AVC MP4 Encoding on Mac – Adobe CC ?

[Alan Okey]

AVC is simply another name for h.264. There are many options on both Mac and Windows platforms for encoding h.264 mp4 files, including Adobe Media Encoder, MPEG Streamclip (free), Sorenson Squeeze, Telestream Episode, and others.

[Craig Seeman]

Even Apple Compressor 4 can do H.264(AVC) .mp4.
Compressor 3 can’t though.

[Alan Okey]

[Craig Seeman] “Even Apple Compressor 4 can do H.264(AVC) .mp4.
Compressor 3 can’t though.
“

That’s good to know. I’m still using Compressor 3, and didn’t realize that things had changed in v4.

[Jon Hensen]

From my understanding, you’re right in the sense that the terminology is relatively ambiguous, but there is in fact a delineation between AVC and H.264. The main difference being file size.

We have had success using software like Camtasia Studio 8 on PC to encode AVC codec MP4s. When using the same encoding specs using something like MPEG streamclip, while having the only difference be the strict H.264 codec, file size is in some cases triple.

I am wondering if there is a way to access and use this particular AVC codec in a MAC setting. Or adversely if there is more sophisticated way of working with H.264 to achieve tiny (I mean real tiny!) file sizes and exceptional quality.

For context….
1.) We have created one 30min 1080p Apple ProRes native quicktime. (~16GB)
2.) From there we’ve encoded that file to a 640×360 H.264 .MOV (~250mb)
3.) From there we’ve had to use Camtasia Studio 8 on PC to make a .MP4 with AVC codec (~50mb)

So if anyone has a better way to get from a 16GB full res 1080p .MOV down to a ~50MB friendly MP4, I am more than interested!

[Alan Okey]

You might find this post interesting and/or relevant. Note that the x264 encoder provides the best quality at low bit rates (much lower than some other encoders):

https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/20/869180

[Jon Hensen]

This is great, Alan. Thanks!

I may come back with a follow up on workflow/procedure after some research.

[Craig Seeman]

[Jonathan Hensen] “while having the only difference be the strict H.264 codec, file size is in some cases triple.
“

There’s some misinformation there.
File size is primarily a function of data rate times duration.
That’s the same for all codecs I know of.

AVC and H.264 (MPEG4 Part 10) are the same.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264/MPEG-4_AVC
H.264/MPEG-4 Part 10 or AVC (Advanced Video Coding)

[Craig Seeman]

x264 is probably the best of the widely available H.264 encoders.
MainConcept is a bit behind.
Apple’s H.264 is about the worst of those widely available.
You also need factor in things like Profile (Baseline, Main, High) as well as Entropy math used (CAVLC, CABAC). and there are a few other factors as well. Just take a look at the settings available in Handbrake to see the number of settings that can impact quality.

[Jon Hensen]

Thanks, Craig. It’s becoming much clearer and I’m looking into x264 to possibly save the day here.

For clarity’s sake, here’s a screenshot of the video with AVC coding. The result is quite impressive for the file size. It was created on PC using Camtasia Studio 8. What do you think is the best way to achieve this result using a MAC platform?

[Craig Seeman]

I’d bet Camtasia is using x264 on Windows.
I do note that it’s only using Baseline Level 3.0 and CAVLC (CABAC No). VBR encode.
640×360 232kbps which is very low.
Good quality at that low bitrate would have to be x264.

On Mac there’s a free (but likely deprecated) Quicktime x264 component. Apple has switched from Quicktime to AVFoundation (CoreMedia). That component would work in Compressor or Quicktime Pro.
Otherwise you can use the free Handbrake which uses x264.