Amateur question reagarding quality of video formats

Since iMovie '08 came out, I switched to FCE, to get into the program, before support for iMovie 06 HD disappears completely,
Now with the discussion of the future of FW on Apple's non pro machine, I do have the following question, which is not immenent to me right now, but would regard possible future investment in a new Videocamera and / or computer:
Presently I am using a DV based camera, occastionally having used HDV. Should Apple pursue the path of dropping firewire on some of their machines, I may have to consider getting a USB based camera for replacement (my current camera is close to four years old, so that perspective isn't too far).
Now, from what I learned, DV and HDV are not availalbe for USB, so in how do the codecs used with USB cameras compare to the DV and HDV formats. By this, I mean a comparison on the basis of picture and sound quality, only. And please, I do not intend this question for a discussion of pro/con firewire /usb or pro/con harddrive vs. tape. Just plainly a question and some advice of the quality of the footage I get on my computer.
Thx for any advice!
Dirk

DV and HDV use the MPEG2 compression standard to store video.
USB cameras use the newer AVCHD model which uses MPEG-4 Part 10 (also known as AVC also known as h.264)
h.264 was intended to get more data packed into the same bitrate thus giving higher quality. The idea being the 24 Mbps h.264 would be superior to 24 Mbps MPEG2. While in general this is held to be true, how much better is greatly debated.
My limited experience says that image quality depends far more on the equipment itself rather than the codec. If your camera has good optics and focuses well, your image quality will be better, regardless of which codec you use. I opted for an AVCHD camera when I purchased mine more because of size (it stores to flash cards) more than anything else.

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What video format is best for video quality?

Would anyone care to comment on what video format is recommended to achieve the best video quality in Encore when burning to a 25 GB Blu-ray disc? I have the choice of saving my HD video that will be imported into Premier Pro CS4 (and then sent to Encore CS4) in .mp4, .mt2s or .ts and I'm not sure which one will give me the best results. Thanks in advance for the insight!
Ken

does that mean that one is not necessarily "better" than the other?
That is correct.
Now, some feel that with the MP4 H.264 that there are differences between the Apple, the Lead and the MainConcept H.264. Each supplier has a "camp of followers."
Hunt

Video format questions

What video format for the Ipod video is better mpeg4 or h265?
What are the pros and cons of both?
which is better or worse and why?
Thanks

What video format for the Ipod video is better mpeg4 or h265? which is better or worse and why?
"Better" and "worse" depend on the criteria upon which you base your judgement. What is "better" for you may be "worse" for the person standing next to you. In this arena, your choice should likely be considered in terms of efficiency of time, space, and complexity.
What are the pros and cons of both?
MPEG4, as the older of the two, is less complex/faster to encode, produces a larger file for a given quality, and offers a wider range of data rates/potential for compatibility. On the other hand, H.264 as the newer hi-def version of MPEG4 is more complex and requires much more time to encode. As such, its files are much smaller for a given level of quality and come with a much lower data rate which forces the player to work much harder. In any event, best is a relative term and will depend on whether you are primarily interested in how long it takes to encode your movie, the amount of space the file takes up on your iPod, or the overall quality you demand in balancing the previous two options.

Video format and another question

I saw someone else ask what video format photos for iOS supports but i had a couple of extra questions so didn't want to hijack his.
I've been using aperture for years but my library was really messy, i'm loving photos overall so far as i hardly used the features in aperture and the interface looked a bit dated. Sharing photos was also a bit of a nightmare compared to the new photos app.
Anyway instead of importing the whole aperture library, which i didn't want to do as it was messy, i decided to start fresh with a new photos library and just copy/drag the photos over from my aperture albums/folders. Firstly, am I right in assuming when i do this, it will actually hardcopy the photo over into the photos library and not just a link or a soft copy from aperture? Therefore i can delete the aperture library once all photos are copied over and i will still have all the original photos in the new app? Just to note, i didn't use referenced files in aperture.
Secondly, unless I'm being really stupid, none of my older videos taken on IPHONES seem to copy over, even from just last year using an iPhone 5. the format seems to be .MOV.
Now, SURELY, apple are not going to release an photos app that DOESN"T support the importing of videos taken on their own phones from just a few months ago?

