Best Movie Format

What is the best movie format?
(And what is the smallest one in terms of memory usage?)

Then my first suggestion is to backup the files on DVD's.
Disc Burning Quick Assist
My second is to get an External HD and move the files to that. This will give you easy access to the files, a second form of backup and free up lots of space on your Internal HD.
Formatting & Partitioning a Hard Drive in OS X - Tiger
Lastly I prefer not to (compress/reformat) movie, itunes or photo files for quality reasons.

Similar Messages

What is best movie format for iBooks Author

What is the best movie format for iBooks Author?

Thanks for the people who helped my. Thanks to you I now have the answer. It is as follows:
1. Load your movie into Quick Time Player.
2. When in Quick Time Player go to File then Export to then check Broadband H.264, 5Mbp/s maximum data rate.
This worked for me so many thanks.

Best Movie Format for iDVD

I have several DVDs of children's stories that I am making a backup copy protect the originals. I use iSkysoft DVD Ripper to make a movie & then load this into iDVD to burn.
I tried the Quicktime movie format & that worked fine in iDVD, but the quality was not great. I have the choice in iSkysoft of choosing several formats; QT, MPEGs 1,2 & 4, DV, ASF, & FLV MPEG-4.
I have been experimenting with the MPEGs, but iDVD will not accept them.
What is my best format choice for the best quality DVD from iDVD (I am using Professional Quality encoding)?

You need to convert the VOB files back to DV which iMovie is designed to handle. For that you need mpegStreamclip:
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/video/mpegstreamclip.html
which is free, but you must also have the Apple mpeg2 plugin :
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/mpeg2/
which is a mere $20.
Another possibility is to use DVDxDV:
http://www.dvdxdv.com/NewFolderLookSite/Products/DVDxDV.overview.htm
which costs $25.
For the benefit of others who may read this thread:
Obviously the foregoing only applies to DVDs you have made yourself, or other home-made DVDs that have been given to you. It will NOT work on copy-protected commercial DVDs, which in any case would be illegal.

What is the best video format for 50+ year movie storage?

Objective: In what video format should I store my family movies on an external drive? I want these family movies to be viewable by future generations in 50 - 70 years, so what video format / type is recommended?
Background: I have an iMac, OS X 10.7.5. I use IMovie '11, version 9.0.8. My iMac has an internal DVD player and burner and iDVD is installed.
I have dozens of family movies (total 80+ hours) dating back nearly 70 years. All these films have been digitized and I have imported many of them into iMove as events, then I edit them with title pages, transitions, music, etc. When a "project" is completed (Between 1.5 - 2.0 hours or less) I share the project to iDVD where I burn it to a DVD. Within iMovie I save each of these projects (on the internal Mac HD, which consumes very little space) and on an external drive I save for each project:
- a disc image (DVD.img) whose size is about 4.5 GB
- a copy of the iMovie project, whose size is about 60 MB (the original project is in iMovie, in the Mac internal drive)
- the original digitized raw movies imported into iMovie as events and are formatted as .mov (these are large size at 8 GB - 20 GB each)
- the finalized and fully edited iDVD which is formatted as DVD.dvdproj (these are very large size at 20 - 24 GB each)
As you can see with all these disc images, projects, events and DVD projects stored on my external drive I am at nearly 1 TB of storage, on my way to 1.75 before I comple editing all movies.
While I manage pretty well the editing my movies within iMovie, and how to create an iDVD project and then burn a DVD, I have no understanding of the technical aspects of the multitude of different movie formats in the market nor of Quick Time and its format.
I am told that DVDs will only last 10 - 15 years and then begin to deteriorate. And iMovie '11 won't be arond 50 years from now. Nor will the current / recent versions of iDVD. Thus, for posterity:
1. In what format should I store my family movies on an external drive so they can be viewed by family members 50 - 70 years from now? (best chance for viewing, since we don't know what formats they will have then)
2. How do I convert from what I have (disc image, iMovie project, DVD project) to your recommended format?
Thank you,
HDP

