Sorting out video codecs

I've never bothered to understand all these video codecs available in drop down menus. There's a bunch. I found an article at Wiki that goes into it in great detail. Apparently, many of them are just brand name versions of the same codec. Thus far, I've narrowed down my choices to:
1. PP's H.264 for Web. (the bit rate is very adjustable)
2. CineForm AVI for playing on computer. (larger files but looks great)
3. Mpeg2, of course, for DVD/Blu-Ray.
Are there better choices?

2. CineForm AVI for playing on computer. (larger files but looks great)
I assume that you do mean CineForm and not Cinepak (by Radius). The one limitation with the AVI will be the lack of X-platform support on the Mac, should any clients be on that platform. In that case, you might want to consider going the .MOV route with the Animation CODEC. Both platforms seem to also handle MPEG-2 pretty well. WMV would likely work only on the PC, regardless of which "flavor" you use.
Some have had better luck with the MainConcept H.264, than with the Apple version. Have not tried them both, so I cannot comment directly.
Yes, CODEC's are a bit of alchemy, and some of it/them go back to the dark ages.
Good luck,
Hunt

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Sorting out videos

I recently bought an episode of The Office from the ITMS. It sorted everything out properly on the screen, categorizing it into the TV Shows section under "The Office Season One." However, the videos I've been uploading from my hard drive won't sort out the same way. When I upload these videos to my iPod, it just dumps everything into the Movies section. I've tried editing the videos in iTunes to resemble the settings for the video I bought off ITMS, but to no avail. It still just dumps everything into movies. Is there something I am missing here?

Make it simple. Just add a playlist just like songs. Drag your videos into there. Access them that way or through movies.

Help! I'm literally due to have a baby today and need to sort out video footage storage

I just went to check that the battery is charged on the camera and got a notice saying the hard drive is full!.!!!!!!!!
I have previously imported the video onto our Desktop Mac ( which is currently in storage) and think I have a back up too, but I'm worried about whether the data, once imported is usable in other formats. Ie if we change program or operating system later.
I have purchased an external harddrive and dropped and dragged to copy the files from the camera itself, but when done that way, can't seem to play the files directly from that drive using either Imovie or Quicktime. My Mac Pro is full and I need to clear some more room on the camera but I'm terrified to delete precious footage of our other baby.
I'm no techno, I know I'm using a Sony HDD camera, and IMovie 09 version 8.0.6.
HEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLPPPPPPPPPPPPPP Please!

It is best to keep a copy of the entire contents of the camera. You need all the folders, even the empty ones. If you have this, you can import the footage into iMovie or Final Cut later without losing anything,
An easy way to do this is to go to your iMovie import screen. Toward the bottom, it should have an option to Create Camera Archive. This will transfer all the contents of the camera to your hard drive, and can be imported later.
If this footage is important to you, I would recommend that you also back it up to a second hard drive.
Once you have it stored and backed up, it is safe to delete the files from your camera.
To answer your other question, if you have already imported the AVCHD files to iMovie, then yes you will have them, and yes you can use them in other programs. On import, they are converted to Apple Intermediate Codec, which certainly any Apple video editing program can read. I don't know if they would be easily readable on Windows. When they are converted to Apple Intermediate Codec, they get 6 to 10 times larger than the files on the camera. This is because AVCHD is a highly compressed codec, and not suitable for editing.
So, yes, you have the AIC copy of your events in iMovie, and that is probably enough, but it is good practice to keep the raw AVCHD files. This lets you keep a copy in a compressed form, and gives you a copy that is exactly as you took it on the camera, before any processing.
I wish you the best with your new baby!

I'm on OS X 10.6.8 and have a .mov file which plays on QuickTime 10.0 but with choppy video and the sound is out of sync???? File details are Video Codec: DNxHD (AVdn) Resolution 1920x1080 Audio Codec: PCM S24 BE (in24) Bitrate: 1536kb/s Solutions?

