34 replies to this topic

[Magdain]

A couple notes:

This method belongs entirely to Thiras @ WarcraftMovies. I haven't played any part in figuring this out, my knowledge on actual rendering mechanics is extremely limited, and I take no credit for this at all.

As far as I'm aware Thiras' guide has disappeared into the depths of the internet when WarcraftMovies removed their article database. I've rewritten the instructions and taken all of the screenshots myself in an attempt to preserve it.

I've written this entirely from memory and haven't done a large amount of proof-reading or checking the steps, but I'm fairly certain that these instructions and settings should work fine. If you find a problem you can reproduce then let me know.

Download the Koepi XviD codec if you don't already have it.

Rendering your first pass

Project > Render As



Set Save as Type to Video for Windows (*.avi)

Next to Template click Custom...



Name the template at the top

Set Video rendering quality to Best

Go to the Video tab at the bottom



Set Frame size to (Custom frame size)

Set the Width and Height to match your raw video resolution. You can probably set the dimensions to anything of the same aspect ratio of your raw footage, but I personally use the exact dimensions.

Set the rest of the options to match.

Click Configure... next to Video format



Set options to match.

Click more... next to Profile @ Level



Set options to match. Click OK.

Move down to the bottom. Click more... next to Quality preset



Set options to match. Click on the Quantization tab.



Set options to match. Click OK.



Click OK again down at the bottom.



Make sure you've named your profile from the previous step. Click the Floppy Disk icon in the upper right hand corner to save the profile. This will allow you to access all of these settings on demand.



Back at the screen to save, make sure you're still set to Video for Windows (*.avi), and make sure the template you just saved is selected right below. Mine is called XViD WOW, yours can be whatever you'd like.

Select a file name and click Save. This will start your render. Keep in mind that this will not be the final file, so you might want to have some sort of naming structure. This method saves your video file 3 times, so I use underscores to separate them. My first render is MyVideoName__, second render is MyVideoName_, and final render is MyVideoName.

[Magdain]

Rendering your second pass

After the finishes rendering, go back to File > Render As.



Make sure your file type is still avi, and your template is still the same template we created last time. Click on Custom... next to Template.

Go to the Video tab.



Click Configure... next to Video format.



Change the Encoding type to Twopass - 2nd pass



The box below Encoding type should now be enabled. Make sure the button to the left of that box says Target bitrate (kbps). If it does not, click the button until it does. It should not say Target Size (kbytes).

Set the Target bitrate to a number between 2000 and 3000. Larger number is higher quality, but also larger filesize. Lower number is inverse. Anything over 3000 is a waste and will result in larger filesize for no notable quality gain.

For me, the sweet spot is around 2800, but this might vary. Render a few small sample videos to find a quality:filesize your like with various bitrates.

Click OK until you're back at the screen to save. Save this file again as a different name and the rendering will start again.

[Magdain]

Compressing your audio

After your 2nd render has finished, go back to Project -> Render As.



Set Save as type to MP3 Audio (*.mp3)

Select Custom... next to Template.



Use those settings. Save your template (floppy disk icon in the upper right hand corner), click OK.

Back at the Render As screen save your audio as whatever name you like. Click OK to start rendering.

[Magdain]

Final production

Download VirtualDubMod. Open VirtualDubMod.exe.



Select File -> Open Video File. Navigate to your second pass .avi file. This is important. Make sure you remember which is your second pass.



You should see the first frame of your video, like above. Once you've opened it and see something similar, go to the navigation bar and select Streams -> Stream List



You should again see something similar. This is your uncompressed audio track from the avi render. What we want to do is insert your compressed .mp3 audio from the last vegas render.

Double click on all of the entries on that screen.



They should all have slashes through them, meaning they're disabled. Once that's done, look to the buttons on the right and select Add.



Navigate to the location of your .mp3 render from vegas, as shown above. Once you've selected the mp3 click Open



You should now see all of your disabled tracks with the slashes, along with the newly added file. Leave that alone and click OK on the right.

You'll be back at seeing your video track. On the navigation bar select Video then select Direct stream copy



Should look exactly as above, with Direct stream copy enabled. You can close that menu, go to File -> Save as... and save to wherever.



