Help rendering render 1440x1080 properly

[joe_7305]

I am having a lot of trouble with my 1440x1080 footage and I'm desperate for help.

My camera accidentally recorded at 1440x1080 instead of the 1920x1080 that I usually use. The original footage looks fine, but I am having a terrible time figuring out how to export my footage so it doesn't end up looking like garbage. I've tried tons of advice I've found on the internet (and in this forum) but none of it results in footage that looks anything like the original.

In order to show the problem, I used VLC to take snapshots of the footage. They both look okay! I had to take an actual screenshot for the difference to be visible.

Original footage:

Screenshot of footage exporeted from Premiere Pro:

When the video is in motion, there is a weird pixelization around people when they move. The edges are all rough and blocky.

I have tried exporting this in so many ways. What am I doing wrong?

Also, here are snippets on YouTube of both the raw footage and rendered using the "Match Highest Bitrate".

Raw footage: https://youtu.be/AiBefJErJww

"Highest Bitrate": https://youtu.be/P6GE_vCaqWE

Any help would be amazing. This has confused me for hours.

[R Neil Haugen]

You don't say what framesize you used for both the sequence and the export. As if you are changing framesize, then the method of interpolation/blending is something to be aware of.

So ... what are the actual specs?

[joe_7305]

First, thanks for replying!

Next, framesize.  Please let me know if this helps. When I check the properties of the raw footage in Premiere, here what I get:

Type: MPEG Movie
File Size: 1.06 GB
Image Size: 1440 x 1080
Frame Rate: 29.97
Source Audio Format: 48000 Hz - Compressed - Stereo
Project Audio Format: 48000 Hz - 32 bit floating point - Stereo
Total Duration: 00:16:20:15
Pixel Aspect Ratio: 1.3333
Alpha: None
Color Space: Rec. 709
Color Space Override: Off
Input LUT: None
Video Codec Type: AVCHD H.264 4:2:0

I've tried exporting it in about five or so formats, both to specific presets and modified presets, and they all turn out similar to the sample video. Let me know if you need any of those details, as well.

Again, thanks!

[R Neil Haugen]

PAR of 1.33 is not surprising with that framesize. Gave you checked that the PAR out is the same?

[joe_7305]

I think so. Bear with me, I've been doing this sort of thing for a decade, but I haven't had to make these sort of adjustments for a while so I've forgoten all about this part haha. One mistake with my camera and I'm back to learning.

As for output, I originally chose the "Match Source - Adaptive High Bitrate" because I knew my footage wasn't proper HD and it didn't make sense to use the traditional 1080p HD preset.d

When I those the Adaptive High Bitrate, this is what it shows as the output:

Video: H.264

1440x1080 (1.3333)

29.97 fps

Upper

203 (75% HLG, 58% PQ)

Sofware Encoding

VBR

1 pass

Target 7.50 Mbps

Max 9.40 Mbps

When chosing this, I get the rough footage in the YouTube example.

The most frustrating part is that I'm not trying to do anything special with the movie. I just want to add an intro/outro and a few other elements. I'm happy to have the footage be exactly the same.

[PaulMurphy]

You're exporting the footage as Upper Field interlaced - is the original Upper Field interlaced?

[Merry_perspective6C1B]

I would try exporting as full HD Progressive, see if that works

[joe_7305]

Gave this a chance, but had the same result.

[joe_7305]

I don't know and I'm not sure how to tell. I did a quick search and the main instruction was to step through the footage, but I didn't notice anything defnitive. I'm happy to check if you know of a better way.

Thanks so much!

[joe_7305]

I found some more information using the Codec information in VLC.

Here is what it shows for the original footage:

And, for example, here's what it looks like when I rendered the footage at Full HD Prog:

I am happy to provide any other details. Thanks to everyone who's chiming in.

[Averdahl]

I am happy to provide any other details. Thanks to everyone who's chiming in.

By @joe_7305

Try this:

1.  Create a new timeline that is 1920x1080, Pixel Aspect Ratio=1.0, Timebase 29.97, Field Order=Upper Field first.
2.  Place your footage on the timeline
3.  Export as 1920x1080, Pixel Aspect Ratio=1.0, Frame Rate=29.97, Field Order =Progressive and consider to set the encoding to CBR and bump up the Target Bitrate to 20.