I'm on OS X 10.6.8 and have a .mov file which plays on QuickTime 10.0 but with choppy video and the sound is out of sync???? File details are Video Codec: DNxHD (AVdn) Resolution 1920x1080 Audio Codec: PCM S24 BE (in24) Bitrate: 1536kb/s. Any ideas?

Question: Is all the source footage shot in 16 bit audio or is some also shot in 12 bit?
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=42973
http://www.kenstone.net/fcphomepage/idvd_6stone.html
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93006
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303550
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=iDVD/6.0/en/397.html
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61636
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302925

Media Encoder CS6 Avid DNxHD video codec settings do not update in video settings tab

I want to encode a file to Avid DNxHD, but I am unable to change the resolution in the codec settings. I am choosing Avid DNxHD codec within the video codec tab, then clicking on codec settings and choosing a resolution from the resolutions pulldown menu. It will let me choose different resolutions from that menu, but after I hit okay, it has no effect on changing the video settings the way it's supposed to. For instance, if I try to encode a file that is 1280x720 with a source frame rate of 23.98, and I choose 1080i/59.94 DNxHD 145 8-bit, the frame size and frame rate does not change in the video settings tab. I am running Media Encoder CS6.0.2 on a Mac with OS 10.8.4. I am using Avid quicktime codecs v.2.3.7, because my system is running Avid Symphony 6.0.2.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

No one ever responded unfortunately and I never figured out a work around.
In Media Encoder CC there is a system preset for DNxHD MXF which I've used
to yield Avid files. The weird thing is that the CC version does the exact
same thing as the CS6 if you choose quicktime, DNxHD codec, and try to
change the codec settings. None of the settings update. If you find out
anything more about this I'd appreciate getting an update. Thanks!

Re user tip: How can I import a homemade DVD into iMovie for editing? - I've followed instructions so far so good, until I get to "You can then FILE/EXPORT USING QUICKTIME and choose Apple Intermediate Codec as your video codec. " How do I do that?

Re AppleMan 1958 excellent user tip: How can I import a homemade DVD into iMovie for editing? -
I've followed instructions with success until "You can then FILE/EXPORT USING QUICKTIME and choose Apple Intermediate Codec as your video codec. " How do I do that?
I installed MGEG Streamclip 193b8 and used their utility to install quicktimempeg2 and got a message stating it was successfully installed. (I'm on latest Maverick 10.9.2 on iMac) Then I dragged the VIDEO_TS file from my home DVD into the streamclip app. It asked which of 4 files to use, and I selected the first one. Streamclip played the video with the sound. so far so good. but now I cannot figure how to use quicktime player 10.3 to export this vob file out of streamclip.

Thank you for your quick reply and for clearing up my confusion. I'm exporting the first section now. I choose the smallest size, 3x4 but I'd prefer to go higher as this DVD was originally a VHS home movie. I'm wondering if after three conversions (VHS,->DVD->MPEG) the resolution will be so poor as to not support a larger size frame? If it can, what size should I select when I export?

Premiere Pro Update 7.2.1 has lost Video Codec

When I'm Exporting a video the option for Video Codec Tap under the Export Settings has been removed with the new Update, on the 19th December 2013. Can anyone help tell me how I can export my video as a 1080p ProRes 422 (HQ).
Thanks
WilliamAplin

for all interested - i solved the problem.
after a few tryouts the system kept spitting out this error: "Adobe QT32server.exe The program can't start becaue MSVCP80.dll is missing"
this got solved by reinstalling the Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2012 Update 4.
with the error message gone nothing really changed - premiere pro CC insisted on not reading prores files while still reading dnxhd files from the black magic cinema camera.
i reinstalled the whole CC suite - same situation.
last but ot least i tried to uninstall anything with an apple logo on it - just to find out that you can not remove all of the components entirely without using 3rd party tools.
after that i reinstalled the prores decoder 1.0 along with the latest quicktime version (7.7.5).
voilá.

