Video frustrations

[RichardT]

I’m writing music for a ballet (on spec!) and I’m thinking how best to communicate the ballet storyline to potential choreographers.

I was planning to keep it really basic and use a PowerPoint presentation. I don’t have or know how to use a video design app.

PowerPoint has the ability to import an audio file of the music and also to have timed transitions between slides so that they can be made to sync with the music.

It also has the ability to export the slide show as an .mp4 or .mov video using the H264 codec.

This sounded perfect, but unfortunately while it can import .wav files and play them back live at full quality, when I export to .mp4 the sound quality is so poor as to be unusable. I can’t change that in settings.

So I thought, OK, I’ll import the video into Cubase and render music and video from there. However Cubase won’t import the video. It can import H264 so I’m not sure what the problem is, but I’m guessing it might be incompatible frame rates, which again can’t be controlled in PowerPoint.

When I inspect the video in Finder or QuickTime it does not display a frame-rate.

I’m not sure how best to go forward from here. I’m wondering if any of our video experts have any suggestions?

[Drew Stephenson]

As I understand it there are several versions of h.264.
Have you got VLC player on your computer? If not, it might be worth downloading that and that should bring all the different versions of the codec with it.

Alternatively, if you're just looking to add an audio file to a video file, it's trivially easy in Reaper (even if you've not used it before) and that will handle anything that I've thrown at it (including powerpoint animations).

[Mike Stranks]

I've not tried it recently, but I gave up on timed transitions in PPoint as they were never accurate enough and would vary between slide shows...

... and then, of course, .mp4 is not a one-size fits all... just like .mp3, so many variables...

I've done a lot of work like this since the arrival of COVID...

I ended up keeping the slides and music completely separate until I got to video editor stage.

The slides were individually exported as .jpgs from PPoint - no attempt at timing in PPoint - just the various slides

Lay the music track (.wav) down in your editor. Then sync the individual slides/.jpgs to the music in the editor. Produce the video file to the resolution you need...

[RichardT]

Thanks guys - very helpful advice.

[sonics]

Surely an hour with a simple, free video editor is the answer here? DaVinci Resolve is free, and titling and image tutorials abound. You then have a useful new tool and new knowledge.

[RichardT]

I've decided to get to grips with the basics of Davinci Resolve - and in the meantime I've put a post up on the Steinberg forums trying to find out if I can get the Cubase route to work.

thanks all!

Edit: Well that wasn't too hard! Just import the audio and video and drag to the timeline.

[sonics]

FWIW when I used to use Cubase (v8) I had to convert video to a Cubase-friendly format to do serious work with it, otherwise it would glitch and skip when playing back. Resolve is simply streets ahead, and can use modern plugins now, too.

Would that Cubase information be of any use?

[RichardT]

FWIW when I used to use Cubase (v8) I had to convert video to a Cubase-friendly format to do serious work with it, otherwise it would glitch and skip when playing back. Resolve is simply streets ahead, and can use modern plugins now, too.

Would that Cubase information be of any use?

Well it gives me the ability to import a video and adjust the music to fit it - I can see that being useful in the future, and on this project too if I want to use moving images, which is quite likely.

[ManFromGlass]

Best of luck with the gig RichardT!
I find writing for ballet or modern dance some of the most terrifying and satisfying of any project, usually in the same project.

[RichardT]

Best of luck with the gig RichardT!
I find writing for ballet or modern dance some of the most terrifying and satisfying of any project, usually in the same project.

Thanks - it’s about Kaiser Wilhelm II - specifically how his childhood and youth shaped his psychology towards aggression and militarism, which had significant consequences for the world. The working title is ‘Wilhelm - Genesis of a Warmaker’. It’s a really compelling and shocking story. I’m struggling to find elements of relief in it to be honest!

[James Perrett]

As an audio person I find that Reaper's video editing makes far more sense than Resolve's. I think Vegas also shares a similar working method. However our lad got on well with Resolve and Shotcut when he first started editing video although he seems to have switched to Reaper now that his soundtracks have become more ambitious.

[Martin Walker]

I really must try some video editing in Reaper after all these recommendations from people I trust.

[ManFromGlass]

As Logic is a bit behind the curve with being able to edit video I end up using Lumafusion on the ipad and then bringing it in to Logic for the final video/audio marriage. The process is a bit clunky but Lumafusion has turned out to be more than capable. I looked at Resolve and it looks great but I didn’t want to learn the hardcore language of editors. I may have to check out Reaper at some point.

[Drew Stephenson]

I use shotcut for the actual video editing then move it into Reaper for the audio side.

[shufflebeat]

I've done some editing in Resolve and found it to be quite unintuitive. Everything works but nothing is where you expect it to be, which is most likely down to my own incongruous workflow coming from an audio perspective. Maybe if I had to deal with an regular video issues it would have made more sense.

It was very impressive and got the job done but I was really not using any more features than are already available in Lumafusion on the iPad. The problem with LF was file storage and handling on my half-full device, otherwise I'd have used that exclusively.

Reaper is the way to go if your vid is instructional rather than beautiful.

[sonics]

Returning to the OP about video in Cubase.
My experience with Cubase 8 was that I had to convert some videos to a new format to have then scrub/play smoothly.
If you're using Cubase 9, I believe it has a new video engine and the method I used may no longer be relevant. ISTR people still having video issues with Cubase 9/10, though.

It was to do with H264 handling, specifically of P-frames and B-frames. I had to transcode video to use I-frames only, then playback was perfect and I could get on with the scoring job (a 40-minute dance piece BTW).
Frame rates and/or audio can be converted at the same time, if required.

Current Cubase video support information can be found HERE.

[RichardT]

Returning to the OP about video in Cubase.
My experience with Cubase 8 was that I had to convert some videos to a new format to have then scrub/play smoothly.
If you're using Cubase 9, I believe it has a new video engine and the method I used may no longer be relevant. ISTR people still having video issues with Cubase 9/10, though.

It was to do with H264 handling, specifically of P-frames and B-frames. I had to transcode video to use I-frames only, then playback was perfect and I could get on with the scoring job (a 40-minute dance piece BTW).
Frame rates and/or audio can be converted at the same time, if required.

Current Cubase video support information can be found HERE.

Thanks - that could be very helpful.

[MarkOne]

As I have the full Adobe CC suite for business reasons, I have really got in to Premier CC for my video editing needs.

I do find the node based workflow in Resolve a bit mysterious, and Premier's plug-in ethos is very much in line with a DAW workflow.

It's not cheap though!

[Drew Stephenson]

Premier Elements is affordable and very capable though and Hugh, at least I think it was him, managed to find a link to a buy it standalone last time we discussed this.

[resistorman]

I've been using Vegas since its inception and have found it to be very intuitive for a DAW user. I was getting "light" version updates from Magix, but now their low-end software has abandoned it for a dumbed down piece of junk and Vegas has gone subscription. Guess I'll use it as long as I can and then bite the bullet and learn Resolve.