4k Conversion noticeably lower quality VS 2019

[nahpungnome]

Hello, I was doing some basic 4k video editing. My original Clog based 4k video from my EOS R with IPB compression was used. I noticed that while my original file looked flat, due to the CLog setting, it was WAY sharper and looked like a 4k video. This is output at around 110Mbps.

I played around with the output encoding settings and put it to 4k, MP4, and 60Mbps, since that's about all it would allow in the setting. Sharpness took a HUGE hit. Here are my profile properties:

MPEG-4 Files
24 bits, 3840 x 2160, 29.97 fps
Frame-based
H.264 High Profile Video: 65000 Kbps, 16:9
44100 Hz, 16 Bit, Stereo
MPEG AAC Audio: 192 Kbps

I could very well be doing something else wrong. I also editing the color of my video just using the auto setting. Colors were satisfactory, but the sharpness just isnt there. Any tips appreciated!

[Ken Berry]

If you have, in Preferences, ticked the box on General > Project, saying "Show message when inserting first video clip", did you get such a message when your inserted your first 4K clip? And if so, did you say yes?

In Share, have you tried Same As First Video Clip or Same As Project Settings, if you got the message I mentioned above?

Were you using SmartProxy? If so, there is a known bug in VS 2019 where the proxy clips are used in the final Share, rather than the edits being applied to the 4K originals...

[Finnfellow]

Hi,
I also had bad quality video rendering with VS 2020 Ultimate. The previous version 2019 was OK. In my case, however, the problem was with HD-videos. After trying to find the cause of the problem I finally disabled the hardware encode acceleration. It was Nvidia Cuda because I have that GPU (Geforce GTX 1080). I also tried Intel Quick Sync and it gave me OK quality but the video stopped after a while even though the it seemed to run and I heard the sound. Turning off the acceleration, I finally I got the high quality XAVC coded video rendered.

I always update the GPU driver immediately when it is published. So, I had the newest GPU driver in use. Could the problem be related to the new driver?

I was also wondering that the rendering speed seemed to be about same with or without hardware accelaration.

The VS 2019 was very buggy as we know. In my case the worst problems seemed to came out when I opened the project made with my previous VS version X10. Problems disappeared after I had cleaned it from all transition effects, filters and whatever there was, and opened the "pure" tracks in VS 2019.

[nahpungnome]

If you have, in Preferences, ticked the box on General > Project, saying "Show message when inserting first video clip", did you get such a message when your inserted your first 4K clip? And if so, did you say yes?

In Share, have you tried Same As First Video Clip or Same As Project Settings, if you got the message I mentioned above?

Were you using SmartProxy? If so, there is a known bug in VS 2019 where the proxy clips are used in the final Share, rather than the edits being applied to the 4K originals...

I will double check, I don't remember if I got that dialog. I am indeed using smart proxy. Is there a work around for the smart proxy issue?

[nahpungnome]

I did it without smart proxy and it looks great. Is there an incoming fix for this or should I just not use it?

[Ken Berry]

The problem seems to be the default template used by SmartProxy where its properties are used in the final output, rather than the 4K original. The solution seems to be to set up your own custom template with different properties (e.g. for 4K originals, the proxy template could be something lower, like 1920 x 1080 or 1280 x 720 and a low bitrate). But with that new template the edits should be applied properly in share to the 4K originals.

[nahpungnome]

Hi,
I also had bad quality video rendering with VS 2020 Ultimate. The previous version 2019 was OK. In my case, however, the problem was with HD-videos. After trying to find the cause of the problem I finally disabled the hardware encode acceleration. It was Nvidia Cuda because I have that GPU (Geforce GTX 1080). I also tried Intel Quick Sync and it gave me OK quality but the video stopped after a while even though the it seemed to run and I heard the sound. Turning off the acceleration, I finally I got the high quality XAVC coded video rendered.

I always update the GPU driver immediately when it is published. So, I had the newest GPU driver in use. Could the problem be related to the new driver?

I was also wondering that the rendering speed seemed to be about same with or without hardware accelaration.

The VS 2019 was very buggy as we know. In my case the worst problems seemed to came out when I opened the project made with my previous VS version X10. Problems disappeared after I had cleaned it from all transition effects, filters and whatever there was, and opened the "pure" tracks in VS 2019.

Yep, I use CUDA acceleration also, and notice no improvement in anything...I even monitor GPU usage with HWInfo64 and it shows no load so I'm not sure that it does anything.

[nahpungnome]

The problem seems to be the default template used by SmartProxy where its properties are used in the final output, rather than the 4K original. The solution seems to be to set up your own custom template with different properties (e.g. for 4K originals, the proxy template could be something lower, like 1920 x 1080 or 1280 x 720 and a low bitrate). But with that new template the edits should be applied properly in share to the 4K originals.

Thanks, Ken!