Output video formats in Max (newbie question)

#1

Hi folks
I see in Max there is only avi and quicktime video export in render. But avi for some reason can’t be done larger than 720x480 ? (Quicktime can be). But why ? For what such unusable avi codec in max then ? Maybe i miss something.
And other question - maybe there is exist ability to add additional video formats \ codecs in Max render export list ?
(For just in case - yes i heard about image sequence method export, but wondering about exactly ready video formats).

#2

Rendering directly to video is not very practical in a professional environment so it’s not been updated in ages.

I can render HD and higher just fine using avi.
You must be using the DV codec, which has it’s resolution restricted. Try choosing an other codec.

#3

Oh yes thanks for tip, mjpeg compressor codec in avi really works properly, ok.

#4

Best option for direct movie export in Max i still would say is Quicktime
Plenty of compression codecs , bitdepth and other options . Plus you can have an alpha channel in the movie

Even for pure archiving purposes, , a quicktime PNG mov, including alpha channel is a great option …

#5

Tnx for thoughts. Well, yes, nowadays quicktime it seems read properly also for me, so why avi, perhaps old Windows related habit, well will see.

#6

Don’t ever render to a movie format. You’re much better off rendering to stills (preferably lossless) and then convert them to a movie afterwards.

Why? Loads of reasons but here are a few:

If your PC crashes halfway through you will inevitably lose the movie file as well, not much fun when it crashes on frame 999 of 1000

If you want to stop the rendering at any point (eg if it didn’t finish overnight) you have to end the movie, you can’t add to it later.

You can’t render with multiple machines to a single movie file.

If you get the compression settings setting wrong, you’ll need to re-render the whole thing again, render uncompressed stills and choose your movie compression afterwards.

#7

Tnx for info, yes, but sometimes just need quicky make so to speak “scetch” video variant, and exactly in specified resolution. In this case additional postprocessing will be unnecessary. (Moreover, render to images sequence require a lot of hdd space i guess).
But if final render, then yes, i think will be try to use sequence.

#8

In such a case, I usually use a video editor called Joyoshare Media Cutter to customize the output quality to change codec, resolution, bit rate and frame rate. Sometimes, I will also use it directly convert my AVI file and QuickTime video to the format with more compatibility.