If that fails as well, Export again but go to the Encoding Settings and set the Performance to Software Encoding this time.

[joe_7305]

Thanks for the detailede walkthrough, but I ended up with the same results. Also, it turns out it was already Software Encoding and Hardware encoding isn't available for my system.

You can see a screenshot of the how it looks for me here.

[Averdahl]

Thanks for the detailede walkthrough, but I ended up with the same results.

By @joe_7305

But you did not set the timeline to Upper Field First. Placing interlaced media in a timeline that is set to Progressive is not great. So, click in your timeline and go to Sequence > Sequence Settings and change Fields from Progressive to Upper Field First. While you are there, change the Sample Rate of your audio from 88200 Hz you have today to 48000 Hz. How did it get set to 88200 Hz?

[Hutch Harris]

Hi there, I made an After Effects sample animation that (mostly) matches your source file. Importing into Premiere, creating a sequence with the correct settings, and exporting with Match Source - Adaptive High Bitrate, I'm not seeing issues on export -- see attached image for specs in case yours are different.

Assuming all your settings are correct, my next-best solve would be to try converting your footage to ProRes (or whatever all-i codec you prefer) as square pixels at 1920x1080, and replacing source media/rebuilding your timeline. I attached a screenshot of what that looks like in Media Encoder. Admittedly that's getting out of my wheelhouse so I will let the Premiere gurus slap me down if that's a bad solution.

[joe_7305]

Re: ProRes

I am unfamliar with this level of media detail so I had to do some searching. From what I found, you *should* be able to right-click on a media file in your bin, choose Proxy > Create Proxy > and then pick a ProRes option. When I do this, a meter shows up as if work is being done, it fills immeidately, and no file is created.

I used the Media Encoder to convert the file, but it returned the same result. Here were my settings:

Please let me know what I might have done wrong.

[Hutch Harris]

Your output settings should be 1920x1080 at a Square (1.0) pixel aspect ratio. Apologies, I left out steps in my earlier reply.  For me, Media Encoder defaulted to the "NTSC DV Widescreen" preset - I changed the settings as listed below:

If that still doesn't work, I've created a Media Encoder preset based on those settings - try importing that and give it a whirl.
My goal with this path is to create 1920x1080 files with square pixels to use as your source files, instead of letting Premiere read/convert them on the timeline. Again, not sure this is the best solution, but how I would go about solving.

[joe_7305]

First run-through came out the same. I'm going to try the Preset you made. That is so incredibly kind of you. I really appreciate it. You've also given me an idea.

I'm going to reply to my main post with a link to some test footage I recorded. It's the smallest file I have since I can't freaking edit any of the others without rendering it them poorly. Anyway, maybe someone can use it to figure out what I'm doing wrong.

https://we.tl/t-vymK9orlKX

[joe_7305]

Repyling to myself with a new idea:

Here is a short clip of test footage we ran when setting up. Maybe someone can fiddle with it and figure out what I'm doing wrong.

https://we.tl/t-vymK9orlKX

Thanks again to everyone with their help. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it.

[Averdahl]

Here is a short clip of test footage we ran when setting up. Maybe someone can fiddle with it and figure out what I'm doing wrong.

By @joe_7305

I downloaded the file and it comes out great if i did the same i wrote earlier. Follow those steps and don´t create a Progressive timeline.

[Hutch Harris]

Ok, based on this, I made a mistake in that earlier preset I sent. I neglected to change the output to Progressive (as opposed to upper field first). Here's a link that has a revised preset, and an output of the "00000.MTS" file run through Media Enc.... If the MOV file I've uploaded exports ok from your edit, you should be able to just run all of your footage through Media Encoder with that preset applied. (Reminder that you'll likely need to change your sequence settings to match up with the settings of the MOV; or just create a new sequence from clip to see if it works).
Theoretically should resolve issues with the 1.333 pixel aspect ratio and interlacing.

[joe_7305]

There has to be something wrong with my system, either my Premiere or my actual system.

Your render came over 100% fine. Looks just like the raw footage. I used your preset to do the same thing and I get this:

https://youtu.be/bZK1mFhYXdA?si=EwE2AxTSJs0dtvdf

It's so frustrating.

To troubleshoot things, I rendered a new video from your output and it came out perfect. I also rendered a video from a prior year (it's an annual event) and it came out perfect. There really is something about this video format and my system or version of Premiere.

