Exporting PNGs, and video editor recommendation

[Hoptoad]

Over the years, several people in this forum have stated that they don't export their scenes as movies, but as sequences of PNGs. Furthermore, they don't add their audio in Moho, but in their editing program. At long last, I'm going to try it.

Any tips?

I haven't used a video editor in a long time, and I want to use a free one this time. Would you recommend a free editing program that works well with Moho animations?

I might leave the backgrounds transparent and then add backgrounds in the video editor, and adjust the colors, but nothing too fancy. Nonetheless, I would like an editor with a lot of the core professional features, as I may need more features on my next project.

I was thinking of using Blender. I've never used it before, but it has an editing environment and it's made for animating, so it seems like it should be a good choice. A video I watched about Blender said its text options are weak, but that isn't a concern of mine.

I would like the editor to be easy to use, and intuitive. That's a priority. I tend to be a little impatient with software; that is, I like to try to figure-out how to do something before resorting to a manual or tutorial. Long ago I used Final Cut Pro. I never got good with that program; it was always a struggle to do something, even simple stuff. I'd like a video editor that is easy to use, but with more features than the absolute basics. And it must be good with adding audio tracks, including dozens of foley noises.

I'm on a Mac, by the way.

Thanks.

[SimplSam]

For the Mac your first choice might be iMovie [free] (note: I have never used it). Alternatively there is Davinci Resolve [free/paid] (my fave), HitFilm [free/paid]. (and the list goes on and on ...).

Blender would not be my first choice for this, even if you are planning on using it for animation.

[Ronbo]

I'm on a Mac also, and like you I've never really clicked with Final Cut Pro (or iMovie).

For free video editors, I would suggest Hitfilm Express (which is quite close to Premiere Pro in look and feel) or Davinci Resolve (which includes Fusion, an After Effects alternative.) I used to love Premiere Pro CS5 but I'm not going to rent the current version. I mostly use Hitfilm Pro now with Moho, but the Express version is probably more than enough. The main reason why I bought Pro is for the ability to import 3D models and Mixamo animations.

[alanthebox]

+1 for DaVinci Resolve. As someone who has used a mixture of Premier and Vegas for the last couple of decades, I did need to do a bit of googling/watching YouTube tutorials to figure out certain aspects of Resolve. Not sure if that will deter you!

Regarding image sequences, I usually only do that if I'm doing further compositing outside of Moho. Since most of my stuff is only for the web, I don't really mind Moho's mpeg export quality. Even then, a video editor is still required to compile all the shots.

[synthsin75]

I've used DaVinci Resolve and would recommend it, but I mostly use Hitfilm Express nowadays.

[Greenlaw]

The biggest reason to render image sequence from an animation program is stability and flexibility. For example, if the program crashes mid-render, or you need to change a part of the animation, there is no reason to re-render the entire animation with image sequence like you must with a video file. It's just more efficient too, because the computer can focus all of its resources on processing and rendering single frames without the additional burden of keeping the entire animation in memory so it can render a video file.

My typical workflow is to output frames from Moho, usually in multiple passes using Layer Comps, and then importing the frames to a compositing program for assembly, special processing (motion blur, DOF, color grading,) lighting, and fx (particles, warps, and additional animation.) Plus, my compositing program has more advanced options for outputting video files. Then the video file is rendered out as a movie for my video editor. This is a typical studio production workflow.

But if you don't use a compositing program, you can do both steps with Moho. First, render the PNG image sequence from your project, and then import the image sequence to a new Moho project and render your movie file from there. This way, you have the reliability and flexibility with first pass, and efficiency with the second pass. If you have a bunch of shots and a lot of frames to deal with, use Moho Exporter to batch process the workload.

That said, I have one specific reason I don't render video from Moho 13.5.1: this release only supports MP4 with H.264. H.264 is an ok consumer quality codec, but it's not professional quality. You definitely don't want to use this for compositing or further processing in another program because of render artifacts and image degradation. Rendering a video file from Moho would be much better if it supported a lossless or near-lossless codec.

A PNG image sequence can be compressed but it's also lossless, which means there are no compression artifacts or quality degradation, plus you can keep an alpha channel this way. If anything, it's better to output your animation in this format, and then import the footage to another program (like a decent video editor,) so you can output with a better container and codec.

As for video editor, I've heard a lot of good things about Resolve. I don't use it, but I've used Fusion since the late 90's and it's one of my favorite high-end composting programs. I'm sure Resolve meets the same high standards as Fusion since it's from the same developer.