Hi. Your understanding of how the copies from your old library are not quite correct, but the bottom line is you would be able to delete your old Aperture library afterwards (or at some point, which might be a wiser approach). I used iPhoto not Aperture so I'm not sure if it's the same but take note of what you are actually exporting so you keep any GPS, date, keyword information etc. etc. you might have added.
Some have encountered this movie issue and found that simply exporting it to the desktop before adding it to Photos is enough, others have found the export to the desktop works but not the import into Photos and have had to use Quicktime to export it again to an Apple Device compatible format. Clearly the videos should be supported, I don't believe Apple have decided not to but rather that something has/is going wrong.

I finished making an animated .gif image in FireWorks. My question is, how do I convert it into video so that when I edit video, that every video editing program recognizes it? Long story short, How do I convert animated .gif files into video formats?

I worked in Adobe FireWorks to make the animated .gif. What program do I use to convert the file from .gif to any video format: .mp4, .m4v, .avi, .wmv, etc. I want to convert it into video format, so that QuickTime Player plays the video, I can insert it into iMovie '11 and edit, and also insert it into Final Cut Pro X and edit video.

Thanks for getting back with me so promptly. It has taken me this time to connect with the proper people to find out the information you requested.
The camera used to film the class was a Panasonic AG-HMC40P, owned by a local cable TV station; they use Kodak video encoding software, and a SD card was used to store the video. The file extension is .mts, and the mime file is MPEG 2 transport. He said I probably need an AVCHD converter, and the Mac app store lists 8 of those options, 4 free and 4 for up to $9.99. He said I'll also need a converter for later plans of posting on YouTube or on the website, and while some of those in the app store might work for the later needs, he knows one app called "Compressor" that would work for the uploading later. He also suggested I could try renaming the .mts file to .MP2T, but he wasn't sure that would work.
They don't work with Macs at the studio, but I had thought I could have some lessons there in editing, and apply what I learned to my iMac and iMovie.
First, though, I have to be able to see it and review it!
Thanks again!

Flash for Mac "Quicktime Video" format question

I used Mac to create a video in Flash 8.0. When I export the
clip, i used "Quicktime Video" format (not the "Quicktime" option).
But when I play the file in Windows, I couldn't get it to open or
convert to other formats such as .AVI. Is there a codec for
"Quicktime Video" to work under windows XP? Please help.
Thanks.

Hi s2foster2, well I am certainly willing to try to help you, just don't know if I can be much help because I am not very
familiar with Mac. I was able to help a couple of people but that was due to them being able to send me screenshots.
I understand Flash Player but where programs, add ons, ActiveX Controls, even where the Flash files are located I don't know. I do know Mac has a Library:-)
Some new information has come to light tonight however, by one of our most helpful people on the forum. This was about
the 3rd party content, etc.
I looked at your FF add ons and you have the SWF and it's correct. Do you know where the Flash files are and could you
post back all of the Flash files with version numbers? That will tell me if Flash Player is installed with the correct files.
We can have a go at this if you want. I can tell you what info I need as long as you know where to find it, because I don't.
Let me know,
thanks,
eidnolb

What is the best video format for importing into After Effects CS5

Please look at this video, work in progress.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49_wbdKALQk
The opening, featuring a ribbon of videos, was created in After Effects, using Digieffects Freeform.
The issue is the poor quality of the videos that are featured in the opening -- compared to the higher quality of videos from the original Premiere project., which you can see at the end of the clip.
To create the After Effects project, I exported a series of video clips from Premiere to mp4.
Then I imported them into AfterEffects.
The bottom line, and the purpose of this question, is I am thinking that MP4 was not the best choice for the Adobe Premiere export.
What is the best format to export video from in Premiere Pro CS5 to import into after effects, or to import into any other editing program, incuding importing right back into Adobe Premiere, if that is eever needed.
AVI?
MOV
MP4
And any other settings that will result with the highest qualiity videos for importing.
Thanks

