MPEG4 vs. H.264

Generally, which of these compresses/degrades video more?
Thanks.

Fred,
to make this the least confusing for you...
you need to choose H.264 between the two.
I have said many times that between these two MPeg4 variations the younger brother H.264 is unbeatable for keeping quality as well as file size small enough.

Similar Messages

  • Better to convert from H.264 or mpeg4 AVC H.264?

    I've read the threads related to the need to convert video shot in both H.264 and mpeg4 AVC H.264 before editing in FCE. But I am wondering if there are any pros or cons on which would result in the better quality.
    Do you experts think it makes a difference? Once you use Mpeg Streamslip is it all the same?
    I am asking this because those seems to be the available formats for shooting video with the point and shoot cameras currently available. The Canon format is H.264. Nikon s6000 uses the mpeg4 AVC H.264. With the Canon the workflow involves importing the video from the camera using the supplied Canon software, then converting it with Mpeg SS, before importing it into FCE. Log and transfer doesn't work. When I converted the video straight from the SD card with Mpeg SS, the resulting video when imported into Final Cut required rendering. Using the same setting after importing it with the Canon software, does not require rendering.
    I just bought the Canon and I am wondering if I exchanged it with the Nikon if I could avoid the intermediate step or if the quality would be any different. Any thoughts?

    Yes, sorry, FTR is For The Record, just like FYI is For Your Information. (and that is a smile.)
    It must be so frustration for you folks to have to keep explaining this to newbies. I was thinking perhaps this forum needs one of those sticky, permanent answers called "Codec for Dummies." Or Tom you could add a primer to your next edition of the book.
    So the proper terminology when referring to H.264 is codec not format? Unfortunately the manufacturers don't help us much. This from the Nikon website:
    Movie Modes
    Video file format: MPEG-4 AVC H.264
    Audio file format: AAC stereo
    HD: 1280 x 720p / 30fps
    Standard TV: 640 x 480 / 30fps
    Small Size: 320 x 240 / 30fps
    HDMI output: mini-connector Type C
    HDMI cable not included
    Now I understand why our techs at work would always say not all Quicktime .mov files are the same whenever I asked what format people should use when sending us digital video!
    FTR or FYI, I did an experiment and shot a bit of video at the camera store using the Nikon s6000 on my SD card and just converted it with MPEG streamclip then imported it into FCE directly. It comes in fine with no need to render it, unlike the Canon file where I have to use the Canon software to import it and then, MPEG streamclip and then import it to FCE. Saves a step.
    So I am going to take the Canon back and exchange it for the Nikon. (Another reason for me to be a Nikon shooter!
    Thanks for your patience.
    Nina Zacuto

  • Sony -  HDR-XR350V  - HD: MPEG4 AVC/H.264; SD: MPEG2

    Considering a Sony - HDR-XR350V - HD: MPEG4 AVC/H.264; SD: MPEG2
    Please help - I have been using search and spent about 45 min with a Sony sales person on the phone today, but would love to hear from someone using this camera or an expert who can interpret the specs.
    Is this camera a true AVCHD camera and will it work seamlessly with FCE?
    I understand, if it is compatible, that I would have to use Log and Transfer and the files would be converted to Apple Intermediate Codec (fairly large file size) I would plan to use an external drive as scratch disk for any large projects.
    Here is the link to the spec page for the camera.
    http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=1055 1&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921666073203#specifications
    My ultimate use for camera is editing, using iDVD to create DVD for use on TV, or being able to upload short video projects to Facebook or You tube.
    For these shorter projects will this camera also work well with iMovie 09
    I am so frustrated trying to find a good camera that will work well with FCE - my old Sony (only two years old has died) I had to use Mpeg Streamclip to convert its files - large learning curve but mastered it. I don't want to go through another complicated process to begin editing again with a new camera ($271 for repair and 90 day warranty doesn't make sense to fix the old one).
    Message was edited by: Tyrkitty

    Tom - thank you so much - so if for any reason I would want to use SD I could convert with Mpeg streamclip like I did for my old camera. Not sure why I would do that, but just wondered.
    I believe the Sony - HDR-XR350V camera has several different settings for filming - are you able to tell me how to set the camera or should I just cross that bridge when I get it. I would like to use the highest quality setting. The Sony sales guy said it has Progressive and Interlace settings - That is over my head. For going to iDVD for play on a TV what would I use. I will be ordering the camera on Monday.
    You were the patient one who got me going in the right direction with my old camera - so glad you responded. I have your book and have attended a lot of One to One sessions. Love FCE and just want to get going again.

