iPod H.264 640X480 3gp_converter hack

[FallenAngelII]

Oooh, yes, you can re-encode it in full processing mode, of course. You just can't get a wav-file by demuxing.

[FallenAngelII]

BTW, only specifying it as -r 15 or whatever still gives me a video with 30 frames/the original number of frames. So specifying a number without maxfr seems to do pretty much nothing.

G-spot specifies my rip of "Over The Hedge" as DIVX50/XVID, BTW. Does it mean that it can't tell the difference between the two or that it's DivX 5.0 and Xvid (somehow)? Maybe that's why it's going offsync (that other guy said he had problems with his Xvid files).

[crash447]

FallenAngelII,

I am trying to think about any similarities between my problem and your problem. Is your audio and video showing the same total time in gspot if it will tell you. If it doesn't I use mediainfo. either my audio or video is one second longer than the other, I can't remember which right now, but I am starting to wonder if that could be my problem.

[FallenAngelII]

How the heck do I check how long the audio is using mediainfo and g-spot?

[FallenAngelII]

It seems to just really hate 23.97. I've tried it with 3 different movies now and each one gets increasingly off-sync as time goes on.

There's a 48-minute long episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer that's in 25 FPS, though. No off-syncness there!

[ssj2_goha]

That is very odd. it must be someth8ing with ffmpeg. I really don't have any more ideas on how to help you.

[FallenAngelII]

So what program should I use for 23.97 FPS movies? >_>'

[ssj2_goha]

I'm looking into how to do it with my software. but other than mine i really don't know much about it..... if -deinterlace is in the trascode.ini file try deleting that. it might work not sure.

[FallenAngelII]

Nope, didn't work.

[eon_designs]

Hello all

I am obviously doing something completely wrong with this - I keep trying to encode a movie (avi file already resized to 640x480) but keep getting an error1

from the log file it reads:

Requested URL is not valid or cannot be found
an error has occured during the process [error:1]

Any suggestions why this may be happening.

Many thanks. Eon

[GMaq]

eon_designs,
The answer to your question is in the middle of page 2 of this thread, There is a mistake in the code for the "Movies" presets, if you follow the thread it will tell you what to delete in the transcoding.INI file to fix it, don't worry it's easy, if I could get it to work anyone can! Alternatively you can use the "TV" presets instead, they don't have the code error.

[eon_designs]

Thanks for that GMaq.

Read throught the whole tread before posting, read that part but did not see that it applied to my situation - as they say "could not see the wood for the trees." Got it working now.

Thanks for the help.

[ssj2_goha]

..... Well I know like 3 weeks ago I said in two weeks i would release iConverter but things happened in my life and it fell to the wayside..... but i have a question (now that i'm working on developing it again) would anyone like iConverter to have a CLI in addition to the GUI i'm creating? How it would work (in my head at least) is if you just run it the GUI will apear. if you run it with the program switches it will remain a cli and close when it's done, that way you could batch encode with it easly. your ideas are welcome. Also I'm think about in the future adding a dvdripping feature to the program, that being said the ripping portion would only work on non-encrypted dvds. (sorry i want to cover my butt 8) )

[GMaq]

Hey, you're back!!
I think CLI would be OK, advanced users would appreciate it, just make sure there are lots of iPod specific presets, a lot of people seem to want 1000kbps or greater, I think the 800kbps is the perfect balance of filesize and quality, I used to be terrified of CLI and actually this thread has shown me it's no big deal and I've been able to tweak some of your presets to my own taste, Most people want it quick and simple though, I also use MeGUI a lot and though it's also very good the complexity of it scares off a lot of folks, The DVD ripper will probably give you more headaches than it's worth, because people will overlook it's intended purpose and bitch at you because it doesn't handle their encrypted DVD's. I think Soopafresh suggested using Mpeg2Source, instead of DirectShow source, this may help some sync issues, but will require separate Audio and Video encoding like MeGUI, As always some pre-production filtering like Cropping, Tweaking, and Deblocking would be high on my list, even though I'm getting along fine with Avisynth, it would save some steps, Also a Music Video preset would be welcome, I edited the code and removed "-deinterlace" in my presets and now it handles Progressive sources (like MPEG-1 VCD's) much better, that may be something to look at as well, the hardcore guys are going to be giving you a hard time about the IVTC thing though, I don't mind 29.97fps deinterlaced, but some of the veteran members go into convulsions at the mere mention of it, Anyway hopefully you can make some sense of this rambling mess, and it's great to see you back on the case!!

[GMaq]

Hi Again,
You might find some of this thread interesting, it deals with some potential problems and fixes for the front end of "iConverter"
https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?p=1653070#1653070

[siratfus]

Gmaq, you've mentioned that the IPOD Video will display out to tv... "any resolution that doesn't exceed 307200 pixels in total ie 704x320 etc." In my experience using Nero Recode so far, anything that is wider than 640 does not work. All my nero digital files were encoded at 720 x 400 and the picture is choppy and corrupted. I even tried one at 704 x 304 and the picture was also bad. But anything at 640 x 480 plays perfect.