There is no such format for movies or even Photographs. Frankly we can't guarantee the persistence of any format past the next 10 years, not to mind 50 - 70.
Codecs are being improved and created all the time, and this process will continue. In 50 years time we may still have .mov and .avi files, but the codecs that create the movies within will have changed.
One thing is reasonably sure: DVD will be as deader than floppy disks are now. Ditto Blue Ray. They're on the way out now, and in 10 years they'll be curiosities.
So, what's the solution:
Best I can suggest is to keep your movies on volatile media like Hard Disks (with back ups on other disks, or course). Progress will be evolutionary - as new formats come along there will be the option to migrate older data to these newer formats, and that's the trick. As always, when it comes to migration, the more data available the better the likely result, so keeping your movies in the least compressed versions possible seems a good approach.
That and a dollar will get you a cup of coffee someplaces, but nowhere fashionable.
Regards
TD

What is the best video format to stream my movies?

So I was just curious as or what the best video format would be to stream movies from my personal cloud to my device. The reason I ask is because I have the 32GB mode and alas I do not want to copy movies over only to delete them later. Plus I would have access to them on all my devices (PC, windows, and android....soon a Mac mini) currently I have them in the .avi format because it just would not make sense to have four different formats uploaded to ,my four terabyte personal cloud especially when I own hundreds of DVDs. Now I noticed that there is a bit of pixelation on my iPad Air when streaming, my upload speed is like 5mbps and download is close to 25mbps. I have several other devices communicating with my router, but they are inactive..so to say. The connection strength is strong (on my desk next to my bed. Speaking of streaming my movies how do I clear the actual cache (may not be called that on Apple). Thought it was on settings, but alas I was unable to find it.

As long as your video is transferred via Firewire into a DV AVI type 2 file (I don't know your camera) your edit footable is the best you can get
If what you want to create is a DVD, you already have Encore bundled with PrPro (I have the CS3 version of both)
Simply export as DV AVI and give that file to Encore... then tell Encore to use the AUTOMATIC setting when creating the DVD
Otherwise, work through all of the steps here http://ppro.wikia.com/wiki/Troubleshooting
If your problem isn't fixed, report back with the DETAILS asked for in the questions at the end of that link

Applications in dashboard not opening/what movie formats are best?

what movie format is best to download onto macbook? None of my usual applications (vuze, VLC, quicktime player) are responding/opening! I've always had trouble happening upon congruent formats, so that's my first question. Secondly, vuze which I usually use, has just stopped opening. The 'vuze downloads' window will open, but none of the movies in it will open, and the application itself won't pop up with its usual big window. The little vuze icon is still in my dashboard, though. I tried re-starting vuze, but it didn't do anything. QuickTime player won't respond either. HELP!!

Aug 16 16:06:41 Sam-Digneys-Computer crashdump[999]: crash report written to: /Users/samdigney/Library/Logs/CrashReporter/iTunes.crash.log
dyld: Library not loaded: /System/Library/Frameworks/WebKit.framework/Versions/A/WebKit
Referenced from: /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/MacOS/Safari
Reason: image not found
Aug 16 16:06:43 Sam-Digneys-Computer crashdump[1001]: Safari crashed
Aug 16 16:06:43 Sam-Digneys-Computer crashdump[1001]: crash report written to: /Users/samdigney/Library/Logs/CrashReporter/Safari.crash.log
dyld: Library not loaded: /System/Library/Frameworks/WebKit.framework/Versions/A/WebKit
Referenced from: /Applications/Mail.app/Contents/MacOS/Mail
Reason: image not found
Aug 16 18:33:51 Sam-Digneys-Computer crashdump[1027]: Mail crashed
Aug 16 18:33:51 Sam-Digneys-Computer crashdump[1027]: crash report written to: /Users/samdigney/Library/Logs/CrashReporter/Mail.crash.log
dyld: Library not loaded: /System/Library/Frameworks/WebKit.framework/Versions/A/WebKit
Referenced from: /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/MacOS/Safari
Reason: image not found
Aug 16 18:33:53 Sam-Digneys-Computer crashdump[1029]: Safari crashed
Aug 16 18:33:53 Sam-Digneys-Computer crashdump[1029]: crash report written to: /Users/samdigney/Library/Logs/CrashReporter/Safari.crash.log
hi,
here's the console log, It says image not found and crashed, i dont know what that would mean i have to do, the help thus far has still not changed the situation, i tried following the console tip of typing in a certain code and then entering my password but to no avail,
thanks for the continued assistance though
sam

Best export format for viewing on external TV?

