New iPod with Video 1.2 Firmware - 640x480 H.264 encoding

[ahmontgo]

Anyone figured out how to encode H.264 at 640x480 (presumably 1200 16x16 macroblocks) that the iPod with Video with the new (1.2) firmware will accept?

For some reason, "Baseline" on HandBrake doesn't work for 640x480. Neither does FFmpegX "iPod h.264" scaled up to 640x480. Neither, for that matter, does QuickTime export (MPEG4 file format, H.264 encoding, baseline). Any thoughts?

BTW, with the new firmware, regular MPEG4 works great with anything under 1200 macroblocks as far as I've tested. Which means you can encode to DVD resolutions just fine.

[albloom]

You might look at iSquint:

http://www.isquint.org/

[AntnyMD]

Yesterdays updates include an update to Compressor. It has an added option for VGA (640x480) encoding for iPod. Of course, Compressor isnt free.

[terryj]

but worth the cash, IMHO.

[ahmontgo]

You might look at iSquint:

http://www.isquint.org/

Unlikely, uses the same underlying UNIX tools as FFmpegX. We're going to need some kind of tweak here either to convince the iPod it's legit or possibly a different encoding method.

Update: iSquint won't even run on my machine - NSReceiverEvaluationScriptError: 4 (1)

[ahmontgo]

Yesterdays updates include an update to Compressor. It has an added option for VGA (640x480) encoding for iPod. Of course, Compressor isnt free.

The "Movie to iPod" option in Quicktime Pro (and Quicktime Amateur, which is free) now exports to 640x480 H.264, but you can't change any of the options.

[rumplestiltskin]

Video2Go has been updated but, as yet, the slider that permits "quality" adjustment isn't functional. I've eMailed the developer and he is working on a fix. It looks like the app is using the underlying QT for the conversion so it's not very fast.

If you use QT Player Pro's iPod preset, it will yield the 640 x 480 (or 640 x the correct proportion) at around 1600+kbps. Very high quality but no ability to tweak the settings. (Also way slow even on an Intel iMac.)

We'll have to be patient as our usual tools get their required updates.

[AntnyMD]

The "Movie to iPod" option in Quicktime Pro (and Quicktime Amateur, which is free) now exports to 640x480 H.264, but you can't change any of the options.

If you save Compressor settings as droplets (mini-applications), you can Show Package Contents, and drill down to the XML file that contains the settings. Open that file up in TextEdit and tweak your settings in there.

It may not sound easy or intuitive, but I've done this a billion times now to get around Compressor's "restrictions."

[ipodguy]

SPAMMER - EDITED

[rumplestiltskin]

ffmpegX (v.9x) -does- have a preset for the new 640x480 "low-complexity" H264 spec. It works very well.