[SOLVED]Old anime to MP4 for Plex

[caseyjonez]

Hi,

I actually try to convert old anime movie to MP4 then MKV for Plex (...play on TV). I am not sure this the best way to do (I use FormatFactory) as the source is smaller than output and the quality is better.
Need some advice please.

Here some infos from the original file :

General
Unique ID                                : 43567031862707191594328660214718633966 (0x20C6B483168F68B79FBD21C1688397EE)
Complete name                            : X:\Temp\IPPO Temp\Hajime no Ippo [DVD 480p]\Hajime no Ippo 01 (480p).mkv
Format                                   : Matroska
Format version                           : Version 4
File size                                : 74.3 MiB
Duration                                 : 20 min 50 s
Overall bit rate                         : 498 kb/s
Movie name                               : Hajime no Ippo
Encoded date                             : UTC 2013-07-28 13:05:05
Writing application                      : [url=https://www.videohelp.com/software/MKVToolNix]mkvmerge[/url] v6.0.0 ('Coming Up For Air') built on Jan 20 2013 09:52:00
Writing library                          : libebml v1.3.0 + libmatroska v1.4.0
Attachments                              : arial.ttf / arialbd.ttf / BorisBlackBloxx.ttf / verdanab.ttf / verdanaz.ttf

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High 10@L3.1
Format settings                          : CABAC / 8 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, Reference frames        : 8 frames
Codec ID                                 : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration                                 : 20 min 50 s
Width                                    : 640 pixels
Height                                   : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 4:3
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 24.000 FPS
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 10 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Writing library                          : x264 core 129 r2245 bc13772
Encoding settings                        : cabac=1 / ref=8 / deblock=1:1:1 / analyse=0x3:0x133 / me=umh / subme=10 / psy=1 / psy_rd=0.40:0.60 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=24 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-4 / threads=6 / lookahead_threads=1 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=5 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=23 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=21.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=81 / qpstep=4 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Language                                 : English
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No

Audio
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : AAC LC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Codec ID                                 : A_AAC-2
Duration                                 : 20 min 50 s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel layout                           : L R
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                               : 46.875 FPS (1024 SPF)
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Delay relative to video                  : 9 ms
Title                                    : 2.0 Ogg
Language                                 : Japanese
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No

Text
ID                                       : 3
Format                                   : ASS
Codec ID                                 : S_TEXT/ASS
Codec ID/Info                            : Advanced [url=https://www.videohelp.com/software/Sub-Station-Alpha]Sub Station Alpha[/url]
Compression mode                         : Lossless
Title                                    : Styled
Language                                 : English
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No

Menu
00:00:00.000                             : en:Opening / en:Main / en:Ending

[jagabo]

AVC video and AAC audio are already suitable for the MP4 container. All you need to do is to remux them. ASS subs aren't supported by MP4 you'll have to convert them to Timed Text format. All of this can easily be done with ffmpeg. Something like:

ffmpeg -i input.mkv -c:v copy -c:a copy -c:s mov_text output.mp4

[caseyjonez]

Hi,
Ok I try it. it's work! ....But if I read the media on TV it said "Not enough CPU for conversion this item". Now I must say that I use a very small/light server for Plex (concern about energy consum etc...). But I have other movie, download from eg. "Yify"... It's longer and bigger + subtitle, and it can read. I really don't get it....

Update : Ok I think find something good with HandBreak. Good size and quality

[jagabo]

Changing this Plex setting may help:

https://www.reddit.com/r/PleX/comments/qjkdxe/multimedia_file_format_not_supported/?rdt=55629

All I did to get it to fix was go into setting and have it play original quality instead of trying to convert and that fixed my problem.

[jagabo]

Some other possible issues: Many players do not support 10 bit AVC, 8 reference frames is too many for many players, also 5 consecutive b-frames. If those are the source of you problem you will have to reencode. Or buy a US$20 media player.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/onn-Google-TV-4K-Streaming-Box-New-2023-4K-UHD-resolution/2835618394/

[caseyjonez]

Hey, thx for so replys and ideas

- Use Plex for decade I know that trick but didn't work well in my case (despite my small server I can watch no problem 4K movies on the SmartTV).

- We are surround by devices already, buy another one, not sure it's the solution :/ ...

