Easier video resizing & better quality?

dgebel

New Member
1. Easier way to resize a Source window that is bigger than the viewport.

We frequently need to zoom/resize/crop the camera input to a size LARGER than the viewport - in other words, using digital zoom. The preview source box only lets you do a manual resize from the corner, as far as I can tell.

*IS* there some way to resize without moving the source window to see the edge's resize widgets? Surely we're not the only ones that need to do this!

i.e. To make the source window a bit bigger or smaller, when the source window is larger than the viewport, we have to move/drag the video source box out to the edge, resize, then move it back to see if it's the right amount of zoon, rinse & repeat. ARRGG!

I'm thinking that there would be a resize widget in the centre of the visible part of the source box, so I can see the resizing while looking at the video itself. Bonus (for other people) would be a rotate widget. And/or a zoom dial or number box so we could specify exactly what size we want. Transform doesn't seem to have a scale setting?

2. Why we're using an annoying, poor-quality, digital zoom... and looking for suggestions!

We have ONE 4k camera Sony Handycam with an HD capture card (ok and an HD webcam). We don't have a dedicated camera operator. So, we set up the camera optical zoom to fit the whole stage for the first half of the program, and then resize the video window at least 2x bigger than the viewport - effectively digitally zoom - so you can "clearly" see people talking on different parts of the stage.

Then, halfway through, we use the optical zoom to get close in on the main speaker, who doesn't usually move around a lot, thankfully, and stream the rest of the day at full optical zoom.

Is this is going to be the best quality we can get? We're streaming at 720p and the video is coming in at 1080p, if the source window is 2x the size of the viewport, is there any scaling going on?

To hide some of the downgraded quality (and to ensure the computer isn't overtaxed, although I think we would be okay with our upgraded computer), we stream at 720p instead of the captured 1080p of the camera input, i.e. so the digital zoom .

At some point, we're more likely to get a 4k capture card than another camera, like a PTZ etc. (cost) which would let us do a lower level of zoom, if at all. Basically, we would be downsizing the video input from 4K to 720p, effectively giving us a full 4X optical zoom. I hope. Is that crazy?

Capturing and streaming at native resolution would be better, I know, but it's what we have to work with for now. Any suggestions for better quality appreciated!
 
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