Converting for digital movie download

[JeDxW]

Hi,

I'm a fair newbie when it comes to video conversion so I was hoping to get a little help. I do web admin work for an independent film company who have just launched an online store to sell digital copies of their films. They've sent me 2 video files, a 720p version and a 1080p version of a movie. Both are MPEG2 24.00fps around 8-10 gb in size and I'm looking to convert them to mp4 around 1/2 gb while keeping good HD quality.

So can anyone point me in the direction of a good tutorial or the best software for me to do this? I would really like to get the movie up for sale by the end of the week (Sunday).

Thank you & Merry Christmas!

[jman98]

How long are these movies each? 8-10 GB of MPEG-2 video is really pushing the envelope on HD quality unless these films are fairly short.

[jagabo]

Compressing to 1/20 the size of the MPEG 2 files with the same frame size isn't likely to look good unless it's a slideshow.

[deadrats]

Hi,
I'm a fair newbie when it comes to video conversion so I was hoping to get a little help. I do web admin work for an independent film company who have just launched an online store to sell digital copies of their films. They've sent me 2 video files, a 720p version and a 1080p version of a movie. Both are MPEG2 24.00fps around 8-10 gb in size and I'm looking to convert them to mp4 around 1/2 gb while keeping good HD quality.
!

ha ha ha ha, very funny.

[classfour]

Tutorials are on the left. Read them and learn. Also - they're called "guides" here.

You may also want to look under "tools".

Are these folks testing you? Better start reading if you want to pass.

[JeDxW]

Basically what I'm aiming for is the same quality an iTunes or PS3Store download, which are usually around 1-2gb. The movie only goes for 80mins. I've looked around the guides here but I can't find anything that will specifically help me to create the best file for a digital download.

[deadrats]

Basically what I'm aiming for is the same quality an iTunes or PS3Store download, which are usually around 1-2gb. The movie only goes for 80mins. I've looked around the guides here but I can't find anything that will specifically help me to create the best file for a digital download.

my understanding is that itunes hd movies are of piss poor quality, as for what you want to do, you can't expect to take a 80 minute 1080p video that's only 8-10 gigs, transcode it down to 1-2 gigs, at the same 1080p resolution and expect to keep anywhere near the sources quality.

calculate the per pixel bit rate of the source files and then choose a smaller resolution that will allow you to maintain the per pixel quality of the source within the size parameters you're targeting. that may mean going down to 848x480 or even smaller.

[jagabo]

I believe the maximum resolution at the Itunes Store is 1280x720 for h.264 (AVC) video. 640x480 for MPEG 4 part 2 (ASP) video.

[deadrats]

I believe the maximum resolution at the Itunes Store is 1280x720 for h.264 (AVC) video. 640x480 for MPEG 4 part 2 (ASP) video.

the rez may be 720p but all reports i have ever seen indicate that they are bit rate starved encodes of barely acceptable quality, but i've never seen one myself.

if they're like the trailers on apple's site then they're not bad...

[poisondeathray]

if they're like the trailers on apple's site then they're not bad...

Yeah , Apple trailers look decent, but they typically use ~10-15Mb/s for the 1080p version .

He's suggesting ~3-4Mb/s (2GB for a 80min movie, assuming 128kb/s audio). I agree it's not going to look good @1080p unless the content is very simple & compressible, like cartoons

[JeDxW]

Sorry, I guess I worded my original post badly. I don't expect to keep the 1080p res or quality in a 2gb file, I just want it to be the best possible quality I can get. I've seen some pretty nice looking 720p movies around that size.

If anyone can just recommend the best software for me to do this conversion, that would be a big help. I've tried a lot but nothing gives me the option of choosing the file size I need, and either gives me a really large file or like a horrible 100mb file for iPods.

[jagabo]

If anyone can just recommend the best software for me to do this conversion, that would be a big help. I've tried a lot but nothing gives me the option of choosing the file size I need, and either gives me a really large file or like a horrible 100mb file for iPods.

With most encoders, you choose file size by choosing a bitrate: File size = bitrate * running time. (bitrate is the sum of video and audio bitrates.) Use a bitrate calculator to determine what bitrate you need for the running time of your video. Some programs do let you specify the size directly, or have a built in bitrate calculator.

When using bitrate based encoding you want to use a two (or more) pass encode. During the first pass the encoder examines every frame to see how compressible it is. During the second pass it uses that information to allocate bitrate to different shots. Those that need more get more. Those that don't need much get less. In the end the average bitrate matches your chosen value. And hence the size turns out as expected.

x264 is usually the best encoder for small file sizes. You'll probably want to use a front end like Xvid4PSP or MeGUI.

I don't know what your sources are, but something you'll want to keep in mind: some video compresses better than others. Shaky handheld video from a noisy inexpensive camcorder, high motion/action, flickery lights/fire, swirling smoke/fog, wavy water, etc. are all things that make video harder to compress.

Another thing to keep in mind: generally, the smaller the frame the less bitrate that's needed. So if you find that a 1280x720 video looks too bad at 2 GB you can try reducing the frame size to 1024x576 or some other ~16:9 frame size.

[jman98]

I believe the maximum resolution at the Itunes Store is 1280x720 for h.264 (AVC) video. 640x480 for MPEG 4 part 2 (ASP) video.

the rez may be 720p but all reports i have ever seen indicate that they are bit rate starved encodes of barely acceptable quality, but i've never seen one myself.

if they're like the trailers on apple's site then they're not bad...

The 640x480 videos are, in my opinion, acceptable quality. They don't suffer from macroblocks. I haven't seen any of their 720p stuff. I guess that Apple limits HD video to 720p because of Apple TV (it only supports up to 720p).

[poisondeathray]

You should note there is a licensing fee for retail distribution of products using MPEG based codecs

MPEGLA
http://www.mpegla.com/

[lordsmurf]

Hi,
I'm a fair newbie when it comes to video conversion so I was hoping to get a little help. I do web admin work for an independent film company who have just launched an online store to sell digital copies of their films. They've sent me 2 video files, a 720p version and a 1080p version of a movie. Both are MPEG2 24.00fps around 8-10 gb in size and I'm looking to convert them to mp4 around 1/2 gb while keeping good HD quality.
So can anyone point me in the direction of a good tutorial or the best software for me to do this? I would really like to get the movie up for sale by the end of the week (Sunday).
Thank you & Merry Christmas!

You should hire a professional.
I can suggest several. Private message me for details.

For professional quality, you'll need professional tools -- not the advice you'll likely receive here.
And there's more to it than simply picking an encoder -- much more, if you want it to look good.

[zoobie]

that's all done by professional labs
sounds like a teen's homework assignment

[JeDxW]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I'll check out the recommended software and if all else fails I'll suggest to them to go for a professional... but I'd rather be able to do it myself because, ya know, I'll get paid for it. And they also want the cheapest solution...

[lordsmurf]

- Cheap
- Fast
- Easy
- Quality

Pick two.

And NOTHING suggested here so far will get quality, so go ahead and scratch that one out now.