I have a small project that I'd like to show via hooking my laptop up to a TV. What's the best Quicktime format/setting for exporting for doing this? Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Kristin.

Hi(Bonjour)!
The problem relies on the application that you will use to output your movie to the TV monitor.
If you use iDVD in full screen, outputed to TV set, simply burn your movie with iDVD and play it.
If you use quicktime player, in full screen mode,the image may be outputed to TV (I do not know).
May be with a presentation softwares like Keynote or powerpoint ?
TV format is NTSC interlaced 29.97 fps ( or PAL in Europe), but even if you export to this format, how will you play it on TV ?
Michel Boissonneault

How to save a video made with adobe VOICE (for ipad) in MOVIE format

I have made a video with adobe VOICE application for ipad. Does anybody know if there's a way to save the video in .MOV format. I see that it only allows me to upload the video and share it via email, FB, Twitter or message.

Hi felipe1,
You've landed in the Acrobat.com forum, and I was going to move your post to an more appropriate forum to get you question answered, but it doesn't look like we have one for Voice yet! I did find this page: Adobe Voice - Support
And, it doesn't look like there's an option to save as .mov format.
Best,
Sara

Best video format for converting DVD to NAS for widely sharing

Summary: The article shows you with an easy workaround for
copying DVD to NAS for streaming by ripping DVD to NAS friendly video
format on Mac and Windows
I recently purchased a NAS to store all my music/photos etc on. I
can stream stuff to my iPhone/iPad using the NAS software. What I want
to do is rip all my DVDs (over 400) to my NAS, but I’m not sure which
format to do it in, to play nice with my Apple TV2, Xbox 360, iPhone,
iPad etc. I wanna get some advice as to what format to rip in and what
software to use?
Learn some tips from online, I got know that to copy dozens of DVD movies to NAS,
you need to get the content off the DVD disc as a protection-free and
easily readable element for NAS. In this case, at the first place
powerful third-party software for backup DVD to NAS is what you need.
There are many, many DVD ripping tools on the market. I’ve tired a pile of them.
Brorsoft DVD Ripper
is the best one I’ve tried yet. It is capable of ripping DVD to MP4,
AVI, MKV for NAS streaming with no quality loss; it also enables you to
copy DVD main movies for backup onto NAS in .vob format. And what I’ve
learned is that MP4 would be one best target format for it is fully
compatible with nearly all media devices including iPad, iPhone, PS3,
Apple TV, etc. If you are running on Mac OS X, turn to DVD Ripper for Mac. If you haven’t got the software, download it now and let’s start the conversion.
Ripping and copying DVDs to NAS
1. Launch the DVD ripping program for NAS devices . Then
click "Load DVD" to import the DVD files you want to convert. To select
the subtitles you like, simply click Subtitle and select the one you
prefer. P.S. Before start the conversion, you can choose to backup DVD mian movies.
2. Click Format bar and choose your desired format. To store
hundreds of DVD's on NAS, you can rip DVD to .mp4, or .avi, .mkv, etc
compressed format. And click Settings bar, you can adjust the level of
compression to suit the quality you want.
Tip: If you like, you can click “Settings” to change the
video encoder, resolution, frame rate, etc. as you wish. Keep in mind
the file size and video quality is based more on bitrate than resolution
which means bitrate higher results in big file size, and lower visible
quality loss, and vice versa.
3. Press the "Convert" button to start ripping DVD for NAS streaming.
After the conversion, click Open button to find the output files.
Make sure the wireless network connection is accessible among the NAS
and Apple TV, PS3, HD TV or other media players. Then just enjoy the
high quality DVD movies anywhere anytime.
[quote] movies-videos-convert-tips.overblog.com/2014/02/ripping-dvds-to-nas-how-to-copy-dvd-to-nas-for-streaming.html [/quote]

I've always found encoding with Handbrake and choosing the Apple TV2 preset is an excellent place to start and video encoded using that preset will work on my iPhone 4, 4S and iPad 2.
If the files encoded using that preset are too big for one's taste they can always encoded at a lower average bit rate rather than using the default 'Constant Quality' of 20.
Later on I'm sure the Handbrake group will have an AppleTV '3' preset supporting the 1080p format supported by the ATV3 and iPad '3' but using such a preset would not create a file usable on the iPad 2 or the iPhones.