UT Video Codec settings for AVCHD .mts transcoding

Howdy,
Been trying for a while to track down a jittery playback issue (as if frames are randomly held or skipped) when editing .mts files.
Jittery in PPcc and also after exporting to whatever... and especially using Youtube and Vimeo export presets.
VLC media player plays the .mts source files smoothly right off the SD card or HDD/SSD... most of the time, occasionally there is a hiccup but nothing like in PP.
The clips that do this are pretty much all of the panning clips and shot in either 24fps or 60fps 1080p.
I have seen this now on 2 different systems with different collections of .mts footage out of 2 different cameras.
Mine is a PC (running WIN7 i7 3770K 3.5Ghz, 16GB, GTX 660) and the other is a more powerful Mac with 32GB RAM (accustomed to smoothly dealing with RED footage).
I came across an Adobe suggestion to convert to a UTVideo codec ( http://helpx.adobe.com/premiere-pro/kb/audio-video-glitches-avchd.html#id_49687 ) to deal with AVCHD... but it really didn't give much helpful info beyond the link to where it could be downloaded.
I tried the suggestion, downloaded the codec suite, made a preset in Media Encoder and transcoded, but it plays even worse than the AVCHD does natively (VLC doesn't recognize that codec for testing)
Does anyone have any suggestions on the best settings for the UT Video transcoding and/or hardware/software settings for the smoothest PP playback of .mts clips? I see in the forums here and elsewhere that lots of folks have various problems working with .mts footage in PP... I am hoping there is a functional solution beyond what I have unsuccessfully tried:
setting playback to 1/4 or 1/2
rendering the sequance/timeline
transcoding to .mp4/DNxHD
clearing render files
maximizing ram for PP usage
closing all other apps
importing the whole 'private' folder from the SD card (which I can't seem to get PP to recognize anyway, it only will import the individual .mts files as far as I can tell)
changed power options
turbo boost for the i7 on or off
and some other trial-and-errors gleaned from the forums that I can't recall at the moment
Any suggestions for what to try next or the proper settings for using the UT Video codec would be GREATLY appreciated.
Thanks/Cheers!

Thanks Fuzzy!
Great article and it led to some more testing with a couple different lens, pan speeds, shutter speeds and frame rate combos... but still I am not finding anything definitive, I still get random, choppy/juddery playback (never seems to occur in the same place each time).
I have the frame drop indicator on and it says all is good (no dropped frames).
VLC and PotPlayer tend to play the clips off the card just fine, but does once in a while skip... a data transfer problem? I have played off the SD card and SSD main drive and my media HDD.
Caught a recent thread with others having sudden choppy playback, might be related? http://forums.adobe.com/message/5938794#5938794
I have PPro CC 7.2.0 (46)
But the suggestion to clear cache and reset preferences didn't seem to make a difference on my machine.
Still ???
Going to try playing the same clips on a friends SUPER Mac and see what happens... although he sees the same thing with the .mts footage he already has.
Onward!

Problem creating walk-out videos

I'm trying to create a walk-out video by exporting from After Effects, using the VP6 codec. Sound didn't export, so I brought a WAVE file into a Flash stage and saved as swf. Brought the swf on a layer in Dreamweaver. The audio is unacceptable. When exported from another codec or directly to flv in AF, the transparency is lost, but the audio plays okay. Obviously, there's a better way to do this, like the website http://www.talkingheads.com/ .
Here's what I've got so far http://www.cestcop.com/Heads/Mike_3.htm
Thanks ahead for your help!
-Mike Carroll

When exported from another codec or directly to flv in AF, the transparency is lost,
Make sure you are actualyl enabling Alpha channel usage. aside from that, transparency usage requires proper support in whatever player you use to embed, usualyl by setting variables in the surrounding JS code. Since the performance hit is considerable, it's optional and off by default. Similarly, your audio issues could be just that. Also sounds like you're embedding teh video and audio in the SWF, which is fundamentally evil. Keep them external and stream them to the stage, rather than making the player cringe by enforcing synchronous redraw of the whole SWF...
Mylenium

"Incompatible video codec found in presets" message while attempting to export

Cant seem to be able to export at any settings. I keep getting this "Incompatible video codec found in presets" message, and then eventually Premiere wigs out and crashes. I tried uninstalling, rebooting and re-installing, but I'm still getting the same message.