The save might take a little while but it shouldn't be long at all. The result is your final rendered video and the quality should be extremely close to your raw video.

[Grombringal]

Hey Madgain,

I managed to get a very nice result with your guide but I didn't use the first pass and I was wondering if it was normal. All I did was render the original fraps file once, render the original fraps again (with a different config ofc), render the audio, put the 2nd pass and the audio together. Am I supposed to render the first pass the second time? Why am I rendering my file twice?

Thanks for your time anyway

[metharon]

<3

[Vexo]

Stickied :D

[Zoldak]

pnad

[Magdain]

Grombringal said:

Hey Madgain,

I managed to get a very nice result with your guide but I didn't use the first pass and I was wondering if it was normal. All I did was render the original fraps file once, render the original fraps again (with a different config ofc), render the audio, put the 2nd pass and the audio together. Am I supposed to render the first pass the second time? Why am I rendering my file twice?

Thanks for your time anyway

The way you did it was correct. You don't ever personally use the first pass file.. You just render the raw fraps file twice with the two different configs.

The reason for 2-pass encoding is to maintain a high quality for a fixed filesize. There are one pass methods that will give you good quality, and some people might prefer those for whatever reason. Since this guide was originally written for videos published to WCM, file size was important because WCM has a limitation on file size. I believe that limitation is 25megs / 1minute length.

As for the technical details of why 2 pass encoding has a more controllable file size, and why we use the first pass when it's ultimately discarded... I honestly have no clue. I'm pretty ignorant of the technical mechanics of the encoding process. :) If anybody is more knowledgeable feel free to share. If you're personally curious you can probably find a lot more information on google or similar, also.

[Grombringal]

Alright, thanks for your time :~)

[bdub]

Can't you just run your 2nd pass render through vdub and have it compress your vegas audio into mp3?

I don't see the need to use vegas to compress your audio into mp3 and then use vdub to put them together when you could run the 2nd pass render through vdub to compress the audio and you're done. right?

[Magdain]

If vdub supports audio compression then you can probably do that fine, I'd imagine. I never have myself. It's roughly the same amount of time/effort if you do it in vegas, though, since the final processing in vdub is just a stream copy.

[Frytski]

I do not get any picture at all after my first rendering, Im fairly sure I have gotten every step of your guide correct.

I do get a blank Xvid Status window when I start to render the clip thou.

Anyone know what to do?

[Magdain]

Frytski said:

I do not get any picture at all after my first rendering, Im fairly sure I have gotten every step of your guide correct.

I do get a blank Xvid Status window when I start to render the clip thou.

Anyone know what to do?

The first pass rendering should just been a black screen + audio, there won't be a visible picture. You have to complete the second pass render to get something that's actually watchable.

I'm not sure what you mean by the blank xvid status window.

[Alesandra]

Hey dunno if you still check this thread, but I don't even get an option to choose Xvid MPEG-4 or what it was called under video formats =( I've installed the codec and such but nothing =(

[Magdain]

Alesandra said:

Hey dunno if you still check this thread, but I don't even get an option to choose Xvid MPEG-4 or what it was called under video formats =( I've installed the codec and such but nothing =(

The codec that I linked above, or from somewhere else?

What options do you have for the format.

[zanyu]

Is there anyway to have it automatically render first pass and then do the 2nd pass?

It feels a bit annoying I can't really just leave it by itself and instead having to check up on it.

[Magdain]

zanyu said:

Is there anyway to have it automatically render first pass and then do the 2nd pass?

It feels a bit annoying I can't really just leave it by itself and instead having to check up on it.

Not that I'm aware of. Unless you're on some horrible deadline though I generally just render over 2 nights before I go to bed, since most projects will take a couple hours and a lot of CPU.

[Maliaka]

Old thread I know.
But perhaps there's someone left who's experienced with video rendering.

I used the normal Sony Vegas Default Template for my last Videos but compared to the Quality of this two-pass rendering its shit.

I just do have one problem:
90 mb for 2:36 mins with default Sony vegas, 331 MB with this way.

Anyone an idea how to minimize my file?
And I don't see how this two pass rendering reduces the file size ;)