Thread: Rendered files with uncompressed render setting file size trouble

Hi,

I'm kind of new to video editing, I mostly got into it so that I could render videos taken by programs like Fraps from one or two of the games I play, primarily Star Wars: The Old Republic. So I took raw video in Fraps and it splits up each recording session into separate files which max out in size at roughly 4 gigabytes. They're raw video files, very high quality 1080P 60 FPS, etc., and I kind of wanted to be able to convert them to 720P so that I could stream them to my Xbox 360 and watch them on my TV, which is 1080i and won't support the 1080P files. So I tried using Xilisoft Video Converter, but for some reason, the files won't even show up when opened or dragged into that program. I looked online and found that Vegas was probably me best bet. So now I have Vegas and I'm working on tweaking the settings of my rendering sessions. I kind of want to leave the rendering setting at "uncompressed," so that there is no color distortion (I haven't found a decoder option which is able to keep the brightness and color the same as of yet). So I selected the proper rendering option and kept it at "uncompressed" for video options and rendered it at 29.97 FPS (when I tried it at 59.97, the resulting video did not turn out properly at all). So with these settings, it seemed to do everything correctly. I get a video file that looks good to watch and it's 720P. But there's one problem. The file size is enormous. It's bigger than the raw video file that I rendered. Does anyone know why this is? I rendered it with lower quality settings in terms of resolution and FPS, shouldn't the output file be smaller than the raw file? If not, if someone could tell me why, that would be most helpful. Or if someone has a suggestion for a smaller filesize at the quality settings I specified above without the brightness and color problem, I'd be most thankful.

Oh and I'm using Sony Vegas 11 pro, in case that's important to know.

The rendered file is lager because the Fraps file is a compressed type of .avi it's not a real uncompressed .avi like the one you got from Vegas. If I was you I'd render a mpeg2 format file use the BluRay 1920x1080-60i template this should give you a nice looking result with a file size much smaller than the uncompressed .avi.

Originally Posted by Midnight Blue

The rendered file is lager because the Fraps file is a compressed type of .avi it's not a real uncompressed .avi like the one you got from Vegas. If I was you I'd render a mpeg2 format file use the BluRay 1920x1080-60i template this should give you a nice looking result with a file size much smaller than the uncompressed .avi.

Thanks, taking your advice now--it's rendering. One question, though, will the MPEG2 file be able to stream to my Xbox 360? It's rendering as an .m2v and I've had problems with files other than .wmv and .avi formats being able to stream to the Xbox in the past. I suppose once I have the rendered file, I can always convert it. Or would you advise against that?

EDIT: I rendered it using the suggested settings, but the color is still off a bit. It's darker than in the actual Fraps video, is there any way to render it, but still preserve the quality from the original Fraps video with the color and brightness?

I think I know what is happening but don't have an accurate solution. I am use to editing videos in Vegas and just know my final render will have more contrast when viewed in Windows Media player than the preview screen in Vegas. I don't know if this is to do with my graphics card settings or the raw footage codec or rendering CODECs or Vegas settings or the way Vegas interacts with my graphics card BUT I have learnt to take it into account during editing. So during the edit I always have the preview screen showing less contrast than I really want, knowing when it is rendered it will be about right. This is far from satisfactory and only a work around until I find out the real reason. I have thought it is because I have to use a 3rd party plug in to be able to view my raw footage in Vegas as Sony won't support the Panasonic footage that my camera shoots.

You seem to have the same issue and I can't help with how to solve it. I hope someone else can.

Originally Posted by Midnight Blue

I am use to editing videos in Vegas and just know my final render will have more contrast when viewed in Windows Media player than the preview screen in Vegas

Are you sure this is not to do with Studio/Computer RGB values? I seem to remember lengthy discussions about this on the SCS forum a few years back "why does it look different on my preview screen to my final rendered files". Can't find the thread now, but this vid might be useful:

@TIm, I think that could possibly be a factor in my problem, I'm going to work on that with future Vegas editing. I favorited the vid you shared, thanks.

Also, luckily, I was able to find something that worked for my problem, though it was not within Sony Vegas. Ironically, the solution to my problem was a fairly small freeware software. I wasn't expecting great results when I tried it, but when I gave it a shot, I experienced absolutely no color/brightness change, and the output file was a fraction of the size of the original Fraps captured video file. If anyone happens to run into similar issues or wants to give it a try, here's the link: WinFF - Free Video Converter. Ultimately, I would rather use Sony Vegas if I could, but until I've figured out exactly what needs to be done to fix the contrast issue (possibly tweaking the RGB values like the above video suggests), I'm going to stick with the freeware I found.

Thanks very much, Tim, yours and Midnight Blue's assistance fixed my problem 100 percent. I found that the other program which I initially thought would be my solution caused too much of a loss in quality. So I used the instructions given in the video you posted and was able to still use Sony Vegas rendering with good HD quality, without the contrast problems I'd previously experienced. Much thanks. I applied it to Midnight Blue's suggested video output selection and now I'm in business, so thanks to both of you for your assistance.

You're very welcome - especially as you you get back to us to inform all readers (and future readers) not only that you'd had success but how you'd applied what you'd read to achieve success.
Cheers!

I haven't had much time to play around with this issue but I did unselected the "Use Colour Management" box on the Preview Device tab of the Preferences screen. It did make the preview nearer the final output render so thanks Tim. I'm not 100% there yet but it's better than it was. I'm thiking some of my problem might be that my screen is a TV and not a computer monitor but I'm not sure.

Originally Posted by Midnight Blue

I haven't had much time to play around with this issue but I did unselected the "Use Colour Management" box on the Preview Device tab of the Preferences screen. It did make the preview nearer the final output render so thanks Tim. I'm not 100% there yet but it's better than it was. I'm thiking some of my problem might be that my screen is a TV and not a computer monitor but I'm not sure.

Not because I can help further, but just for future reference and in case it helps anyone else provide help - how are you connecting your TV?

I bought a Toshiba 22" TV a fried was getting rid of specifically to use as a preview device. I bought a Black Magic Design intensity card and connected it all up via HDMI. In practice I find little use for it - the colour on theTV is rubbish (and it is the TV - with very little scope for adjustment). As a result I do all my CC on my better PC monitor.