This seems like an absurd question, but would any like to help convert these for me? I'm at the end of the rope. I did these for a nonprofit event I care a lot about and I can't upload this mess. It's awful.

In total, I have 16 videos, running 18.2 GB, and a total length of almost 5 hrs. It's a lot.

If no one can help, please know I really do appreciate everything everone has done. I'm sorry we couldn't figure it out.

[Averdahl]

There really is something about this video format and my system or version of Premiere.

By @joe_7305

There is nothing wrong with the format itself since it works here so there is something at your end that causes the issue.

• What version of Premiere Pro do you use, version+Build number? (Help > About Premiere Pro)
• Post a screen dump of your Sequence Settings.
• Post a screen dump of your Export Settings, similat to the one i posted here.

[joe_7305]

Premiere vers. 22.6.2 (build 2)

And I'll go through the last few steps we did and provide output details.

1. Using this file (https://we.tl/t-vymK9orlKX) I am going to render it using the Preset created by @Hutch Harris  since we know this worked for him.
2. Here are my Sequence settings. I creatd the Sequence based off of the clip (dragging it to the "New" button and creating a Sequence). I then compared it to the settings @Averdahl suggested before.
   
   
3.  I render this clip using the aforementioned Preset. Here are those settings:
   
4.  
5.  
6.  This is the result:
   
   
   Compare that to the same moment in the video @Hutch Harris rendered using the same settings:
   

   You can especially see the difference in the cord.
   
   

7. Now, there is one difference I notice possibly worth noting: for some reason, the total file size for my render is slightly different than @Hutch Harris's render. Mine is 138mb and theirs is 133mb. May be nothing, but I wanted to add it here.

Let me know if you notice anything I can try. Thanks again for taking the time to help.

[Averdahl]

1. Here are my Sequence settings. I creatd the Sequence based off of the clip (dragging it to the "New" button and creating a Sequence). I then compared it to the settings @Averdahl suggested before.

By @joe_7305

No, read once again. I never suggested or wrote that you should drag the clip to the New Item icon. So read once again and do what i wrote. Not sure that it will solve the issue since Pr should be ok doing it the way you do, but for testing purposes it can show that it fix the issue, or not fix the issue.

You can of course drag the clip to the New Item button, but make sure to change the settings if you do.

And there is no need to convert the clip to ProRes, before import or upon export, since Premiere Pro handles the file without issues here.

Have you tried in a newer version of Premiere Pro, such as the latest 24.6.1 Build 2 or even the Beta version? It´s worth to at least try it since your version may have a bug when going from 1440x1080 to 1920x1080. You can install 24.6.1 or the beta (25) while keep the version you have now intact.

[Hutch Harris]

I think my overall workflow plan got a bit lost; Averdahl & I are approaching differently. (Averdahl's approach is objectively more efficient & technically correct, but I am also confident mine would work.)
So I am going to sort of start from scratch and list out how I think you can solve:

Before doing anything else, run that short "00000.MTS" file through Media Encoder (not Premiere!) using that preset I had sent (1440x1080 to 1920x1080 ProRes-Progressive.epr). You should have a clean-looking ProRes version of that raw clip. If not, then the rest of my post is not going to work for you. But assuming it looks good...

1. Run all of your raw footage through Media Encoder using that preset I had sent. You'll get some big files from this, make sure you have appropriate storage available.
2.  Either change your existing sequence settings OR create a new sequence with settings as follows:
   (Previews can be whatever format you prefer, but make sure the size is 1920x1080)
3. The newly transcoded ProRes clips are meant to replace your source footage. So if you have changed your existing sequence, you'll need to replace all your MTS clips with the ProRes re-encodes.
   If you are creating a new sequence from scratch, you'll have to rebuild your edit. I recommend creating a new sequence just to eliminate as much error as possible.**
4. Export using the Match Source - Adaptive High Bitrate Preset.
5. You should have a good-looking final file.

As I alluded to, this is almost certainly not the most efficient way to handle this type of footage. But somewhere, settings are getting lost, so this is the most straightforward way to solve that I can come up with. As a bonus, the ProRes stuff should also be much quicker to work with since its all-i. Good luck!!

**I'm only recommending this because it sounds like you're just adding a graphic opening/closing to this, and there aren't many/any edits.