How do I convert from MP4 to AVI without any quality lost?

[riahc3]

Hey

How do I convert from MP4 to AVI (Xvid, Divx, etc; The codec doesnt matter as long as it is somewhat common and gives a ~700MB file size) without any quality lost? I tried SUPER but it gives me quality lost.

[minidv2dvd]

any re-encoding is going to reduce video quality. the best you could hope for is a lossless codec like hufffyuv or lagorith, but they will increase file size by a factor of 10 or more. mp4 is highly compressed, so it's best to live with it rather than try to convert it.

[riahc3]

Yes but obviously MP4 isnt viewable in some players and some PCs and its MP4....I want Avi/Xvid.

It just started out and we are at 2GB with hufffyuv! Can I convert this output (the hufffyuv file) to a AVI/Xvid and not have quality loss?

[guns1inger]

You are converting lossy encoded material using another lossy codec, so there will be some. You may be able to minimise the reduction in quality by choosing to do a quality based encode, however you will not have control over the file size, and will end up with a larger file than the source. If you try to go for the arbitrary and pointless 700MB size you will take a quality hit, probably substantial.

[riahc3]

Well then 700MB wont be the target. I just dont want a 4GB file.
How can I do what you just wrote?

And thanks for all the help

[igoryonya]

It's just a ReMUXing procedure. No quality will be lost at all.
In SUPER, set AVI container and change all of the settings on video and audio tracks to direct stream copy.
There will be no quality loss on direct stream copy.

One question though, why would you want to convert a superior mp4 container to an old obsolete avi?

[igoryonya]

You can't convert lossless HuffYUV format to small size lossy format without any quality loss.
You can do it with as little of quality loss as possible, so there are no noticeable visible artifacts.
The best modern lossy codec is H264.
I usually use 3passes.

I use the formula to figure out the bitrate for the best quality:
width * height * framerate / 1024 = index

Divide the index by:
9 (if your source is VHS or TV visual quality)
8 (if your source is VHS or TV visual quality, but you need to keep a little bit better quality)

6 (if it's DVD quality, to keep the file size smaller)
4 (if it's DVD quality, to make it the highest visual quality possible or if your source is a cartoon type)

The resulting number will be the bitrate in Kilobits. I usually round it up to the nearest 10.
For example, if I got 756.56743, I round it to 760.

If you use the above formula, you will get very high quality results.

[guns1inger]

SUPER is a poor front-end with average quality encoding settings. It's only saving grace is it's very wide range of input formats.

I suspect the OP is after something playable on a standalone Divx capable player, in which case simply dumping into an AVI container is a waste of time.

Simple conversion using Xvid4PSP. Open the mp4 file, and select AVI Hardware as the Format. For Video Encoding select Xvid HQ Ultra, then click on the E to open Encoding Settings. Change the Quantizer to 2.5 and encode. If you go over 2GB in size, reduce the Quantizer and try again. This will do a quality based encode, so you have no control over size, but will get closer to the source quality.

[Island Buoy]

MP4Cam2AVI


http://www.portablefreeware.com/?id=879

MP4Cam2AVI is an MPEG4/MJPEG to AVI converter/joiner for MPEG4 digital cameras and camcorders. It makes MPEG4 video files created on most digital cameras playable with any DVD-MPEG4 player. Since MP4Cam2AVI does not recompress video, there is no generational quality loss. Audio can be copied directly or converted to MP3 or PCM.

[riahc3]

It's just a ReMUXing procedure. No quality will be lost at all.
In SUPER, set AVI container and change all of the settings on video and audio tracks to direct stream copy.
There will be no quality loss on direct stream copy.

One question though, why would you want to convert a superior mp4 container to an old obsolete avi?

Ill try this.

I want this because I perfer that all my videos be viewable in WMP. (Yes I know about MPC, VLC, etc but it is personal prefrence)

SUPER is a poor front-end with average quality encoding settings. It's only saving grace is it's very wide range of input formats.

I suspect the OP is after something playable on a standalone Divx capable player, in which case simply dumping into an AVI container is a waste of time.

Simple conversion using Xvid4PSP. Open the mp4 file, and select AVI Hardware as the Format. For Video Encoding select Xvid HQ Ultra, then click on the E to open Encoding Settings. Change the Quantizer to 2.5 and encode. If you go over 2GB in size, reduce the Quantizer and try again. This will do a quality based encode, so you have no control over size, but will get closer to the source quality.

Yes but like you said (and I wanted) I dont have any control over size. If I wanted this, Id just encode it to a lossless.

You can't convert lossless HuffYUV format to small size lossy format without any quality loss.
You can do it with as little of quality loss as possible, so there are no noticeable visible artifacts.
The best modern lossy codec is H264.
I usually use 3passes.

I use the formula to figure out the bitrate for the best quality:
width * height * framerate / 1024 = index

Divide the index by:
9 (if your source is VHS or TV visual quality)
8 (if your source is VHS or TV visual quality, but you need to keep a little bit better quality)

6 (if it's DVD quality, to keep the file size smaller)
4 (if it's DVD quality, to make it the highest visual quality possible or if your source is a cartoon type)

The resulting number will be the bitrate in Kilobits. I usually round it up to the nearest 10.
For example, if I got 756.56743, I round it to 760.

If you use the above formula, you will get very high quality results.

You posted the first message then this? No sense.

MP4Cam2AVI


http://www.portablefreeware.com/?id=879

Can anyone back this up as working?

[jagabo]

I want this because I perfer that all my videos be viewable in WMP.

WMP is one of the worst media players. But if you insist: install Haali Media Splitter and the appropriate codecs WMP can play MP4 and MKV files.

[Baldrick]

MP4Cam2AVI wont work with all mp4s, it's mainly for mp4 from cameras.

[Island Buoy]

MP4Cam2AVI = The easy way

The hard way
1; Use Yamb to extract avi & AAC audio from MP4 video file.
2; Use AVI-Mux GUI to mux avi & aac to 1 new .AVI file.

[riahc3]

WMP is one of the worst media players. But if you insist: install Haali Media Splitter and the appropriate codecs WMP can play MP4 and MKV files.

Doesnt CCCP include HMS?

(Again thanks for the opinion but I perfer this so stick further opinions to yourself)

[jagabo]

Doesnt CCCP include HMS?

I don't know.

[riahc3]

Once I have them divided as a .h264 and a .acc, how do I mix them up again? AVI-Mux GUI says h264 isnt supported.

[poisondeathray]

You may have to rename the extension to .h264 or .264.

You can use avc2avi , then avi-mux gui

h.264 in .avi container isn't fully supported, you may get playback problems and frame freezes. You gain nothing by putting it into .avi container - players that can't playback the file in .mp4 still can't play it back in the .avi container

[jagabo]

h.264 in .avi container isn't fully supported, you may get playback problems and frame freezes.

Or no video at all.

You gain nothing by putting it into .avi container - players that can't playback the file in .mp4 still can't play it back in the .avi container

Agreed.

[SingSing]

I would over sampled the original to minimized the quality loss.
Like encode a 100kb/sec MP4 to a 200kb/s avi.

[Island Buoy]

get avc2avi gui at
http://www.mediafire.com/?benx1hcmd0p
N.B. need .net installed (http://www.oldversion.com/)

use mediaInfo to get frame rate of the mp4