Editing im MP4 or AIC?

I have read that iMovie 9 can handle MP4 files for editing. I am interested in the best video quality. Should I iMovie convert my MTS-files automaticly, or should I convert my MTS-files to MP4 files to edit?
Thanks for your advice in advance!

I would suggest that you allow iMovie to convert the files for you. On import, iMovie converts the AVCHD clips (MTS files) to the AIC format (Apple Intermediate Codec). This allows iMovie to edit at the individual frame level, but doesn't degrade the quality of the original compressed footage (at least to any discernible level). Note that you have a choice of importing at Large (960 x 540) or Full (1920 x 1080). Both produce excellent results, in my experience.
When exporting you have various export options available to you, including several presets, such as H.264, and custom QuickTime settings. The export process is really what determines the final video quality, subject of course to the quality of the original imported video.
John
Message was edited by: John Cogdell

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Hi all,
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When you first import a file and put it on the timeline, is there a red line over the video?
If yes, you do not have a correct project sequence
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See 2nd post for picture of NEW ITEM process http://forums.adobe.com/thread/872666
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thanks

mcchuch wrote:
There's also a small yellow circle in the bottom left corner of the clip in the viewer.
Does the small yellow circle have a number within it? The yellow symbol (with number) usually indicates that the clip's frame rate differs from the frame rate you've set for the Event or Project, normally either 30fps (NTSC) or 25fps (PAL).
You may have to import the clips again choosing a frame rate that matches your camera. If you can't select a matching frame rate, another option is to convert the mp4 files to another format. The free app MPEG Streamclip should be able to do this. Preferably, convert to Apple Intermediate Codec (AIC), otherwise H.264 format.
You can download MPEG Streamclip from the developer (Squared 5) here:
http://www.squared5.com/svideo/mpeg-streamclip-mac.html
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I am adding the file info captured by MediaInfo:
General
Complete name                    : E:\tami\video\M4H04540.MP4
Format                           : MPEG-4
Format profile                   : Sony PSP
Codec ID                         : MSNV
File size                        : 17.5 MiB
Duration                         : 16s 16ms
Overall bit rate                 : 9 189 Kbps
Encoded date                     : UTC 2011-07-01 07:14:25
Tagged date                      : UTC 2011-07-01 07:14:40
Video
ID                               : 1
Format                           : MPEG-4 Visual
Format profile                   : Advanced Coding Efficiency@L4
Format settings, BVOP            : Yes
Format settings, QPel            : No
Format settings, GMC             : No warppoints
Format settings, Matrix          : Default (H.263)
Codec ID                         : 20
Duration                         : 16s 16ms
Bit rate mode                    : Variable
Bit rate                         : 9 000 Kbps
Maximum bit rate                 : 14.0 Mbps
Width                            : 1 280 pixels
Height                           : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio             : 16:9
Frame rate mode                  : Constant
Frame rate                       : 29.970 fps
Color space                      : YUV
Bit depth                        : 8 bits
Scan type                        : Progressive
Compression mode                 : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)               : 0.326
Stream size                      : 17.4 MiB (99%)
Encoded date                     : UTC 2011-07-01 07:14:25
Tagged date                      : UTC 2011-07-01 07:14:40
Audio
ID                               : 2
Format                           : AAC
Format/Info                      : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile                   : LC
Codec ID                         : 40
Duration                         : 16s 0ms
Bit rate mode                    : Constant
Bit rate                         : 64.0 Kbps
Channel(s)                       : 1 channel
Channel positions                : Front: C
Sampling rate                    : 24.0 KHz
Compression mode                 : Lossy
Stream size                      : 125 KiB (1%)
Encoded date                     : UTC 2011-07-01 07:14:25
Tagged date                      : UTC 2011-07-01 07:14:40
Thanks,
Miki

Not a problem; not scolding, just suggesting that users there might be of more help, since CS5/CS5.5 is a whole different animal than CS4.
I suspect that, if setting playback to full resolution didn't help, there's not much you can do with these files as they are. You'll have to convert them to something else. Does the break up appear when you step through the video frame by frame? If not, you could use AME to convert these to something else, which will then let you edit a little more effectively in Premiere Pro.
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Hello everyone, newbie here...
Camera: Canon VIXIA HFR300
Format: MP4
Software: Adobe Premier Pro CS3
Computer: Older core2's
So I've purchased a new video camera and I've chosen to record the video in MP4 format to reduce the file size. Besides, I mostly watch teh videos on my computer or upload to Youtube so I figure MP4 would be best. Also, I only have an older computer and I figure a smaller file size would mean it would be faster / easier to edit and easier to store on the hard disk. The problem is that editing the MP4's using Premier Pro CS3 results in some pretty horrible final renders. It appears the rendered video is compressed, its shaky and grainy.
I've tried the following formats:
HDV720 p25 and p30
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Help!

