not from VPX and not settings as such but the information encoded into a rendered file as read by the MediaInfo tool we all use here to look for problems with encoded files. It is a free tool to download.

Mostly on the forum we look for problems users have using various files that do not work well with video editors but MediaInfo can be used to see how a particular set of encoder settings results in a given files' bit rate produced when rendered.

My settings for VPX are in the last image I show in my first post. Click on it to enlarge.

Filmhub is just trying to keep pace with the industry in general which is normally heavily regulated by various governing bodies who set the standards for broadcasting. It won't matter who you deal with, the requirements will generally be the same for each broadcast region, hence in my second post I gave a link to the BBC's set of documentation that production companies have to adhere to when sending completed projects for broadcast. At least that set of instructions is more comprehensive and can give you the general requirements for a successful application when compared to filmhubs' own additional requirements as they have additional rules to allow for advertising breaks etc.

Ray.

Too much overthinking going on.

@doug_mccarron

Doug, set up VPX for export as follows.

Movie Settings:

Run your export as per this:

On the Advanced screen, set as per this:

Then export away and send that to Filmhub.

@doug_mccarron @CubeAce

Hi Doug, Ray

. . . . . It would seem a bit rate of a 113Mb/s for HD content is a reasonable constant bit rate to aim for along with it being an Intra AVC file. . . . .

Filmhub are looking for good Constant Quality Rate (CQR), this is different to CBR which is the detractor for CQR.

VBR is the saviour of Quality along with setting the Quality option to Best as shown in Al's 3rd image above.
 

Filmhubs MP4 minimum recommendations for upload are:

H.264, min. 2 MBit/s for SD, 15 MBit/s for HD, 50 MBit/s for UHD/4k.

H.265, min. 2 MBit/s for SD, 15 MBit/s for HD, 50 MBit/s for UHD/4k

Accepting h265 seems odd to me as this is very highly compressed format.

Note there is no recommendation for FullHD 1920x1080 ! HD is 1280x720 resolution, and if they are calling 1920x1080 HD then the minima of 15 Mbits/s is too low.

Based on the above the minimum for FullHD should be ~ 26 Mbits/s, however I agree with Al's recommendaed settings for FullHD - though the higher the target Average bitrate does not necessarily mean it will be achieved depending on the action/scenes in the video.

High detail or fast action need a higher bitrate than a slow changing/static scene.

John EB

@doug_mccarron

Hi Doug,

Thank you all for this information. I see long "print outs" of settings in VPX and have no idea where you are printing them from or screen grabbing them, and where the settings are. I know if I say I want to export an mp4 I can click on advanced settings, but they don't look like this. What am I looking at.

Top menu, File, Export Movie, Video as MP4, near the top, check the box for "Display all" and click on the popdown for the entire list.

John CB

I got this message from Magix support.

"We requested the Codecs from Apple and Avid and were informed that they were ok with VEGAS but not VPX. Since they control the Codecs, there is nothing we can do."

Well at least now I know why the situation is as it is with the export codex's

Thank you for the advice above you all. I have been to those screens before but haven't paid attention to the settings. As I shot the project in 1920x1080 I see I should use 15 MBit/s . As in the screen that AAProds has 65000 KBits/s would I need to set it at 1500000 KBits/s or am I misunderstanding? Or would the software handle that?

As for Browj2 - I did that and got a larger list. Currently I have it at MP4 Full HD 1920x1080 29.97p as that is how it was shot. The only other option that seems close would be the AVCHD stream 29.97 but I haven't seen anyone recommend that. And there is the HEVC variation but that doesn't seem very standard yet. And as Johnebaker said above it is highly compressed (at least that is what I read not that I know) so that isn't an option.

So from what I am reading I should use the standard MP4 setting AAProd suggested (which is what I always chose in my projects) but the question is what to do concerning bit rates.

Thank you all for your insights.

I have to say I am learning a lot here. But as was observed - as I am a single guy in an apartment I have to learn all this as no one else is doing it.

@doug_mccarron

Hi

. . . .I shot the project in 1920x1080 I see I should use 15 MBit/s .

Do you mean the recorded 1920x1080 bitrate was set to 15MBits/s ?

As in the screen that AAProds has 65000 KBits/s would I need to set it at 1500000 KBits/s o . . .

