# Video in Cubase 5: complete trainwreck?



## Ian Dorsch (Oct 5, 2009)

I know some people have had success with this feature of Cubase, but in my experience it's almost entirely broken. WMV import does not work at all. Quicktime import works but audio playback is a crackling disaster when the video window is open. I've tried re-encoding with various video codecs, and the results have been nothing short of dismal. After an afternoon of dredging the Cubase forums, it's apparent that I'm not the only one with these issues, but as usual Steinberg has nothing helpful to offer.

Have any of you guys run into trouble with video in Cubase? Really discouraging that with a more-than-capable system this feature does not work as advertised.


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## IvanP (Oct 5, 2009)

Works fine on Mac here, Cubase 5.1


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## Ian Dorsch (Oct 5, 2009)

Yeah, well, that's the thing. :D

It's apparently a bit sketchy on the PC.


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## nikolas (Oct 5, 2009)

I got some other codecs which did do the trick... I'll have to search for the links though, so await for a post tomorrow or something. 

Also, I worked with AVI mostly.


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## germancomponist (Oct 5, 2009)

And AVI works great here..... .

Hi Nikolas


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## Andreas Moisa (Oct 5, 2009)

Hi Ian,
I'm on Nuendo 4, but I guess the video engine is nearly the same as in C5.
I am (well have been on PC, now I'm on Mac since a week) working quite successfully with video in N4 with certain workarounds. Here are some hints, maybe you can use something of it:

1) Use Quicktime Movies in Sorensen 3 or H.264 codec.
2) Use a 3rd party video app to convert your videofiles and also render the audio of the video separately
3) Create a folder in the arrange window of Cubase, put the video in that folder and then close this folder - and disable the thumbnail function!

Good Luck!

Apparently Nuendo 5 gets a complete overhaul of the video engine!


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## Ian Dorsch (Oct 5, 2009)

Ah, interesting, thanks for the advice, Andreas. I will give that a try!


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## rgames (Oct 5, 2009)

I use video in Cubase 5 on PC all the time and it works fine with AVI (cinepak codec) and MOV (can't recall which codec). Never tried WMV. I almost always use AVI with the cinepak codec - that seems to work great.

Two thoughts:

1. What video converter are you using? A lot of freebie converters give a "sort-of" correct conversion but can lead to problems.

2. What size video are you trying to import? I generally use 320x200 to reduce processor and disk load.

rgames


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## Ian Dorsch (Oct 5, 2009)

rgames @ Mon Oct 05 said:


> 1. What video converter are you using? A lot of freebie converters give a "sort-of" correct conversion but can lead to problems.
> 
> 2. What size video are you trying to import? I generally use 320x200 to reduce processor and disk load.



I'm using Premiere Pro 2.0 for the conversions, and I've been going for the lowest resolution and smallest file size that is practical (320x200 or smaller).

I've tried both the Sorensen 3 and Apple Photo JPEG codecs (the latter is often recommended in the Cubase forums) to no avail.

I haven't tried a plain old AVI yet, I suppose that's the next step if I can't get the QT playback to work worth a crap.


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## Stevie (Oct 6, 2009)

recited like a mantra:
use MOV with MJPG, use MOV with MJPG, use MOV with MJPG, use MOV with MJPG, use MOV with MJPG, ....


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## Waywyn (Oct 6, 2009)

Sama here, using QT with Cubase 5.1 on OSX 10.6 ... works like a charm


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## Ian Dorsch (Oct 6, 2009)

Thank you again for the advice, everyone. After unsuccessfully fighting with a few different approaches to QT format, I finally just re-rendered the client's video as an avi. As some of you suggested, it worked like a champ, no problems whatsoever. 

Sucks to have to do that, but as long as I have a procedure that works I guess I can't complain. Much. :lol:


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## kdm (Oct 6, 2009)

Just out of curiosity since you have AVI working, what version of Quicktime do you have? Some versions have been quite problematic on the PC side (Apple doesn't seem to test QT with professional audio cards... or PCs).

It's most likely it's the Quicktime version, or possibly Premiere's handling of QT renders. You can also convert video in MPeg Streamclip. Also, does Cubase 5 have an option for DirectShow/DirectX video engine, or is it just QT? 

I am running QT 7.6.2 with my Decklink card and no significant problems in Nuendo 4.2.2. PJpeg files work best here (esp. with a Decklink card) - lower cpu overhead.


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## Ian Dorsch (Oct 6, 2009)

Stevie @ Tue Oct 06 said:


> Actually I can't recommend AVI, at least it doesn't do it for me. When you fast forward the picture just turns black. Not with MJPEG. You can follow every single frame. AVI only shows the picture when you released the FF button.
> Hence AVI (same as MOV) is a container format, NOT a codec.



Yeah, I'm aware of that. Nevertheless, AVI works for me, while MOV only works for a few seconds with severely crackling audio before completely crashing my ASIO drivers, regardless of codec used. I'm glad that it works for you, though! :D



kdm @ Tue Oct 06 said:


> Just out of curiosity since you have AVI working, what version of Quicktime do you have? Some versions have been quite problematic on the PC side (Apple doesn't seem to test QT with professional audio cards... or PCs).
> 
> It's most likely it's the Quicktime version, or possibly Premiere's handling of QT renders. You can also convert video in MPeg Streamclip. Also, does Cubase 5 have an option for DirectShow/DirectX video engine, or is it just QT?
> 
> I am running QT 7.6.2 with my Decklink card and no significant problems in Nuendo 4.2.2. PJpeg files work best here (esp. with a Decklink card) - lower cpu overhead.



I'll have to check on the version of Quicktime I'm running. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that that is at least partially responsible for my issues. Cubase 5 does have the option for a DirectShow video player, but I was unable to make it work with the QT files I was importing.


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## Stevie (Oct 6, 2009)

Hey Ian,

I forgot one IMPORTANT thing!
You have to change the audio engine to high priority!
Otherwise you will get high cpu peaks.

It's somewhere down there:
http://www.steinbergusers.com/TechDocs/ ... eSetup.pdf

Oh yeah and get the latest *Quicktime Alternative*.


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## Patrick de Caumette (Oct 6, 2009)

Stevie @ Tue Oct 06 said:


> Hey Ian,
> 
> Oh yeah and get the latest *Quicktime Alternative*.



What do you mean by that Stevie?


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## Stevie (Oct 8, 2009)

Yep, it rips off all the clutter that's installed with Apple's Quicktime. They only use the codecs and deliver it with Media Player Classic.

There's also QT Alternative Lite, which omits the Media Player Classic.

http://www.codecguide.com/about_qt.htm


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## Patrick de Caumette (Oct 8, 2009)

Thanks for the info guys.

Now I am confused: do you use QT Alternative or QT Alternative Lite?

In Cubase, what video setup do you select: QT or WMP?

Cheers!


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## Patrick de Caumette (Oct 16, 2009)

I installed Quicktime Lite and it works great.

Thanks for the tip guys!


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