A MP4 Simple Conversion

[kerb]

greetings,

i have HD MP4 file 1280/544 (datarate 8000kbps).

all i would like to do is to convert it to a smaller size while using constant bitrates.

could you please recommend a software to do this please?

i have tried quicktime pro 7 but for some reason i cant provide a constant bitrate for MP4 export so the resulting file is less than adequate.

i have also tried MPEGStreamclip but that is not working either.

both programs encode the dark areas of the MP4 loosely and i end up with a lot of noise.

i would like to encode it at 2500kbps to 3000kbps (636/264) constant so that the dark areas which are there a lot in the clip render smoothly.

thank you and look forward to your advide.

[Baldrick]

2500-3000kbps might be a bit to low for 1280p video. But try handbrake or avidemux or ffmpeg and use h264/avc for the video codec. All are using/based on the x264 encoder.

[kerb]

thanks Baldrick. i am finding handbreak quiet useful.

i have a query though, why does my movie look darker when viewed locally, and with more detail but as well as lots of noise and brighter when viewed online?

i have tried 5500kbps and it still does not render smoothly on the web whereas locally all this is masked by shadows!

would be thankful to hear your take on this issue.

thanks.

[kerb]

i am having an issue with handbreak since earlier on today:

specifying constant video quality is not working for some reason, all the files end up being 800k in size and with lousy data rate.

stating average bit rate for compression is working though.

any ideas as to what is causing this issue?

best regards.

[Baldrick]

The dark issue could be because "locally" it uses your video graphic overlay/hardware acceleration and with the online player not. Or have you uploaded to youtube or something? Then it's reencoded and could look like that.

Maybe you could try the older handbrake 0.9.4 and see how it works. I have seen some with problems with the last version.

[kerb]

wow! no one has mentioned the issue of local hardware acceleration and not on online render! thank you, clears up a lot of my personal fuzzy thoughts!

will try handbreak 0.9.4 and report back if necessary.

thanks.

[kerb]

baldrick many thanks again, your tip made me turn off hardware acc locally so i can test the results without having to upload huge chunks of data.

handbreak is also again functioning!

best regards!

[Baldrick]

Great!