1 MBit/s (megabits/s) = 1 million bits per second = 1000 kBits/s (kilobits/s) so

15 MBits/s is 15000 kBits/s.

Based on the data from Filmhub I posted I estimated the minimum bitrate for 1920x1080 should be 26 MBits/s

I would go with Al's settings, though overkill they should ensure the highest bitrate and the best quality you can - the target average bitrate is 65 MBits/s though as I commented before, the average bitrate actually achieved may be less if there is not a lot of activity or detail in the scenes.

HTH

John EB

Hello Johmebaker

". . . .I shot the project in 1920x1080 I see I should use 15 MBit/s .

Do you mean the recorded 1920x1080 bitrate was set to 15MBits/s ?"

Honestly my camcorder doesn't tell me the bit rate for recording so I don't know. What I was trying to say that I shot the project in 1920x1080p and it was edited at 1920x1080. The screen shot from AAProds had for export 65000 kBits/s and I was unclear how kBits/s translated to mBits/s. Your example clarified that for me. And I see that the amount of kBits/s that AAProds suggested far excedes the amount required so that answered all my questions. I now understand the settings AAProds provided.

Per your suggestion of 26 mBits/s My understanding is that would be 26000 kBits/s which is much less than the 65000 AAProds suggested. But again as you said that would be overkill and what will be achieved depends on what is happening in the video.

If I am misunderstanding kindly educate me more.

Thank you

Douglas

@doug_mccarron

Hi Douglas

. . . . my camcorder doesn't tell me the bit rate for recording so I don't know. .. . .

This is where the program MediaInfo is of great help - download and install it and the follow this short tutorial to get the required information which you can copy and post in a comment.

You have understood the relationship between the different units. 👍

John EB

Ok thank you for that, and I will download MediaInfo.

And I am glad I understand the different units.

As for Vegas I am also seeing that Edit has Subtitles. A couple questions

From the videos I am seeing I can load in a txt file with the dialogue (I found a program that listened to the audio and produced a txt file that is about 90% accurate) and then assign the time when the different characters are speaking. Currently I am spending a lot of time copy pasting from the text file into Titles in VPX and it is time consuming.

1) is this true that I can load in the txt file to do this? I get I still need to set the time when words are spoken. I have also been directed to a free software that will listen to the audio and produce an .srt file that I can load into Vegas and then make corrections (though I am told I should make corrections first in the .srt file before loading in because as I need the corrected .srt file for filmhub it is simply more efficient to do it the one time). Does this sound true to you all?

2) as there is a lot of inner thought I am taking the tack of naming the character thinking and then italicizing the text so it is clear who is thinking and that it is thinking. Does this make sense and would I do that first in the .srt file before hand.

3) also I have people talking over each other (as humans do) so can I have the characters name and also align the text closer to the speaker so as they over talk it is clear who is saying what? I am doing that in the labor of entering into VPX so I get the clarity.

4) for the overtalking I have two title lines so I can position the text on the screen so it is easier to see who is saying what, does that make sense? Would I then have more than one audio channel of the .srt file to do this? Or as I need to send a single .srt file can it position text on the screen?

5) or am I over thinking this and just need to leave it to the viewer to figure it all out? It is less of a problem for the speaking but the thinking issue with character names seems important to me.

I know I am asking a lot of questions but as Vegas Edit is on sale and it might ease a lot of my issues it might be worth shifting to it.

Lot of questions I know, thank you for your patience. But I might as well get it right.

Douglas

@doug_mccarron

Hi

. . . . As for Vegas  . . .

The topic has drifted into a different product range which is not covered in this forum.

Sorry to say I am going to have to make a ruling on the direction of the discussion here.

We need to keep the discussion limited to the Magix product range of software, eg the VPX and MMS video editors in this forum, anything Vegas related should be asked in the Vegas forum.

As far as VPX goes, it does not import subtitle file formats, however there are other means of introducing this into the final export using third party software.

If you want to continue with VPX and discuss this that can be done here, otherwise Vegas questions should be directed to the Vegas forum.

If you have not already done so I would suggest you download the trial version of Vegas Edit and test it.

HTH

John EB
Forum Moderator

@doug_mccarron

Hi Doug,

As John EB pointed out, VPX does not read in files to text (would be a nice feature).

