Video in Sony Vegas Pro 12 Horribly Choppy/Distorted in Preview AND Render!

[Baasha]

I just joined this forum and look forward to contributing and getting help with video editing in general.


For some odd/random reason, the videos I've recorded (using DxTory) appear horribly scrambled and messed up ONLY in Premiere Pro and Sony Vegas! They play just fine on any of the video players - VLC, WMP-Classic, and Quicktime. There isn't a single stutter or problem during playback but when I'm editing the video(s), for some reason, they are horribly scrambled.

The games I recorded include Borderlands 2, Saints Row IV, and Dishonored. Battlefield 3 and Metro Last Light, on the other hand, appear just fine which is extremely weird. All the DxTory settings are the same for recording so it can't be that.

I thought it was a problem with the preview window (setting of some sort) and went ahead and rendered the video - they came out all scrambled and terrible. I tried three different videos and they ALL seem to have this issue.

I used the same settings to record so I'm not sure what's going on - PLEASE HELP!

Video in Windows Media Player Classic:





Video in Sony Vegas:





I tried using Premiere Pro and increasing the bitrate to 40Mbps but that didn't help either.


The videos are recorded at 2560x1600 @ 30FPS using the x264vfw codec with DxTory. I haven't tweaked the X264 settings in DxTory so could that be the issue? The other videos (BF3 etc.) look just fine so I'm not sure what's going on(?).

[codemaster]

I had similar problems when I tried to edit long GOP mpeg 2 files in Premiere. I found out that if I compress the mpeg files with an intra-frame codec, such as DV or Lagarith, and then import in Premiere, there are no more artifacts.

But H.264 is not a good codec to use for realtime screen capture, and for editing in NLEs. H.264 is good for delivery, not for editing.

For screen capture, you can use Fraps instead, because it's designed specifically for screen capture, and is using a codec that is optimized for high performance over compression ratio.

[Baasha]

I had similar problems when I tried to edit long GOP mpeg 2 files in Premiere. I found out that if I compress the mpeg files with an intra-frame codec, such as DV or Lagarith, and then import in Premiere, there are no more artifacts.

But H.264 is not a good codec to use for realtime screen capture, and for editing in NLEs. H.264 is good for delivery, not for editing. You can use Fraps instead, because it's designed specifically for screen capture, and is using a codec that is optimized for high performance over compression ratio.

Thanks for the response.


There are a couple of issues I want to address.


First, how do I compress an AVI video (compiled from RawCap files in DxTory) using Lagarith Lossless Codec (already installed)? Is there a specific program to do this or do you mean I should capture the gameplay using Lagarith? I can do that from now on but what about all the videos that were already captured? I really don't want to start afresh since I have more than 150GB of videos of various games that have this distortion issue.


Secondly, I cannot use Fraps because I play at a different resolution than the one I record in. I have a really beastly rig that I game on - 3 30" monitors in Portrait mode (5160x2560) but record at 2560x1600. I tried recording in 4K resolution (4096x2160) but encoding that and editing it is an even bigger hassle right now since I'm not sure how to optimize the settings for 4K in Premier/Vegas.


So, using DxTory is the only option since it allows me to game at a different resolution and record at another. The videos came out great and yesterday, I installed the UTVideo Codec and recorded some more Borderlands 2 (RGB setting) - a 20 minute video is 150GB!


Having said that, the two things I want to know are:


1.) How do I use the videos recorded with the x264vfw codec (DxTory) that I already have? Can I "convert" it to a lossless format (like Lagarith) to edit in Premier/Vegas? If so, how do I do that?


2.) Recording gameplay from now on, what settings/codecs do you recommend for optimal qualitiy/performance? I just tried out UTVideo and the recording seems fantastic - Lagarith is also great but both codecs create videos that are just gargantuan in size - of course, this is expected since they are "lossless".


My hardware allows me to really get the BEST quality - that is what I want. I (eventually) want to be able to record 4K gameplay, edit it in Premier/Vegas, and upload it to YouTube ("Original" quality).