In iMovie 10.1 for Mavericks, how do I output in .mov format?

In iMovie 10.1 for Mavericks, how do I export a movie in .mov format?

Thanks Pieter. It looks like streamclip might work albeit a bit messier. It is very disappointing that the latest iMovie does not seem to be able to directly output to the .mov file format.
It looks like going back to the previous version of iMovie might be the best choice.
Regarding your curiosity, I am submitting a slide show for a theatre presentation. The rules state:
Slideshows must be submitted as single video files in .MOV format. Any slideshows submitted in a different format will be rejected.

Best Native format for iMovie (2013)

Looking for some advice on what formats are recommended to use with iMovie (2013) and FInal Cut Pro (2013) and a Canon XA20.
Would like to film in best quality but confused on what formats are now actually supported in iMovie (2013) and recommended for use. I understand iMovie '11 was unable to import AVCHD without processing. Is this still the case with iMovie (2013) or was this fixed. Can iMovie handle MP$ @ 35 Mbps and is this a format one would want to edit.
The XA20 can record in both AVCHD and MP4 in the following:
Movie format
Recording mode
Resolution
Audio format
AVCHD
28 Mbps LPCM (59.94P)
1920 x 1080
Linear PCM
28 Mbps (59.94P)
Dolby Digital
24 Mbps / LPCM
Linear PCM
24 Mbps
Dolby Digital
17 Mbps
5 Mbps
1440 x 1080
MP4
35 Mbps (59.94P)
1920 x 1080
AAC
24 Mbps
17 Mbps
4 Mbps
1280 x 720
3 Mbps
640 x 360
Would appreciate any thoughts. I've gone through many posts and see there were limitations on iMovie 11, but not sure if these were fixed in iMove (2013). If I would be better to forget iMovie and move to FInal Cut Pro (2013) let me know know thoughts.

What format and bit rate would that be?
Recording Format
Bit Rate
Resolution
Frame Rate
AVCHD
28 Mbps (59.94P)
1920 x 1080
59.94P*1
24 Mbps
1920 x 1080
59.94i/PF29.97/ 23.98P*1
17 Mbps
1920 x 1080
59.94i/PF29.97/ 23.98P*1
5 Mbps
1440 x 1080
59.94i/PF29.97/ 23.98P*1
MP4
35 Mbps (59.94P)
1920 x 1080
59.94P
24 Mbps
1920 x 1080
29.97P/23.98P*2
17 Mbps
1920 x 1080
29.97P/23.98P*2
4 Mbps
1280 x 720
29.97P/23.98P*2
3 Mbps
640 x 360
29.97P/23.98P*2

Best video format to encode for playback on iBook G4 1.2GHz?

I have been scratching my head for a week on this. What is the best video format that is highest quality and will playback smoothly on my iBook g4 and my iPhone 4? It has 1.25GB of RAM and I upgraded the HD to a WD 250GB 5400 RPM IDE drive 2 years ago and it's running dual boot Leopard 10.5.8 and Tiger 10.4.11 (keeping Tiger for Classic Mode).
I have a very large HD video collection consisting of 720p HD DVDs and 1080p Bluray discs that I have already spent a year to convert to MKV and MP4 files for storage on my media server. They have all been ripped and encoded with H264 using Handbrake. The average 720p movie is about 4.5GB and the average 1080p movies run about 8GB. I have over 100 movies stored on my media server and they playback fine on all my computers. They work fine on all my Windows 7 systems, they even play fine on my G5 2.0GHz DC late 2005 Powermac with 8.5GB Ram and the NVidia 7800GT.
Most of my 720p files can be reduced in size and or quality to 1-2GB and are playable on my iPhone 4, iPad 2 and even my little Acer Aspire One netbook in m4v or mp4 format.
I know my iBook is out of date, but no matter what compression method I have tried, the only thing it can play is MPEG-2 encoded media. And it cannot handle any h264 video I make, even at 480p settings using the simple profile. Since MPEG-2 takes 4-8GB per movie, this is a huge waste of HD space. And if I encode my movies like the old iPod video size, it looks like crap in full screen. I really want to store about 20 movies on this iBook for playback when I travel since I have 2 extra batteries. I need to movies to playback on the iBook and be able to transfer them to my iPhone 4 or iPad at any time.
Is there any method for getting 480p to encode and playback well on this iBook without making it look like crap or using the old DivX avi standard? If I have to reduce all my movies for playback on the iBook, I don't want to go lower than 480p because I want the same conversions to work on my iPhone 4 as well with decent quality. It is redundant to keep making copies of each movie for each device. Anyone have any suggestions? I don't want to take my little netbook around with me because the screen is too small and there is no opticle drive.
If anyone has any ideas, please post which Handbrake profile or other that can work... or let me know if my iBook is just garbage now. Thanks!