VPX does titling with presets and you can put in a plain title at or near the bottom of the screen and that is a subtitle. Vegas can read in text from txt and csv files and put them in as titles using a selected titling presets, including one called subtitles, with each line becoming a separate title/subtitle. A Subtitle is just a plain title at the bottom of the screen.

Vegas also does Closed Captioning; VPX does not. Closed Captioning is not the same as subtitling. If you want CC, then you're in for quite a bit of learning, depending on what you want.

Reading your questions, it seems that you are looking for titling rather than Closed Captioning, but you are talking about .srt files, so I am confused about what you really want. Closed captioning is a different feature and it's text that the user can turn off/on (look at your TV or many YouTube videos for CC) whereas titling/subtitling is embedded as part of your video and cannot be turned off/on.

If you mean titling and adjusting the location and font, etc., then VPX does that just fine, as does Vegas.

If you have a file with text in it, you can use copy/paste in VPX. You still have to do the work of screen placement and timing etc., no matter which program you use.

As John EB indicated, if you want to import titles from a text file to create a bunch of titles (that you will have to place at the correct location, timing, and edit the parameters) or use CC, then you should discuss this on the Vegas forum. But first, get it clear what you want - titles/subtitles or CC or both.

I found a program that listened to the audio and produced a txt file that is about 90% accurate) 

If you have a MS Office subscription, this can be done directly from Word. Works well. I have only tried with 2 people speaking and it identified them as separate speakers.

John CB

Ok thank you. I think Filmhub says closed captioning which is different. So I will go over to the Vegas forum.

Thank you for the education. I will download the trial of Vegas and see what can be done. I just know that Filmhub is going to require an .srt file so if I want to go there, then I need to learn it.

Thank you all again

Douglas

OK back to VPX. I have this program called subrip that Filmhub said I should use to create closed captions. It seems to require a file with .VOB at the end in order to do it's magic. Does anyone know how to generate one of these VOB files from VPX? I don't see anything offered from the menus. I could export the audio to mp3 or wav but those aren't VOB. Any suggestions on how to proceed?

I already have the dialogue in a txt file but that isn't want is being asked for.

Ok I have found subtitle edit with out any alerts from my defense system. Messed around with it and I see how I can use it to generate .srt and .txt files. One good thing is I used an auto transcribe free software about a year ago and the transcription is about 85% accurate. So I can use the auto generate in Subtitle Edit and then go through with the true text and make corrections. Time consuming but quicker that typing it all in. And once I have it done I can get the .srt file and then over in that OTHER SOFTWARE I can't bring up it can read in the .txt to create subtitles, so that is worth the sale price. Plus it looks pretty good.

@doug_mccarron

To answer your question about .VOB files: these are created when a DVD export is produced. They are the actual "video" files which are present on a DVD-Video disc.

To create them in VPX you would need to export your project to DVD. You can do this without burning an actual disc; the process will create a folder of files wherever you have specified (in the Program Settings>Folders tab) to have Exports saved.

I assume the process would be very similar, if not the same, in Magix Vegas, either Edit or Pro. (I don't have any version of Vegas to check!)

Jeff
Forum Moderator

@doug_mccarron

Hi Doug.

You may want to search for more comprehensive answers on YouTube or the Vegascreatives forums. None of us here at least have tried to use Fimhub. All we know is appears to be a complex way to get your videos seen and paid for but apparently one of the best to use for such endeavours.

Paid programs like the Prism Video Converter Software may be able to do what you need but I should check first if I was you.

Ray.

"VOB", in this context, appears to be part of the name of a subtitles file ripped from a DVD (which as Jeff points out, contains VOBs):

https://wiki.multimedia.cx/index.php/VOBsub

I suspect that @doug_mccarron is referring to the VOBSUB file that is used to create the subtitles.

Thank you for your responses. I was up late messing around with Subtitle Edit and managed to get it to start doing something after watching several youtube videos. It didn't seem to need a VOB file. Another program called SubRip did need the VOB file and seemed to assume I was ripping from a DVD. But with Subtitle Edit I managed to produce a text file with the correct Times in it, so I guess I am heading the correct direction.

As far as using Filmhub, ok thank you for letting me know your having not used it. I don't know if it is worth using but friends keep telling me it is the way to go. I am also going to try to do my own pushing on social media sites. (Where is my endlessly wealthy benefactor when I need them????)