Difference between AVI, .mp4, MPEG, etc?

[Tobes_1]

Hello, I'm in the process of making a video and creating the ideas. Don't have any software yet but with some help from you guys will hopefully find the right software.

Back in the olden days of computing, it was basically just AVI and MPEG, or .MOV for Apple computers. Nowadays, it seems .mp4 has become the popular video file.

I was just wondering what is the 'best' video format? Is .mp4 better quality than AVI or MPEG? It's a bit confusing deciding on what format to save my completed video in, as AVI/MPEG seems 'old hat' now since we're in the time of HD.

Thanks in advance and sorry if this has been brought up before.

[Bernix]

You are talking about containers. Avi can be xvid, divx, uncompressed video, cinepak, mjpeg and many many more video codecs. Same for MP4, MKV etc.
Nowadays is top videoformat smallest size vs quality H265 format or if you are on slower computer H264 format (codec x265 or x264). And about audio nowadays AAC (Nero, FDK or Apple) But there will be huge discussion about codecs. Some prefer uncommpresed or loseless video for editing purpose.
My favorite container is mkv (x265 or x264 video) and (aac audio)

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

Bernix

[Tobes_1]

Thanks Bernix.

[JVRaines]

Broadest support right now is for AVC (also known as h.264) encoding in the MP4 container. Quality depends on encoder settings and bitrate. This is a delivery format, meaning that you should not use it for production. Keep your files lossless as much as possible and then encode what you're going to release to the world.

[Tobes_1]

Thanks for your reply. I'm very new to this and don't really know what encoding, delivery format or container mean. Is there a tutorial that can explain how best to go about making a video, once clips are gathered, how to encode them correctly and keep the quality as lossless as possible? Quality is important, especially in this age of HD, I really want to keep the files as good quality as possible when it comes to producing the video.

[Bernix]

You can try for example Vidcoder or Handbrake. Use normal preset. Try h264 and set crf to 18. Lower crf higher quality but bigger filesize. If you are satisfied with quality and filesize, you can use crf 18 on every video. Quality of video will be always same, but filesize will vary. If quality is for you bad, lower crf (constant rate factor). If crf 18 is good for you try set higher crf and test it again. Filesize will be bit smaler. Continue till you find settings that is good for you. h264 advantage is that almost all TV nowadays can play it without problem (f.e. from usb stick or bd player) Also test if your device support mkv or mp4. It is easiest from my point of view add subtitles, remove audio track in Mkvtoolnix then in MP4 container.
Here are detailed information about 264 codec settings http://www.lighterra.com/papers/videoencodingh264/
But on this site is for sure several tutorial about it.
Most important settings from my POV is Subme higher better, reference frame higher better and bframes (suggested max 3, you can experiment with it) First two choices makes encoding longer. But there is plenty of option that affects the video quality and size.
And in Vidcoder or handbrake set framerate same as source and constant frame rate.

Bernix

[Tobes_1]

Thank you Bernix. I'm going to bookmark this thread and come back to it as there is a wealth of information.

[pandy]

Slightly disagree with Bernix - if you searching for maximum compatibility try to follow/use industry standards - this is usually provided by not going over defined profiles and level (in case of the video codec) - common HW support for H.264(aka AVC) is HP@L4.1(4.2) and usually no need for anything higher - if your intention is more PC centric environment then such requirements are significantly relaxed (less restricted). H.265 (aka HEVC) similar situation some levels and profiles are used by industry and as such you are more compatible - BD complaint for H.265 is Main10@L5.1 High Tier .

[CursedLemon]

What are you recording your videos with? That will determine to a large degree what your workflow will look like.

EDIT: Also to answer your original question (as others have gotten at as well), AVI, MOV, and MP4 are container formats. That means the actual video data is stored inside of them. MPEG-2 is an example of "actual" video data, another you might be familiar with is DV from ye olden days of handicams.

If you're dealing with modern HD video, there's pretty much zero reason to store video data in anything except an MKV container, as MKV is by far the most fully-featured container format, and it's open source! The only exception is if you're trying to do something tricky like playing a video off of a flash drive connected to a smart TV, since Lé Establishment hates open source stuff. :P

[SameSelf]

Agree 100% with cursedlemon. Whatever codec/container your camera records in is far more important than zeroing in on some magic codec after the fact like thinking unicorns exist because having to transcode everything is like taking a hammer to your head and really should only be necessary for compatibility issues with your NLE/software and even then I would probably choose a different NLE/software. And if your camera only records to a delivery format like AVCHD then invest in a external recorder that can record in a production ready format. These sort of decisions are far more important because once the video is shot software can only do so much.