To follow on with Wade's suggestion...
There are lots of ways to get movies and projects and other things back and forth between After Effects and Premiere Pro. This page outlines them:
"Working with Premiere Pro and After Effects"
If you must render and export a movie out of one application to bring it into another, there is a very basic piece of video workflow advice that you need to keep in mind (which applies to _all_ video software, not just After Effects and Premiere Pro):
If you're creating a movie to be used in the next step of a post-production pipeline, you _never_ want to use a format that does lossy compression. You either use no compression or (preferable) lossless compression. Examples of codecs that provide lossless compression are the Animation codec and PNG codec at the highest quality settings; these can be used in a QuickTime container, for example. Never compress a movie with lossy compression except at the very end of your pipeline, when you're creating the final movie for distribution.
MP4 (MPEG-4) is a lossy codec. The quality loss is acceptable for the last stage in the pipeline, but it's not acceptable for an intermediate file.
It seems that you would benefit from reading this and and working your way through this.

IPhone 5 Video Formats / Resolutions

Hi,
Apple Tech Specs for the iPhone 5 says the following:
Video formats supported: H.264 video up to 1080p, 30 frames per second, High Profile level 4.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4 and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video up to 2.5 Mbps, 640x480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps per channel, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4 and .mov file formats; Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280x720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format
http://www.apple.com/uk/iphone/specs.html
That gives the maximum MP4 playable resolution as 640x480. I have the option to encode some of my videos as 640x360 MP4s or as 1280x720 MP4s. My questions are as follows:
Am I right that 1280x720 MP4s just won't play on the iPhone 5?
Is it easy for me to convert 1280x720 MP4s into H.264, which would support that resolution? If so, how? (I have access to both OSX and Windows, but would prefer to do the conversion on Windows)
Will I be able to notice any major difference on the iPhone 5 screen between 640x360 MP4s and a 1280x720 H.264?
Thanks very much in advance!

1. If the codec is H.264, iPhone 5 will play it;
2. To convert videos or DVDs to 720p or 1080p videos for iPhone 5, usually, an iPhone 5 video converter has built-in output video profile for iPhone 5, you won’t any worries about the resolution, codec and format.
3. The 720p one is clearer than the 660x360 one, however, the file size is much larger. In addition, the quality of the output video also depends on the resolution of the input video.

Different video formats

Hi, I need some help.
I've been using Premiere Pro for about a month now, so I know the basics, but I'm still not an expert.
My problem is that the filming I've been doing (using Fraps) is in 3 different video formats :
1. 640x400 with 120 fps
2. 720x450 with 120 fps
3. 1280x800 with 30 fps
I've tried putting them all together in a sequence and editted the video sizes/formats so they all fit each other, but it seems to ruin the quality of the videos and also make it blurry at places (especially when exporting). Now my question is, if it is possible to have all 3 video formats in one sequence without it ruining the quality?
I've thought of changing the video formats before importing them into Premiere Pro - just not sure if this is possible.
Thanks in advance!
[Moved from the generic Cloud forum to the specific Program forum... Mod]

Upscaling that 640 footage to anything "higher" would be problematic, so you'd be limited at best to the 720 to get really usable output. But if you're downscaling to the 640, then if done properly should look good. What's your settings for sequence & export?
Neil

Best video format to export from final cut pro to encore

hi, i'm using final cut pro and no matter what format i export my video in, be it quicktime, mpeg2 or avi, there's still a slight degradation of picture quality when i import it into encore. mpeg2 by far suffers the least. but is there a best video format i can export from final cut to adobe so dat there's minimal loss in quality?

Sure, export it as an uncompressed AVI or QT file.

Pre Lion iPhone videos show Thumbnail but can't play - new video generates Unsupported Video Format popup, no thumb but will play via quicktime