  • Video Playback Issues in iTunes, MPEG4 vs h.264

    Has anyone had a problem playing MPEG4 videos in iTunes? I'm not sure when it started, but I first noticed it a month or more ago with the commandn mpeg4 podcast feed. I switched to the h.264 feed and it's great. The audio if fine, but the video is choppy. I also have been encoding Video_TS folders (legally, not commercial DVDs) using handbrake to .mp4 files, I get the same choppiness when I encode a regular file, but when I use h.264 encoder it's fine (but takes forever to encode). Any thoughts on why iTunes won't play MPEG4 video well? Thanks
    Dave

    Do you have any plugins? If so, have you try disabling/deleting them?
    Also, try creating a new user in Mac OS X and see if the same issue occurs. If it doesn't happen in a new user (which will have a fresh set of preferences), you know it's a corrupt preference in your main user. With that in mind, try deleting your iTunes plist.
    1.) With iTunes closed, go to Home > Library > Preferences
    2.) Find com.apple.itunes.plist and delete it
    3.) Restart
    4.) Open iTunes and test it

  • That settles it: Mpeg4 VS H.264 experiment

    I hope this helps people with their videos on ipods:
    480 resolution mpeg4 at 2500kbps
    VS
    320 resolution h.264 at 768kbps
    The mpeg4 video is more than twice the file size, and at least HALF the quality of the H.264 file despite being larger resolution. When the quicktime images are scaled up on the screen and played side by side at equal sizes (about 640 width each) it is cleary obvious that the mpeg4 file, despite it's much larger file size is of far poorer quality than the H264 file.
    Conclusion: use h264 for your ipod videos, it's lower in file size and superior in quality even though it has a lower bitrate and resolution, it will translate better both on your ipod and to television.

    Hmm, well that is strange. I mean H264 is supposed to be 4X better than DVD anyway. It does look pixelated and bad if you play within itunes either that little window or in a seperate screen but if you play the videos within quicktime they are crystal clear that that bitrate as good as DVD (relevant to their smaller resolution or 320). 520resolution won't play in an ipod incidentally. When you view the h264 vids in quicktime, on the ipod, or from the ipod to TV they look great I had heaps of big and very distracting artifacs with mpeg4 at 2500kbps. The reason I post this again if I sound like I'm repeating myself is that I wondering what we are doing different to get these different results. Maybe I did something wrong with mpeg 4.What should the keyframe be in mpeg4 within quicktime- that seems to be automatic in handbrake. Maybe I should encode directly from handbrake. I did encode the mpeg4 from a h264 file (ie I made two smaller files from one big one - the first was 720 resolution and then make one 480 res mpeg4 and one 320 res h264 from that the mpeg was 2500 kbps and the h264 was 768. Maybe I should re do it from the original source material.

  • Is Premiere Pro compatible with "all" Canon XA20's native recording formats (MPEG4-AVC / H.264)?

    NTSC:
    AVCHD - 1080: 59.94P / 59.94i / PF29.97 / 23.98P
    MP4 - 1080: 59.94P / 29.97P / 23.98P; 720 and 360: 29.97P / 23.98P

    Yes. There should be no issues handling these files in Premiere Pro CC.
    Best,
    Peter Garaway
    Adobe
    Premiere Pro

  • Import mpeg4 h.264 with FCE

    Is it possible the direct import of hd movies mpeg4, codec h.264, 1920x1080 (1080p) with FCE?
    I regularly imported these movies with iMovies 09.
    Thanks!

