Blink 7

The Challenge

You’ve completed your latest movie masterpiece and now it’s time to put on the finishing touches. One problem – your Non-Linear Editor (NLE) cannot do exactly what you need. Perhaps you would like to render the final project using a proprietary codec unavailable in your NLE of choice. Perhaps you would like to render an MPEG-2 file using CinemaCraft Encoder or other software that produces better output than your NLE’s internal algorithm. Maybe you are not done applying filters to the final video, but those last few filters reside in a different software package.

In the past, the primary solution was to render the project to an intermediate file and then load that file into other software packages for post-processing. While this approach may be adequate for smaller projects, several problems arise when working with longer video segments or with High Definition content:

1. Quality Loss. Rendering a project to a lossy intermediate format (e.g. DivX, Neo HD) results in loss of visual quality. Further processing and rendering causes more quality loss, which may result in unusable video output
2. Disk Space. The problem of quality loss can be avoided by rending the project to a lossless intermediate format (e.g. Lagarith, Huffy). However, the resulting file size may be prohibitively large due to the much lower compression ratios of lossless formats.
3. Time. Rendering any intermediate format takes time and then more time must be spent re-rendering the file after further processing.

The Solution: Frame-Serving

A Frame-server is a software application that re-routes audio and/or video streams from one software package directly to another – without creating a fully rendered intermediate file. Instead, Frameservers render pointer files, which can either be proprietary or constructed as a signpost file that behaves like a regular AVI file. Thus, a one video application can load and manipulate the output from another application without any direct compatibility between the two applications.

Debugmode FrameServer

Debugmode FrameServer is a free application for Microsoft Windows that allows several commercial and freeware NLE’s to frame-serve to external applications via an .AVI signpost file. Most video applications load and work with AVI files, which creates many possibilities for rerouting audio and video data. Debugmode FrameServer 2.3 boasts the following features:

• RGB24, RGB32 and YUY2 output
• Option to serve audio directly to target application or embed to AVI files (for compatibility)
• Network frame-serving

Debugmode FrameServer supports several NLE applications:

• Sony Vegas
• Adobe Premiere
• Ulead MediaStudio Pro and VideoStudio
• Pure Motion EditStudio
• Wax (another free product from Debugmode)

Check the DebugMode website for version compatibility.

Software Download and Installation

Download Debugmode FramServer from the author’s Website:
http://www.debugmode.com/frameserver/

Installation is straightforward.

Remember to check the NLE(s) installed on your system.Frame-serving – A Sample ApplicationSuppose you just completed a high definition project created in Sony Vegas and want to do the following –

• Post-process the video using a high quality noise reduction filter in VirtualDub
• Render the final project in DivX format, maintaining the High Definition resolution

Load the project to Vegas

Select the menu item File >> Render As

Navigate to the target directory.
Type in a file name.
Click on the drop down box beside the label “Save as Type”. Select the option Debugmode FrameServer.

Click on the Save button.

Leave the default settings in the FrameServer configuration Window.
Click on the Next button.

Wait for FrameServer to write the AVI signpost file. The FrameServer Status window should appear.

Open VirtualDub (you file and start icon location will probably differ from the one pictured above).

Select the menu item File >> Open Video File
The open file dialog appears.

Find the signpost AVI File and click on it.
Click on the Open button

Use the time slider to navigate around the video. Notice that the video updates much slower for the AVI signpost file than if a regular AVI was loaded. This is because Vegas is rending each frame (using its own interpolation and effects) before frame-serving to VirtualDub

Select the menu item Video >> Filters
The filter dialog appears

Click on the Add button
The filter selection dialog appears

Select the noise reduction filter.
(note: pick another filter if you do not have a noise reduction filter. Try to avoid filters that resize the picture)
Click on the OK button.

Configure the filter as desired.
Click on the OK button.

Click on the OK button.

Select the menu item Video >> Compression

Select the DivX codec.
Click on the Configure button.

 

Select the correct HD profile (depending on the vertical resolution of your input video). Click on the OK button.
Click on the OK button in the video configuration screen.

Select the menu item File >> Save as AVI

Select a new filename for the output file.
Click on the Save button.

Wait for the output file to render, which could take a very long time depending on the video’s resolution, movie length, and the filters used in VirtualDub / Vegas. Finally, look at your output file in Windows Media Player or the Media Player of your choice.Final NotesThis process is applicable to NLE’s besides Vegas. Visit the Debugmode website for product-specific frame-serving instructions.
http://www.debugmode.com/frameserver/usage.php

When you go to virtualdub for frame-serving your video or videos, don’t make the mistake of not having remote backup. These video files are so valuable that you should be concerned about file recovery. When the transferring of video data has been done, then host the videos through a web hosting company like hostgator. The best web hosting service will provide you with tutorials on how to set up your web page. These netfirms may cost a bit more but you’ll be getting every pennies worth of services. The shared hosting services provided here have tons of features and facilities.