This is really frustrating -
Over the last year I have been uploading all of my photos and occasional iPhone video to Aperture 3 (latest version all patches in place).    Aperture would recognize the video, create a thumbnale and otherwise treat it nicely.
Now, since upgrading to Lion I find that though I can "see" the old videos in their folders or projects and the associated Thunbnale, I can't play them - I either get the spinning color wheel and then nothing or Aperture will crash and report an error relating to Quicktime (sorry don't have an error code at the moment).
If I try and export a video I can - but what I get also can't be played by Quicktime - just a black screen. When I hit Play - the scroll bar moves, but there is no sound or video.
From Final Cut Pro X, I can imoprt this exported video file and see that it appears complete - but FCPX uses it's own playback elements.
If I shoot a new video on my iPhone, I find that I can see the thumbnale in the import option of Aperture when looking at the phone, but once imported I get a Popup telling me that it is an "Unsupported Video Format" - "Do you want to open this video clip with QuickTIme Player?"   If I hit Open then the clip does play, but the thumbnale remains a black square with the warning Exclamation Point.
I have also had some issues with Lion Mail crashing when trying to play a video made on an iPhone and sent to me via email.   Seems more likley to be a Lion / Quicktime issue then an Aperture and Mail issue - but who knows.
I spent 2.5 hours of quality time with the Genius bar this morning. We reinstalled Lion and after that the suggestion was to trash and re-install Aperture, but that would require my disc and of coruse a trip home.   Mail doesn't seem to still have the issues with iPhone movies that it had - but Aperture is still not happy.
Did as instructed and dragged Aperture 3 to the trash, did the empty trash option, restarted and reinstalled.   Then did a software update to catch the new update for Aperture and it found that.   Interestingly when I did start it up after that it DID NOT ask me for my key - so clearly some elements were left over.
Now upon retstarting Aperture 3 once again I find that I can still see my old movies (their thumbnails show up) but I still can't play them.   The new test movie is there but still generates the popup regarding it being an Unsupported Video Format.
And it's not just my iPhone.   Video sent via email from another iPhone can play as an attachment, or when dragged and dropped to the desktop, but once imported into Aperture is once again proclaimed to be an Unsupported Video Format.
Hoping someone out there knows how to resolve this....

For some reason it just started to work now. Have no idea what didn't work before.

How to use different video formats in the one timeline?

Hi everyone,
So I am in the middle of stringing together a rough cut for a surf flick/documentary shot in some remote Indonesian islands…
Things so far are going well, but I am slightly confused regarding the best way to tackle a slight issue (hopefully slight!) of video format compatibility.
The main shooting for the film was done with .mov video format and this has been imported/captured into final cut pro 7 using the correct settings, which has now formed the basis for my rough cut.
However, I did a lot of filming with some other cameras (underwater, POV etc) and so also have some crucial footage in different formats that to my knowledge will not be compatible with the timeline that I have already created in FCP.
The files are as following:
AVI
MOD
MP4
I am assuming the best way to go about things is convert all these different files into a compatible form that I can then drop straight into my existing timeline.
Unfortunately, I am just beginning to learn the more techy aspects of editing and I don’t have the first idea of how to go about doing this…?
Any helpful feedback would be greatly appreciated…
Thanks in advance,
m

Although there are kinds of standard workflows for best quality in final product, it helps to know a bit more about your setup... what is your primary format? Without knowing that, the best way forward is to convert all of your footage to Apple ProRes. Especially the MP4 stuff. There are different ways about doing that, but I personally recommend Compressor. This can take some time depending on the amount and lengths of your shots, but it is well worth the process.
Make sure you choose 48k / 16bit AIF for all of your shots that have audio. If some of your footage is 1080p and some is 720p, I personally leave that alone because when you have this type of a difference in footage, I like to set my sequence to 720p giving me the option to move or pan the 1080p clips inside of the 720p sequence. Final Cut Pro is very good at handling that difference.
Hope the edit goes well; sounds like a nice project!

CS5 Mixed video formats in same sequence

New user here, coming from 10 years of Pinnacle Studio.
I have at least 3 different video formats to edit in a single sequence/timeline (iPhone, 720 from a Sony point and shoot, and 1080i from a Canon video camera). Depending on which format I use for the sequence, when I drag the videos to the main Video1 track, the audio will go to whatever track is appropriate for the mono or stereo. The iPhone and Sony are both mono and will be on one track and the Canon is stereo so its audio jumps to a stereo track.
So my question is, am I to make all my audio adjustments on both mono and stereo audio tracks depending on where I am making the volume changes on the timeline. In Pinnacle, the video and associated audio was always on the same track pair. I was just wondering about workflow and the best way to make the audio adjustments.
My project typically is a year's worth of video footage from the 3 sources, making a Year In Review. There will be soundtrack music from MP3's playing most of the time, with occasional original audio from the video being raised in volume for a few seconds, then fading back down to hear the soundtrack again. Keeps the audience more engaged.
One more question, what format should my sequence match, the 1080 stereo Canon, 720 mono Sony, or mono iPhone. The end result will be for viewing on widescreen big screen DVD or Blu-ray. I would like to make the mono on both channels, and upscale to 1080. Not sure the best way to do this.
Any guidance will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