More information needed for someone to help... please click below and provide the requested information
-Premiere Pro Video Editing Information FAQ http://forums.adobe.com/message/4200840

AVCHD / "Advanced Video Codec High Definition" & Cheap cams & Linux?

Hi!
A customer of mine seems to have his mind set on the general awesomeness of the "Advanced Video Codec High Definition". I can't seem to understand why anyone would want to have a multi-track video editor work with that random assortment of specs - at least as long as it's coming from a (relatively) cheap cam...
So my first impression: "The cam costs significantly less than 20000$ and therefore the video quality can't really get noticeable worse if one just converts the video files with ffmpeg to whatever '60 minutes of video per CD' format it sees fits".
Am I wrong / missing the point? Do you have any experience with "Advanced Video Codec High Definition" cams & archlinux / gnu software etc that should concern me?
Thanks!

So... does that mean, that usually the cams just encode with one of those "generic-jpeg-intel-codecs" (or don't compress at all) and the client-side software (that isn't used on a linux platform anyway) or something else does the rest? Or what would be a realistic / common scenario?
Also: for someone who didn't pay much attention to "video standards" in the past, just to understand the general principle... which one of the following two is closer to "the truth"?
(a) To ensure high video quality, it needs to be taken care of that in every step between the camera recording the raw video and burning the finished / rendered "movie" onto a portable medium, the software & hardware is capable of working with the advantages of "AVCHD".
or
(b) Someone obviously has been going around putting AVCHD-stickers on random objects and telling people to buy only those. If one just ignores those stickers, everything should be just fine.
And finally: Does anyone have a cam that says its "AVCHD" and used kdenlive or something & other open software to do a DVD of some sort? Was everything in between manageable with a "normal modern desktop pc" (no highend hardware)?
It seems to me like you are looking for some documentations so go there http://www.vcodex.com/h264overview.html and skip to the section 4 "h264 in practice"
Basically h264 advantage is for the same video quality, your clip takes much less space (or for the same space it will have better quality). But it will need more power to decode/encode.
Even a "low-end" camera like for example the Panasonic Lumix TZ7 (one of the best compact I think) offers 9Mbps, 13Mbps or 17Mbps when you record AVCHD. With those bitrates a "generic-jpeg-intel-codecs" will be okay. (actually the generic-jpeg-intel-codecs on the cam is a dedicated Digital Signal Processing chip aka DSP chip)
proposition (a) everything capable of working with AVC/h264 can work with AVCHD, it's just a marketing name, there is no special features.
Ensuring high quality is another beast, online guides and common sense help: the less you convert (colorspace for example) or reencode, the less information you will lose.
(b) AVCHD just means the cam can record in h264 instead of DV or Motion Jpeg.
For your final point, beyond a bitrate of 3Mbps dual-core Core 2 Duo CPU feels really sluggish when encoding to h264 but they are good enough to encode to dvd/mpeg2 format. I can't say about kdenlive/openshot/cinelerra and other NLE though, but every open source NLE can work with AVC-HD (via gstreamer or ffmpeg).
Like Gusar asked, it would be great if you can tell us your workflow.

IMovie 08 is unusable due to "Hiro video codec is unavailable" will iMovie11 upgrade fix it?

iMovie 08 is unusable due to a window that pops up telling me ; "Hiro video codec is unavailable" I have to force quit, in order to close iMovie. If I uninstall iMovie 08 and buy iMovie 11 upgrade from the App store will this fix the problem, or will the " Hiro " problem transfer to the latest iMovie version?

