Content overview

• Supported video formats
• Supported video frame rates
• Supported embedded audio formats for 'Extract Audio From Video File'
• Supported video output cards
• Recommended codecs and encoding settings
• Video file properties and transcoding

Supported video formats

*'Video Decoder for Avid DNxHD®' license required (see below)

Avid DNxHD and Avid DNxHR

Import and playback of videos encoded with Avid DNxHD or Avid DNxHR requires Video Decoder for Avid DNxHD® licensed by Avid, which is available in our online shop. The license for Video Decoder for Avid DNxHD® requires a USB-eLicenser. 

Video Decoder for Avid DNxHD® does not yet support Apple silicon, but can be used on Macs with Apple CPU if the host application is launched in Rosetta mode. 

Exceptions

• H.263 is not supported with ATI graphic cards
• H.264 limitations on Windows:
  • H.264 fragmentation is not supported.
  • Baseline, Main, and High profiles up to level 5.1 are supported
  • Chroma Formats: 4:2:0 chroma or monochrome are supported
  • supported max. resolution: 4096 × 2304 pixels (currently any resolution higher than Full HD will be cropped)
  • supported max. resolution on Windows 7: 1920 × 1088 pixels for both software and DXVA decoding
    For more information, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264/MPEG-4_AVC#Levels
  • DV: Only Type-1 files are supported.
    (Type-2 files contain DV video as a 'vids' stream and DV audio as 'auds' stream, whereas unsupported Type-1 files contain a single DV data stream only.)
• ProRes 4444 XQ is not supported on macOS

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Supported video frame rates

• Nuendo 7.1.40/Cubase 9.0.30/WaveLab 10/Dorico 2.0 and later:
  23.98, 24, 24.98, 25, 29.97, 29.97df, 30, 30df, 50, 59.94, 60
• Versions prior to Nuendo 7.1.40/Cubase 9.0.30:
  23.98, 24, 24.98, 25, 29.97, 29.97df, 30, 30df
• Variable frame rates are not supported.

The video frame rate should always match the project frame rate.
Open the 'Project Setup...' dialog box (Project menu) and click on the 'Get From Video' button to apply the frame rate of the first video event on the first video track.

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Supported embedded audio formats
for 'Extract Audio From Video'

Audio codecs

PCM, AAC

Additional information on AAC

• AAC decoder automatically uses the channel configuration of the input stream (mono, stereo, multi-channel).
• General limitation: only 1024-sample frames are supported.
• AAC-LC with a 960-sample frame size is not supported.
• Coupling Channel Elements (CCEs) are not supported.
• Sample rates higher than 48 kHz are not supported.

Limitations of AAC on Windows

• Supported MPEG formats:
  • MPEG-2 AAC Low Complexity (LC) profile (multichannel)
  • MPEG-4 HE-AAC v1 (multichannel) with AAC-LC core
  • MPEG-4 HE-AAC v2 (stereo) with AAC-LC core
• The AAC decoder supports both raw AAC streams with no headers and AAC in an audio data transport stream (ADTS).
• Since Windows 8, the AAC decoder supports decoding MPEG-4 audio transport streams with a multiplex layer (LATM) and synchronization layer (LOAS).
• It can also convert an LATM/LOAS stream to ADTS.

Note: MP3, MP2 and AC3 are not supported.

Read more in this Wikipedia article on AAC.

Audio sample rates

8 kHz, 11.025 kHz, 12 kHz, 16 kHz, 22.05 kHz, 24 kHz, 32 kHz, 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, 96 kHz

AAC Decoder does not support sample rates higher than 48 kHz.

Audio bit depth

8, 16, 24, 32 bit float

Audio Channels

mono, stereo, multi-channel files with up to 48 channels

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Supported video output devices

Nuendo, Cubase, WaveLab and Nuendo support video output devices of the following Black Magic product lines:

• DeckLink
• Intensity
• UltraStudio
• Teranex

FireWire video devices are no longer supported.

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Recommended codecs and encoding settings

Recommended codecs

• Apple ProRes
• Avid DNxHD® ("Video Decoder for Avid DNxHD®" license required)
  
  Apple ProRes und Avid DNxHD® encode every frame separately, which is important for frame accurate editing.

• H.264
  
  H.264 uses similarities between different frames to reduce the file size. However, it can also be configured to encode every frame separately, which is recommended for better performance and accurate editing. Make sure to use a key frame interval of 1 frame (so that each frame is encoded separately).

Recommended encoding settings for H.264

H.264 encoder presets, as offered in current versions of Apple Final Cut, Apple Compressor, Avid Media Composer or Grass Valley EDIUS Pro, usually result in video files suitable for Nuendo, Cubase, WaveLab and Dorico. However, since the number of video tools that allow for H.264 export is high, and the H.264 specification includes various encoding parameters, you should take care of the following settings when creating H.264 video files:

• The number of B-frames should not be higher than 3. Anything above will lead to an unreasonably high amount of memory allocation.
• The number of reference frames should not be higher than 2.
• To keep the playback performance up, it is essential to disable weighted P-Frames, weighted B-Frames and pyramidal B-Frames.
• Furthermore, if you want your video to smoothly follow when winding or using a jogwheel, make sure to use a key frame interval (IDR) of 1 frame (thus every frame is encoded separately).

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Video file properties and transcoding

You can use tools like MediaInfo to check the properties of your video file.
If the video file does not meet the above criteria, video conversion may be required.

Recommended tools for video conversion:

Software	Free
Apple Compressor		◉
Cinemartin Cinec			◉
Davinci Resolve	◉	◉	◉
VLC Player	◉	◉	◉
XMedia Recode	◉		◉

as of April 2018

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