Best way to convert to mp4 for streaming

[R3ckl3ss]

Hello,

i have searched and tried a lot of things, that I can convert my videos into mp4 (for webstreaming) with ffmpeg or mencoder. But I haven't found the best way to convert my videos with ffmpeg or mencoder to mp4 files for webstreaming.

Has anybody of you a good solution to convert videos with different formats to a mp4 file for streaming in the web?

Thanks in advance!
Wolfgang

[Baldrick]

Convert to h264 video with aac audio and use the presets, see http://rob.opendot.cl/index.php/useful-stuff/ffmpeg-x264-encoding-guide/

[R3ckl3ss]

Thank you for the link.

I want to set a bitrate but nothing changes, he alway start with 800kb and goes up to 2000kb.
I also can't change the size of the video. I always get an error. If I change the size to the original size everything is fine.

The source video:
FFmpeg version SVN-r23621-snapshot, Copyright (c) 2000-2010 the FFmpeg developers
built on Jun 16 2010 17:36:53 with gcc 4.2.1 (SUSE Linux)
configuration: --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libvorbis --disable-mmx --enable-shared --enable-gpl --enable-libx264 --enable-libfaac --enable-nonfree
libavutil 50.19. 0 / 50.19. 0
libavcodec 52.76. 0 / 52.76. 0
libavformat 52.68. 0 / 52.68. 0
libavdevice 52. 2. 0 / 52. 2. 0
libavfilter 1.20. 0 / 1.20. 0
libswscale 0.11. 0 / 0.11. 0
[aac @ 0x642940]Transition from an ONLY_LONG or LONG_STOP to an EIGHT_SHORT sequence detected. If you heard an audible artifact, please submit the sample to the FFmpeg developers.
Last message repeated 1 times
[mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2 @ 0x63a470]max_analyze_duration reached
Input #0, mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2, from 'pqrZdyH2.mp4':
Metadata:
major_brand : mp42
minor_version : 1
compatible_brands: mp42isom
Duration: 00:04:25.48, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 3983 kb/s
Stream #0.0(eng): Video: mpeg4, yuv420p, 720x400 [PAR 1:1 DAR 9:5], 3850 kb/s, 25 fps, 25 tbr, 25 tbn, 25 tbc
Stream #0.1(eng): Audio: aac, 48000 Hz, stereo, s16, 127 kb/s
Stream #0.2(eng): Data: mp4s / 0x7334706D, 3 kb/s
Stream #0.3(eng): Data: mp4s / 0x7334706D, 3 kb/s
At least one output file must be specified

My command:

ffmpeg -i pqrZdyH2.mp4 -acodec libfaac -ab 96k -vcodec libx264 -vpre slow -s 639x355 -aspect 9:5 -b 1500kb -maxrate 1600kb -crf 22 -threads 0 -y test1.mp4

How can I change the bitrate and how can I resize the video?

[Baldrick]

Try remove the the -crf 22. Because you can't mix a variable bitrate(crf) and a constant bitrate.

What is the error when you try change the size? You can't use odd sizes like 639x355, it should be even divided by at least 2 or 4.

[R3ckl3ss]

Thank you, after removing -crf 22 it works perfect.

Why must the width/height divided by 2, is that only for mp4?

[R3ckl3ss]

Now I want to resize from 720x400 to 648x360 I get an error: Unable to find a suitable output format for '648x360'

My command:

ffmpeg -i test.mov -acodec libfaac -ab 96k -vcodec libx264 -vpre slow 648x360 -aspect 9:5 -b 1200kb -maxrate 1300kb -threads 0 -y test1.mp4

[bat999]

Now I want to resize from 720x400 to 648x360 I get an error: Unable to find a suitable output format for '648x360'

My command:

ffmpeg -i test.mov -acodec libfaac -ab 96k -vcodec libx264 -vpre slow 648x360 -aspect 9:5 -b 1200kb -maxrate 1300kb -threads 0 -y test1.mp4

You've forgotten the -s in front of 648x360.

Also, when you divide the width by the height,
if your result is approx 1.77 then the aspect ratio is 16:9
if your result is approx 1.33 then the aspect ratio is 4:3

In this case 648 divided by 360 gives result 1.8
So change your command to -aspect 16:9

[R3ckl3ss]

Sry that was my fail, now it works.

No, I want the aspect 9:5, because my source video has 720x400.