VideoStudio project settings and frame rate

[PeterKay]

This is a general question to users of Video Studio. What format (and settings used) do you export your projects to?
29.97 fps or 30 fps? What compression levels (under Project Properties > Project Profiles > Compression) ?
I have been exporting to mp4 with different bitrates. For a while I used the 29.97 frame rate but then I run into a compatibility issue with one TV set.

The .mov files on my iPhone, which I sometimes use as a recording device, show frame rate 30.00 frames/second. Files from my Canon dslr camera, which I also use for some shots, show 29.97 fps (and higher bit rate). I know it's close but they don't look exactly same.
Recently I run into the problem where my Video Studio ProDAD Mercalli filter doesn't work as expected. I get the "video effect ProDAD Mercalli. The video analysis must be executed again" - I run the analysis again and it shows fine but when I render the project the error text shows up in the project final video. One of the recommendations I found on this on this forum was to use the same project properties as my recordings.... but A) my individual project video files (from iPhone and Canon) use different frame rate B) I'd rather export my project to a frame rate that is generally the most compatible.

What format do you export your projects to to make sure that your video files are compatile with different hardware and are future proof?

[tletter]

What format do you export your projects to to make sure that your video files are compatile with different hardware and are future proof?

It all depends on what media you're targeting with your rendered video. If the target media is a Blu-ray Disc then your rendered output will be different than if you're targeting YouTube. In the latter case there is a YouTube article on encoding settings (https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/1722171).

What format do you export your projects to to make sure that your video files are ... future proof?

I'd suggest recording in 4K and then rendering accordingly.

tletter
https://www.youtube.com/user/tletter

[Davidk]

It depends on
1. the camera (the source files) and
2. who/where your target audience is (the video editor output).

The (photo) camera will generally have only 2 settings to select from> ordinarily, you choose the format/frame rate for your local environment (eg, NTSC for the americas and japan which is 29.97fps; PAL for rest of world at 25 fps. HD can be multiples of those). Once set, camera output once inserted to the video editor worked on and then rendered, the editor will change to the frame rate you specify for your audience as part of the render, and if that means a change of rate and slight loss of resolution compared to the source files, you'll have to live with it, or get a much more expensive camera and learn how to use it in this sort of environment.

Bottom line - cameras (still cameras or phones with video capability, or camcorders) are usually restricted in format/rates they use, whereas a video editor is much more flexible, can be adjusted to most needs.

Re mercalli, you will get that result if you change the length of the clip to which mercalli is applied for any reason AFTER you have done a mercalli scan, which includes adding a transition. And for the reason you report, you learn to check the clips with mercalli before render to make sure this hasn't happened. Having that semi-blacked out image with rescan advice in the final render is irritating, but fixing the rescan advice is easy, just re-scan the clip as is. I do mercalli as almost the last thing in a project before rendering.

[Ken Berry]

30 fps is supposed to be a shorthand way of saying 29.97 fps, just as 60 fps is supposed to be shorthand for 59.94 fps. These are NTSC settings and the 29.97 figure comes from some very arcane calculations made in the early days of television. So in theory you can use either of these figures when talking about video frame rates -- though is VS, as you will see, they stick to strictly correct 29.97 or 59.94 fps instead of 30 and 60. However, they should also accept video whose properties are said to be 30 or 60.

I suspect the problem arises that some relatively recent smartphones and even some cameras have setting which use frame rates which are actually 30 and 60 fps instead of 29.97 fps and 59.94 -- though as I say, VS will normally accept all of these.

That being said, I'm interested in the TV which gave you compatibility problems. Was it really over the frame rates, or was it the video type. Some flat screen TVs will not play video in specific formats e.g. AVI or DV/AVI. Some won't play HDV...

[RobertOZ]

Oops Ken, I think you meant to say NTSC settings< PAL are 25 and 50

[Ken Berry]

Yes, I did of course mean NTSC. Thanks Robert!

[PeterKay]

What format do you export your projects to to make sure that your video files are compatile with different hardware and are future proof?