I am not asking you how to rip a DVD. I am asking how to convert any video file for decent playback on my iBook or iPhone!
This feature is available in iTunes so you can convert your DVDs to iPod playable formats. But when iTunes or Handbrake (or even Apple Compressor) convert anything, even my own videos made with Final Cut and iMovie, they will play on any iDevice other than my iBook unless I use the lowest most terrible video format.
I am just trying to figure out the proper video format the iBook can play. I am not ripping the DVD's right now... did that years ago anyways (and half of the videos I want to convert I made with iMovie during my travels in China and Hong Kong... I am just trying to play movies I already own on an older iDevice... my iBook. Converting purchased videos and home made videos is in no way illegal.
You misunderstand what I am asking. I am not trying to break digital copyright. If this is breaking digital copyright, then why does iTunes allow me to convert the movies for my iPhone 4 in the first place? You are telling me if I didn't purchase the movie from Apple I cannot watch it on my iPhone and iBook? That is not right.
I just want to know what the proper video playback requirements are for the iBook hardware. Plain and simple. If it is illegal in any way to tell me how to do it, just tell me what video my iBook supports. Apple tells me what video my iPhone supports ie. 1280x720p @ 29fps.... blah blah blah. Seems so far the iBook can only play a DVD MPEG-2 stream and no advanced codecs like h263 or h264. I just want to know what format the iBook can handle.
I have exported movies from iTunes and of my time in Hong Kong from iMovie and I cannot get them to play on the iBook at all if they are even 480p. So I just need to know what the max video playback is. If it can only play 320x240 or something, it is completely useless. I remember years ago when I bought the iBook, it did play the sample h263 and h264 videos that Apple had on their website (some of them 480p-720p)... but today it seems it can't play anything but 320x240 or less without getting locked up. I know the HD video requirements are G5 or higher... but we are talking DVD size cannot play in h264 mp4 formats, only MPEG-2 formats. This makes no sense? So I need to know the exact maximum resolution, framerate and codec this iBook 1.2 GHz can handle.
Don't tell my watching movies on my iBook, even the ones I made is illegal.

Best Output Format for Slide Show?

If I were to purchase Final Cut Studio...
What would be the best output format to use for a simple slideshow intended for Web deployment? In other words, which encoding method will provide the best compromise between file size and video quality? The slideshow is a series of simple static images with some fade transitions and Ken Burns effects. There is also a soundtrack for background music.
A 1.5 minute slideshow with soundtrack created using Adobe Flash is less than 2 MB in size (which is great for Web deployment), and it looks very good. If that same slideshow is exported from Flash to a QuickTime-compatible format, it balloons to over 20 MB!
So what I'd really like to know is, if something like Final Cut Pro were used to create that same slideshow, would I be able to produce a web-ready video that rivals the Flash version in size?
Thanks for any help and insight you can provide,
-Steve

