Thomas' random ramblings

Need to find the optimal H.264 video bitrate?

I think a lot of people wonder how to find the optimal video bitrate for efficient encoding of H.264 video. There is no universal answer to this, because it all depends on the content of the video material. Luckily, the video encoding genius Robert Reinhardt has created a simple little Adobe AIR app called Bitrate Starter.

Videorx_bitratestarter

This handy little tool will get you started, but remember that you still have to do your own testing to find the optimal settings for the best possible quality/file size ratio. Video compression, especially for web, is all about testing. 

A nice little tip is to do tests on short selections of the video that represents different kinds of content. Especially look for fast motion, dark areas, lots of detail, little detail etc. Try encoding several versions of the same short clip selections with different settings, compare them, and go with the settings of the one you like best :)

Be aware. If you choose a frame size where the height or width is not divisible by 16, 8 or 4 (calculated by modulo operation), you might end up with a 1px green border at either bottom or right side of your frame. I have seen this problem happen several times when using strange frame sizes. The reason for this is that DCT based MPEG compression consists of macroblocks that are 16x16 pixels (at least with MPEG-2 and MPEG-4). You simply help the encoder do the most efficient compression by choosing an optimal frame size. You can read about this and other geeky fun video theory in Charles Poynton's book, Digital Video and HDTV.

Here is a little excerpt from the book, talking about the "magic" number 16. Charles Poynton is actually the inventor of the number 1080 found in HDTV standards.

If the horizontal or vertical size is not divisible by 16, then the encoder pads the image with a suitable number of black "overhang" samples at the right edge or bottom edge. These samples are discarded upon decoding. For example when coding HDTV at 1920x1080, an encoder appends 8 rows of black pixels to the image array, to make the row count 1088.

If you look closely under width x height in the Bitrate Starter screenshot above, you will see something called grid quality. That is what this is all about. Divisible by 16 is obviously called best, 8 better and 4 good. Robert Reinhardt has actually written about this in two blog posts, which I would recommend doing a quick read-through of as well: Optimal Frame Dimensions for Flash Video and 16x frame size redux.

A few handy frame sizes I use a lot for 16x9 aspect ratio are:

  • 1280 x 720 (16)
  • 1024 x 576 (16)
  • 768 x 432 (16)
  • 640 x 360 (8)
  • 512 x 288 (16)

You can find and download Bitrate Starter from http://videorx.com under Free Tools.

Good luck, and have fun encoding!

Too little, too late?

Apple's release of Final Cut Pro X has created more discussion, frustration and noise than I think anyone ever could imagine. Ryan Connolly's video review below is pretty much spot on in describing the feelings a lot of people have or had about Final Cut Pro X.

Thank you Apple. You just managed to confuse and lose the trust of just about every big customer you bragged about at NAB 2011.

Nab_big_fcp_customers
Picture by Donald Berube @ FCPUG SuperMeet, NAB 2011

As Richard Townhill said in the introduction to the NAB 2011 sneak peek: "So now we have every major broadcaster on the planet relying on Final Cut Pro for mission critical content delivery day in and day out."

I happen to work for one of these large companies mentioned in the image above, where we have made huge investments around Final Cut Pro. With all the pain and agony Final Cut Pro 7 is causing these days (memory leaks, random crashes, required transcoding etc.), the anticipation for a more stable revamped 64-bit version was immense. The release of Final Cut Pro X is really too little, too late. The Final Cut Pro X FAQ answered some questions, but there are still a lot of unanswered questions. Apple need to show more commitment to loyal customers than this.

If Apple really has worked on Final Cut Pro X since 2008 (as Sachin Agarwal writes in his blog post), one would think they had plenty of time to decide whether or not to include many of the important features pro editors need and expect. Apple can certainly not say they did not get enough feedback, as many pro editors beta tested the software. As you can hear in the Micahel Wohl videoes linked to in the end of this post, he provided a lot of feedback which Apple simply seemed to ignore.

Unless the Pro Apps team is talking to the QuickTime and Mac OS X teams, nobody really knows how long Final Cut Pro 7 will work in Mac OS X Lion. It might break sooner than expected because of changes to QuickTime or other media frameworks, which is something no professional have time to deal with or can afford.

As a result of Apple's catastropic handling of the release of Final Cut Pro X, both Adobe and Avid understandably reacts accordingly.

Adobe

Adobe Systems Incorporated today announced an upgrade program for video professionals who have purchased any version of Apple® Final Cut Pro or Avid Media Composer and want to switch to industry-leading professional video tools by Adobe®—Creative Suite® CS5.5 Production Premium or Premiere® Pro CS5.5.  These customers will be eligible for a 50 percent savings on Adobe Creative Suite CS5.5 Production Premium or Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5.
Today we announced a program that will allow users of FCP and Avid to painlessly switch over to Adobe Production Premium at a price that I’ve frankly never seen in my 6.5 years at Adobe. To top that off, while my personal focus is North America, this offer is WORLDWIDE, so no one is being left out!

Says Dennis Radeke, Senior Business Development Manager at Adobe Systems.

Avid

There have been unprecedented conversations taking place online, in the press, and in person about professional video editing during the last couple of weeks. And the discussion has been both passionate and personal, because this is about your livelihood.

[...]

We are listening. And one of the things you have clearly said is that you want Media Composer to be more accessible. In response to your feedback, we are extending the cross-grade to Media Composer -  through September. Final Cut Pro (excluding FCP X) users can get Media Composer 5.5 at the promotional price of .

Says Gary Greenfield, CEO and President of Avid Technology.

I suspect Apple's pro video market will take a serious hit. Let us see how quickly they manage to "fix" the major show stoppers and show us that they really do care.

Anybody remember this article and the statement from Apple to Macworld back in May 2010?

Apple has denied reports that the next major version of its Final Cut Studio suite of professional video applications will be a big departure, focusing less on the professional audience it’s always been for.

On Tuesday, AppleInsider reported that it had received information from a source with knowledge of Apple’s internal Pro Apps plans pertaining to the future of the suite. The source reportedly told the publication that a major reshuffling of the Final Cut management team had occurred, to "retarget its efforts to more closely match the needs of the majority of its customers."

Final Cut Pro is the first choice for professional video editors and we’ve never been more excited about its future. The next version of Final Cut is going to be awesome and our pro customers are going to love it.

An Apple spokesperson told Macworld.

I wonder who made that statement, because it was certainly not true. Pro customers might love Final Cut Pro X in a year or two, but many people feel they have waited long enough. I like some of the new features in Final Cut Pro X a lot, but I am afraid this really is too little, too late for a lot of pro customers.

Other interesting posts about Final Cut Pro X

Michael Wohl showed some great FCP X editing tips at the June LAFCPUG meeting.