It all depends on what media you're targeting with your rendered video. If the target media is a Blu-ray Disc then your rendered output will be different than if you're targeting YouTube. In the latter case there is a YouTube article on encoding settings (https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/1722171).

What format do you export your projects to to make sure that your video files are ... future proof?

I'd suggest recording in 4K and then rendering accordingly.

tletter
https://www.youtube.com/user/tletter

Thank you for your replay and apologies for a late response from my end.
My audience is basically next generations of my family. These are home movies that I make. I know that recording in 4k makes sense but I am more interested in the format compatibility as far as frame rate, codecs used, file format (mp4, mov...) I'd like to make sure that then next generation, some 20-30 years from now can open and play these videos. I realize that nobody has a crystal ball and it's hard to predict what hardware will be in use in 30 years, but seeing how different TVs and players are having issues playing formats from 15-20 years ago (for example AVI) I would like to avoid this for my future generations. I wonder what format professional archivists use to preserve old video footage.

[PeterKay]

It depends on
1. the camera (the source files) and
2. who/where your target audience is (the video editor output).

The (photo) camera will generally have only 2 settings to select from> ordinarily, you choose the format/frame rate for your local environment (eg, NTSC for the americas and japan which is 29.97fps; PAL for rest of world at 25 fps. HD can be multiples of those). Once set, camera output once inserted to the video editor worked on and then rendered, the editor will change to the frame rate you specify for your audience as part of the render, and if that means a change of rate and slight loss of resolution compared to the source files, you'll have to live with it, or get a much more expensive camera and learn how to use it in this sort of environment.

Bottom line - cameras (still cameras or phones with video capability, or camcorders) are usually restricted in format/rates they use, whereas a video editor is much more flexible, can be adjusted to most needs.

Re mercalli, you will get that result if you change the length of the clip to which mercalli is applied for any reason AFTER you have done a mercalli scan, which includes adding a transition. And for the reason you report, you learn to check the clips with mercalli before render to make sure this hasn't happened. Having that semi-blacked out image with rescan advice in the final render is irritating, but fixing the rescan advice is easy, just re-scan the clip as is. I do mercalli as almost the last thing in a project before rendering.

Thank you for your reply and apologies for a late response from my end.
Regarding Mercalli problem I found that it was the transitions that it didn't like. Once I removed the transitions from the segments Mercalli worked fine.

[PeterKay]

30 fps is supposed to be a shorthand way of saying 29.97 fps, just as 60 fps is supposed to be shorthand for 59.94 fps. These are NTSC settings and the 29.97 figure comes from some very arcane calculations made in the early days of television. So in theory you can use either of these figures when talking about video frame rates -- though is VS, as you will see, they stick to strictly correct 29.97 or 59.94 fps instead of 30 and 60. However, they should also accept video whose properties are said to be 30 or 60.

I suspect the problem arises that some relatively recent smartphones and even some cameras have setting which use frame rates which are actually 30 and 60 fps instead of 29.97 fps and 59.94 -- though as I say, VS will normally accept all of these.

That being said, I'm interested in the TV which gave you compatibility problems. Was it really over the frame rates, or was it the video type. Some flat screen TVs will not play video in specific formats e.g. AVI or DV/AVI. Some won't play HDV...

Thank you, Ken. Apologies for a late response.
Yes, I remember these ntsc nuances from the old days, when they added color and had to compensate by lowering the frame rate from 30 to 29.97.
However, I still see these differences here and there. Example: On my laptop when I right-click a .mov file from my iPhone 8 and select Properties, it shows frame rate of 30 frames/sec. When I do the same on the .mov file from my Canon camera it shows frame rate as 29.97 frame per sec. So there must be a difference between these files. I run into the compatibility problem with these two frame rates on different TV sets. Don't remember all the details now but a file would not play on a TV with 29.97 but when I converted it to 30fps the tv was able to play it just fine. I would like to make sure that my family video projects are as much compatible as possible.