So here I find my own way :

- Use HandBreak it give a mp4 (vdo + sound) quality is great and file size is nearly same ! (That's incredible).

- I extract the subtitle in .SRT (ASS or others are sucks.....)

- Now I just combine MP4 and SRT to MKV. Et voila!

(All of these are of course batch...)

I can watch on tv and great quality, very very close to original..... So good!

[jagabo]

You can do all that in one step with ffmpeg:

ffmpeg -y -i input.mkv -c:v libx264 -preset "veryfast" -crf 23 -c:a copy -c:s srt output.mkv

Just use the same preset and crf value you used in Handbrake.

[caseyjonez]

ffmpeg -y -i input.mkv -c:v libx264 -preset "veryfast" -crf 23 -c:a copy -c:s srt output.mkv

I just dont get here

-c:s srt

This mean ? :

-c:s mysubfile.srt

[jagabo]

-c:s srt

This mean ?

-c = codec
:s = for subtitles
srt = srt

I.e. convert incoming (ass or other) subtitles to srt format.

What error message are you getting? Note that srt subs are not valid with the mp4 container. ffmpeg's ass to srt conversion may not be optimal.

[caseyjonez]

Ok I try the command and its ok (got the output) but still cannot play with my small server Plex.
Here I show you my HandBreak paramters that works for me :

[jagabo]

What are the MediaInfo properties of the file you created with ffmpeg? Was it a high definition video? Or the same 640x480 video shown in your handbrake snapshots?

[caseyjonez]

(duplicate)

[caseyjonez]

Here the details the video that works with me :

General
Unique ID                                : 63788467151435034878526176136626100110 (0x2FFD363F092EB76CA3414898661AD78E)
Complete name                            : X:\Medias\Manga Series\Hajime no Ippo\SE01\Hajime No Ippo 01 (480P).mkv
Format                                   : Matroska
Format version                           : Version 4
File size                                : 98.2 MiB
Duration                                 : 20 min 50 s
Overall bit rate                         : 659 kb/s
Encoded date                             : UTC 2023-09-01 11:45:13
Writing application                      : mkvmerge v57.0.0 ('Till The End') 32-bit
Writing library                          : libebml v1.4.2 + libmatroska v1.6.4

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High@L3
Format settings                          : CABAC / 4 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, Reference frames        : 4 frames
Codec ID                                 : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration                                 : 20 min 50 s
Bit rate                                 : 493 kb/s
Width                                    : 640 pixels
Height                                   : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 4:3
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 23.976 (24000/1001) FPS
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.067
Stream size                              : 73.6 MiB (75%)
Writing library                          : x264 core 164 r3100 ed0f7a6
Encoding settings                        : cabac=1 / ref=2 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=6 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=12 / lookahead_threads=2 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=1 / keyint=240 / keyint_min=24 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=30 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=20.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No
Color range                              : Limited
Color primaries                          : BT.601 NTSC
Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.601

Audio
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : AAC LC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Codec ID                                 : A_AAC-2
Duration                                 : 20 min 50 s
Bit rate                                 : 163 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel layout                           : L R
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                               : 46.875 FPS (1024 SPF)
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Delay relative to video                  : -12 ms
Stream size                              : 24.3 MiB (25%)
Language                                 : Japanese
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No

Text
ID                                       : 3
Format                                   : UTF-8
Codec ID                                 : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                            : UTF-8 Plain Text
Duration                                 : 20 min 38 s
Bit rate                                 : 53 b/s
Count of elements                        : 251
Stream size                              : 8.15 KiB (0%)
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No

Also here you see in Plex what works and what is not :


I also try now "FFmpeg Batch AV Converter". It help a lot to generate command but I am here...

[ProWo]

The problem is the high profile.
You shoud recode the video with the main profile and 8 bit.
You can use clever Ffmpeg-GUI for that.

[caseyjonez]

The problem is the high profile.

Yes. And I really need to know what command I need to add to the prompt ....

