Uploaded video looks worse then original....by far

[Marc Dunham]

I've tried the Vimeo preset, result seems to be the same. I'm already a Vimeo Pro member and so I've tried the 1080 option, etc. I've also done the high bit rate encoding, the source file seems to play nice and sharp like I said on any source I've tried, it seems to be the vimeo encoding that shifts the image, unfortunately coloring/encoding is not my strong suite, pretty new to the whole thing. This project is web only and so it really isn't that big of a deal, I am only using this as an example because I want to try to get the best export and encoding I can do on my own, Alexander you had awesome suggestions except I'm not 100% familiar with all the terms haha. Do you have any suggestions for finding a compression expert?

[Gary Paul Walker]

Mark,

If you're using CS6, there is a Vimeo preset under the H.264 section (make sure you're not choosing Legacy H.264). It basically encodes 2-pass VBR with the min and max bit rates set to 5 Mbps, which is what Vimeo wants (http://vimeo.com/help/compression)

I've been having a bit of a headache around what the most appropriate min/max bit rates are for Vimeo and Youtube - does anyone know if, for a 4k>1080p workflow, there's a mathematical way of working out which is best (I've been told anywhere from 6mbps - 15mbps) - or is it entirely based on the destination of the footage?

[Dominik Muench]

I'm having the same issues and no one can tell me why that is, not even the guys at vimeo.

I uploaded several files in the last few weeks that all had this problem, all encoded 1080p in best quality as H264, looking fine on the computer and as soon as theyre on vimeo, the file is blurry, out of focus, latest example here:


I'm a vimeo pro member too and these were exported from Final Cut Pro.

the original file of this video is tack sharp and there are definitely no options in my vimeo uploader that allow me to change quality or format or anything like that. their conversion algorithm must be mesed up.

[Greg Barley]

I've always downscaled my footage to 1280x720 after noise removal and grading, THEN added sharpening, and encoded 5Mbps constant bit rate for Vimeo using AME with max render quality checked... and never had any complaints. I'll try and run some different tests / examples this weekend and upload them all to Vimeo and report back to this thread!

Also, dumb question, but I have fallen victim to it myself... is everyone making sure to view the video on Vimeo in HD? If you're internet connection is detected to be too slow, Vimeo defaults to the SD version. Make sure the HD icon in the lower right of the player is lit up in blue (or whatever color if you changed the default color scheme!)....

Also, with embedded Vimeo videos, remember that unless they are being embedded at their uploaded resolution, it is being scaled again, which can make text / graphics jagged or sometimes soft. I know I've read somewhere about what multiples you should scale embedded video at to retain the most sharpness. (Maybe try 1/2... so 640x360 player size if you uploaded 1280x720...?)

When my company does web videos for different companies and if they are being shown in a specific size video player, we make sure to upload the video at that player size (for example, if their video player is 600px wide, then we upload 600px wide video files). Of course, if they want a full-screen option then this is all out the window!

So, to summarize, as far as I'm concerned, there about 178 different factors that can affect video quality online...

[Marc Dunham]

Ya I figured it would be hard to pinpoint where the issue is, but I like the conversation its got going. There really isn't a whole lot of resources out there on optimal exporting, at least nothing in depth. Dominik, not to wish bad on anyone but I'm glad I'm not the only one having the issue, let me know if you figure out any tricks or tips.

[Dominik Muench]

Marc, I had this issue a few weeks ago...I contacted vimeo and all they were able to tell me was...encode in h264 at best quality....when i told them that the file was indeed h264 at best quality, they didnt have a proper answer for me either :/

seems to me they are a bit in denial about their internal workings of their website.

[Marc Dunham]

Ya I've never had any good results when talking to vimeo, they are very closed off and almost "ignorant" on purpose it seems

[Cory Petkovsek]

Youtube and vimeo will always look worse than the original. If your result looks crappy, then upload a video with the highest bitrate as possible so when their converter destroys your project it will look decent. Bitrate is key, especially for the poor adobe encoders. 5mbps for 720p is too low. 5mbps is an SD DVD bitrate, unless you are using x264. If you are committed to adobe's h264 then for 720p video I'd render 15-30mbps. For 360p 3-6mbps, for 1080p 20-40mpbs. It won't hurt you to dump excess bitrate in there; it will take a little longer to upload, then they'll downconvert it. I'd recommend using x264 to get the best quality encode. Youtube supports dnxhd, so consider that since its an intermediate codec, which is what you are giving youtube and vimdeo: an intermediate.

Cory

[Doug Beatty]

I tried rendering a 4K DPX sequence out of After Effects CS5.5 to a 4K x264 file and it crashes every time. I tried toggling OpenGL render and setting the secret preferences to purge my cache every 480 frames. I checked the RAM and it never gets more than 40% full.

I'm on OSX 10.6.8 w/ 12 cores and also noticed that x264 only uses half of the threads when rendering while ProRes uses all 12.

The last time I used Compressor w/ x264 wasn't a problem (but I was outputting 1080p). I'd love to create 4K x264 masters to save archival space, but I have hit a wall on this issue. Any ideas or alternatives?

[Cory Petkovsek]

As x264 is a command line encoder, I'm sure you are not using it directly from after effects. Neither am I. I'm on windows and I use vfwx264. On mac you must be using some sort of packager that translates the output stream from AE to x264. Thus you need to look at the logs that x264 and that packager you are using (vfwx264 in my case) put out to determine why it is crashing (ie. out of memory or something).

Look at what crashes. If the whole system crashes you probably have hardware issues, like inadequate heat distribution or faulty memory. If AE crashes, that's a problem and you need to look at AE logs. If the renderer crashes, look in the logs for the packager and x264 command line. Then google the errors and troubleshoot from there. You may also need to increase the verbosity of AE and your packager and x264 logs.

Try using a different x264 packager. Also update to the latest version of the packager so that x264 is updated. If the packager has an install of x264, you can upgrade it directly by replacing it's x264 files.

Cory