[GMaq]

siratfus,
That's strange, I've done several 2.35:1 movies that were 704x304 or 704x320 and have no playback problems at all, I'll be honest with you I've never done one 720 wide though, My comments were referring to Regular MPEG-4 NOT AVC H.264. Some things to check:

1. Encoded with Nero Digital "Standard" profile with "Quicktime Compatibility" checked in the encoder settings, that ensures that the movies weren't encoded with "B" frames, iPods don't handle B Frames and will playback with the problems you're describing if B frames are present.

2. The bitrate didn't exceed 2500kbps

3. Your iPod has the latest 1.2 firmware

[siratfus]

siratfus,
That's strange, I've done several 2.35:1 movies that were 704x304 or 704x320 and have no playback problems at all, I'll be honest with you I've never done one 720 wide though, My comments were referring to Regular MPEG-4 NOT AVC H.264. Some things to check:

1. Encoded with Nero Digital "Standard" profile with "Quicktime Compatibility" checked in the encoder settings, that ensures that the movies weren't encoded with "B" frames, iPods don't handle B Frames and will playback with the problems you're describing if B frames are present.

2. The bitrate didn't exceed 2500kbps

3. Your iPod has the latest 1.2 firmware

All my nero digital files are 720 x 400. I've been compressing the movies way before I bought an ipod video. It was for the purpose of using with a Tvix portable media player. I realized that maybe those files were not checked off "Quicktime Compatibiltiy." I could have sworn that when I did the 704 x 304 file, that I did check off the Quick time box.

I'm going to try again. I like the movies to be 720 x 400 and I'll be sure to check off QT. By the way, is there quality difference between 640 x 480 vs. 720 x 400. I realize mathematically, it's the same. For some reason, I just think the 720 looks better.

I'll keep you posted of the results.

[GMaq]

Hi Again,
The quality of your finished encode comes down to a lot of things but the two most important are the amount of bitrate and the resolution size, Will 640x480 look better than 720x400 ? mathematically as you stated the "bit per pixel" ratio is the same so it shouldn't, 1-pass or 2-pass will make a difference as well, Nero doesn't really have a CQ (Constant Quantizer) setting to compare, but I've done lots of movies with DivX,XVid and 3ivX using a 512x??? frame size and CQ encoding that look as good as Nero at larger resolutions because the encoder isn't limited to a set bitrate, It throws as many bits at the source as it deems necessary to meet the Quantizer Quality threshold.

I have been slow and hesitant to accept H.264 as a replacement to my other MPEG-4 codecs, but having recently done some testing and finally getting some software to give me compliant Hi-Res (640x480) files that the iPod would accept has made me appreciate what quality I can get at significantly lower bitrates. I not trying to dissuade you from what you've been doing with Nero, because I believe it is one of the best MPEG-4 encoders out there, but before you re-encode your entire library to be compliant with your iPod, Take a look at H.264, you can expect equivalent quality to Nero at about 25% less bitrate and filesize. When the "iConverter" that this thread is about gets released (hopefully soon) try it out and compare for yourself.

I, like you have a media player that doesn't play H.264 files and I still use Nero Recode for movies for it, but I think it's phenomenal the results that H.264 at the new higher resolution can do for the iPod often at file sizes smaller than a CD-R! Anyway end of commercial!! Let me know you get along and if I can help you with some settings I'd be happy to.

[siratfus]

Gmaq,

It was the Quicktime box. My 720 x 400 file plays just fine on my ipod now. Thanx for the info, I'll definitely consider H.264.

What resolution do you recommend when creating dvix, mp4, nero digital, etc. when the plan is to output to a big widescreen home theatre? I've been compressing a lot of files, but I don't really understand how this all works. All I know is that I'm saving hard drive space. Most of the time, I don't touch the settings, I just go with the default settings. I'm learning that dvd quality is 720 x 480. Does that mean that the aspect ratio on a 32" widescreen will display a real dvd differently than a nero digital file at 720 x 400 or 640 x 480? I guess I don't understand how adjusting these resolution ratios truly effects how a tv will display the picture.

[siratfus]

To better phrase the question concerning aspect ratio and resolution.

The big screen I'm interested in purchasing has these specs:

Screen Size: 32”
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Resolution: 1366x768

If we're using anamorphic dvds, it will fill up the screen nicely.

However with divx, ipods, avi's, etc... All these types of compressed files. How will they look? How will my 720 x 400 nero digital files display on this screen? My logical guess is that there will be some thick vertical black bars on the left and right sides, and thick black bars horizontally on the top and bottom to make up for the resolution deficit?

If my guess is correct, does that mean that dvds that are not anamorphic will also have these black bars horizontally and vertically if used with the above mentioned tv? What if the LCD is only 20" inch with resolution of 1366 x 768? Does that mean that non-anamorphic dvds and dvix files will still have black bars horizontally and vertically?

