resolution

[number6ix]

I've started using MotionDive (japanese software for live VJing) which I believe can only handle video of a resolution up to 320 by 240. Is this the case with other software?

My question is, as i create all my clips in 3D studiomax, am i better off rendering them at a higher resolution and then using something like Premiere to reduce them down to 320 by 240, or is rendering them in Max at that resolution the best i'm going to get (the quality isn't that great).

Also, if there is other software out there that uses higher res clips, what sort of file sizes of clips can they handle?

thanks,

#6

[LEVLHED]

320x240 is sort of the running "standard" right now for rendering for use in VJ apps. With the current capabilities of hardware/software, this provides (to most) the best balance between rez and speed.
Keep in mind that as things advance, so will the capabilities, and so will the "standard". Therefore, rendering out at say-640x480 from 3DS, and then coming down to 320x240 for a new "performance file" might be a smart idea. If you have the HDD space..... Or you can always archive your "hi rez" clips to CDR for later use.
The VJ apps I've seen don't care what the rez of the file is, it will (try to) play it. The limitations of your computer hardware will generally cramp you're style first.

[number6ix]

thanks for the advice man. all i'm left wondering now is whether anyone has experimented with comparing the quality of something rendered at 320 by 240 in 3D studio max, compared to something rendered at a higher res and reduced down in premiere to 320 by 240.

Is there a noticable difference?

cheers!

[many2]

Rendering at higher resolution will be useful but if you set your rendering parameters correctly (supersampling and antialiasing settings) you shouldn't see a big difference between 320x240 and 640x480 scaled down to 320x240. The main purpose of rendering at higher res would be to transfer the result to tape, or for archiving until your VJing application or your computer is able to play such large clips. Remember that 640x480 is actually 4 times the number of pixels of 320x240, so it takes 4 times as much space and processing power, and can take as much as 4 times longer to render.

Many-2

[sleepytom]

as you live in a pal country you should be using 768x576 (full frame PAL video, square pixles) 640x480 is for ntsc

convention says you use clips 1/4 of full res ie 384x288 although some people seem to think that 320x240 is easyer for a computer to display

all vj software should support 384x288

whatever you do don't down size full pal to 320x240 as its creates really bad artifacts (due to 768 not being divisable by 320) if you want to use 320 clips then render them at that size in 3dmax

as for vj software that supports hi res the only things i know of are VJamm Pro and VJlow

[vjrei]

Create your animations at 640 x 480, full res, etc.

Now, most of the software can hadle that resolution, MotionDive 3 does it.

What I do later is to work with the full version of quictime5.

Use Soreson 3 compresion or the one you like the most.
Then, the most important thing is to stablish the folow:
First: 15 fps as a frame rate if you are using your laptop, this helps to reduce the file size and getting a smooth animation. 30 fps for me is a waiste of memory.
Secund: data rate, usually when you create a video from any software this one uses data rates as high as 23Mb/sec. Set them to 2Mb/sec, that is gonna help a lot, you may loose some quality but you can play with the compressors then. This is a very important feature so your laptop can handle the data rate without skeeping frames.

Usually, the more colors you are using, the higer the data rate you are gonna need. You can use data rates as low as 75k with good results.

Find out the caracteristcs of your compressors, some of them works better for green colors, other for reds, other for animations and other for still images.

[MoRpH]

Originally posted by sleepytom
as for vj software that supports hi res the only things i know of are VJamm Pro and VJlow

Hahaha... maybe thats because thats all you every talk about??? :P

Ummm sorry mate but basically anything with a resiazeble output window will handle hi rez clips, eg. SVi will play/mix full PAL rez clips you just need to resize your output window to that rez and have the input clips @ that rez too... I presume this goes the same for Resolume and VJo???

[Meierhans]

Yep,

in Vjo you can play full res if you want. But I wouldn`t do this with current CPU speed, because i need to play more than 2 clips at once.

[vjpixylight]

VJrei has it right... Motion dive 3 will play up to 640x480 but you need to reduce the frame rate like VJRei says for a smother flow

MD3 will not do anything above 640x480 ie. 720x480(ntsc) or 768x576(pal)
as for making making clips, I would disagree with VJRei that using sorrenson3 is a good codec for archival, as it is still using alot of compression, and will degrade the more you do with the clip...

Best to use the animation codec if you have a cd burner for archiving your made clips, then take the animation codec clips and make them into sorrenson 3 codec clips or cinepak clips for MD3 playback again at 15-24 FPS depending on your CPU...;)

[number6ix]

thanks once again everyone -cheers for all the advice!