    You can't work with this material in FCE without rendering unless you convert the media before you bring it into the application. You can do this with iMovie or most likely with MPEG Streamclip or the QuickTime 7 pro player. The file format will be QuickTime with the Apple Intermediate Codec and considerably larger than the original file size about 12MB/sec, roughly 42G per hour.

  • Best bitrate video and sound 320x? N78 h.264

    Hi there,
    I was searching for posts about the most efficient bitrate for videos encoded for the N-series, with a 320x240 screen. I found a few, but thought I could write one my self.
    I am a mac user since way back and a SE user until today. I now have a N78 with an 8GB card and find myself very happy about it. This post will be written as I go along. This is also my first post ever in a Nokia forum so don´t shoot
    A 320x240 pixel screen makes a lousy cinema, but it is better than nothing when you are out traveling or waiting for something. So how do we make the best out of it.
    My idea was to put some movies and TV-series on the phone. Best quality, smallest file size. To do that I guess Mpeg4 with h.264 would be the best option, so I'll use that.
    Lets say we have a file that is 700mb and maybe 656x278 pixels. This is more than double the width we have to our disposal (320 pixels). It is also not far from double the height we have (240 pixels). So if we make it half as wide and don't distort the format, it should look like this 328x139.
    This means we may get away with 1/4 of the size in megabytes. As we now can almost fit 4 328x139 images on the 656x278 image.
    But too little data can eat away at colors, depth and brightness before it start to show artifacts (correct me if I am wrong) so...
    I'll encode one at 175mb (0,25) and one at 250mb (0,36).
    4 movies with great sound on 1gb is not that bad at all. Although it would be nice with 5.
    Ok, thats now encoding and we'll look at the result later, but what did I do about the settings? I chose Mpeg4 and h.264 encoding. I also chose two times pass for VBR.
    VBR means variable bitrate. This means if the image is standing still and not too much is moved around, the codec can save space by not updating those areas until necessary.
    For the codec to do a good job, it needs to take a look at the data firs. This is called a pass. The second pass uses the first pass to fine tune. Always use two pass if you can and have the time.
    I also set the file size to 175mb and 250 mb. This means the codec will to its best to stay within these boundaries.
    Resolution was set to 320x136 pixels. If you use your calculator to find the resolution the height should be 135,7 pixels, but you can't use that and it has to be a pair. So 136 it is.
    If you wonder what program I use, it is VisualHub with ffmpeg as the encoder (dowloads automaticly after starting the program). It is only Mac, but there are probably lots of these programs out there for the PC.
    Ok, the results are in...
    175mb file turned out to be 166,70mb
    Datarate: 213,38 kbits (VBR)
    Sound: AAC, Stereo (L R), 48,000 kHz
    Picture quality:
    Visible artifact when enlarged 2x
    Still visible at normal size
    Two days beard can... not be seen in face
    Less clarity/a little blurry
    250mb file turned out to be 238,31mb
    Datarate: 305,04 kbits (VBR)
    Sound: AAC, Stereo (L R), 48,000 kHz
    Picture quality:
    No visible artifacts when enlarged 2x
    No visible artifacts at normal size
    Two days beard can be seen in face
    But I feel this is at the edge.
    So I'm happy with the result. A 700mb movie reduced to less than 250mb. Good clarity, good sound.
    Another user in this forum used the same program, but used the automatic settings. I tried that too. Mpeg4, h.264, 320x and quality high (not best).
    The files were too big for my taste (above 300mb) and not so much better looking. Standard setting resulted in artifacts and still too big a footprint.
    This movie was not the most action filled movie I have seen. There was a lot of interior scenes and talking. Still, the camera was moving and panning.
    So if you have a mac, and a phone with a 320x240 screen that can handle h.264 video... I can recomend these settings in VisualHub for a 700mb file in 35 mm anamorphic CinemaScope.
    Remember. If you do it the way I have done it here, you have to fill inn the correct image size yourself in VisualHub. If you use the automatic option, you don't have to do that.
    Read about aspect ratio here:
    www.wikipedia.org/wiki/2.35:1
    VisualHub
    www.techspansion.com/visualhub
    Next time I'll try it on a TV-serie
    Hopefully this was helpfull.
    Cheers
    P.