[Tobes_1]

What are you recording your videos with? That will determine to a large degree what your workflow will look like.

EDIT: Also to answer your original question (as others have gotten at as well), AVI, MOV, and MP4 are container formats. That means the actual video data is stored inside of them. MPEG-2 is an example of "actual" video data, another you might be familiar with is DV from ye olden days of handicams.

If you're dealing with modern HD video, there's pretty much zero reason to store video data in anything except an MKV container, as MKV is by far the most fully-featured container format, and it's open source! The only exception is if you're trying to do something tricky like playing a video off of a flash drive connected to a smart TV, since Lé Establishment hates open source stuff. :P

I'm not recording the videos myself. I'm making a video using already recorded material, as a collage, with music and effects added. Sorry for not replying sooner and thank you everyone for your help. It's all still very complicated but hopefully a decent quality video can come, even if I don't choose the perfect container.

I've been using VSDC Free Video Editor for the editing and the features seem great for a free editor. Just need to knuckle down and spend more hours working on the video.

[BzERK IE]

I was just wondering what is the 'best' video format? Is

simply put

AVI is old so no
mp4 - X264 yeah its what i use
MKV - X264/265 yeah (but not all players can handle it yet)
HEVC - X265 is bye far the best but still new so (not all players can handle it yet)

see here
https://www.apowersoft.com/what-is-mkv-format.html

[Tobes_1]

Thanks BzERK IE - yeah, AVI (and MPEG) were the best some years ago (and may not be 'worse' but just not as commonly used). Thesedays (based on downloading of videos from YT to use in my compilation video) it does seem like MP4 is the most commonly used file type, though obviously MKV and HEVC are good containers as well. People in this thread suggest that MKV may be the better way.

Just checked which containers the VSDC can export to and both MP4 and MKV are there. I'll test out both formats and see if there is any difference in size and quality of the footage... when I can eventually complete the storyboard, songs and gather all the footage to use. It's quite a time-consuming task...

[CursedLemon]

The container format won't affect the quality, so you don't need to worry about that. Really the bottom line is that if you are working with HD footage, you should use either x264 (AVC) or x265 (HEVC) as your delivery format inside either an MP4 or an MKV.

As for quality settings for x264 or x265, set it to whatever is the second slowest under "placebo" (because that takes FOREVER), and put the CRF at 15-ish. That will get you basically indistinguishable quality without a gigantic file size.

[Bernix]

Just to add, when you exporting from your NLE video editor in MKV, you can see video even during processing-encoding. That is impossible in MP4. Not sure if it works in every software, but should. In some converter software it work more or less (in Handbrake for example after some time of encoding) but I believe this is also advantage of this container.

So it is handy sometimes especially in NLE output, if video transcoding last very long, check it during processing.

Bernix

[BzERK IE]

The container format won't affect the quality

correct!
lets look at MP4/MKV like said they are containers (simply they are BOXES. now in that BOX you Put (audio files,video files,subtitles) to create ether MP4/MKV

"the mp4/mkv is a box that holds audio/video/subs" Now depending on how you encode your video depends on quality your gonna get>>>>>

i could take a crappy VHS video and put it in the MP4/MKV box but the quality is the same as the SOURCE "ie" VHS or i could take a BLURAY disc and put that in MP4/MKV box and have bluray quality

HOPE THIS HELPS?

[Bernix]

I know, there are special codecs, but try put proper x264 or x265 stream to avi. It doesn't hurt quality, but it is IMHO obvious. Therefore are codecs mentioned. Also I am not sure about HEVC container you mentioned. High Efficiency Video Coding aka h265 is similar to AVC aka h264.

Bernix

[BzERK IE]

Also I am not sure about HEVC container you mentioned. High Efficiency Video Coding aka h265 is similar to AVC aka h264.

Bernix

HEVC isn't a container

H.264 and H.265: H.264 or AVC is the mainstream format for video compression currently. It is widely used in streaming video sites like YouTube and Vimeo, Blu-ray discs, and also HDTV broadcasts over cable and satellite. HVEC is better in this area since it supports web streaming and broadcast of Ultra HD videos, as well as 4K and 2K. H.264 supports up to 4K and 59.94 fps only, while HVEC supports up to 8K and 300 fps.

[Bernix]

AVI is old so no
mp4 - X264 yeah its what i use
MKV - X264/265 yeah (but not all players can handle it yet)
HEVC - X265 is bye far the best but still new so (not all players can handle it yet)

Sorry then for misunderstanding. I know what HEVC is but when somebody sees above post, I think he got wrong idea there is HEVC container.

Bernix

[Tobes_1]

Thanks, everyone. There is a lot of good information in this thread that should help a lot of people who are new to encoding.