Mp4 cross platform

[BobAchgill]

How can I encode mp4 video such that it plays ok on Mac, iOS, Android and win?

This one plays ok on win and Android but messes up on Mac.
[Attachment 47926 - Click to enlarge]

[teodz1984]

use vlc on mac

[pandy]

Use lowest HW/SW capabilities as common base - all better HW/SW should be able to play video. Mac is a very wide term so you need to be more specific.

[BobAchgill]

use vlc on mac

I am playing the mp4 video from links from local html on the mac book pro. Will just having the vlc installed help in that case?

[BobAchgill]

Use lowest HW/SW capabilities as common base - all better HW/SW should be able to play video. Mac is a very wide term so you need to be more specific.

In the case of MacBook Pro... what settings would I use on Handbrake or Video to Video would I use to recompile the mp4 to another mp4 so as to use the "common base" that you refer to that would play on all those platforms?

[davexnet]

Use one of the presets like "medium " or "very fast". Use CRF of about 20 to set the rate control. Use mod4 resolution. That's a reasonable place to start

[pandy]

Use lowest HW/SW capabilities as common base - all better HW/SW should be able to play video. Mac is a very wide term so you need to be more specific.

In the case of MacBook Pro... what settings would I use on Handbrake or Video to Video would I use to recompile the mp4 to another mp4 so as to use the "common base" that you refer to that would play on all those platforms?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacBook_Pro

IMHO use high profile and level 4.0, force BD compliance and you should be on safe side.

[BobAchgill]

Use lowest HW/SW capabilities as common base - all better HW/SW should be able to play video. Mac is a very wide term so you need to be more specific.

In the case of MacBook Pro... what settings would I use on Handbrake or Video to Video would I use to recompile the mp4 to another mp4 so as to use the "common base" that you refer to that would play on all those platforms?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacBook_Pro

IMHO use high profile and level 4.0, force BD compliance and you should be on safe side.

Thanks!
How do I set those settings (high profile and level 4.0, force BD compliance) using Handbrake or Video to Video?

[BobAchgill]

I have one video file that works on both MacBooks and one (see screenshot at the top of this thread) that only works on one of my MacBooks. I did a MediaInfo export on each file... can you see what may be causing the one to not work on both MacBooks?

This one does NOT work on all

General
Complete name : C:\Users\Ownerc\Documents\HisHandsReader\Countries \cm-cameroon\cm-cameroon-cm1-fra-spa\video\0002_a2.mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media
Codec ID : isom
File size : 108 KiB
Duration : 6s 33ms
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 146 Kbps
Writing application : Lavf55.21.100

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L3.0
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 4 frames
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 6s 0ms
Bit rate : 13.4 Kbps
Width : 644 pixels
Height : 520 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 5:4
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 25.000 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.002
Stream size : 9.84 KiB (9%)
Writing library : x264 core 140 r2377 1ca7bb9
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=3 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=7 / 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=12 / lookahead_threads=2 / 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=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=23.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : 40
Duration : 6s 33ms
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 124 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 128 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Delay relative to video : -1s 24ms
Stream size : 91.4 KiB (85%)

This one WORKS on both MacBooks!

General
Complete name : C:\Users\Ownerc\Documents\HisHandsReader\Countries \cm-cameroon\cm-cameroon-cm1-fra-spa\Man1-EnglishlanguagePart1of2_WithEngSubs1.mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media
Codec ID : isom
File size : 53.2 MiB
Duration : 6mn 21s
Overall bit rate : 1 170 Kbps
Writing application : Lavf54.63.104

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L3.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 4 frames
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 6mn 21s
Bit rate : 1 024 Kbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.037
Stream size : 47.0 MiB (88%)
Writing library : x264 core 133
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=3 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=7 / 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=8 / 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=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=abr / mbtree=1 / bitrate=1024 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : 40
Duration : 6mn 21s
Duration_LastFrame : -12ms
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 129 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Delay relative to video : -800ms
Stream size : 5.87 MiB (11%)

[sneaker]

General
Complete name : C:\Users\Ownerc\Documents\HisHandsReader\Countries \cm-cameroon\cm-cameroon-cm1-fra-spa\video\0002_a2.mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media
Codec ID : isom
File size : 108 KiB
Duration : 6s 33ms

Only 108 KiB? Seems like the file is almost empty/broken/corrupted.

[BobAchgill]

It plays on all windows and Android fine... And 1000+ that I have just like it. It's only 5ish sec long.

[sneaker]

Ah, my bad. My brain read "6m 33s" and 108 KiB would be too low for that.

Are the 2 MacBooks different models? Maybe one with AMD GPU and the other not and somehow the HW H.264 decoding is messing up? The MediaInfo logs don't show anything inherently "wrong" with either file except maybe that it's very small and the resolution is a bit uncommon. Maybe it's possible to deactivate HW H.264 decoding or update GPU driver or something like that (I'm not a Mac user). You can try to encode to more common resolutions (e.g. 1280x720) to be more compatible with devices but ultimately it is impossible to encode something that will work on every device because of these kind of device bugs.

[jagabo]

Ah, my bad. My brain read "6m 33s" and 108 KiB would be too low for that.

Even so, the reported video bitrate of 13.4 Kbps (at 644x520 25 fps) is extremely low unless the video is a static image. Normally you would expect 100 times higher than that.

[sneaker]

Yeah, maybe.

@BobAchgill
Is the file 108 KiB on all your computers/devices or is it maybe corrupted after all? Same hash (CRC32, MD5, SHA1 ...)?