Studio X wrote:
Quicktime is a file wrapper that can contain anyone of a number of codecs.
Yes, I understand that.
H.264 is the prefered version for web/apple TV delivery.
A 90s slideshow that was less than 2 MB as a SWF file became a 27 MB behemoth when exported using the H.264 codec. The exported file had the same frame rate and resolution (pixel dimensions) as the original Flash file. The audio was optimized as well. Why the dramatic difference? (I think I know why, but perhaps I'm missing something.)
That being said, Final Cut Pro is a video editing program and is a waste of money if all you are doing is simple slideshows.
Slideshows are not all I will be doing, but I will be doing them occasionally, and it's hard to justify purchasing Flash just to create slideshows that are optimized for the Web.
Have you tried iMovie then converting the output to either Flash or (if you have Quicktime Pro) converting to h.264 QT?
My tests indicate that anything but Flash format results in a monstrous file for a simple slideshow. I have a notion as to why this is, but I wanted to check to make sure that I'm not overlooking some way of creating smaller non-Flash files.
The bottom line is that Final Cut Studio will be far more useful and versatile for what I need to do, and I would be much more proficient with that software; but if I can't output video files that rival those of Flash in terms of quality and file size, then I might have to get a copy of Flash after all.
And yes, you can convert a QuickTime movie to flash, but it's just not the same in terms of file size as generating the same slideshow directly in Flash. I suspect this is because Flash is optimized for animation, whereas the QuickTime codecs are designed for video, and a simple slideshow is more of an animation than a video.
So my real question is (and I suspect the answer is no), is it possible using Final Cut Studio to generate a simple slideshow which rivals the output from Flash in terms of file size for a given resolution?
-Steve

What is the best digital format from VHS to iMove?

Hello - I am getting some VHS tapes converted to digital files to edit on iMovie 11. They will be edited on a Macbook Pro 13" and it would be convenient if they could also work in FCE later on. My plan was to ask the company doing the conversion to put the files/movies on a portable hard drive, rather than DVD. And then import them or edit on iMovie. But is mpeg 4 the best end format or something else?
Thanks.
Simon

$500 -- ouch!!
Along with the new deck, I bought another brand new Sony Handycam MiniDV camcorder, because our Canon broke this summer too as well which served us very well for 10 years. It started eating tape, but we feed it new tapes every time we record; probably why it lasted so long?!? This camcorder set me back around $200. Yes, they are hard to find, but I work in the digital photo/video business, so sometimes dealers may have new old stock where you can bargain down. I was extremely lucky to had bought a new old stock from a dealer that had it but couldn't sell it. Perfect.
You're right -- tape to tape transfers is not ideal as degradation in S/N will impede on image quality. But I'm assuming the OP is simply using consumer grade VHS camcorders, so the analog to DV transfer is ok if done once. Then DV tape through Firewire is an analog to digital transfer. Once the OP has the digital copy inside the computer, it will never degrade if you make multiple copies on the hard drive.
Another solution the OP can look into is that some shops (getting rare these days) may have a Canon GL-2 on their rental pool and the OP can just use its built-in Analog to Digital (Firewire) pass through to transfer VHS analog footage directly into iMovie or FCE!
Wow, it's good to hear another person here still using DV!

Best Video format for Aperture, Final Cut Pro, iPad, and iPhones

I am moving all of my photos and video into Aperture and notice that only .MOV video form my iPhone 4 and .MP4 video from my go pro camera are displayed in Aperture browser mode. The .MPG files form my old Sony Powershot do not show up in the browser or in "Video" searches. I also have a set of very large (13GB) .AVI video files that I cannot import into Final Cut Pro.
My first question is:
If I want all of my videos to be completely compatible with all of my Apple products, should I convert everthing to .MOV format, and if so; whcih converter should I use?
My second question is:
My ten big (13gb) sets of vacation video are still on mini DV cassettes. I have already imported them into a PC as .AVI files. What should I convert them to, in order to edit them in Final Cut Pro; or should I import them again directly into Final Cut Pro? If so, which format is best?
Thank you for your advice,

"Is this even possible?."
No.
First, you don't need any additional software.
Second, every time video is processed it will change in some way. It will never be exactly the same as the original. It may in fact look better. However, you are not dealing with a top of the line camera. There are many compromises in it to make it affordable. These compromises in lens, chip size and quality and so on will be exacerbated as the media is processed. If the shooting conditions are not optimal, light, camera support, content, format, all of these will make reproducing the exact original more difficult and more improbable. That said AVCHD is inherently an excellent format and you should get excellent results. There is a great deal you can do in color correction and effects to improve the image and make it even more pleasing than the original, but this requires work and is not sonething achieved by clicking a button. It is also not something achieved by simply plugging in the camera and running the software. That is not how to get the best out of it. It's complex, professional software that's going to take time to learn, and video production is a complex process that takes time and effort to do really well.
My opinion which is worth what you paid for it.

Best Movie Format

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