DVD to Wistia - Suggestions?

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dax702
Posts: 25
Joined: Wed Feb 11, 2009 8:08 pm

DVD to Wistia - Suggestions?

Post by dax702 »

I have several NTSC, 4:3 DVD videos that I need to convert and upload to Wistia and try to maintain as much quality as possible. I learned that Wistia doesn't support 480p, so the next step up for them would be 540p. Based on my research I learn that the video would need to be 960x720 as that is the next (width based) resolution they support as discussed here: https://wistia.com/support/getting-star ... a-supports

At my disposal, I have Vegas Pro v13, along with Handbrake, and I use a popular frame serving script called Vegas2Handbrake with some settings that one of the gurus put together over in their discussion forum for uploading HD video to youtube, vimeo.

I can't do a straight conversion from the DVD MPG2 to H.264 as I need to open the video onto the Vegas timeline to do color and sound correction so that means the video will need to be re-encoded. The specs on the video (MPG2) are shown below via MediaInfo:

Video
ID : 224 (0xE0)
Format : MPEG Video
Format version : Version 2
Format profile : Main@Main
Format settings : BVOP
Format settings, BVOP : Yes
Format settings, Matrix : Default
Format settings, GOP : M=3, N=15
Format settings, picture structure : Frame
Duration : 2 min 46 s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 7 263 kb/s
Maximum bit rate : 8 000 kb/s
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 4:3
Frame rate : 29.970 (30000/1001) FPS
Standard : NTSC
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Interlaced
Scan order : Bottom Field First
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.701
Time code of first frame : 00:00:00:00
Time code source : Group of pictures header
GOP, Open/Closed : Open
GOP, Open/Closed of first frame : Closed
Stream size : 144 MiB (95%)

Audio
ID : 189 (0xBD)-128 (0x80)
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Muxing mode : DVD-Video
Duration : 2 min 46 s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 224 kb/s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate : 31.250 FPS (1536 SPF)
Bit depth : 16 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 4.44 MiB (3%)
Service kind : Complete Main

I'd like to know how you would go about getting this video to H.264 while maintaining as much quality as possible. Should I use decomb or yadif in Handbrake? What settings would be best? Thanks for any input on this matter.
mduell
Veteran User
Posts: 8187
Joined: Sat Apr 21, 2007 8:54 pm

Re: DVD to Wistia - Suggestions?

Post by mduell »

Do your editing of the existing MPEG2 in Vegas, upscale to 720x540 non-anamorphic in Vegas, frameserve to HB, and use the HB Youtube/Vimeo preset for encoding to H.264.
dax702
Posts: 25
Joined: Wed Feb 11, 2009 8:08 pm

Re: DVD to Wistia - Suggestions?

Post by dax702 »

Thanks for the reply. Clarifying question:

When you say to frame serve to HB, but upscale in Vegas, what do you mean? In Vegas, shouldn't the project properties match the media on the timeline? In this that would be the 720x480, interlaced (lower field first), etc?
mduell
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Joined: Sat Apr 21, 2007 8:54 pm

Re: DVD to Wistia - Suggestions?

Post by mduell »

I assume Vegas can de-anamorph the video; if not, or if you also want to do the decomb in HB instead of Vegas, you can do that in HB.
Deleted User 13735

Re: DVD to Wistia - Suggestions?

Post by Deleted User 13735 »

You can render directly from Vegas to x264 using Happy Otter Script beta.
The author of Vegas2Handbrake suggests you go the HO route, because the frameserver script hasn't been maintained in some time.

Honestly though, you won't lose anything by doing it all in Vegas, as already suggested to you on that forum. It's faster.
dax702
Posts: 25
Joined: Wed Feb 11, 2009 8:08 pm

Re: DVD to Wistia - Suggestions?

Post by dax702 »

Thank you, wasn't even aware of Happy Otter script until now; I will look at it.
I think definitely I was getting better results using Vegas2Handbrake than I was using MainConcept in Vegas alone. To me, the video looks sharper when using HB.
Deleted User 13735

Re: DVD to Wistia - Suggestions?

Post by Deleted User 13735 »

Well, one would have to test that on a level playing field, which we did exhaustively in 2011.
At optimal settings (important!), x264 is measurably better than MC below 8-10 Mbps. At 12 Mbps, we couldn't measure or see anything definitive between the two.

*Note: Mainconcept defaults are not optimal.
dax702
Posts: 25
Joined: Wed Feb 11, 2009 8:08 pm

Re: DVD to Wistia - Suggestions?

Post by dax702 »

I don't believe I'd be encoding at those high bitrates for SD footage on Wistia. Their guide indicates max bitrate of 1800kbps for 540p IIRC. I don't know if that means they want me to upload at that rate, or if that's the asset they create.
Deleted User 13735

Re: DVD to Wistia - Suggestions?

Post by Deleted User 13735 »

OIC
They are stingy with bandwidth, so no worries.
Your upload bitrates can stay below 10Mbps, so yes I suggest x264 over MC or Sony AVC.
Last edited by Deleted User 13735 on Tue Jan 29, 2019 8:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
dax702
Posts: 25
Joined: Wed Feb 11, 2009 8:08 pm

Re: DVD to Wistia - Suggestions?

Post by dax702 »

I received clarification on that. 1800kbps max is the max that 540p will be encoded at at their end. I can upload a bigger file :-)
Just started a new post on the vegas forum for HOS help going from DVD to H.264
Deleted User 13735

Re: DVD to Wistia - Suggestions?

Post by Deleted User 13735 »

Yes, talk to you there. Also, I wanted to remind that Handbrake GUI won't do vertical upscaling.
dax702
Posts: 25
Joined: Wed Feb 11, 2009 8:08 pm

Re: DVD to Wistia - Suggestions?

Post by dax702 »

It doesn't? What is it doing when you input a bigger frame size than is being served from Vegas?
mduell
Veteran User
Posts: 8187
Joined: Sat Apr 21, 2007 8:54 pm

Re: DVD to Wistia - Suggestions?

Post by mduell »

Ignores it. CLI supports it.
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