>figure a smaller file size would mean it would be faster / easier to edit
Not always the case... the more compressed the file, the harder to edit, especially with a core2 CPU (an i7 is recommended for most modern HiDef formats)
This message has a really good graphic about requirements - http://forums.adobe.com/thread/810750
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Why won't .mp4 file open in QT 10.0 (or iMovie'09) and OS 10.6.8?

I'm trying to edit some .mp4 movie files, but I can't open them in Quicktime (10.0 or 7.6.6), or iMovie '09 (8.0.6) or Final Cut Express (4.0.1). I've got a MacBook Pro running OS X 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard). When I try to open the file in QT 10, it says "The document “name.mp4” could not be opened"; whereas in QT 7 it says "The file could not be opened. An invalid sample description was found in the movie." In iMovie, the file is greyed out when I try to import it.
The file will open and play fine in VLC, but I can't do the editing I want there. The Media Information pane in VLC says: the codec is "H264 - MPEG-4 AVC (part 10)(avc1)", it is HD resolution (1920 x 1080), it has a frame rate of 59.940060, and the Decoded format is "Planar 4:2:0 YUV". It also has an audio track (MPEG audio) and a subtitle track. I also tried opening these .mp4 files on two Mac laptops that a friend of mine has. Interestingly, they would not open on one (I think running Lion with QT 10.0), but they DID open on the other newer laptop (running Mountain Lion with QT 10.2).
I first assumed it was just a case of not having the right codec. So I tried copying all the codecs from the Mac laptop that *could* open them, but that didn't work. Then I searched for and downloaded codecs that I might be missing, such as "avc1Decoder.dmg" from MyCometG3 and http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/23875/avc1decoder, and x264Encoder 1.2.27 also from MyCometG3, and I put them in my Library/Quicktime folder and restarted Quicktime, but neither solved the problem. I also tried opening the .mp4 files in MPEG Streamclip (1.9.2), but it says "File open error: unrecognized file type". When I tell it to "open anyway" it tries and then says "File open error: can't find video or audio tracks".
I tried opening one of these .mp4 files in Handbrake (0.9.8) and it was able to open and convert the file to an .mp4 that is then openable in QT 10 with a format of H.264, AAC, and a reduced frame rate of 29.84. However, this doesn't seem like a good solution because it takes about 2 hours to convert a file with 30 minutes of video. I just want to be able to trim these big files down to some short video clips that are in an accessible format.
Any help would be MUCH appreciated. Am I missing the right codec? Or, as I'm beginning to wonder, is this format one that is too demanding for OS 10.6.8 and QT 10 and they just cannot handle it no matter what codecs I have on my computer (because of the 60 fps frame rate? Or is it the subtitle track?). Or is the solution to upgrade my operating system to Mountain Lion (10.8) and QT 10.2? My 15" MacBook Pro is about 2 years old with a 2.66 GHz Intel Core i7 and 4 GB of RAM (1067 MHz DDR3). Thanks.