Thanks everyone. I will continue practicing and learning.
Another question. After editing, I will be authoring with Encore, which I have used for many years now. How should I structure the audio tracks in Premiere if I want the mixed audio track (master track) to be the main audio track in Encore (on the DVD) and the original video's audio to be the alternate audio track in Encore (on the DVD). While playing back the DVD, the default audio track will be the mixed audio. If the viewer wants to hear the original audio only, then they just hit the audio button on the remote to switch tracks.
Funny how this requirement came about. For years I always just had the mixed audio. But while watching the videos, my kids started telling me they wanted to hear the original audio. Knowing the video would be too boring to adults without a soundtrack, I came up with the idea for multiple audio tracks. That requirement eliminated the consumer lever authoring tools, which is what pushed me to Encore back in the version 1.0 days. Since then I have been using Studio to edit, and Encore to author. Now I am trying to dump Studio and use the Premiere/Encore pair.
The way I did this in Pinnacle Studio was to output the video and mixed audio as an AVI or MPEG2 file, and import this as the timeline in Encore. Then from Pinnacle Studio, output the original audio only as a .wav file, and import this as a 2nd audio track in Encore. Worked perfectly...as long as Pinnacle kept the audio in sync, which at times was difficult, but with the newer releases of Studio, it worked much better.
Thanks for all the guidance.

My iWeb site - video format not supported on iPhone

So, I have a video on my site, done in iWeb,(opens in the iPhone Safari browser), its a,Quicktime FastStart movie - my iPhone won't play it. How is it that an Apple product won't play an Apple format movie on an Apple mobile browser?
I understand the iPhone does not support Flash - so how does it play YouTube clips?
I have uploaded QT or .mov files into my iPhone to the iPod part of the phone- so what gives?

VidVantageProducer wrote:
So, I have a video on my site, done in iWeb,(opens in the iPhone Safari browser), its a,Quicktime FastStart movie - my iPhone won't play it. How is it that an Apple product won't play an Apple format movie on an Apple mobile browser?
The guidelines in this Apple doc may help:
_Safari Web Content Guide for iPhone OS — Creating Video_
...To download the same doc in easier-to-navigate PDF format, right-click (or control-click) on _THIS LINK_ and choose +Download Linked File+. (The video section starts on page 73.)
And a summary of supported video formats is here:
_iPhone - Technical Specifications_
VidVantageProducer wrote:
I understand the iPhone does not support Flash - so how does it play YouTube clips?
Those YouTube clips playing on an iPhone are in the H.264 format. YouTube is in the process of encoding videos on the site as the H.264 format so they can all be viewable on the iPhone and AppleTV in higher video quality. They're adding more of these encoded videos each week until their full library is available in the H.264 format. ...Info taken from here.

Video format supported - Nokia N95

Hi,
Maybe I can be wrong, but I think that I have moved a MPEG video into Nokia N95 and it worked fine. However, I tried to do the same thing with another video file (mpeg) and it didnt work, Nokia N95 didnt recognize the file. I dont know if the reason was the lenght of the file 40mb.
I have some questions about it:
1) Which video format is supported on N95?
2) Is there a way to use any format (AVI, MPEG,..) without converting it?
Thanks.

Hi brjohnsmith
Unfortunately you are going to need to use a converter although there is a wide choice and you may find this post by el_loco whom is an authority on the subject of use:
/discussions/board/message?board.id=smartphones&message.id=38334#M38334
Just one example of software available with which you can drag'n'drop YouTube files for example is Mobiola Studio:
http://www.warelex.com/products/studio
Happy to have helped forum in a small way with a Support Ratio = 37.0

Amateur question reagarding quality of video formats

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