h.264 looks fatter....help

[NotAgain]

Okay, I'm officially going crazy here. After spending a few days in this forum and playing around with the tools, I'm now able to go from my wedding DVD to h.264 with AAC audio encoded mp4 file.

The problem I have is just the opposite of what I read from others in this forum. Instead of the "tall" or "cone head" problem, I have "fat" or "flattened" playback problem. To keep me straight, I used SUPER and Nero Recode to generate 2 versions of mp4 files. Whether I playback using Windows Media Player or Quicktime 7, they display the video "fatter" than the original input file.

The really confusing part is both before/after files are reported as 720x480 videos. How can the output look different than the input when they have the same frame size? With other encoded formats, like wmv I don't see this problem. I spent like 5 hours into wee hours last night going nowhere. Just when I thought I was getting it...

Could someone please help me before I lose my mind?

[jagabo]

MPEG files have a Display Aspect Ratio flag telling players that the proper way to display the video is 4 parts wide by 3 parts high -- even though the frame size is not that ratio. h.264 has an aspect ratio setting too. Set it to 4:3. Players may or may not respect that though. Or you can resize the video to 640x480 before you encode with h.264.

[Epicurus8a]

I think Videora iPod Converter lets you adjust the flag (16x9 or 4x3). Also, you could try DVD Patcher to make sure you have the correct flag (4x3), before you convert to mp4.

[NotAgain]

Thanks a lot Epicurus8a & jagabo. Without this forum, I couldn't even come this far!

I read about aspect ratios before, but my brain just assumed that video size = Display Aspect Ratio. So, I did more careful reading and ran more experiments, thinking that I got it...

Sadly, I'm not able to encode to h.264 with DAR preserved to 4:3, using SUPER. After encoding, SUPER says it's 720x480 16:9 video!?! This is even after patching the input mpg file with DVD Patcher to 4:3 aspect ratio (although Patcher says it's already at that setting).

The only way it encodes properly is when I resize it to 640x480. But I really don't want to resize if I don't have to. I'll have to try with Nero Recode again to see if it has any option switches.

Has anyone successfully encoded mpeg2 file --> mp4 (h.264 w/AAC) at 720x480 frame resolution? Could you please let me know which tool you used?

Thanks!

[Epicurus8a]

OOPS! iPods don't support 720x480, some support 640x480, so check this thread:
https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=316551&highlight=

One member has been talking about this software.
http://www.geocities.com/j.kint/
Give it a try.

I've been using the ADStech Instant Video To-Go and haven't had any problems (knock on wood). If you want to PM me a short clip, I'll convert it for you and you can see the results for yourself.

[jagabo]

I haven't encoded to MP4 but I have encoded to AVI with x.264 with VirtualDubMod. I took a short 16:9 720x480 MPEG2 file and encoded to x.264 at 720x480 with 16:9 DAR. I tried several players but only VLC played it with the right 16:9 aspect ratio. Nero Showtime, Windows Media Player (6.4 and 10.0), Media Player Classic, and WinAmp all played it with square pixels.

You might try doing that and then demuxing the x.264 video from the AVI file and muxing it into an MP4 file.

[Soopafresh]

Don't go above 640x480, so if you want a 16x9 aspect ratio, set your encoding software to do 640x352.

And here's the way to make your ipod accept your file:

1) Download NicMp4Box ---> http://nic.dnsalias.com/NicMP4Box.zip

2) Download Yamb 1.6 ---> http://yamb.unite-video.com/Yamb-1.6.zip

3) Unzip both into the same directory.

4) RENAME NicMp4box.exe to mp4box.exe (yamb prefers it)

5) Start Yamb.exe

6) Go to the MUX tab. Add your file.

7) Click the "Mux" button.

The resulting .Mp4 will be accepted by Itunes


NicMp4box is an important part of ensuring media compatibility with the ipod. Nic added the atom code so that the resulting .MP4 is patched for ipod.

The 10 second clip below is 640x352 and muxed via the above method.

ct_015_1.mp4

[NotAgain]

You all are so helpful...thank you. I've learned a lot through this agonizing process.

I think I need to clarify one point. I'm preparing my wedding video clips for my online phanfare sharing site. They suggested h.264/AAC combination. I don't even own ipod. In fact, I didn't realize that this combination in mp4 container meant ipod file.

Well, following links after links I ended up with MeGUI. And a very helpful guide (http://www.digital-digest.com/articles/MeGUI_H.264_Conversion_Guide_page1.html). Following the steps gave me a nicely encoded mp4 file It still didn't look right (fat), but I learned how to do something with MeGUI. That's a big plus, right?

I finally decided to compromise, since I spent way too much time on this "small" project. I'll just resize the video from 720x480 to 640x480. When I do that, the encoded video looks proper and nice. Almost like the original.

Again, thanks for all your help. You guys rock!