Unable to get Nuendo working with Video content I record in OBS studio - Video player freezes

Nuendo
1

I have been trying to make Nuendo work for my editing needs for quite some time now and I am about to give up. I really hope I can get some pointers here.

Almost every single time I try to import a video in Nuendo I get sound (both tracks), but the video feed is usually stuck on the first frame. The thumbnails on the other hand looks fine once the buffering process is done. The Nuendo video player is also prone to crashing the entire application if I try to set it to fullscreen or fiddle too much with the settings.

I have tried to research the issue and the manual recommends using dnxhd encoding. That is unfortunately not something I can record native as I am using OBS studio to capture 1440P 60FPS video from PC games. There are several output options in OBS, but dnxhd is not one of them. I have attempted to use MOV, MP4 and MKV containers to record lossless, but nothing helps. I have had limited success using ffmpeg to transform and downscale mov, mp4 or mkv to dnxhd, but that only works if I set the framerate to 25 FPS. 50 or 60 FPS will still get stuck on the first frame. I have also read that 1440p is not a proper broadcasting format and should be avoided and I have therefore attempted to use 1080P as well but that did not help either.

I was advised to go for Adobe Premier Pro, but I hate renting software, so I bought Nuendo 10 instead. That is one decision I am really starting to regret as Nuendo seems to be extremely finicky with regards to what video content it can play and edit. I have looked at capture cards, but only the black magic brand seem to be able to record to dnxhd and the cards are extremely limited in terms on resolution and frame rates. They also have a fan that looks suspiciously loud, and I donā€™t want to have that in my recording rig. I will buy a 4k monitor soon and I need something that can handle 4k 60hz HDR minimum.

I am using a Ryzen 3950X CPU in case that has anything to do with it.

Any recommendations on what I can do to fix this problem?

Some troubleshooting data:
Lossless 128 GB MKV example
Metadata:
ENCODER : Lavf58.29.100
Duration: 00:24:14.48, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 704824 kb/s
Stream #0:0: Video: h264 (High 4:4:4 Predictive), yuvj420p(pc, bt470bg/unknown/unknown, progressive), 2560x1440 [SAR 1:1 DAR 16:9], 60 fps, 60 tbr, 1k tbn, 120 tbc (default)
Metadata:
DURATION : 00:24:14.484000000
Stream #0:1: Audio: aac (LC), 44100 Hz, stereo, fltp (default)
Metadata:
title : Track1
DURATION : 00:24:14.428000000
Stream #0:2: Audio: aac (LC), 44100 Hz, stereo, fltp (default)
Metadata:
title : Track2
DURATION : 00:24:14.428000000

MP4

Input #0, mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2, from ā€˜video1.mp4ā€™:
Metadata:
major_brand : isom
minor_version : 512
compatible_brands: isomiso2avc1mp41
encoder : Lavf58.29.100
Duration: 00:04:46.83, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 740773 kb/s
Stream #0:0(und): Video: h264 (High 4:4:4 Predictive) (avc1 / 0x31637661), yuvj420p(pc, bt470bg/unknown/unknown), 2560x1440 [SAR 1:1 DAR 16:9], 740438 kb/s, 60 fps, 60 tbr, 15360 tbn, 120 tbc (default)
Metadata:
handler_name : VideoHandler
Stream #0:1(und): Audio: aac (LC) (mp4a / 0x6134706D), 44100 Hz, stereo, fltp, 156 kb/s (default)
Metadata:
handler_name : SoundHandler
Stream #0:2(und): Audio: aac (LC) (mp4a / 0x6134706D), 44100 Hz, stereo, fltp, 163 kb/s
Metadata:
handler_name : SoundHandler

25 FPS dnxhd encoded from one of the previous files (works in Nuendo)
FFMPEG command used: ffmpeg -i video2.mkv -map 0:v -map 0:a -c:v dnxhd -vf scale=1920x1080,fps=25/1,format=yuv422p -max_muxing_queue_size 9999 -b:v 36M -c:a pcm_s16le 25fpsTest.mov
Probe:
Input #0, mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2, from ā€˜25fpsTest.movā€™:
Metadata:
major_brand : qt
minor_version : 512
compatible_brands: qt
encoder : Lavf58.48.100
Duration: 00:24:14.48, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 40512 kb/s
Stream #0:0: Video: dnxhd (DNXHD) (AVdn / 0x6E645641), yuv422p(tv, bt709/unknown/unknown), 1920x1080, 37683 kb/s, SAR 1:1 DAR 16:9, 25 fps, 25 tbr, 12800 tbn, 12800 tbc (default)
Metadata:
handler_name : VideoHandler
encoder : Lavc58.96.100 dnxhd
Stream #0:1: Audio: pcm_s16le (sowt / 0x74776F73), 44100 Hz, stereo, s16, 1411 kb/s (default)
Metadata:
handler_name : SoundHandler
Stream #0:2: Audio: pcm_s16le (sowt / 0x74776F73), 44100 Hz, stereo, s16, 1411 kb/s (default)
Metadata:
handler_name : SoundHandler

