I am considering capturing via FireWire

[jagabo]

Be careful. h.264 will usually use YUV 4:2:0 chroma subsampling. If your source is RGB or YUV 4:2:2 conversion to 4:2:0 will not be lossless. Also, many programs convert interlaced sources to 4:2:0 incorrectly, blending the colors of the two fields together. And if your source is interlaced you want to encode interlaced. Handbrake doesn't directly support interlaced h.264 encoding. You have to use the "extra options" box to force interlaced encoding.

[Hypersonic1]

So how do I tell it to stick with 4:2:2? Also, if I need to export lossless H.264 after editing in Premiere, at what bit rate is it lossless? It will let me export up to 300Mbps, which seems too high.

[DB83]

There really seems to be an issue with your system if the nle does not import/deal with even basic formats correctly.

[Hypersonic1]

I don't know what that issue could be. I would like to use H.264 at this point since it works. I just need a way to capture lossless H.264 with VirtualDub.

[jagabo]

You can use x264vfw in VirtualDub. But VirtualDub does not handle interlaced YV12 properly. And AVI is often problematic for h.264.

[Hypersonic1]

You can use x264vfw in VirtualDub. But VirtualDub does not handle interlaced YV12 properly. And AVI is often problematic for h.264.

That won't seem to work.

"Couldn't find compatible format.
Possible reasons:
* Codec may only support YUV
* Codec might be locked.
* Codec might be decompression-only"

[Hypersonic1]

Now I just tried UT codec. Same problem. The audio is only about a minute long, even after waiting for the conform progress bar to finish in Premiere.

[LMotlow]

You definitely have a problem with Premiere Pro and standard codecs. There's nothing weird about huffyuv, Lagarith, UT codec, etc. They're used everywhere. You don't by any chance have some oddball codec pack installed such as K-Lite, do you?

[Hypersonic1]

You don't by any chance have some oddball codec pack installed such as K-Lite, do you?

No, I just use VLC. I also have Windows 10 installed, but I am not sure if that is causing the problem.

Anyway, I might drop Premiere Pro. I am testing Sony Vegas right now, and it doesn't seem to have these issues. I was able to import lossless files effortlessly. Also, I checked the waveform monitor and it is not crushing the whites and the blacks.

[manono]

It looks to me like it is crushing the blacks. You've got a ton at -9 IRE. That's what the numbers represent, isn't it? When you see them piled up like that, it's not a good sign.

[Hypersonic1]

There is a lot of black in the image, along with a lot of flashing gray dots. It's TV antenna noise or whatever it's called.

[LMotlow]

There is a lot of black in the image, along with a lot of flashing gray dots. It's TV antenna noise or whatever it's called.

Manono's right. That histogram shows crushed blacks.

What's next? 'Scopes of tape leader?

Vegas has many of the same problems as Premiere vis-a-vis resizing, etc., but at least you can read lossless with it. Why not save some dough and get Movie Studio Platinum? Be careful about RGB in Vegas, it uses Studio RGB. What features are you using in Vegas Pro that Movie Studio doesn't have?

[Hypersonic1]

Manono's right. That histogram shows crushed blacks.

Then why would it be crushed at -9 IRE?

[Hypersonic1]

Some spikes are slightly over -20 IRE.

[LMotlow]

Manono's right. That histogram shows crushed blacks.

Then why would it be crushed at -9 IRE?

I guessed you missed post #21: https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/373765-I-am-considering-capturing-via-FireWire?p=24...=1#post2407101.

[Hypersonic1]

I guessed you missed post #21: https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/373765-I-am-considering-capturing-via-FireWire?p=24...=1#post2407101.

No I read that. It didn't make sense because black is zero and white is 255.

[jagabo]

I guessed you missed post #21: https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/373765-I-am-considering-capturing-via-FireWire?p=24...=1#post2407101.

No I read that. It didn't make sense because black is zero and white is 255.

No. In standard definition rec.601 YUV digital video black is 16, white is 235. On a properly calibrated display any Y values below 16 are display as the same shade of black as 16, any Y values above 235 are displayed with the same brigntess as 235.

[Hypersonic1]

How does that apply to the waveforms I just showed you? I don't see what the problem is. With Adope Premiere, everything was between 0 and 100.

[jagabo]

With Adope Premiere, everything was between 0 and 100.

Which is where properly encoded video is supposed to be.

IRE=0 --> Y=16
IRE=100 --> Y=235

[Hypersonic1]

Since mine goes below 0 what does that map to?

[jagabo]

Somewhere between Y=0 and Y=16. There can be no values below Y=0; no values above Y=255.

[Hypersonic1]

Why would I want my videos to be from 16 to 235? That looks obsolete.

[jagabo]

Because that's what almost every commercial distribution and delivery format uses.

[manono]

Since mine goes below 0 what does that map to?

Between 0 and 16. And since most of it is at 0, the damage can't be repaired. Go back and start over.

Then why would it be crushed at -9 IRE?

The link I gave earlier explained all that and more. The author wasn't entirely sure what -9% IRE mapped to but it's most likely 0.

[Hypersonic1]

Between 0 and 16. And since most of it is at 0, the damage can't be repaired. Go back and start over.

The damage cannot be done because the below zero luma information still shows up in the waveform monitor. That means I should be able to adjust the levels to bring those blacks up and the whites down.

[Hypersonic1]

Why doesn't this 7.5 IRE setup have any effect on the video? The waveform changes, but the video looks the same after checking the box.

[jagabo]

7.5 IRE setup is in the analog signal. It's normally removed when the video is digitized. That's why the DVD recorder has the high/low option on the input.

[jagabo]

The link I gave earlier explained all that and more. The author wasn't entirely sure what -9% IRE mapped to but it's most likely 0.

If you extrapolate via IRE 100 and IRE 0, a Y value of 0 maps to approximately -7.2 IRE.

[Hypersonic1]

If you extrapolate via IRE 100 and IRE 0, a Y value of 0 maps to approximately -7.2 IRE.

So what is the problem? I have taken the lossless file and exported it from Vegas, and it still shows values below zero. I don't see how that is loss.

[jagabo]

What makes you think inter station white noise would conform to international video standards?

Whenever you see a solid white line at the bottom of a waveform monitor:



the implication is that a bunch of data points below that line were pushed up, crushed, from below. Ie, the waveform originally looked something like: