Render Issues with 2021

[daveRolph]

I won't bore you all with the details but I have totally lost faith in the email support provided by Corel.

I have been using VS for around 20 years and do an Annual DVD for the family each year (well Blu Ray Nowadays).

I was wondering about upgrading to 2022 but could not find any real reason to so sticking with VS2019 I have a question I know has come up before but I wanted to try and make it simple. I have a sample bit of video from an iPhone (its not the greatest of quality but if I simply re-render it to disk the quality is so much worse.

I have included the original movie properties and the project properties, I could also put copies of the video's someone if anyone is interested in running a comparison but it looks compressed on the VS rendered clip.

Render Issues - Original File.png (6.73 KiB) Viewed 220 times

Project Properties 1.png (7.29 KiB) Viewed 220 times

Project Properties 2.png (5.97 KiB) Viewed 220 times

[Ken Berry]

First off, you didn't explain how come there are two sets of project properties. But I am most interested in the middle one. It sets a frame rate which is incredibly fast at 240 fps. Did you deliberately want to produce a video which plays at 4 times normal speed (which would be based on 59.94 or rounded up to 60 fps).

Next, from the Properties of your original file, the frame rate given there of 59.966, makes me think you have filmed it using a camera which has a variable frame rate. Video Studio does not like that. It may play such video; it may play it erratically, with some jerkiness; or it may refuse to play it at all.

Normally, when you set your Preferences, you would tick the box on the General tab beside "Show message when inserting first video clip into timeline". Then, with VS set to New Project, when you insert a video like that one you should get a message asking if your want the Project Properties to match those of the clip. But VS will usually not ask this when the clip has a variable frame rate. I am guessing that this did not happen, given your varying sets of Project Properties.

Our usual recommendation in this situation is to run the video through a video converter program, like the freeware Handbrake program a number of us here use. That would have properties much the same as the original, but with a frame rate which is part of the international video standard: for NTSC that would be 29.97 (or rounded up to 30) fps or 59.94 (or rounded up to 60) fps. Then, tell VS to start a New Project and insert this newly converted video, and you should get that message. And with the Project Properties set to match those of the clip, when you go to Share, you can use either of the two options right at the top: "Same As Project Settings" or "Same As First Clip".

[daveRolph]

Hi Ken, thanks for the reply, I will reply to each of your comments :

you didn't explain how come there are two sets of project properties

Its not two sets of project properties, one is the General tab and the other is the Compression Tab

It sets a frame rate which is incredibly fast at 240 fps

To be honest, I just went with the defaults but happy to select something else, to be honest I often slow down the video tp 50% but hardly ever speed it up, slow mo is one for another day as I am never happy with the smoothness.

frame rate given there of 59.966, makes me think you have filmed it using a camera which has a variable frame rate

As I mentioned in the post, its from an iPhone 12.

Our usual recommendation in this situation is to run the video through a video converter program, like the freeware Handbrake program a number of us here use

Thanks, I will look into that, so you think the quality of the rendered output is due to the frame rate ? I never even thought if that, the video is as smooth as the original, it just seems to look compressed with parts of the screen more blurry / pixelated.

I do hundreds of short clip videos (usually 203 seconds each) so using another process is really going to slow me down, it already takes many weeks to put the production together.

for NTSC that would be 29.97 (or rounded up to 30) fps or 59.94

I am UK based so the format is PAL, I guess 25fps would be right ? I produce 2 video outputs of the final production, 1 to DVD and the other on BluRay (still suprised I can't write 4K Blu Ray but again that is one I have been struggling with for years).

Thanks for your reply Barry, until I get any more advice I will have a look at the frame rate and investigate Handbrake, I have to be honest that recently I have had a bad time with Support and started looking at other products, I have full Adobe account so have been playing with Premiere Pro 2023, it seems so much more complicated (which is why I always used VS) but straight away the quality of the output on this sample is better.

[daveRolph]

As an update to this I downloaded Handbrake and ran it through the default encode process with the option to default to peak framerate (30) - VS tells me it is now 29.995 Frame Rate.

Running this first I can see no obvious improvement in the clarrity of the rendered video via VS 2021.

I know this is a bit of a crude example but using Windows Media Player in Windows 11 I paused the three videos in the same place.

As I mentioned in the 1st post the original is not perfect but its still so much better than the one rendered from VS2021 (I used Snip it to focus on just one section of the clip).
Original File

Original.png (136.07 KiB) Viewed 194 times

The next file is the original I rendered from VS (as defaults, no special changes)

VS Default Render.png (114.85 KiB) Viewed 194 times

Then the version after I encoded with Handbrake and then Rendered through VS2021

Handbrake Process & VS Render.png (99.83 KiB) Viewed 194 times