    Very good post.
    Not sure I agree with everything though
    Check out my blog for more information. Feel free to post your comments.
    http://portablevideo.blogspot.com/
    640K Should be enough for everybody
    El_Loco Nokia Video Blog

  • Is CS5 a good edit program to edit mpeg-4 AVC/H.264 with?

    I always used adobe premiere pro 2 to edit DV. But now i've bought a new HD camera so i'm searching for a good program to edit my movies with. Right now I have to convert my HD movies in elements 7 and transfer it to adobe, but the result is very poor,time consuming and frustrating.
    I'm about to buy a new computer and also a new edit program. But is CS5 a good choice? Is it possible to capture or transfer my movies of mpeg4 AVC/H.264 straight into a project in CS5? is there anybody out there who already uses this kind of codec for projects in CS5?
    Monique.

    Thanks a lot, I will check this section.
    Can you also give me information about the quality when burning
    (H.264) projects from CS5 on DVD?
    Or do I have to use a blue ray recorder to avoid looking at unstable/jerky
    images?
    2010/10/7 Colin Brougham <[email protected]>
    If you get a fast enough computer, you should be fine. Check out the
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    >

  • How import AVI h.264 no Premiere CC 2014

    Can anyone help me??
    Did a render of an animation I produced in Blender AVI h.267 need to do some editing and I can not import into Premiere CC 2014. Not want to lose the quality of the animation I did

    Chico Crevin
    Do you have any version of Premiere Elements at the present time? What computer operating system is being used for your video projects?
    Premiere Elements does not support AVCHD (MPEG4 AVC/H.264).avi. It can support files with AVCHD compression, and it can support files with the file extension (wrapper format) .avi. But, it does not support the combo of AVCHD.avi (AVCHD video compression wrapped/contained by the .avi format.
    Do you really mean H.264.avi and not H.267.avi? You could download and install the free 30 days tryout of Premiere Elements 12 and determine if it will work for you with your particular file. If you wanted to send a sample H.264.avi via a Dropbox link in a post, I would be glad to test it on my Premiere Elements software.
    But, I am almost sure that the answer is going to be the same as you found for Premiere CC 2014 - no import for your H.264.avi.
    ATR

  • H.264 .mov files problem with 2-pass vbr in DVD SP4

    I have converted some VHS tapes by connecting the VCR to my camcorder (as a AC/DC bridge) and the camcorder to my macbook pro via firewire, and record using FCP into .mov files.
    However, these files are huge (13 GB for an hour), and so I shrinked them down by exporting them (using QT pro) into .mov file via h.264 codec.
    However, when I try to convert these already shrinked .mov files into mpeg2 files via compressor 2 (so that I can made a DVD in DVD SP), the files become corrupt when I use 2-pass vbr. (Frame freezes on play back in DVD SP and QT pro). It's OK with 1 pass vbr though.
    If I convert those huge .mov files via mpeg4 in QT pro rather than h.264, there is not problem with 2-pass vbr.
    So my delemma is: shall I store the files using mpeg4, or h.264?
    I am under the impression that h.264 gives a better quality for the same file size than mpeg4, but 2-pass vbr will give a better quality than 1-pass vbr if I want to burn it on a DVD.
    Thanks in advance.

    In general recompressing from VHS to your computer to H.264 (or MPEG 4) then to m2v is going to hurt quality, so if you are able to get extra Hard Drives and store that way, or even a inexpensive camera with a firewire in/out you are probably better off (though with VHS it may be hard to tell regardless)
    Also if you at least go straight the first time to m2v and check to make sure it looks okay to you, you may want to make sure to do that first
    That being said, H.264 and One-Pass should in all likelihood (I have not tried recently, did it a while ago just to test things) will be better than MPEG-4 2-Pass, depends on the settings. Also if you try 1-Pass H.264 it seems to work with Compressor.