Although it's old, this MacTalk forum topic may help:
http://www.mactalk.com.au/11/43868-imovie-hiro-codec-unavailable.html
You will need to read through the whole topic. For more information on Hiro, just google "hiro video codec".
I don't know whether installing iMovie '11 will fix the problem with Hiro. It's probably best that you get rid of all the Hiro items from your Mac, as recommended in the MacTalk topic.
Just wish to point out that I have no experience with this, but thought the link I've posted above may be helpful.
John

8941 video codec

hi everyone
who can tell me the cisco ip phone 8941 use which video codec h.264?
thanks very much

probably becasuse the phone doesn't support the codec of the video file unfortunately. if its a high definition video, then it definitely won't work, as the 2700 classic hardware isn't capable of processing that. you can check out the specifications of the 2700classic here: http://www.developer.nokia.com/Devices/Device_specifications/2700_classic/

PE4 Video Codec Help Please

I have two video files types that will not import in PE4. They play fine in VLC media player and I have not found a way to convert them into a usable file, let alone a usable file that maintains the original video quality.
File 1 is a .avi file with XVID video codec at 720x400 and 30 frame rate. Audio is mpga mono 32kHz 64 kb/s.
File 2 is .avi file with XVID video codec at 640x480 and 30 frame rate. Audio is araw mono 8kHz 16b/s.
I would like to either convert these to a usable file or upgrade PE4 so that they will play.
Any suggestions?

Even with the DivX/Xvid CODEC's, it is likely that neither file will edit well in PE. VLC player has its own set of CODEC's, so it will play most formats and CODEC's.
Now, there is a great difference between playing an AV file and editing that same file. Having the right CODEC's (or access to them through a player like VLC) will only insure playability. Most NLE (Non Linear Editing) programs can work with but a few for editing. As John points out, DV-AVI Type II is what PE (and big-brother PrPro) want most.
You are best to convert these heavily compressed delivery format files to DV-AVI Type II w/ 48KHz 16-bit PCM/WAV Audio, BEFORE Import.
Even with the proper CODEC's installed, the most common problems with DivX/Xvid will be no Video, no Audio or horrible OOS (Out Of Sync) issues. Conversion BEFORE Import will usually solve these and allow you to edit the larger converted file. Now, the quality lost in the DivX/Xvid compression will still be gone - can't bring that back. Still, you might be able to live with the results. Only you can tell.
Good luck,
Hunt

Need license for using H.264 Video codec for live stream with FMS 3.5 series

Hi,
I am creating a live audio-Video chat application in which I use H264 video codec for live streaming. I am using Flash Media Server version 3.5.7. I read some where that H.264 Video streaming using FMS required seperate licencse. So I want to confirm , It is true that H264 video streaming required seperate license? If yes then what is the procedure to get license.
Please let me know its urgent.
Regrads,

Hi Again,
Thanks for your reply.
Here are some articles/posts which says about Royalties to use h264:
http://www.mpegla.com/Lists/MPEG%20LA%20News%20List/Attachments/226/n-10-02-02.pdf 15:27
http://www.mpegla.com/main/programs/AVC/Documents/AVC_TermsSummary.pdf
http://www.streamingmedia.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=65403&PageNum=3
http://www.mpegla.com/main/programs/avc/Documents/AVC_TermsSummary.pdf
According to these, any product/service provider, need to pay one time fee based on # of subscribers if we are using h264 for encoding and is charging fee from its users.
About our business: We are web-conferencing solution tool provider and are using Flash Media Server version 3.5.7. I for audio/video. Please help me out if h264 is really free for us or we need to buy license to use that.
Looking forward to hear from you soon.
Regards,

Sorting out video codecs

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