5 Replies Latest reply: Oct 22, 2011 5:48 AM by Stan Jones RSS

    New issue with blank frame at end of coverted .avi

    Shan-Dysigns Community Member

      Here is the project (scenario details):

       

      I have 2 .swf files. Both are 30 fps. Call them "chapter1" and "chapter2". Frame count is 3600 and 9600 respectfully. The last frame of "chapter1" contains the same image as the first frame of "chapter2" - basically I'm splitting up an overall animation so I can easier manage two Flash documents versus one large document. I used SoThink SWF Converter to create 2 .avi files. When I place these .avi files back to back on the same timeline in Encore, both .avi files have an extra blank frame at the end. This causes a black frame flicker between the end of "chapter1" and the beginning of "chapter2". Even if I drag the end of the .avi on the timeline to the left (as to trim the video track), I still see a black, empty frame at the end. I don't think the problem is with SoThink because I've even imported these .avi files into Sony Vegas and zoomed in all the way to the end of each video track and the very last frame of both files is as it should be. This leads me to believe the issue is with Encore somewhere. Also, initially the problem in Encore was the audio tracks were extending a few frames beyond the video track thus causing the back to back .avi files to align according to the audio track (which was leaving a few blank frames from the video track). I have included some screen shots of the last 3 frames of "chapter1" and the first frame of "chapter2". Hopefully the images below appear in progression as I attached them. Watch the timeline indicator. One frame before the end of "chapter1" is black. I've run out of troubleshooting ideas. I can't imagine this would have anything to do with the .swf being 30 fps and the Encore timeline being DV NTSC 29.97 fps.

       

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        • 1. Re: New issue with blank frame at end of coverted .avi
          Stan Jones CommunityMVP

          I am suspicious of what you have in the avi's (i.e. whether the conversion is working correctly).

           

          I don't recall what was covered when you posted the similar question earlier:

           

          What does mediainfo or gspot show about the avis?

           

          If you import the swf into Premiere, what does it show? (It will not take the audio; I'm just wanting to sort out what you are starting with.)

          • 2. Re: New issue with blank frame at end of coverted .avi
            Shan-Dysigns Community Member

            Stan - thanks for the reply...

            I don't recall what was covered when you posted the similar question earlier:

            Not much more than me explaining the flicker between 2 .avi files, and the only response was someone telling me to just have one .swf file. I'm not sure why some people's response is to "just do it a different way" instead of trying to figure out what is causing the issue.

             

            What does mediainfo or gspot show about the avis?

            I'm not sure which information you need, but I will attach what I was able to get out of the problematic .avi. Let me know if you need different information. This was the first time I used MediaInfo.

             

            part2.png

             

            Without knowing what to look for, I did notice a couple of lines that caught my eye. Line 25 mentions 30 fps frame rate (which I imagine is this .avi). Line 26 mentions 25 fps as the original fps (which makes me wonder if SoThink misread the .swf file as 25 fps instead of 30 fps) - not sure if I'm reading this right. Also, lines 45 & 52 mention a 26ms delay in audio (relative to video). Could that be why the audio track in Encore extends a couple of frames beyond the video track? Either way, Vegas is STILL showing the last frame as filled with the image. What does this report tell you? Maybe I should find a different way to export .swf to video. Is there anything else out there I might try (to see if the problem is SoThink)? Just looked at the .avi in PremierePro. The last frame looks fine. SoThink won't let me convert .avi to 29.97 fps.

             

            Could the fact I have a 30 fps .avi placed into a 29.97 fps project timeline, could this be the issue? I tested another .avi (from a movie), and the last frame appears correctly in Encore. Now this looks as if the issue is back to SoThink's conversion to 30 fps. I really should find a different .swf to video converter and retest. Again, thanks for any help (from anyone) in this and suggesting alternative video converters.

             

            *added - the .swf files contain tweened and frame by frame animation along with a streamed audio layer, but even when I completely remove the audio layer, the resulting .avi still shows up as a blank frame at the end. I thought at one point the fact I had a streaming layer of audio might have been forcing the frames in Flash to skip around, but this wasn't the case.

            • 3. Re: New issue with blank frame at end of coverted .avi
              Stan Jones CommunityMVP

              I think there are likely to be multiple issues here. I am focused on the likelihood that there is a poor fit between the avi you are bringing in and what Encore needs.

               

              The usual point to converting a file to avi when bringing into Encore is to get it in a form that Encore will be happy transcoding.

               

              a) Many of us would argue for converting to something Encore does not need to transcode: DVD legal mpeg2, with a preference for elemental streams (m2v and wav).

               

              b) Your option, mp4 with xvid is a poor choice.

               

              Was this PAL and/or is this to be a PAL DVD? I don't see a par on the video, and the source 25 and pixel size makes me wonder.

               

              What version of Encore/Premiere?

               

              Is the swf the source file you were given, or did you create the swfs? Flash will export an avi, but I am not sure about the format issues.

               

              If you are stuck with the swfs, I would try bringing it into Premiere, (assuming CS5 or 5.5), drag the file to the new item button (to create a compatible sequence), then export as MPEG2-DVD. Note that the audio will not come in with the swf, so you will have to import it separately.. I'd ignore that as a first step just to see if you can deal with the blank frame issue using this method.

              • 4. Re: New issue with blank frame at end of coverted .avi
                Shan-Dysigns Community Member

                The .swf files are old. I made the Flash document probably 7 years ago (not sure why at 720x540). Maybe I was trying to stay with an aspect ration of 4:3. I'm more of a graphics guy, not so much video. I originally attempted to create a slideshow with audio way back then, and I did so successfully, but I never made a DVD menu for this project. I'm not even sure my computer could run Encore back then or maybe I didn't know enough about it back then. All the client really needed was some images with music, and at the time, Flash was my best option in doing so. So, now I'm basically stuck with what I have to work with. Of course if I had to do it all over, I wouldn't put myself in such a mess to begin with, but I just have to do with what I have for now.

                 

                I was able to open and play the .swf file in PremierePro CS4 (like you said, no audio - which isn't an issue), and the last frame was there as it should be. So, for some reason, PP CS4 and Vegas display the last frame correctly, but not in Encore. I tried a trial version of iWisoft FlashSWF to Video Converter - I saw another post recommend it. This program (for the lack of a better word) sucks. With SoThink, my only encode options are XVID, MS-MPEG4V1, MS-MPEG4V2, MS-MPEG4V3, DivX. XVID was the best out of those, so using SoThink, those were the extent of my options.

                 

                At this point, I think it's best if I just take the .avi's and layer them into Vegas and just export the whole video as one timeline into Encore (PP CS4 wouldn't open the .avi's, but would open the .swf's). Like you said, there are too many possible issues to figure out, but I'm pretty sure I can find a fix by doing what I just said with Vegas. If that doesn't work, then I will just deal with the 1/30th of a second flicker. haha.. can you imagine, ALL this time I've wasted because of 1/30th of a video is not displaying... sometimes I make things harder on myself...

                 

                Thanks again for your time.

                • 5. Re: New issue with blank frame at end of coverted .avi
                  Stan Jones CommunityMVP
                  I was able to open and play the .swf file in PremierePro CS4 (like you said, no audio - which isn't an issue), and the last frame was there as it should be.

                  So what happens if you export to MPEG2-DVD from Premiere?

                   

                  Vegas is fine too, but I think you should be looking to export from one of them to something Encore will not need to transcode.