Getting back into vidding

[rdphantom]

Hi all!

I want to get back into vidding, after being out of it for eight years (!). I have Premiere loaded back up again, and now I need the rest of the software. Back in the day I used the AMVapp to rip my DVDs and used AviSynth scripts to edit the VOB files in Premiere. Is this still the gold standard for getting the best quality with live action vidding? The thing that I liked was the VOB files were relatively small, but when I look back at my vids I see they haven't aged as well as I'd like in terms of quality and I don't know if that's due to the codec I used to compress the finals (WMV and Xvid for the most part, ranging from 7 to 94mb) or if it's due to something else.

I know there are people that rip their source into uncompressed clips and edit with those, is that better? Easier than messing with the extra steps? Do those types of programs deinterlace footage, and the other things that AviSynth can do (adjust aspect ratios, and so on)?

My head is kinda swimming at the options.

Comments

[some_stars]

I've been waiting for someone who actually knows what they're talking about to step in, but I can offer my insight as someone who recently switched from a computer that couldn't render HD and premiere pro2 and the techniques I'd learned in 2007, to vidding, like, 1080p HD source, without having the slightest clue what I was actually doing. It's not as hard as it sounds, but also anything I say might be wrong or misleading so....yeah. But I'm more than happy to talk about what's worked for me in my overdue and reluctant quest to join the current decade re: vidding technology, if that's at all helpful.

(I've still never ripped a bluray but I think AnyDVD is the best option around for that? It's a reasonably priced pay program but still, don't take my word for it, there might be freeware I don't know about. But mostly I torrent rips of HD broadcasts or streams, or bluray rips.)

[rdphantom]

Sorry for the late reply, but yes I'd love to chat!

I don't actually have a BlueRay drive so I probably won't be ripping those anytime soon, unfortunately. I guess I may have to think about torrents if the DVD's don't give me the quality I want. Do you still vid on Premiere? Do you just edit the large HD files uncompressed, and is your program able to handle that? I want to vid The Vampire Diaries and The Originals, which could potentially mean a ton of clips on my drive, and I worry that it will be a lot for my computer/program to handle.

I've only vidded movies before now, and that is a lot less video footage to mess with (also a lot less footage to comb for clips, but that's another story!) Before, I would just rip the whole movie and import large chunks into Premiere and clip the bits I wanted right in premiere. I'm thinking I'll have to do some actual clipping before I bring anything into Premiere, there's no way I can just import everything in this time when I'm viding TV.

[some_stars]

Yeah, as far as I can tell, if a show is broadcast in HD the DVDs are actually going to be lower quality than a capture of the aired/streamed episode or a blu-ray rip. (I think. Just assume that's appended to every sentence.) 1080p is ridiculously high-res compared to standard TV from, like, ten years ago. You can count people's eyelashes, it's crazy.

I had to get a newer version of premiere--I use CS5 now; Pro 2 could technically handle HD but not well, and it couldn't export in the formats or at the quality I wanted anymore. The really basic functions and the layout are still the same, and there's still loads of tutorials available even though the program's up to CS6 now.

I always did as much clipping as possible up front, and only made clips in Premiere if I had to later, so I don't have much experience with that. (I didn't even really make new clips in Premiere, I just used the same clip but set different in-out points. So there'd be four different "089.avi"s on my timeline. I am not a tidy vidder.) My process was: rip/download, open those files directly in VirtualDub, clip in full processing mode (removing audio, resizing/deinterlacing as necessary, and setting "Compression" to HuffYUV), then create a project in Premiere and import all the clips.

So now what I do with the .mkv files I download is create a very simple AviSynth script for each one--like, one line, two if I need to resize them or change the framerate or, in theory, deinterlace, although I think that may not be an issue anymore. Someone gave me a sample script and I just copy and paste it to create an .avs file, and then open my source files in VirtualDub via these scripts and clip as usual. I always choose "fast recompress" because anything like resizing or other stuff that a VirtualDub filter would do is actually done by AviSynth; as far as VirtualDub is concerned it's just re-encoding.

