ITunes store movies & chapters

Question

I purchased a movie from the iTMS the other day to see what kind of compression settings it used. Of course it was H.264, but the data rate was a little slower than I expected (about 1600kbps), and I can't see what the audio data rate is. I'm going to assume 128kbps. I also noticed that the movie had chapter markers! Cool!
So, a few questions.
1. Does anybody know what the audio data rate is? How can I tell (I have QT Pro).
2. The movie is 640x480. Wouldn't they want to use a higher data rate? Like 2000-2500 kbps?
3. I'm backing up all of my DVDs using mactheripper and handbrake. But neither one (afaik) let's me save the DVD chapters. Is there a way to automatically keep them in my compressed movie?
Thanks!
G5 Dual 2GHz, 3.5GB RAM; PB 17 1.5GHz, 1GB RAM,    
G5 Dual 2GHz, 3.5GB RAM; PB 17 1.5GHz, 1GB RAM,    
G5 Dual 2GHz, 3.5GB RAM; PB 17 1.5GHz, 1GB RAM,    

Answer 1

I tried MetadataHootenanny114 today explicitly for the chapter markets, but wasn't too impressed for 2 reasons:
I was generally satisfied with a small limited number of chapters on short clips but was disappointed when I tests them in a complete movie containing 20 markers. Source movie was roughly 6 seconds shorter than the converted movie so there was some "slippage" of markers as the movie progressed. (Can probably live with manually adjusting these if I cannot come up with a better conversion workflow.)
The chapters were listed as 'chapter1', 'chapter2', etc.
This is the default for manual insertions and the default found on DVDs from which markers are extracted. If you prefer a more meaningful "description," simply replace the default or extracted text with your own entries.
The .mov file I saved it as had a choppy playback in iTunes (not metahoot's fault) when the controller was displayed. This was a 720x304 movie playing at 2600kbps. Somewhere around 1.7GB. However, the original .mp4 movie without the chapters played back just fine.
Have not noted this problem but then, I stayed within the specifications stated by Apple. While the number of macroblocks contained in a 720 x 304 matrix block is less than 1200 (i.e., only 855), the 720 width exceeds the stated maximum of 640 pixels for the H.264 "low-complexity" profile and exceeds the specified maximum of 1.5 Mbps. In addition, the same is true for an MPEG-4 conversion if that was used here. Of course, iPod compatibility may not be of primary importance here. Have noted however, that plyback in iTunes appears to change depending on whether or not an imported clip meets the "low-complexity" specification -- a somewhat puzzeling development.
From my understanding, .mp4 won't play with chapters, so I saved the compressed .mp4 as a self-contained .mov file from QT Player Pro.
Have managed to get H.264 "low-complexity" 480 x XXX and 640 x XXX aspect ratio clips to play in iTunes but not when sync'd to the iPod. Have been unable to get 320 x XXX aspect ratio "low-complexity" (have to check whetherthese were actually "low-complexity Movie to iPod" files), H.264 "baseline," or MPEG-4 encoded files to play chaptered in either iTunes or on the iPod.
The other difference was that the chapters in iTMS .m4v movies had thumbnails!
Interesting. Have yet to see/analyze an ITMS file. (Was waiting for a "freebie" to be offered.) Will have to see if "enhanced" chaptering options are applicable here.
What is Apple using to compress their movies?
A good question. Was disappointed that they still haven't fixed the H.264 "latency" problem. Most of my longer test clips created by the QT "Movie to iPod" option yesterday had data rates in excess of that allowed by iTunes for syncing to the iPod or chapter playback in iTunes. Process seemed hit or miss depending on content. (Will have to drag out more source files and see if that will improve things.) Have already requested access to "low-complexity" profile be added to the "Movie to MPEG-4" export option in a manner similar to the current "baseline" profile alternative.