For video editing, I mainly use Vegas Pro and sometimes Premiere. I like Vegas because it's so fast and easy to use, and it supports most formats--it can even import and export Pro Res. (Or, their version of it anyway.) For output to web streaming platforms like Vimeo and YouTube, I like using Vegas' MP4 with 16-bit HEVC (aka H.265) because of its high quality, compactness, and perfectly matched black levels and color after uploading. I can't get anything even close this quality with H.264.

That said, Vegas seems to have trouble with some formats that older versions seemed to be fine with--for example, .MOV with DNxHR. As a backup, I have Adobe Premiere available to handle this format, but in general I try avoid video formats the current version of Vegas has trouble with. (Actually, the real reason I have Premiere is because I have a CC subscription so I can use After Effects, Photoshop, Illustrator, Audition, and Animate; Premier just happens to also be included. At one time, I considered dropping Vegas and switching to Premiere since I'm paying for it anyway, but TBH, I just like using Vegas so much better.)

But for basic editorial needs, all video editors are pretty much the same: you drag clips onto a timeline, and then trim and move the footage around non-linearly. What you want to look for is what media formats (still image and video) the editor supports for input and output. The more format options it has, the better. After that, check for how many layers it allows, and what transitions and effects it offers. Basic transitions like fades/dissolves and basic effects like titles are a must. You can certainly do some titles and title animations in another program and import it to the editor, but it can tedious to do ALL of your screen text this way.

Hope this helps.

[Ronbo]

Re: Vegas Pro, it's Windows only, isn't it? Hoptoad stated that he's on a Mac.

[Greenlaw]

Oh, yeah, that's true. But hopefully this info helps inform what to look for in a video editor for any platform.

[Hoptoad]

Thanks for all the suggestions and information. The DaVinci Resolve manual is over 3000 pages long, which is simultaneously intimidating and reassuring. I'm going to try DaVinci Resolve, and if I get stuck, try HitFilm Express next, which looks a little easier but probably lacks a couple things I may need at some nebulous point in the future, maybe.

[MrMiracle77]

Shutter Encoder can convert an image sequence to one of several lossless/low-loss editing formats: DNxHD, DNxHR, Apple ProRes, QT Animation, GoPro CineForm, and Uncompressed YUV. Uncompressed YUV is compatible with Lightworks (freeware up to 720p) and Hitfilm Express. That's probably the route I'm going next. My stuff is mostly for youtube, so an editor that lets me control the bitrate of the output like Hitfilm has been helpful for quality.

[Greenlaw]

I like to use MagicYUV in a .avi as an intermediate format for all my editing; it supports very high-quality compression, 10 bit+ color bit depths, 4K res, is LOSSLESS, and it is very responsive on my video editing timeline. MagicYUV can be saved in either AVI or MOV, making it it compatible with most video editing programs.

MagicYUV is free but to get the full features (like 10 bit+ color,) you need to upgrade to the pro version for $24. (Well worth it, IMO.) Note that I only use this format for editing (intermediate) and archiving. (I recently started using Vegas' ProRes codec for archiving because Vegas started supporting it and this codec is more universal. But so long as the MagicYUV codec is available, the archive should be good.)

MagicYUV is available from here: https://www.magicyuv.com/

I used like Lagarith, a free lossless codec that also plays well on the timeline, but I stopped using it because it doesn't support higher color depths. It's also not nearly as fast as MagicYUV on the timeline.

For final output for a streaming service like YouTube or Vimeo, you of course need to use whatever is compatible with the service. I don't believe MagicYUV or Lagarith is compatible, so my final output is HEVC (H.265) these days to maintain the highest quality and color accuracy. (IMO, HEVC is amazing if you can use it.)

All that said, MagicYUV or Lagarith isn't currently compatible with Moho 13.5.1. (Another reason to render image sequence and compile in another program where I can use MagicYUV.) I used to be able to use these codecs in Moho 12.5 if I render with the AVI (Video For Windows) option, but AVI doesn't seem to be available in Moho 13.5.1 either.

But, if you render an image sequence from Moho, the MagicYUV codec should be available as an output option from most compositing or video editing packages that you can import the Moho images sequences to. (Some video players and frame compilers maybe be able to use it too.) Try experimenting with the free version of MagicYUV to see if it will work for you.

Hope this helps.

I don't think we'll ever see Quicktime return since even Apple has abandoned it, but I hope we at least see AVI (Video For Windows) again. The current MP4-only option for video output may be universal but its very limited.