So I do fast recompress to a lossless codec. (I think that's what 'lossless' means. Maybe. Luckily it doesn't matter!) I used to use HuffYUV because people said to, and now I use UTVideo because the same people said it's better. I don't really know how any of it works but in the end I get .avi clips I can dump into Premiere. This does take up a LOT of space--I mean, it always did, but it's an issue; the clips are MUCH bigger per second than the original source. But hard drives are also cheaper now, so at least there's that? The main thing is, I can't open .mkv directly in Premiere or in VirtualDub; I have to use AviSynth to trick VirtualDub into opening the files and turning them into something Premiere will accept.

So then I do my thing in Premiere the same as always, then export the vid as a .mp4 file, which seems to be the current standard. Premiere CS5 has lots of export presets--I've been going with "Vimeo HD" which, 1.) seems to create a reasonable quality and size, and 2.) I know will be accepted by Vimeo. But also of course you can customize all the export settings, like if you know something's going to be shown at a con on a bigger screen you can create a very large, very high quality version, bigger than if it were intended for people to download. Or change the settings for whatever else you want to do with it.

You may still be able to do stuff more or less the way you used to if you have a newer/stronger computer and a newer version of Premiere to go with the bigger HD files. CS5 on my new computer renders HD clips as fast as Pro 2 used to render regular clips on my old computer because the new one's more powerful; I didn't have to really change anything except add another piece of software to the pre-Premiere process to account for changes in the file types people use. For me it's just that I prefer the VirtualDub interface for clipping because it's very simple; that's the only thing it's for. Premiere is a whole big mess. But a lot of people do it your way, so I'm sure it's possible.

(Any more knowledgeable bystanders--ie, literally anyone--you are more than welcome to jump in and correct whatever I've gotten wrong or mis-explained.)

[rdphantom]

What a fantastic response, thank you! And sorry for the delay in replying.

a show is broadcast in HD the DVDs are actually going to be lower quality than a capture of the aired/streamed episode or a blu-ray rip.
This makes sense, I thought that would probably be the case.

That's interesting that you say Pro 2 can't handle HD too well! :( I looked up the current CS version and I can't even figure out how much it costs, it looks like they're trying to do a web/cloud thing and charge monthly, I can't even figure out how to just buy the program so I can even see if I can afford it!

(I didn't even really make new clips in Premiere, I just used the same clip but set different in-out points. So there'd be four different "089.avi"s on my timeline. I am not a tidy vidder.)
The tidy vidder comment made me laugh because I think that's basically what I did but just in Premiere! I guess that makes me not tidy either, but I always could keep track of them, so.. *shrug*

And that's really interesting that you opened the torrented files in VirtualDub, I would never have thought of that as being an option! Thanks for the info on how you do all that, I will definitely keep all that in mind when it comes time to do it. It sounds like my Premiere won't be able to export the formats I want, but I guess I could always just export a huge file and use something else to compress to the codec/size I want. I think I actually used to use AviSynth for that part back in the day?

I guess I have to play with it, actually put clips on the timeline and try and remember my process and skills, lol.

[franzeska]

This is late, but if you ask me, the new gold standard for high quality in live action vids is buying from iTunes, stripping the DRM without otherwise changing format, and doing the final encode with h.264.

[rdphantom]

Ooo I hadn't thought about iTunes! That's an interesting idea, especially for movies. Do you happen to know what people are using to strip the DRM?

And my vidding has gone absolutely nowhere, so you aren't late!

[franzeska]

Yep. NoteBurner M4V Converter Plus

I've never had a problem with it. Totally worth the price! (Though I was ripping all of Haven and all of Grimm at the time, so if you just want one movie, you could always do what most people do and just pirate it.)

[rdphantom]

Excellent, I'll make a note of that, thanks!

Lol, I suppose I could. I had thought of that, but I like to buy what I'm vidding with when I can, though.

[franzeska]

Me too. Though there's always the option that I always forget: buy to be nice, pirate to get an immediately-usable file. (This is what I'd do if Noteburner ever failed me.)