For now, I want to have the best quality 2560x1600 (1600P) videos of gameplay. For this, what settings do you recommend/suggest?

I am always ambivalent when it comes to certain settings like bitrate, VBR/CBR, number of passes (1 or 2) etc. To get the best quality videos, what do you recommend?

[codemaster]

I don't use DxTory, but I used Camtasia for screen capture. Camtasia has a special codec, TechSmith Screen Capture Codec (fourcc tscc), optimized for screen capture. That's the codec I use for screen capture, because files are small, visual quality is excelent, and cpu usage is low. Then, I import the .camrec files into Camtasia Studio timeline, and export to avi container and lagarith codec, and then I import the avi in Premiere or Vegas. I don't know if DxTory can export like Camtasia can.

Camtasia can copy streams from a camrec file and it can wrap them to avi. That avi can be opened in avisynth and/or virtualdub, and then it can be compressed with lagarith. DxTory Video Codec is a vfw codec, like Techsmith, and users should be able to open in avisynth, virtualdub, megui, and then compress with lagarith, but I don't know if DxTory can copy streams from whatever container it utilizes, and wrap to avi.

[turk690]

For some odd/random reason, the videos I've recorded (using DxTory) appear horribly scrambled and messed up ONLY in Premiere Pro and Sony Vegas! They play just fine on any of the video players - VLC, WMP-Classic, and Quicktime. There isn't a single stutter or problem during playback but when I'm editing the video(s), for some reason, they are horribly scrambled. .....The videos are recorded at 2560x1600 @ 30FPS using the x264vfw codec with DxTory. I haven't tweaked the X264 settings in DxTory so could that be the issue? The other videos (BF3 etc.) look just fine so I'm not sure what's going on(?).

Even with just 1920x1080 (captured AVCHD files from camcorder), Premiere Pro (CS5) behaves like this, let alone higher res. Although Premiere has had h264 support for some time, it appears to be just for opening the file and not much else. To get around this, with a view to editing them, I batch convert captured files (and other h264 files) with an intermediate VfW codec. Although there are Lagarith and HuffYUV, they also have their own issues that may or may not be worse that the problem of playing the original h264 clips smoothly on the timeline, so I just purchased a Cineform codec. It's a highly efficient codec that provides smooth playback, original quality, equitably smaller file sizes... all needed for fast, buttery smooth edits.

[Baasha]

I don't use DxTory, but I used Camtasia for screen capture. Camtasia has a special codec, TechSmith Screen Capture Codec (fourcc tscc), optimized for screen capture. That's the codec I use for screen capture, because files are small, visual quality is excelent, and cpu usage is low. Then, I import the .camrec files into Camtasia Studio timeline, and export to avi container and lagarith codec, and then I import the avi in Premiere or Vegas. I don't know if DxTory can export like Camtasia can.

Camtasia can copy streams from a camrec file and it can wrap them to avi. That avi can be opened in avisynth and/or virtualdub, and then it can be compressed with lagarith. DxTory Video Codec is a vfw codec, like Techsmith, and users should be able to open in avisynth, virtualdub, megui, and then compress with lagarith, but I don't know if DxTory can copy streams from whatever container it utilizes, and wrap to avi.

DxTory works very well for me now with the Lagarith and UTVideo codecs. I am not concerned about recording the gameplay.


I am trying to figure out how to convert the videos I have ALREADY recorded that are AVI files - recorded using the x264vfw codec. These are the videos that give the horrible distortion in Vegas/Premier.


What is the best way I can "convert" these videos to a codec format that will allow me to edit in Vegas/Premier?


There is an "AVIMux" button in DxTory but I don't know what that means or what it does.


I recorded the gameplay in "RawCap" format and then compiled them to an AVI file using DxTory's inbuilt RawCap Convert "program" (see pic).





This has the RawCap Converter (black) and the AVIMux (on right). Can I use that to "convert" the AVI files using the Lagarith (or UTVideo) codec? Would that work?


Please help!

