Vimeo Upload Formats

  • H264 Encoder Tips:
    • Some recommend the use of Handbrake (free encoder) over that in Sony Vegas 9 and earlier.
    • Sony Vegas 10 uses an updated version of the MainConcept encoder (for H264 etc.) than Vegas 9 etc.
      • I don’t know how this compares to Handbrake.
  • Levels: Studio/Broadcast, 0-235.
    • Any levels outside this range will be preserved by the encode/decode but will get clipped at 16=black and 235=white.
    • Levels within the range will play back in Vimeo at 0-255 RGB on computer display.
  • But what of gamma/colorspace?  601 or 709 or what?
  • Framerate:
    • 30fps (as in USA) or 25fps (as in Europe etc.).
      • For nicer motion, might be worth mo-comp retiming 25 fps to 30 fps?
  • Resolution:
    • 640×480 for standard definition
    • 4:3 video, 853×480 for widescreen DV
    • 1280×720 or 1920×1080 for high definition.
  • Pixel Aspect:
    • Square, i.e. 1:1″ or “1.00”
  • Interlacing:
    • None (Progressive)
  • Encoding
    • MP4-(H264+AAC).  Other formats also possible but this one is probably the most popular.
      • H264:
        • Use 2000 kbits/sec for standard definition 4:3 video, 3000 kbits/sec for widescreen DV, or 5000 kbits/sec for high definition footage.
        • Profile = Main ?
        • Reference frames = 2 (default)
          • Each macroblock (or part of it?) can be predicted from a different reference frame.  Result can be higher quality but increased encoding time – since each Ref. Frame implies its own motion estimation.  A default of 2 or 3 is about right.  Higher values tend only to be helpful for animations.  Values above 5 rarely help.
        • Deblocking filter = Yes ?
      • AAC: 320 kbps / 44.1 kHz
    • http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?MessageID=745821
      •  If you give them non-streaming source, the upload servers must do an extra preliminary pass to find the metadata, taking up more time and resources than is necessary. This has a cumulative effect on overall server response.

  • Vimeo’s Tips
    • http://www.vimeo.com/help/compression
      • Framerate:
        • 30fps (as in USA) or 25fps (as in Europe etc.).
          • {Esp: For nicer motion, might be worth mo-comp retiming 25 fps to 30 fps?}
      • Resolution:
        • 640×480 for standard definition
        • 4:3 video, 853×480 for widescreen DV
        • 1280×720 or 1920×1080 for high definition.
      • Pixel Aspect:
        • If you have the option to control the pixel aspect ratio (not display aspect ratio) make sure it’s set to “1:1” or “1.00”, also sometimes called “square pixels.”
      • Interlacing:
        • None (Progressive)
      • Encoding
        • MP4-(H264+AAC)
          • H264: Use 2000 kbits/sec for standard definition 4:3 video, 3000 kbits/sec for widescreen DV, or 5000 kbits/sec for high definition footage.
          • AAC: 320 kbps / 44.1 kHz
  • Levels:
    • http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?MessageID=745821
      • 3/12/2011 2:41:45 AM musicvid:
        • You must send Youtube, Vimeo, JWPlayer, SMPlayer, GOMPlayer, FLVPlayer, FlashPlayer, and all other Flash-based players 16-235 RGB levels, in order to play back at 0-255 RGB.
    • I proved by experiment that Vimeo expects range Studio/Broadcast range 16..235.
      • Location: [E:\_Media\_Projects\2010-08-06 (NG-Jo) Balancing Services\050 Products\030 Vimeo (SD)]
        • Where “E:” = New NG Disk 2TB 2010-12-14 (Disk “B”)
      • Uploaded and downloaded files with ramps rendered from Sony Vegas 9.0e to MP4-H264.
        • File: [BroadcastLevels VimeoDownload 46365842.mp4]
          • Showed that range 16..235 was within the Vimeo player range
        • File: [ComputerLevels VimeoDownload 46364207.mp4
          • Showed that values outside 16..235 were preserved (not clipped) in the data but were clipped in the player.
  • H264 Profiles in MainConcept Encoder
    • [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264/MPEG-4_AVCH264 Reference Frames ]
      • Baseline Profile (BP)
        • Primarily for low-cost applications that require additional data loss robustness, this profile is used in some videoconferencing and mobile applications. This profile includes all features that are supported in the Constrained Baseline Profile, plus three additional features that can be used for loss robustness (or for other purposes such as low-delay multi-point video stream compositing).
        • The importance of this profile has faded somewhat since the definition of the Constrained Baseline Profile in 2009. All Constrained Baseline Profile bitstreams are also considered to be Baseline Profile bitstreams, as these two profiles share the same profile identifier code value.
      • Main Profile (MP)
        • This profile is used for standard-definition digital TV broadcasts that use the MPEG-4 format as defined in the DVB standard.[19] It is not, however, used for high-definition television broadcasts, as the importance of this profile faded when the High Profile was developed in 2004 for that application.
  • H264 Reference Frames:
    • [Paraphrased from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reference_frame_(video) ]
      • Reference Frames allow the video encoder to choose among more than one previously decoded frame on which to base each macroblock in the next frame. While the best frame for this purpose is usually the previous frame, the extra reference frames can improve compression efficiency and/or video quality.
      • Note that different reference frames can be chosen for different macroblocks in the same frame. The maximum number of concurrent reference frames supported by H.264 is 16. Different reference frames can be chosen for each 8×8 partition of a macroblock.
      • Multiple reference frames can considerably increase encoding time because many of the decisions, such as motion estimation, that are ordinarily carried out only on one reference frame have to be repeated on all of the reference frames. Heuristics can be used to reduce this speed cost at the cost of quality. Very high numbers of reference frames are rarely useful in terms of quality for live-action material because frames from farther back in time generally have less and less correlation with the current frame. This is not as true for animated sources, where repetitive motion can make high numbers of reference frames more useful.
    • [ https://app.zencoder.com/docs/api/encoding/h264/h264-reference-frames ]
      • More reference frames result in slightly higher compression quality, but increased decoding complexity. In practice, going above 5 rarely has much benefit. We default to 3 as a good compromise of compression and decoding complexity.
  • Alternative Encoders for H264
    • http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?MessageID=745821
      • It should be noted that newer versions of (Sony) Vegas use an updated version of the Mainconcept encoder. Nick has indicated he will upload a similar render using Vegas Pro 10 at some point.
      • Vegas uses blend or interpolate to deinterlace, while Handbrake uses modified yadif. Vegas uses bicubic resize, and Handbrake uses lanczos3.
      • The Sony AVC version’s really not so bad, and definitely the way to go for churning out “information” videos as opposed to something you want to look as perfect as possible.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 2nd, 2011 at 11:51 and is filed under Formats, levels, Vimeo, YouTube. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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