Wow! A lot of ifs, ands, and maybes here.
I'm trying to edit some .mp4 movie files, but I can't open them in Quicktime (10.0 or 7.6.6), or iMovie '09 (8.0.6) or Final Cut Express (4.0.1). I've got a MacBook Pro running OS X 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard). When I try to open the file in QT 10, it says "The document “name.mp4” could not be opened"; whereas in QT 7 it says "The file could not be opened. An invalid sample description was found in the movie." In iMovie, the file is greyed out when I try to import it.
To start off with, these messages and/or inability to opent/import files could stem from either security updates that see something in the file that it interprets as a possible breach of file integrity or the inclusion of data not expected in the associated file type while missing codecs are either identified and load but do not display or refuse to load but issue a message to that effect and possibly asking if you want to visit a web page containing codes you may want to add.
The file will open and play fine in VLC, but I can't do the editing I want there. The Media Information pane in VLC says: the codec is "H264 - MPEG-4 AVC (part 10)(avc1)", it is HD resolution (1920 x 1080), it has a frame rate of 59.940060, and the Decoded format is "Planar 4:2:0 YUV". It also has an audio track (MPEG audio) and a subtitle track. I also tried opening these .mp4 files on two Mac laptops that a friend of mine has. Interestingly, they would not open on one (I think running Lion with QT 10.0), but they DID open on the other newer laptop (running Mountain Lion with QT 10.2).
In the future, could you be more specific when describing the file contents. For the moment, I will assume the video is H.264 (MPEG-4/AVC) and the audio is AAC (MPEG-4) audio and not MPEG-1 layered audio. (I.e., while the former is to be expected with the MP4 file extension, some apps can "stuff" incompatible data into an MP4 container or users can manually change the file extemsion.) It also important to know if the "subtitle" track is embedded within the file or is contained in a separate file. (I.e., a screen capture of the media "info", "inspector", or "properties" window is usually the least ambiguous way to track content information.) It would also be nice to know if the VLC frame rate is for progressive or interlaced video if possible.
Basically, some apps are very touchy about file extensions and track content. iMovie '08, for instance, will not open a file containing extraneous tracks like 'tween, text, chapter, etc. embedded within the file. I assume this may also be true for "subtitle" tracks as far as your Snow Leopard players are concerned. In any case, if your version of the QT 7 player is keyed for "pro" use, I would perform a simple test here by deleting the "subtitle" track, saving the file, and then re-trying to load, open, play, and/or import the file in the various applications currently giving you problems. If this fixes the problem, then you will know the source and solution of your problem
I first assumed it was just a case of not having the right codec. So I tried copying all the codecs from the Mac laptop that *could* open them, but that didn't work. Then I searched for and downloaded codecs that I might be missing, such as "avc1Decoder.dmg" from MyCometG3 and http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/23875/avc1decoder, and x264Encoder 1.2.27 also from MyCometG3, and I put them in my Library/Quicktime folder and restarted Quicktime, but neither solved the problem. I also tried opening the .mp4 files in MPEG Streamclip (1.9.2), but it says "File open error: unrecognized file type". When I tell it to "open anyway" it tries and then says "File open error: can't find video or audio tracks".
The indiscriminant installation of additional codecs often creates more problems than it solves owing to the logrithmic increased potential for the introduction of QT codec component conflicts. The normal "rule of thumb" here is to identify a missing codec and to then install only that specific codec component. Even then, there is a possibility that there may be a conflict but at least it is more easily identified so you can better evaluate which of the conflicting codecs to leave installed and which to swap only when needed/required. As to the use of MPEG Streamclip, it basically uses your system's QT component configuration of access of most codecs as opposed to VLC and HandBrake which contain their own, built-in codec support. So if QT is having a problem, it is often likely that MPEG Streamclip will also have problems.
I tried opening one of these .mp4 files in Handbrake (0.9.8) and it was able to open and convert the file to an .mp4 that is then openable in QT 10 with a format of H.264, AAC, and a reduced frame rate of 29.84. However, this doesn't seem like a good solution because it takes about 2 hours to convert a file with 30 minutes of video. I just want to be able to trim these big files down to some short video clips that are in an accessible format.
The HandBrake workflow forces a recompressing of the file data which is why it takse so long. That is why I suggested you try deleting any extraneous data tracks found in the source MP4 file container using QT 7 Pro and then use the "Save" or "Save As..." option to re-write the original audio and video data to a new MOV file container which takes much less time.
Am I missing the right codec? Or, as I'm beginning to wonder, is this format one that is too demanding for OS 10.6.8 and QT 10 and they just cannot handle it no matter what codecs I have on my computer (because of the 60 fps frame rate? Or is it the subtitle track?). Or is the solution to upgrade my operating system to Mountain Lion (10.8) and QT 10.2? My 15" MacBook Pro is about 2 years old with a 2.66 GHz Intel Core i7 and 4 GB of RAM (1067 MHz DDR3).
Probably not. The VLC reported data rate may either indicate the MP4 content is AVCHD/BD sourced or it is reading interlaced content as progressive which I have noted it can do on occasion when I compare the media info as read by various different apps and/or utilities. Since you indicate the file opens in Mountain Lion, my guess would be that your MP4 content is actually AVCHD/BD sourced since such support was only recently added to Mac OS X v10.8 software. As to moving up to Mountain Lion, as always, that is something you would have to evaluate for yourself. For instance, do you require PNG compression for video content? By default you would lose it under Mountain Lion and have to re-enable it manually if needed. Are there other pros and cons that you need to consider before upgrading to Mountain Lion? These are the types of questions and compatibility issues that only you can answer for yourself.

