MOV to FLV Conversion Stopping Short

[IrishP]

I have been having a problem in converting my MOV file to FLV, in that it stops short. The MOV I have exported from Final Cut Pro as a ProRes 422 file, then into compressor to encode again as H.264 as ffmpegx seemingly doesn't like the ProRes Codec for some reason....

Anyhoo, this is now a 1.60GB quicktime movie that is 12 mins 5 secs in duration, 25 fps and 1280 x 720. I drop this into ffmpegx and use the settings in the video tab to reduce it to 680 x 360, 25 fps, 1500 kbps bit rate and check the "high quality" and " 2 pass" boxes.

It seems to do it's thing just fine and I get the "finished" message, but when I open and play the FLV file, it looks great except for the fact that it stops at 7 mins and 7 secs.

I have tried various things but always seem to get a great looking video that just stops at 7:07!

Has anyone any ideas?

[Case]

I do not know why your output was only partial, but...

You do not have to encode to FLV for web video using e.g. JW Player. MP4 movie files with H.264 video and AAC audio will work too, and that provides better compression (smaller files, faster downloads for visitors). The streaming options provided by QuickTime export, or use of qt-faststart provide similar functionality as flvtool2, by setting the meta data at the beginning of the file, so 'players' can read it without/before decoding any video.

[IrishP]

Hi again Case! So if I encode my movie as an MP4 movie file with H.264 video and AAC audio then embed this into my iWeb site just as it is - drag and drop - it should have the same playability/accessibility to windows users as Flash?

[Case]

I don't know if there are any special considerations for iWeb sites, but the (x)html code for FLV video is the same as for H.264 MP4 video, when using JW Player files for embedding and the Flash Player browser plugin for viewing.

[IrishP]

So I need to upload this to my server (iDisk) and use the same html coding to point to that file on my server to play it - am I right? I should just have to change the file name to "myfilename.mp4" from "myfilename.flv"?
It will still use the JW player to play? Sorry for newbie questions....

in iWeb I halve the option of just dropping a movie file into the page and it does the rest. Although my newly encoded MP4 file generates a warning along the lines of "this file is very large (128MB) and could make page loading times very slow"

BTW thanks so much for your advice on my other thread - it was indeed the space between the c and d.......

[Case]

So I need to upload this to my server (iDisk) and use the same html coding to point to that file on my server to play it - am I right? I should just have to change the file name to "myfilename.mp4" from "myfilename.flv"? It will still use the JW player to play?

Yes, you could just change the filename to load in the html code.

in iWeb I halve the option of just dropping a movie file into the page and it does the rest. Although my newly encoded MP4 file generates a warning along the lines of "this file is very large (128MB) and could make page loading times very slow"

I think that would work.
128 MB for a H.264 MP4 file at 680x360 25 fps seems a bit much, though. A bitrate of about 717 kbps would likely be enough, which would result in a file of about 72 MB. Still a lot to load, but it wouldn't affect the page loading time, as the video only starts loading after pressing Play. I suppose you would get that warning for any big file.

[IrishP]

I will try using the lower depth you advised when I get the flvtool up and running to see if I can save some size whilst keeping the quality high. How did you arrive at 717kbps if you don't mind me asking? Is looks like you worked that out pretty accurately - I am fairly new to encoding for web and have just basically landed on the figure of 1500 after some trials and from what I have gleaned from the web!
Is there a way to work it out?

I used Compressor to encode the MP4 file, which (as far as I can see) doesn't give me the option of choosing a bit rate - just a "quality slider" which I put between medium and high. This gave me the 128 MB file that was, strangely enough, 1483 kbps...

I suppose just lowering this slider should render out a lower bit rate, but again trial and error!

I was a little unsure of the video settings in ffmpegx as it was asking for the media it was intended for i.e. 1 x DVD @ 4GB etc. I don't know what the "correct" setting would be for a web video.....
I think there's a problem with the bit rate calculator as it keeps returning an AppleScript Error that states

"The variable _iframeflag is not defined. (-2753)"

when I enter a target file size and hit any of the buttons. If there is a way to calculate the "ideal" bit rate for a particular file using the frame rate, size and duration - it would be very helpful!

[IrishP]

I stand corrected - there is indeed, of course, a way to manually input the data rate in the compressor settings - change the date rate from "Automatic" to "Restrict To..."
But is there a preferred choice under the Optimization settings between "Streaming, Download or CD/DVD" options?

[IrishP]

I have encoded my .MP4 and uploaded it to my iDisk, changed the HTML to point to my new file, went to my browser and YAY! It works!!!

But...

I have noticed that when I play it, in scenes of movement such as camera pans, the picture "slices" up and looks choppy. I took a screen grab to try and illustrate what I mean...

But if I let the video play a while, then drag the playhead back to the start, it plays smoother - although there does remain some stuttering.

Take a look at the video on my site at...

http://web.mac.com/paulstretton/Site/Movies.html

...to see for yourself. It would be interesting to note if you are having the same issues on your machine...!

[Case]

I took a screen grab to try and illustrate what I mean...

The video itself is 640x360, but is displayed at 640x340. The 20 pixels vertical difference is filled with the controlbar. The resulting squeeze may be the source for the video artifacts. So, for a 640x360 movie, you should reserve a player area of 640x380!

[IrishP]

Thanks for that! I changed it by 20 pixels but the choppiness is still there although now and then, so I think it's to do with my Internet connection.

Many thanks for all your help