50FPS version from the same source (Does not work in Nuendo)
FFMPEG command used: ffmpeg -i video2.mkv -map 0:v -map 0:a -c:v dnxhd -vf scale=1920x1080,fps=50/1,format=yuv422p -max_muxing_queue_size 9999 -b:v 36M -c:a pcm_s16le 50fpsTest.mov
Probe:
Input #0, mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2, from ā€˜50fpsTest.movā€™:
Metadata:
major_brand : qt
minor_version : 512
compatible_brands: qt
encoder : Lavf58.48.100
Duration: 00:24:14.48, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 78198 kb/s
Stream #0:0: Video: dnxhd (DNXHD) (AVdn / 0x6E645641), yuv422p(tv, bt709/unknown/unknown), 1920x1080, 75366 kb/s, SAR 1:1 DAR 16:9, 50 fps, 50 tbr, 12800 tbn, 12800 tbc (default)
Metadata:
handler_name : VideoHandler
encoder : Lavc58.96.100 dnxhd
Stream #0:1: Audio: pcm_s16le (sowt / 0x74776F73), 44100 Hz, stereo, s16, 1411 kb/s (default)
Metadata:
handler_name : SoundHandler
Stream #0:2: Audio: pcm_s16le (sowt / 0x74776F73), 44100 Hz, stereo, s16, 1411 kb/s (default)
Metadata:
handler_name : SoundHandler

2

Oh well. Guess I have to consider Nuendo as sunk cost and bite the bullet on an Adobe Premier subscription. The community around Nuendo seems to be almost non-existent and there are hardly any tutorials to be found. I tried getting help on the OBS forums as well, but I doubt anyone there uses Nuendo. Having to subscribe to premier bugs the hell out of me, but at least I can get a ton of tutorials for it.

3

Well, Iā€™m a bit confused. To me Adobe Premiere isnā€™t a replacement for Nuendo really. Premiere is an NLE and Nuendo a DAW for post, so two different types of tools for ultimately different purposes.

I wish I could help you with video playback in Nuendo. Iā€™ll probably have some time this weekend if you want to give it another go. If you can make available say a 1 minute section of video I can try to download and play it back or convert it and play it back. Just let me know.

4

The video might be the wrong format:

Use ProRes of DnDx, or Photo Jpeg.
Use Er Media Toolkit for converting: Audio Spot - Convert Video, Replace Audio in Video, Converter | audio spot
Any other codec, in any other DAW, will cause problems.

Fredo

5

Also, not sure if you needed Nuendo, as it is more of an audio editing and mixing software, not really for video editing.

Well, let us know if that converter helped.

I am also doing some video post, and had the same problem of the video not playing back.

That converter solved the issue.

6

What do you mean ā€œnot reallyā€?
Like in: ā€œA Zamboni is not exactly for Formula 1 racingā€?

Fredo

1 Like
7

I use Vegas Pro for video editing and creating videos. Nuendo is for audio editing and audio creation. There is also Black Magic Resolve free a very good video editor. When I create video I prefer MP4 for the container. Nuendo seems to do well here using MP4.
You may want to try AVI for video in Nuendo.

8

No. There is no DAW in the world that works fine with mp4 files.
Although it might look like the DAW has no problems with it, your sync will be off the charts.
ProRez, Dndx of Photo Jpeg are the only codecs that give you frame accurate sync.

OMG.
Please no. .avi doesnā€™t work well. Not a good idea.
I mean it. Donā€™t.

Fredo

9

Something like thatā€¦ :wink:

10

I have not had any trouble or issue with either in any DAW that supports video. AVI has always worked too. This includes Sonar, Cubase, and Nuendo.

If you are saying those wont work well on your system so be it.

11
12

OK, shall try to condense (but do try to do some research about this beyond a blog? Is not rocket science & is a common issue re. the tech).

Clearly, Nuendo is NOT an NLE & its video playback /export issues are very limited. A comparison between Premier and Nuendo is non-sensical, more relevant would be Adobe Audition ā€¦ Otherwise you need to compare between NLEs: Premier, DaVinci Resolve, Avid Media Composer, etc.

For Video editing & producing the right codec, try the free DaVinci Resolve (also see later about codecs and export formats).

All DAWs will have this issue with compressed video files, ie, usually MP4 /H.264 because that consumer format interpolates between frames & therefore puts much greater load on the computer (albeit using smaller file sizes because of the interpolation). Somewhat non-intuitively, much larger files that use non-compressed codecs (like ProRes or DNxH) do not interpolate but play every frame, therefore much less load on the computer (in DAW or NLE playback).

Second point: there is a significant difference to understand between the CONTAINER and the CODEC, eg, the Container might be .MOV, but the Codec within could be H.264, or ProRes, or DNx derivative). Just because you may export a .mov, does not mean it will solve the playback problem; is the codec that is important here - In general, if MacOS use ProRes, if PC the DNx as a rule of thumb.

Finally, unless you can produce the correct format in the first instance, then process in another tool first. There are many of these standalone converters around (usually paid for); one option is to download and install DaVinci Resolve (the free version), drop into a timeline then export in the appropriate container /codec, eg, .mov /prores or .mov /dnx.