I don't need or want HD

[Tom Wood]

I'm making 2 minute 3D animations that play in a 480x360 pixel size Flash video window on the intertubes. They start out as uncompressed TGA image sequences, temporarily are uncompressed RTV files, transform to 4GB uncompressed AVI files and then are (horribly) compressed to 12MB FLV files.

I don't want or need HD for any of this. Going HD would just mean I'd have to compress from a higher level of detail down to the same detail I have as an end product now. No thanks.

I notice that the VT Edit forum is now the Speed Edit forum. I also notice that RTV is now a legacy format. Hello? Is anyone paying attention to what is happening on the intertubes? We don't need no stinkin' HD to make stuff for the interwebs. At least not now.

I still want to work in all uncompressed up to the point of encoding to the internets. But your Blackberry will never see HD detail anyway. So why bother?

Please create a dedicated workflow for content destined for the web.

TW

[kleima]

RTV still works. You don't HAVE to use HD in VTSE.
Open a new project with custom resolution and save it as preset. Then everything you throw in the timeline (SD or HD) is automatically scaled to the project size, - in real-time.
Hello! :thumbsup: How much better, or more dedicated a workflow do you want for web?
And why would you start with TGA and render to RTV, then render to FLV?
Why not just throw the TGA sequence in the timeline, let it scale automatically to your 480x360 project size and then when you are finished render to FLV?
Are still on VT[4]?

[Tom Wood]

Yeah, still in VT4 with no desire/need to update any more. The thing is, I started out thinking this would be something for SD video so all my 3D animation material is set up for that - 720x486 pixels. So I render out TGA image sequences in LightWave, composite/convert to RTV in Mirage, edit in VT4, then render out an uncompressed AVI for FlixPro to compress to FLV for the web. Best I can tell, changing any of the standard file parameters for RTV or AVI 'breaks' the format and I get unpredictable results.

[kleima]

Yeah, but this is what I'm saying - VT[5] gives you a MUCH better workflow than that, because you can set your project resolution at what you want for your final output (480x360) and then just throw your 720x486 TGA's on the timeline and it scales in real time. Maybe you have no desire to upgrade b/c you don't know what you are missing. You just asked for a better workflow for what you do, but you don't want to upgrade to the version that provides what you were asking for!? :hey:
BTW, you can render to FLV from the timeline in VT[5].

[Tom Wood]

BTW, you can render to FLV from the timeline in VT[5].

That's using the 'home' version of the FLV encoder that doesn't do 2-pass VBR. I bought the 'pro' version of the ON2 FLV encoder because the quality difference is significant. So I'm stuck with going outside VT for a decent FLV.

And even then, I can see a huge quality difference between an uncompressed RTV and a SpeedHQ file as a source file, when I have to do so much compressing going into the end FLV.

I guess what I'm really wanting is a branch in the software that acknowledges that the detail needed in a small web/mobile window just isn't the same as what is needed for a large plasma screen TV.

[billmi]

I guess what I'm really wanting is a branch in the software that acknowledges that the detail needed in a small web/mobile window just isn't the same as what is needed for a large plasma screen TV.


I think what you are missing is that while SpeedEdit has HD capability that VTEdit in VT[4] lacked, it also has more flexibility for web resolution use.

I produce almost exclusively for web delivery, and almost never anything in HD. I definitely like the flexibility SE offers better.

[John Perkins]

RTV is legacy now because we are the only company that supports it, plus it is very restrictive.

We replaced them with uncompressed 422 and 4224 YUV avi's that are exactly the same data as RTV, but aren't limited to exactly SD resolutions.

As you noted, RTV does not have any flexibility. You can render both higher and lower than SD res in a UYVY avi.

[kleima]

Thanks, John! That I did not know.

[ScorpioProd]

BTW, you can render to FLV from the timeline in VT[5].
Note that you are very limited in WHICH FLV codec it has. It's not the ON2 one, it's an older one.

[Tom Wood]

I think what you are missing is that while SpeedEdit has HD capability that VTEdit in VT[4] lacked, it also has more flexibility for web resolution use.

I produce almost exclusively for web delivery, and almost never anything in HD. I definitely like the flexibility SE offers better.

If you were to stay in uncompressed AVI files up to the point of making the FLV, what would be your workflow?

My stuff is all 3D CGI, so starting with uncompressed TGA image sequences out of LightWave is a natural start. I use Mirage to composite those with other graphics, and currently render out an RTV because I need the alpha in VT4, and because it's still uncompressed. Then I render out an uncompressed BGR24 AVI from VT4 that is then used in the ON2 FlixPro encoder to make the final FLV. I tried the AVI wrapper, but FlixPro chokes on it.

[UnCommonGrafx]

Tom,
Have to say: if you don't use the switcher, stay with what you have. You have a workflow that works and as long as no one changes your tools, you are good to go for quite a long time.

The avi-wrapper doesn't work with every program out there so it's not quite the panacea I was hoping for. Older stuff, it works ok, e.g., DFX; for newer stuff, it's hit and miss: it's missed on all the Adobe stuff I've tried.

Just because it's shiney and new doesn't mean it's better for the task at hand given the tools had at hand. Invest that upgrade money in something else to pay for the next needed upgrade.

[Tom Wood]

Hey Robert,

You're right, but I try to stay within one upgrade so the discussions here don't leave me too far behind. Once everybody is doing 1080i (or whatever) with the latest and greatest, asking a question about how to do something back in VT4 will seem like I'm being a luddite. :D

[UnCommonGrafx]

I can partially agree with that. But this ain't the lw crowd and the tools aren't moving that fast nor that ... differently.
The conversation still hasn't changed too much and I think you could hold off on one iteration of upgrades. Were they to do something "drastic" then yeah, an upgrade might be warranted.

Some wise guy wrote an article about not following the tech train, making as much as possible on what was had. Made all kinds of sense to me at the time. Today, it does even more.

I don't think it's being a luddite as much as a good business person. Not asking the question, not planning toward the future, not acknowledging that change is a'comin' would be very luddite-like. You don't seem to be suffering from this, Tom. ;)