Bitrate is related to how much visual detail is packed into each frame multiplied by how many frames there are every second. It has nothing to do with lagging. A higher bitrate can give you more detail per frame, and if the bitrate is too low, there can be areas that aren't as sharp as the original clip, especially if there are large visual content changes between frames. Is that what you're seeing?

For a real-world example, Canon 1920x1080 60p camcorders record at 28Mbps, and producing to even 60Mbps would be massive overkill. What frame rate are you recording at? Unless it's like 100fps or higher, I can't see how a higher bitrate would make a difference.

With regard to forcing PD to use a higher bitrate, you can use the same method in this thread to create a profile with a much higher bitrate. Using a sample Canon 28Mbps source clip and with the min bitrate set to 0, video bitrate to 125000000 and max set to 130000000, this is what PD produced:



YouTube/optodata

DS365 | Win11 Pro | Ryzen 9 3950X | RTX 4070 Ti | 32GB RAM | 10TB SSDs | 5K+4K HDR monitors

Canon Vixia GX10 (4K 60p) | HF G30 (HD 60p) | Yi Action+ 4K | 360Fly 4K 360°

I'm recording 1080p footage at 60 frames per second.

I tried the method shown above but it still wouldn't let me set the "Average Bitrate" over 60000 after applying the changes. This shouldn't be this hard, why was the 60000 limit put there in the first place?

Quote I'm recording 1080p footage at 60 frames per second.

Then you're recording @ 1Mbit/frame which is double the standard rate. What's the recording format? AVC/H.264, or something else?

If you wanted to upload a sample clip to a cloud folder and paste the link here, I'd be happy to examine the details and see how PD processes it at various bitrates. You can also simply folllow the steps in the linked thread above and make your own very high bitrate profile(s) to test.

Quote I'm recording 1080p footage at 60 frames per second.

I tried the method shown above but it still wouldn't let me set the "Average Bitrate" over 60000 after applying the changes. This shouldn't be this hard, why was the 60000 limit put there in the first place?

Then you must have done something wrong. You cannot set a higher bitrate from inside PD, which is why the steps show how to edit the profile with Notepad and save it outside of PD.

I've attached a profile with the minimum and desired bitrates set to 100Mbps, with the max at 130. Here's what the profile looks like in PD:



All you should need to do is open up the attached Profile.ini file, copy the contents to the end of your actual Profile.ini and save it. Make sure that PD is closed when you do this or the changes will be lost.

Quote Using a sample Canon 28Mbps source clip and with the min bitrate set to 0, video bitrate to 125000000 and max set to 130000000, this is what PD produced:

One can create H.264 container 1920x1080/60p at 100Mb/s vs this 63.5Mb/s video bitrate if desired, pic attached. Yes, a manual edit of profile.ini vs PD17 GUI.

goody_fyre11, I do agree though, I really doubt a "Average Bitrate" over 60000 in 1920x1080 frame is going to provide any better anything, quality, fluid playback,....anything other than a larger file size. Does your gameplay capture have a large variable bitrate perhaps, PD17 with that type of source can often experience some issues similar to what you described as "laggier".

Jeff

When the captured video is played before putting it into PowerDirector, it's buttery-smooth with no compression artifacts. Since the maximum possible bitrate in PowerDirector is 60000, I make my changes and produce it in 60000. The resulting video is choppy and much less smooth than the original video. My guess is that it's casued by me cutting the bitrate in half since the original footage is anywhere from 70000 to 120000.

Quote When the captured video is played before putting it into PowerDirector, it's buttery-smooth with no compression artifacts. Since the maximum possible bitrate in PowerDirector is 60000, I make my changes and produce it in 60000. The resulting video is choppy and much less smooth than the original video. My guess is that it's casued by me cutting the bitrate in half since the original footage is anywhere from 70000 to 120000.

Again, JL_JL and I have both shown that there is no enforced bitrate limit on producing clips if you edit the custom profile outside of PD.

If you can upload a sample source clip to a cloud folder and paste the link to it here, we could match the output profile to the source bitrate and provide you with a PD-produced example.

But I can't find an "Average Bitrate" value in the settings file, and making changes to the existing value doesn't change the 60000 limit that PowerDirector displays. Will it say 60000 but actually be what I set it to?

Actually, if there's no enforced bitrate limit then why go through the trouble of adding extra code that prevents you from setting a higher value? Think about adding an "Override Bitrate Limit" option to the next patch, I shouldn't have to use confusing workarounds for something that should be in the product already.

Quote But I can't find an "Average Bitrate" value in the settings file, and making changes to the existing value doesn't change the 60000 limit that PowerDirector displays. Will it say 60000 but actually be what I set it to?

Actually, if there's no enforced bitrate limit then why go through the trouble of adding extra code that prevents you from setting a higher value? Think about adding an "Override Bitrate Limit" option to the next patch, I shouldn't have to use confusing workarounds for something that should be in the product already.

Dude, I don't know why you're chosing to complain in every post when we've already laid out the exact step-by-step instructions for you to follow. I even created a custom profile for you in this post, and literally the only thing you have to do is copy and paste it into your existing Profile.ini file and your problem will be solved.

Also, none of the people on this thread work for Cyberlink or have any influence over what they do or don't do as far as patching or making changes. I completely agree with you that it's a pain to do this work outside of PD, but this method is currently the only way to make it happen.

If you want to let the people at Cyberlink who DO make decisions know that is is important, use Rate Us & Provide Suggestions under PD's File menu.

Finally, if you read the full sentence "... there is no enforced bitrate limit on producing clips if you edit the custom profile outside of PD." I said that because PD's interface does enforce a 60,000 maximum bitrate (which you keep running into), but it will allow you to set a higher rate by manually editing Profile.ini. As my screenshot shows, PD actually will display a higher bitrate (100Mbps in my image) if that's what's called out in the Profile.ini file.

So, I've done my best to try and help you out in this thread, but I don't think there's much else I can do if you won't follow the steps. Maybe someone else can bring in a different perspective or come up with an alternate solution for you. Good luck!