Would someone look at this problematic MP4 file, please?

[EmmB]

Hi!

I'm an experienced user who would appreciate some insight into what's going on with this baffling MP4 file that I've been having considerable difficulty working with. It plays in (Windows) VLC, but I need to edit it. However, although the edit process seems to work correct (and produces no error messages), after rendering the results (Smart-rendered or otherwise), the output is catastrophically bad! For one thing, although the source file is 11.4 G, the resulting file can be as small as about 250 M and usually only the audio will play.


I've tried several video tools to try to process it: TMPGenc Video Mastering Works 7, TMPGenc MPEG Smart Renderer 5, Handbrake, WonderFox Soft HD Video Converter Factory Pro, VSDC Video Converter, VSDC Pro Video Edtor, and I've also tried using VLC to convert/save the file. None of them have worked, but none of them have produced any error messages.


What the heck is going on with this file?


I've uploaded the original 11.3 GB file here: https://gofile.io/d/3MlQcO


It won't play from there; you'll have to download it, I'm afraid. I would have preferred to upload only a portion of that file, but since all attempts at editing it down have failed, I had no choice but to upload the whole thing. One of the main edits I want to make on this file is to remove the handful of "blank" regions that would have held commercials if the video were to be broadcast, but that's not the only change I wish to make.


I would be very grateful for any assistance you can provide!

[jagabo]

Try posting a MediaInfo report (View -> Text, Ctrl+A to copy, then paste into a post), That may provide some hints. Do the same for one of your failed conversions too.

[flashandpan007]

Allgemein
Vollständiger Name : Problem File - MST3K - Attack of The The Eye Creatures.mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Format-Profil : Base Media
Codec-ID : isom (isom/iso2/avc1/mp41)
Dateigröße : 10,5 GiB
Dauer : 1 h 35 min
Modus der Gesamtbitrate : variabel
Gesamte Bitrate : 15,7 Mb/s
Kodierendes Programm : Lavf58.20.100

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format-Profil : High@L3.1
Format-Einstellungen : CABAC / 4 Ref Frames
Format-Einstellungen für CABAC : Ja
Format-Einstellungen für RefFrames : 4 frames
Codec-ID : avc1
Codec-ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Dauer : 1 h 35 min
Source duration : 2s 232 ms
Bitrate : 15,5 Mb/s
Breite : 712 Pixel
Höhe : 472 Pixel
Bildseitenverhältnis : 4:3
Modus der Bildwiederholungsrate : konstant
Bildwiederholungsrate : 59,940 FPS
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scantyp : progressiv
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.768
Stream-Größe : 10,4 GiB (98%)
Source stream size : 10,4 GiB (98%)
verwendete Encoder-Bibliothek : x264 core 155 r2917 0a84d98
Kodierungseinstellungen : cabac=1 / ref=2 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=6 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=3 / lookahead_threads=1 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=1 / keyint=300 / keyint_min=30 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=30 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=5.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Color range : Limited
Transfer characteristics : BT.601
Matrix coefficients : BT.601
mdhd_Duration : 5754432
Codec configuration box : avcC

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC LC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Codec-ID : mp4a-40-2
Dauer : 1 h 35 min
Bitraten-Modus : variabel
Bitrate : 256 kb/s
maximale Bitrate : 384 kb/s
Kanäle : 2 Kanäle
Channel layout : L R
Samplingrate : 48,0 kHz
Bildwiederholungsrate : 46,875 FPS (1024 SPF)
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream-Größe : 176 MiB (2%)
Default : Ja
Alternate group : 1

[Selur]

Might be a problem with the headers, try whether it helps to simply remux the file to .mkv using MKVToolnix before feeding it to other applications.

[ProWo]

Try to load your video into my clever FFmpeg-GUI; maybe you can process it with it, or cut a 10 sec sample and post this here.

[jagabo]

I downloaded the entire video, then used Handbrake to recompress it. There were no problems.

General
Complete name                            : problemfile.mp4
Format                                   : MPEG-4
Format profile                           : Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID                                 : mp42 (isom/iso2/avc1/mp41)
File size                                : 563 MiB
Duration                                 : 1 h 35 min
Overall bit rate                         : 820 kb/s
Encoded date                             : UTC 2020-11-17 19:15:52
Tagged date                              : UTC 2020-11-17 19:15:52
Writing application                      : HandBrake 1.2.2 2019022300

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : Main@L4
Format settings                          : CABAC / 4 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, Reference frames        : 4 frames
Codec ID                                 : avc1
Codec ID/Info                            : Advanced Video Coding
Duration                                 : 1 h 35 min
Bit rate                                 : 642 kb/s
Width                                    : 624 pixels
Height                                   : 472 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 4:3
Frame rate mode                          : Variable
Frame rate                               : 59.940 (60000/1001) FPS
Minimum frame rate                       : 59.920 FPS
Maximum frame rate                       : 59.960 FPS
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.036
Stream size                              : 441 MiB (78%)
Writing library                          : x264 core 157 r2935 545de2f
Encoding settings                        : cabac=1 / ref=1 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x1:0x111 / me=hex / subme=2 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=0 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=0 / 8x8dct=0 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=0 / threads=15 / lookahead_threads=3 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=1 / keyint=600 / keyint_min=60 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=10 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=22.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / vbv_maxrate=20000 / vbv_bufsize=25000 / crf_max=0.0 / nal_hrd=none / filler=0 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Encoded date                             : UTC 2020-11-17 19:15:52
Tagged date                              : UTC 2020-11-17 19:15:52
Color range                              : Limited
Color primaries                          : BT.601 NTSC
Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.601
Codec configuration box                  : avcC

Audio
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : AAC LC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Codec ID                                 : mp4a-40-2
Duration                                 : 1 h 35 min
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 161 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel layout                           : L R
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                               : 46.875 FPS (1024 SPF)
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Stream size                              : 110 MiB (20%)
Title                                    : Stereo
Default                                  : Yes
Alternate group                          : 1
Encoded date                             : UTC 2020-11-17 19:15:52
Tagged date                              : UTC 2020-11-17 19:15:52

I also used AviSynth to read the video+audio and compressed with ffmpeg. There were no problems there either.