What's the point in taking VGA video if you can't work with it?

slitchfield · #1 29-08-2006, 06:13 AM

Steve rants about Nokia's bundled video editing system of choice for the Nokia N93. Why include it if it's not up to the job and will only cause frustration for the majority of the owners of their flagship multimedia smartphone? Read on...

Read on in the full article.

slitchfield · #2 29-08-2006, 06:29 AM

It's worth noting that I've also tried using VideoStudio 10 (app crashes when you try to import N93 MP4), the latest Nero suite (app says it can't import these files) and TMPG DVD Author (app won't even import MP4). Sigh.

A workaround for simple projects is to use Quicktime Pro and copy and paste, exporting to AVI with a common codec at the end and then using this AVI in a DVD-authoring package.

What about other N93 owners out there? Rafe?

Steve

julio · #3 29-08-2006, 07:23 AM

Yes, the specs on the Adobe page are way off.

Importing N93 files worked just fine for me in a 1GB RAM machine. Premier Elements took only a couple of seconds to import each video.

However, playback in the preview window was very jerky (1-2 frames per second). The workaround is to use command "Timeline -> Render work area", or simply hit the ENTER key.

Rendering produces intermediate files that Adobe can display more easily. After rendering, preview is smooth and all frames are shown. However, the rendering operation can take several minutes, so be patient.

Julio

slitchfield · #4 29-08-2006, 07:56 AM

So, having already transcoded each of my 200 or so N93 video clips once, into CFA files, it's expecting me to transcode/render them again, into yet another internal format, one by one, taking 10 minutes each time, *manually*, just to be able to play them at a speed approaching what Adobe's own free player can do with the native MP4 files, more or less instantaneously?

Adobe deserve hanging from the nearest yard arm for this appalling video application and Nokia deserve a severe slap on the wrist for selecting it.

Steve

bodstrup · #5 29-08-2006, 08:05 AM

I was surprised too by the comments.

I downloaded the video of a girl playing (rboutzoom.mp4) from the review. Importing into Premiere took about 4 seconds on my 1.8 Ghz IBM T42P laptop - I do have 2 Gb of RAM though.

Rendering the clip for smooth playback is another story - about 5 minutes for the 26 second clip..

I still find Premiere Elements superior to Nero and Ulead and anything else I have tried. Video Editing is best done with an accelerator card - I have Premiere 6.5 with a Matrox accelerator/capture card on my desktop - that system is optimized for Mpeg2 editing and works fast and well.

I guess we need a new generation of Mpeg4 accelerator cards/chips for this kind of work.

Try stepping forward ONE frame at a time on this video btw - it looks very strange, every 2-4 frames, there are one or more frames that looks like it was exposed twice with a fraction of a second between, giving a ghost image of moving objects. It makes me even more suspicious that there are some kind of interpolation going on - not a true 30 fps capture...

Regards
Michael

slitchfield · #6 29-08-2006, 08:19 AM

I agree it's workable for a single clip. But back in the real world (in my case a week's holiday with the family), you'll end up with 30 to 50 N93 clips, ranging from a few seconds to a few minutes in length. Now try working with that lot and editing them down/together. A VERY different proposition.

Steve

bluestar · #7 29-08-2006, 08:51 AM

mmmm.... gentlemen.... maybe time to switch to MacOSX and its ilife applications :-)
You should have no problems editing files with iDVD and imovie ....

nj7 · #8 29-08-2006, 09:27 AM

My experience... I edit Videos since 2002, with my only DSC / Video - Fuji M603 - the greatest...
So, on 2002, almost anybody know what to do with the AVI files that come out of FUJI. I try, and try, different softwares.
TMPeg Encoder, was the selection, untill, I found ULEAD Video Studio 8 (today it goes on 10). The encoder (not the interface, that is very confuse) engine of ULEAD is superior to others, and I had used several (memory: TMPeg, Adobe, Magix, Mainconcept, Nero Vision...others).
Fuji produces AVI files, of MotionJPEG, that all the programs I tested work well - 640x480-30fps.
Then, cames N70, with MPEG4, and 352x288-15fps, wich meens, for slow images is enouth, if N70 had good capture image, wich is the case. So I found my self, to do most of my videos with N70... is always with me...
Now, the main question - how to do the encoder for DVD?
Well, with Ulead... Ulead need a MPEG4 plugin to work. Some way, I install a lot of Codec Packs, and Ulead grasped one of them, and works.
So with n70 and now, with N73 (even better) I do videos, and do the encoder process with ULEAD.
The process is not fast, but is far better then with Adobe, that is a heavy program, confuse, and produces outputs of quality lower then ULEAD.
As I started to say, is my experience...

slitchfield · #9 29-08-2006, 09:38 AM

Which would all be well and good, but Ulead VideoStudio 10 Plus currently crashes and burns when asked to import N93 MP4 files 8-(

Steve

nj7 · #10 29-08-2006, 09:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slitchfield

Which would all be well and good, but Ulead VideoStudio 10 Plus currently crashes and burns when asked to import N93 MP4 files 8-(

Steve

Can always use version 8, because the encoder is the same

And 8 is lighter and even more confuse on interface, but the files produced are the same quality, they don´t have changed the encoder engine.

elp · #11 29-08-2006, 10:00 AM

By the way, QuickTime is Apple's free media player, not Adobe's. Apple's video editing and authoring mainstream applications are iMovie and iDVD which I haven't used but heard that they were superb apps.

slitchfield · #12 29-08-2006, 11:57 AM

[FX: slaps forehead] Of course, it's Apple! My apologies and this all makes sense now, at least in terms of Quicktime Pro being so good and Premiere Elements being so poor.....

Thanks,
Steve

slitchfield · #13 29-08-2006, 01:27 PM

In fact, even my Quicktime Pro workaround doesn't work properly. After copying and pasting the best bits from all 50 videos into the one master file, I find that any saved MOV or AVI video output has severe problems with audio and video stuttering. 8-(

Which leaves me absolutely nowhere. I have a week's worth of memories from the N93 that I can't do anything with... Grr....

Steve

slitchfield · #14 29-08-2006, 04:19 PM

Yeah, I know I'm replying to myself here, but my current 'best workaround' solution is to preview all clips in Quicktime Player, make a note of file names and in/out times and then use Premiere Elements to construct the actual DVD.... There's got to be a better way, though....

Steve