[Baasha]

For some odd/random reason, the videos I've recorded (using DxTory) appear horribly scrambled and messed up ONLY in Premiere Pro and Sony Vegas! They play just fine on any of the video players - VLC, WMP-Classic, and Quicktime. There isn't a single stutter or problem during playback but when I'm editing the video(s), for some reason, they are horribly scrambled. .....The videos are recorded at 2560x1600 @ 30FPS using the x264vfw codec with DxTory. I haven't tweaked the X264 settings in DxTory so could that be the issue? The other videos (BF3 etc.) look just fine so I'm not sure what's going on(?).

Even with just 1920x1080 (captured AVCHD files from camcorder), Premiere Pro (CS5) behaves like this, let alone higher res. Although Premiere has had h264 support for some time, it appears to be just for opening the file and not much else. To get around this, with a view to editing them, I batch convert captured files (and other h264 files) with an intermediate VfW codec. Although there are Lagarith and HuffYUV, they also have their own issues that may or may not be worse that the problem of playing the original h264 clips smoothly on the timeline, so I just purchased a Cineform codec. It's a highly efficient codec that provides smooth playback, original quality, equitably smaller file sizes... all needed for fast, buttery smooth edits.

Okay, can you please tell me how to convert the AVI files (that are recorded w/ x264vfw codec) using the Lagarith codec? What program do I use to do that? I assume once I do that, I should be able to import the video(s) into Vegas/Premier and then not have these weird distortions?

[codemaster]

If you recorded as rawcap instead of avi, enter dxtory, press the purple button at the bottom down left. RawCapConv opens, it should display the recorded clips as thumbnails. Select the clips that you want to edit, and press "build".

I saw this in this guide.

If you recorded as avi instead of rawcap, with the Dxtory Video Codec, you can open the avi in VirtualDub, and select the Lagarith codec at "Video->Compression", and then "File->Save as avi".

The way I make screen captures is:
- I make the capture using the screen capture app and the special codec that comes with that screen capture app (for camtasia, the codec is "techsmith screen capture codec", for dxtory the codec is "dxtory video codec");
- I use the default container of the screen capture app; in camtasia, I would use the .camrec container, not the .avi container; in dxtory, I would use the .rawcap container, not the .avi container; I would definately not use x264vfw for any kind of capture, and I would not attempt to mux an H.264 stream into an .avi container;
- after I finish capturing, I use the screen capture app to render an intermediary file that I can import in Vegas or Premiere; in the render options in the screen capture app, I would choose the .avi container, lossless video compression using the lagarith codec, and pcm uncompressed for audio;
- after editing, I would export to .avi uncompressed from Vegas or Premiere, using the debugmode frameserver plugin, and if I need to upload on youtube, I would encode using youtube's Recommended bitrates, codecs, and resolutions. I would do this using the following tools: AviSynth, x264, neroAacEnc, and MP4Box. If you don't prefer CLI, a GUI for these tools is MeGUI.

[Baasha]

If you recorded as rawcap instead of avi, enter dxtory, press the purple button at the bottom down left. RawCapConv opens, it should display the recorded clips as thumbnails. Select the clips that you want to edit, and press "build".

I saw this in this guide.

If you recorded as avi instead of rawcap, with the Dxtory Video Codec, you can open the avi in VirtualDub, and select the Lagarith codec at "Video->Compression", and then "File->Save as avi".

I LOVE YOU!


I took a test video of Saints Row IV that was HORRIBLY choppy in Vegas/Premier and imported it into VirtualDub and did what you recommended - compressed it using Lagarith Lossless Codec (originally recorded as RawCap with x264vfw codec and then built as AVI using DxTory) and "Saved As AVI". I imported the newly built AVI into Vegas and it is CRYSTAL CLEAR! WOO HOO!


I thought I had lost over 150GB of footage but it can now be "salvaged"!


This is a screenshot inside Vegas showing BOTH the original AVI (x264vfw) and the new AVI (Lagarith):


[The original AVI file was 915MB and the new AVI is 8.21GB]




Thank you so much for that! That is EXACTLY what I wanted - now, to edit that 150GB of video!