What is the mp4 setting for GoPro mp4 files?

Hi all,
I have edited GoPro mp4 1080-60 files that I want to upload to youtube.
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Dniss
It happens to all of us. We can upload our HD footage (example AVCHD/MP4 H.264 1920 x 1080p30) to YouTube, but
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ATR

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Hi,
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Picture degradation from GoPro Hero2 when editing with iMovie

Hello!
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You can really only view full quality...and judge that quality...on an external broadcast monitor, or good HDTV, connected to a video capture card in your system. Computer displays never show you what you actually have.
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Editing video file in Quicktime Pro and producing a file which doesn't play

Hi all,
I have been editing some mp4 video in Quicktime Pro by setting the in and out position markers and cutting out segments (commercials). I save the file and end up with a .mov file which plays fine in the Quicktime player. (The file is a self-contained Quicktime movie.) At some point in the future, though, when I go to open the file in the Quicktime Player, only the audio plays. The video does not play, and the file opens as if it contained no video. That is, the Quicktime Player only shows the audio controls, and there's no area for video.
The same file plays fine in a Finder window when using CoverFlow/QuickView mode, which is very strange to me since I assume that uses the same Quicktime engine. It also plays fine in VLC.
Any ideas? It seems like there's some attribute on the file which is telling the Quicktime Player not to play the video, only play the audio.
Thanks in advance,
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Any ideas?
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AIC vs. DVl

It seems that when I use Streamclip to convert MPEG-2 video to AIC and the same footage to DV (just as a test) I can't see any difference in the quality of the playback. But, when in FCE I have to constantly render the DV footage many times during and edit session. With AIC, not so much. Why would AIC require less rendering than DV.
I'm converting from MPEG-2 (actually a .MOD file) because I have a flash card camera (Standard Definition on a flash drive).
Also, the AIC footage looks slightly better to me than DV when both are converted from MPEG-2.

The render times depend on your sequence settings. Do your sequence settings match the formats of your source footage?

Why does AVCHD have to be converted to AIC 1st?

Couple of questions...
Why does AVCHD have to be converted to AIC 1st? Is it because the hardware isn't up to AVCHD or something? I only have a Core 2 Duo 2GHz 4Gb RAM so is this enough?
Won't converting from AVCHD to AIC and then to an output format (which would be best for quality once editing is complete?) decrease overall quality?
On a side note, currently my Panasonic TZ7 does AVCHD lite 720P. I'm thinking of upgrading to a Panasonic TZ20 with AVCHD full HD 1080i. However I've heard that although 1080i is full HD its not as good as 1080p progressive. Now I'm wondering if I should buy the Sony Hx9v which has 1080p or wait till next year for a newer TZ camera which has 1080p. Is there a massive difference between 1080i and 1080p, and for that matter over my current 720p?
Reason I'm thinking of upgrading is I'm off to Disney Florida this year for 1st time and want best I can, so was wondering if my current TZ7 would be enough or to upgrade to a TZ20 for the video
Cheers

Why does AVCHD have to be converted to AIC 1st?
Basically AVCHD doesn't record all the frames of a video as full frames (i-frames), it records a full frame every so often and the frames in between are made of information about the areas of the frame that have changed and a calculation so that a full frame can be recreated by comparing it with the previous frame (p-frames), this gets a little more complicated as they can also be compared with next frame too (b-frames).
Since the in between frames aren't full frames they can't be edited, which is where AIC comes in. When the file is converted to AIC all the frames are recreated (as full frames) from the various types of frames in the AVCHD file, they can then be edited.
Won't converting from AVCHD to AIC and then to an output format (which would be best for quality once editing is complete?) decrease overall quality?
Yes and no, think of the conversion more of an expansion whereby all of the quality of the original file is maintained, hence no loss of quality. This isn't entirely true since AIC does contain compression, but the files are already large enough as AIC files to expand them to an uncompressed format would be rather ridiculous for amateur video, and the loss of quality is probably immeasurable in most cases.
Is there a massive difference between 1080i and 1080p, and for that matter over my current 720p?
That very much depends on what you are going to do with it, the difference between these resolutions can be noticeable if the videos are encoded at appropriate data rates, but if you are going to use a similar data rate to compress a 1080p file that you use for a 720p file then you won't achieve any additional quality, indeed you may actually lose some.

Editing im MP4 or AIC?

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