  • Working with H.264

    I am looking at a new HD Sony camera.  The specification states that the file format is HD: MPEG4 AVC/H.264; SD: MPEG2.
    I have just upgraded from Premiere 6.5 and I know from experience that compressed file formats are not tolerated well.  I have research the question of whether CS4 will work well witht his HD format and have not found a conclusive YES or NO answer.  One source I found states that CS4 will work fine in everything from capture to edit to export, while another says it will not work.
    Can anyone please confirm for me whether the HD format for this camera will work with CS4??
    Thanks,
    Jim

    I've been reading comments about editing AVCHD and although it may be compatible with CS4 there is some strong opinion about not doing it.  That leads me to a general question about format conversion.
    I've been using AVS Video Converter to get files that will import and edit properly in Premiere.  One of the output file type choices is Uncompressed Original; PCM audio which make an AVI file that will work in Premier just fine.
    If a converter is used on an AVCHD file to produce a more editable file then is there anything lost in the translation along the way?  Presuming all the project settings are for high def with the proper aspect ratio, ect. then can one expect the final output video to look as good as the original AVCHD files?
    This isn't a question about the AVS converter so much as the general concept of conversion.  After all, the whole idea of shooting in high def is to end up with a high def video with all the quality advantages over standard DV.
    Any thoughts?

  • H.264 - THE ANSWER

    Put simply, to get H.264 video to work on the iPod, it needs to be BASELINE profile, not MAIN. As other posts have pointed out, programs like Handbrake use the main profile. If you want to export to iPod compatible H.264 from Quicktime (or another program such as QT Amateur for batch processing), select export "Movie to MPEG-4". Then under the file format drop-down list, pick "MP4". In the video tab under video format drop-down list, pick "H.264". Set your desired data rate (768 kbps max. according to Apple), image size (I've actually gotten larger than 320x240 to work on the iPod for both MPEG-4 and H.264, but too large and you get frame dropping), and frame rate. The KEY THING here is to click the "video options button" and select "Baseline" and deselect "main" (not sure if you need to deselect it, but I did). Encoding mode is your call, obviously 2 pass takes longer. Don't forget to set the Audio tab settings to 128 kbps AAC. Also, I had streaming off, not sure if it matters.
    Anyways, that's how I got this working. Sorry if someone else already posted this info, but I didn't see anything real obvious yet, so . . . hope this helps.

    The file type ends up as mp4 following these directions. I noticed that episodes of Lost have file type m4v. What is the difference?
    As far as I can tell there is no difference. The files created w/ quicktime using the ipod export setting gives a ,m4v file, while the files created with my above directions gives a file with a .mp4 extension. I've changed the extension on a working file and had it still work, it doesn't make a non-working file work.
    Followed all your instructions and the iPod still says it will not accept that format.
    I may have slightly mis-spoken earlier about support for higher resolutions. In MPEG4 and H.264, I have been able to get movies wider than 480 (MPEG) and 320 (H.264) pixels to work, but they were all in widescreen format, so the heights were smaller than spec. Basically, for H.264, 320x240 is 76800 pixels, I was able to get 384x200 (also 76800 pixels) to play on the iPod. Similar math for MPEG but max pixels being 480x480=230400.
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  • MPEG4 in, MPEG4 out: why getting bad quality using Premiere Pro CS3?

    I have to edit a great number of MPEG4 footage (H.264, 720p, 29.97 fps), created with a Samsung NV24HD camera. They have a good quality regarding sharpness, contrast, color. I want the final movies as MPEG4 files, in the same format as the sources.
    When I export an edited movie using the Adobe Media Encoder of Premiere Pro CS3, the quality is disappointing. A lot of details are lost and the contrast is less than the original footages. Further, I see that the size of the movies are reduced with about 30%.
    I use the H.264 preset ‘HDTV 720p 23.976 High Quality’, but with the frame rate changed to 29.97 fps. Other settings are default.
    My questions are:
    1) What's wrong here?
    2) Is the method using the Adobe Media Encoder of Premiere Pro CS3 the right one to do this job?
    3) Do I use the correct settings?
    Any help is appreciated.
    Arman

    created with a Samsung NV24HD camera.