[jagabo]

Yes, it looks like you need a 480p frame size. Try:

ffmpeg -y -i input.mkv -vf scale=w=640:h=-4 -c:v libx264 -preset "veryfast" -crf 23 -c:a copy -c:s srt output.mkv

or:

ffmpeg -y -i input.mkv -vf scale=w=-4:h=480 -c:v libx264 -preset "veryfast" -crf 23 -c:a copy -c:s srt output.mkv

The first resizes with width to 480 and the height to whatever mod 4 value is needed to keep the aspect ratio. The second resizes the height to 480 and the width to whatever mod 4 size is needed to keep the aspect ratio.

[caseyjonez]

I try both of your command, it do not works (

Got this when it do not want to work ....


I think must find a way to make libx264 encode WITHOUT having profile in the output.

"FFmpeg Batch AV Converter" should help but each time you select an option and profile (baseline, main.. 1..1,5...2...2,5...) it give errors ....

[ProWo]

You should set profile main, not baseline.


[Attachment 73597 - Click to enlarge]

[caseyjonez]

@ProWo
Thanks for suggestion, I will try your soft, and get back later

Thx again!

[caseyjonez]

Guys! I got a more clue about "bit depth" and add some parameters, I have this now :

-c:v libx264 -preset veryfast -crf 28 -pix_fmt yuv420p -c:a copy -c:s srt

And now it works! All in one shot! Too good!

You can do all that in one step with ffmpeg:

Man! I love this !


@ProWo I dont see "batch" function into your soft (?) so I use "FFmpeg Batch AV Converter".



I think this time I got at last what I want. Thanks again both

[ProWo]

Guys! I got a more clue about "bit depth" and add some parameters, I have this now :

-c:v libx264 -preset veryfast -crf 28 -pix_fmt yuv420p -c:a copy -c:s srt

And now it works! All in one shot! Too good!

@ProWo I dont see "batch" function into your soft (?) so I use "FFmpeg Batch AV Converter".

You are right, no batch in my software.
Btw: you should use max 25 as crf value for libx264.

[caseyjonez]

you should use max 25

Right. I set it now to 24.

And add a batch function and it would be a great piece of software !

[jagabo]

I would use crf 18 or less for SD video I was going to save and watch again. And the slow preset.

Sorry, I missed in your first post that the video was 10 bit AVC. That was a dead giveaway about the problem. Very few devices support that.

[caseyjonez]

Guys, I just notice in Plex when I play with PC (on smart tv its ok). Sub is gigantic ! This happen ONLY on files I convert recently ffmpeg...



Any ideas... ?

I would use crf 18 or less for SD video I was going to save and watch again. And the slow preset.

Noted!

[ProWo]

Try

-c:v libx264 -preset veryfast -crf 20 -pix_fmt yuv420p -c:a copy -c:s mov_text

[caseyjonez]

Ok try it. It works. Sub become normal size in PC browser Plex.
It's for MP4 only ? As mov_txt is not compatible with mkv. I really prefer MKV for maybe futur modif, extract etc...

I dont get why SRT is wrong in my case.... ?

[ProWo]

mov_text with mp4, mov, 3gp, mkv, webm.
srt (subrip) with 3gp, mkv, mov, webm.

[ProWo]

I dont get why SRT is wrong in my case.... ?

Open your srt with notepad to see if there is any format info other then timecode and text.

[jagabo]

I dont get why SRT is wrong in my case.... ?

The ASS subtitles were designed for a larger frame so they specify a large font size. ffmpeg copied the font size when it converted to SRT. Most players outside a PC don't respond to font sizes in SRT. Windows players usually do.

[caseyjonez]

Hi,
Sorry for late reply but I was very busy lastly (work...... ......).

Open your srt with notepad to see if there is any format info other then timecode and text.

I just check and yes it have some style in srt :

4
00:00:10,210 --> 00:00:12,310
<font face="Negotiate Free" size="112" color="#fefeed"><b><i>with everything I have behind it!</i></b></font>

5
00:00:12,510 --> 00:00:14,520
<font face="Negotiate Free" size="112" color="#fefeed"><b><i>Go!</i></b></font>

6
00:00:17,860 --> 00:00:19,070
<font face="Negotiate Free" size="112" color="#fefeed"><b>It was stopped!</b></font>

It's might come during my convert as the origin file do not have some style in srt :

-c:v libx264 -preset veryfast -crf 28 -pix_fmt yuv420p -c:a copy -c:s srt