Thus, to find a tv that will fill up dvix or nero digital files perfectly, then you will have to find a tv with a resolution limit close to the 700's x 400's ? Not that I want such a limited tv, I just want to see if I'm understanding the relationship between aspect ratio, tv resolution, and the digital files we make.

If my guesses are totally wrong and I have no clue what I'm talking about. Can somebody please straighten me out? Thank you in advance.

[jagabo]

How the frame is displayed depends on the software used to encode, the player used to play, and the TV that's used to view the video.

Most of the MPEG 4 codecs (divx, xvid, x264, etc) now support display aspect ratios (DAR) independent of the frame dimensions. So you can encode with a 720x480 frame and have it display as 16:9, 4:3, or whatever relative dimensions you specify. But not all players, software and hardware, support the DAR. Many assume square pixels when displaying MPEG 4 video.

In addition to that, most players only output a standard definition signal (composite or s-video) which is limited (for the most part) to 4:3. So most players that support DAR will output a letterboxed 4:3 image if the video is widescreen. So a 720x480 frame will be resized to 720x360 and 60 lines of letterboxing will be added, top and bottom, to create a standard 4:3 signal.

Some upconverting players can properly display widescreen MPEG 4 material when using DVI or HDMI to connect to a widescreen TV. I don't know if they support DAR or assume square pixel.

Widescreen TVs generally show 4:3 video with pillarboxes. So your widescreen video from a standard definition player will be both letterboxed and pillarboxed, leaving a small image in the middle of the screen. Some widescreen TVs allow you to zoom or stretch the image. But you still won't be getting the full benefit of the larger 720x480 frame size used to encode.

[siratfus]

Thanx Jajabo. A little bit over my head, but I'm getting there.

[GMaq]

siratfus,
This is what I do (for what it's worth!) with my iPod and my D-Link Media Lounge, using a 42" Plasma HDTV. 4:3 Encode at 640x480 displays with pillar boxes on each side on both MediaLounge and iPod. (16:9 Widescreen) Encode at 640x352, Display fills screen with MediaLounge because it's set to output 16:9, Displays with both pillar boxes and letterboxes from iPod but fills screen if TV zoomed with little noticeable impact on quality. (16:9 Anamorphic) Encode at 704x304, displays with Letterboxes with MediaLounge and displays with letterboxes and pillarboxes with iPod, Zooming displays with letterboxes only again with little visual impact. These of course are not written in stone, but are generally what works, A bitrate of 1100-1250 is usually sufficient in all cases.

[siratfus]

siratfus,
This is what I do (for what it's worth!) with my iPod and my D-Link Media Lounge, using a 42" Plasma HDTV. 4:3 Encode at 640x480 displays with pillar boxes on each side on both MediaLounge and iPod. (16:9 Widescreen) Encode at 640x352, Display fills screen with MediaLounge because it's set to output 16:9, Displays with both pillar boxes and letterboxes from iPod but fills screen if TV zoomed with little noticeable impact on quality. (16:9 Anamorphic) Encode at 704x304, displays with Letterboxes with MediaLounge and displays with letterboxes and pillarboxes with iPod, Zooming displays with letterboxes only again with little visual impact. These of course are not written in stone, but are generally what works, A bitrate of 1100-1250 is usually sufficient in all cases.

I guess I'll know better when I actually have my big screen. Right now, I just don't know what to expect. These compressed movies look great on a 19' lcd screen, but I can't wait to see how it will look on the big screen.

Btw, have you noticed that if you play the nero digitals throught the itunes interface that the quality is not as good as if you played it through Nero Showtime? The picture is not as dark or crisp in Itunes. In dark scenes, through itunes, you can see the pixel boxes easily. I'm not sure of the correct lingo, but tiny square boxes. So that's what I'm concerned of, are these tiny squre pixels going to easily be seen on the big screen?

Also, getting back to nero recode. How come the dafault does not have quicktime already checked? Is there some PROS and CONS I should know about? We check it because we want it IPOD compatible. However, does that screw up compatibility with non-apple products?

[GMaq]

Hi Again,
Quicktime/iTunes and Nero Showtime use different decoders to display MPEG-4 files, I have also noticed some macroblocks showing up in iTunes but they don't show up on the TV. I can't say what the file compatibility will be without the B frames, So far they are compatible with both iPod and MediaLounge so I would assume that they will be compatible with set top MPEG-4 players, but I can't say for sure.

[Chelo]

Hi, Is it possible to choose a different audio channel? I have some movies that comes with audio in portugues/english/spanish, and 3GP always choose the first…
Thanks,

[Brianqzo]

I have been using 3GP_Converter with default settings and it's been working great. I installed your hack, but when the .avi completes, it begins again without creating a file. What is going wrong? I chose Hi-Res 16X9 800kbps TV.

Thanks