• Compression Techniques

  H.264 on PC = Can see Video, but No Audio: Ideas?

  Posted by Ralph Chaney on October 4, 2011 at 7:01 pm

  Greetings,

  I searched threads prior to posting this… it must be a common problem.

  With H.264 files, some clients see the video but hear no audio.

  What to do? I know it has to do with their player, yet a couple clients are producers who probably have the latest versions. I’ll double check with them.

  I master in ProRes and it’s difficult to compress to .wmv, plus it looks not-so-good.

  Alternatives…? Workarounds…?

  Thanks!!!

  -> Ralph

  Craig Seeman replied 14 years, 11 months ago 2 Members · 5 Replies
• 5 Replies

• 

  Craig Seeman

  October 4, 2011 at 7:10 pm

  How exactly did you compress the H.264 file?
  It may well be related to AAC audio support.
  It may depend on the player they’re using, Quicktime, Windows Media 12, VLC, so you really should know that to find out what the issue is especially when you get “some” PCs.
  Please use the free MediaInfo and look at what it says about the audio codec.
• 

  Ralph Chaney

  October 4, 2011 at 7:24 pm

  Thanks for the question, Craig. It made me look closer at my settings.

  Using Compressor, I’ve never really adjusted the audio, using what I figure to be a default… and see now that the pre-set I use for this flavor compression is IMA 4:1; Stereo; Best Quality. I have no idea what that is.

  Should I test ACC and/or Linear PCM with my “problem clients”? Are these more PC friendly?

  What is MediaInfo and where can I find it?

  Thanks.

  -> Ralph
• 

  Craig Seeman

  October 4, 2011 at 7:39 pm

  Use AAC. I think there are cases where some players may not support it so that’s why it’s important to know the player.

  Media Info. Download the Mac version of course. It’s free here but there’s a slightly newer version in the Mac App Store that’s a couple of dollars. This is a mandatory utility for compressionists IMHO.
  https://mediainfo.sourceforge.net/en
• 

  Ralph Chaney

  October 4, 2011 at 8:43 pm

  So, I’ll test AAC with the PC that had problems. And also check to see what player they use.

  And thanks for the MediaInfo link. Tried it, looks good. Quicker than going through FCP bin info, esp if it’s not launched.

  FYI, could not find it at AppleStore.

  Thanks!
  -R.

  -> Ralph
• 

  Craig Seeman

  October 6, 2011 at 6:01 am

  [Ralph Chaney] “And thanks for the MediaInfo link. Tried it, looks good. Quicker than going through FCP bin info, esp if it’s not launched.

  FYI, could not find it at AppleStore.”

  Called Media Inspector in App Store.

  If you look at the bottom of the Media Info it says Third Party Tools Media Inspector and goes to
  https://mediainspector.massanti.com/

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