  • Does converting from dvd to mpeg4 reduce file size?

    Ive searched over and over and cant find the answer to this.
    I ripped the DVD Bruce Almighty onto my computer using DVD decrypter. I then converted it using Videora Ipod converter. The ripped file was something like 6.5 gigs. The converted file is only 660MBs. Is this normal ?
    Also I have seen it happen opposite, where I downloaded a clip of a diamond store robbery and it started as a 9,791KB Windows Media Audio/Video file and after i converted it, it became a 40,990KB Mpeg-4 Movie file.
    Any help or explanation is greatly apreciated
    Oh and I watched bruce almight and it worked great, im definately not complaining that it took up less space, just curious of why and if the videora default settings are possibly converting to a smaller bit rate or something that is going to reduce quality when watching on ipod or itunes.

    yes thats compleatly normal. You're looking at 3 differant video formats that all compress differantly and efficiantly. The ipod uses Mpeg4 and h.264 which is a more efficiant version of mpeg4. What you have to rememver is when converting from other formats, the video becomes that new format and losses its old compression bit rate (how much data is prossesed per second) and format and gets a new bit rate and new format. Like when I edit video, its done in a format called DV on which 10 minutes of video takes 2 gigs. But the finished product becomes a dvd whichi can fit 1 hour of comparable video in the same space. Let me explain more.
    Mpeg2 is the video format of dvds. Mpeg2 is a pretty effiant codec but requires a pretty high but rate to be acceptable. Mpeg4 can do with less data and achieve around the same quality. Also you have to remember that vidora is resizing the video to a lower resolution making the video even smaller.
    As for a video getting bigger, thats normal as well. As I said is that the new file will achieve a new bit rate. Mpeg or wmv may need to be reencoded at a higher mpeg 4 bit rate to keep around the same quality of the original video. If you encoded the video at the same bit rate as the old video, youll loose alot of quaity form being double compressed.
    All this is hard to explain if you know nothing about video formats and how convertion works. Hope some of this makes sence

  • MPEG 4 and H.264

    Someone tell me what is better quality MPEG4 or H.264.

    From the Wikipedia entry on MEPG-4
    +"MPEG-4 is a patented collection of methods defining compression of audio and visual (AV) digital data. It was introduced in late 1998 and designated a standard for a group of audio and video coding formats and related technology agreed upon by the ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) under the formal standard ISO/IEC 14496."+
    ... and the entry on H.264
    +"MPEG-4 is a patented suite of standards which has many "parts", where each part standardizes various entities related to multimedia, such as audio, video, and file formats. To learn more about various parts and what they mean, please see the entry for MPEG-4.+
    +H.264 is a standard for video compression, and is equivalent to MPEG-4 Part 10, or MPEG-4 AVC (for Advanced Video Coding). The final drafting work on the first version of the standard was completed in May 2003.+
    +H.264 is the latest block-oriented motion-compensation-based codec standard developed by the ITU-T Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG) together with the ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG), and it was the product of a partnership effort known as the Joint Video Team (JVT). The ITU-T H.264 standard and the ISO/IEC MPEG-4 Part 10 standard (formally, ISO/IEC 14496-10) are jointly maintained so that they have identical technical content."+
    The essence is that MPEG-4 allows for a wide variety of uses and implementations, leading to a wide variety of compression levels, whereas H.264, being a subset, is more tightly defined for specific uses.
    AVCHD is also an implementation of MPEG-4, and you'll find most often that AVCHD files are smaller than either H.264 or 'standard' MPEG-4.
    Hope that does more than just confuse things further

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