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Slightly OT, QT presenting in h.264 codec
I have copied my post from the HDV forum, as this one is a lot more active, perhaps I have a better chance getting more suggestions here:
See the link below for my previous attempts at solving this:
https://forums.creativecow.net/cgi-bin/new_read_post.cgi?forumid=162&postid=861080
I was having some problems getting a referenced QT movie, and seemed to have found a solution.
Unfortunately the QT referenced movie will play for around 2 hours on a loop, and then QT crashes (quits unexpectedly) I have seen it crash and it flashes a green screen in between my footage for a few seconds, then a green screen takes over and then the player crashes. I may have spoken too soon announcing a solution to the problem. Since there is no QT forum here and my footage is in h.264, I took a leap and am hoping someone here may know of a solution to the problem. VLC player plays my footage perfectly, aside from the same green artifacts slicing the image in several places and offsetting the pixels, giving a “staggered” image, like a cracked mirror. As mentioned in the linked post, I am putting the footage out from a Mac Mini Intel to a panasonic 65 inch plasma screen. Any fixes for this would be much appreciated : small note: I am unable to buy ‘new’ tools for this job, I am under pressure to get a QT referenced movie with the existing tools I have 🙁 I have tested the QT Ref movie on both the Intel Mac Mini (1.66GHz Intel Core Duo, 512 MB DDR2 SDRAM osx 10.4.6) and my Mac G5 (Dual 2.5GHx PowerPC G5 7GB DDR SDRAM Mac OS X 10.4.6) with the same results. I am beginning to think there simply isn’t a solution, but PLEASE do prove me wrong!!
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11 Replies
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Here’s an odd, crazy idea. Try using iTunes instead.
Really, this should be the same as using Quick Time, but maybe you won’t have that weird problem. It’s worth a try!
Here’s everything you need to set:
1) iTunes > Preferences > Playback > Play Videos in > Separate Window
2) Import the video using File > Import
3) Make a new playlist, drag the video into it
4) Menu ‘Controls’ > Repeat All
5) Play video, then Control Click ON the video window
6) Select Full Screen -
Yeah! I had tried this before and it was ‘stuttering’ but just did a quick test and it seems ok (there’s been some updates since then!) So, let me leave it running for a few hours, or days, or whatever it takes and I’ll let you know! The larger files (a couple only) are approx400MB and are stuttering, so I will compress them further and see what happens. Thanks for your help, I’ll keep you updated. –I’m willing to try more ideas if anyone has different suggestions as well.
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The iTunes idea is inspired (if it works, let’s hope so!)
One more thing, you can have the videos automatically play full screen by setting it in iTunes’ preferences.
Under Playback preferences, just check “play videos” and select Full Screen from the drop-down menu.
As for remotely updating your playlists, will all of the video be stored at once on the Mini, and then it will just be a matter of adding it to the playlist?
Or, will you need to be uploading content and then adding it to the playlist?
Either way, might I suggest you look into Netopia’s Timbuktu Pro software. I use this every day to connect to 4 other machines in various locations around the USA. I can control the other computers and easily transfer files back and forth. It’s like magic, and just simply works. In the past I’ve had to have a static IP for each machine to really get it to work, but now Timbuktu can use Skype to tunnel through routers and such to find the correct machine.
Just a thought if you need to remotely manage everything.
Good luck!
Jon
TreeLine Productions
Fort Collins, CO USACurrently producing these popular podcasts:
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Hey Jonathan,
I will be updating the content remotely as new campaigns etc come to hand, so I will be creating new content as new campaigns are launched, and probably removing old movies from the playlist as well (using remote desktop access- or possibly running a script on startup). I will be ok with the IP address as the ‘network guys’ at the bank (where I work) have already got the infrastructure in place for that to happen. But thanks for the software suggestions, if everything goes awry (as it usually does) I have a backup plan!
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Just a simple question here:
Do the cpu’s get proper ventillation where they’re installed? Is it possible they’re heating up too much? H.264 at HD resolutions is pretty processor intensive and that may be adding to the problems you’re having.
I don’t know, just trying to work the problem….
If all else fails, can you try a different codec? Maybe Motion JPEG at medium or best quality? It still looks amazing. It would obviously take longer to upload the files, but may play more reliably.
I sure hope you can get this all to work!!
Jon
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Well… That IS a good question, as the first store is operating in a less than ideal ventilation space. That machine is running the 2.5 gig file on loop though and has crashed a couple of times, but the playback is running smoothly. We have taken measures to elimate this problem – a larger space and better ventilated security door as it’s mounted in the wall cavity behind the TV.
This project is running on PHASE 1 at the moment “Get the THING out there!!!” and PHASE 2 is the remote update scenario described.
My testing machine, which is giving me the problems with playback (using a referenced movie, not one long big file) is hanging out in a nicely air conditioned room and has about 10 metres (whats that in feet?? erm, 30 feet!) of space around it. (well, it’s resting on something, but you get my gist. The different codec thing is kind of a last resort due to export times, because we have one machine each to work on, and it’s just no good! But I haven’t actually used the jpeg compression, how is it with text heavy work? – which mine is (white and yellow text on a RED background *groan* corporate identity!) And export times? 30sec to 2min pieces?
Thanks guys for helping with this, I know there’s a lot of info to read through!
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Just done a QUICK jpeg (medium quality) export – went out of the office and it was done, so not too time intensive. It handles the motion and overall image very well but the text has a lot of artifacts around it. Maybe it would be better at a higher quality, but the file size concerns me a bit, JPEG compressed is 147.6MB as opposed to 20.2MB for h.264 for the same file. The problem with the text is that it needs to look very crisp as it is being displayed on such a huge screen(65inch), and the customers will be only a few feet away. The TV is in the bank branch during the day, and swings out to face the street at night, so the 24 hour exposure to a very wide audience from a very close viewing perspective means it’s important that it looks pristine. Now if they could find a way to mount an 85kg TV to the roof…. 😉 Thats a lot of pounds but my inferior metric system brain isn’t up for that conversion!
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Two suggestions:
Use Photo-JPEG@75% quality. Yes, it’s even bigger files, but very good quality. The encoding times are far less than H.264.
There are two good freeware tools I’d recommend for monitoring: CoreDuoTemp will tell you if the Mini is overheating and SMART Reporter will monitor the status of the harddisk. The latter one can even send you an email like “Hey, I’m feelin’ kinda sick!”We are into this stuff since we are setting up a bunch of minis as a render server for 3D. We’ve already learned that you shouldn’t stack Minis, but that’s probably not your concern.
Hope this helps,
Uli
Author of “DVDs gestalten und produzieren”, a book on professional DVD-authoring in German.
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Yes, 75% quality should do the trick.
Miss Shell:
Yes, the file size will be much larger than H.264, but I suggested Photo-JPEG since I rembered you writing that the longest video clip will only be around 2 minutes.Is it going to be a problem if it takes a couple of hours to upload the new material? If your client has a problem with this let them know that the rig will be much more reliable this way.
I can’t imagine a 2minute clip could be more than 1.5GB.
Good luck!
Jon
TreeLine Productions
Fort Collins, CO USACurrently producing these popular podcasts:
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Uli,
When the mini-farm is all put together please share your thoughts and experiences with the Cow. I’ve been thinking about the same thing and I’m sure many other people have been too.
Thanks in advance.
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