Best HD format for submission to Withoutabox

[Rainer Wirth]

Hi Jan,

if the H264 for Apple TV plays fine then keep this codec in compressor. You just have to do a letterbox Format. Just make up a new sequence in 4×3 within FCP, throw the 16×9 Quicktime on the 4×3 sequence and its letterboxed. Export via compressor H264 for Aplle TV.

cheers

Rainer

factstory
Rainer Wirth
phone_0049-177-2156086
Mac pro 8core
Adobe,FCP,Avid
several raid systems

[Jan Laidlaw]

Thanks Rainer

Sorry if this is a stupid question but I’ve just started using FCP a couple of weeks ago. How would I make up a new sequence in 4×3? Would I change the sequence preset? And if so to what?

What are the steps to adding 16×9 Quicktime? i.e. is this a filter, a sequence preset…?

Just to clarify, the H264 for Apple TV played fine when I viewed it on my computer but *not* when I uploaded it to Withoutabox. So I’m not sure it’s the best setting in Compressor for this.

File size is also an issue, it takes forever to upload, but also because it’s a screener I want the quality to look reasonable.

[Rainer Wirth]

Hi Jan,

if you make up a sequence in FCP in 4×3 and then throw a 16/9 QT movie on it it goes letterboxed automatically. The sequence then is 4×3. If you send it to compressor it is handled as a 4X3 movie. Okay, back to the codec for your withoutabox.

* File size: Less than 2GB
* Frame: 480 px by 360 px at 30 frames per second
* Format: Flash Video (Codec: Sorenson or VP6 codec) or Quicktime
FLV videos using the H.263 video codec and the MP3 audio codec
MP4 videos using the H.264 video codec and the AAC audio codec
* We have had some trouble processing Apple QuickTime Pro files. Please convert this file type to an alternate format before attempting your upload.
* We do not currently support HD video. You will be able to upload an HD video, but the file will NOT be displayed in HD.

It says exactly what you have to deliver. I would deliver a FLV, but you need a payed plugin programme for it. So this is your codec with compressor:
MP4 videos using the H.264 video codec and the AAC audio codec
You can define your own specs in compressor.
This is your frame rate and ratio:
* Frame: 480 px by 360 px at 30 frames per second.

So you create a QT movie from FCP (4×3 QT movie) This movie you can compress via compressor within your specs.

cheers

Rainer

factstory
Rainer Wirth
phone_0049-177-2156086
Mac pro 8core
Adobe,FCP,Avid
several raid systems

[Jan Laidlaw]

Well this is what I ended up doing, and it looked reasonable enough once uploaded:

Export using quicktime conversion, click options.

Video Settings:

Compression: H.264
Quality: High
Frame reordering: yes
Enoding mode: multi-pass
Dimensions: 720×480 (640×480)
Scale: Letterbox

Audio settings left as is.

And then I read your latest response – thanks for that.

Hope this will help someone else. Probably me when I go searching for it again in the future. 🙂

[Noam Osband]

Two questions:
1 – My film is 24fps. It won’t get messed up if I compress it to 30fps?

2 – WMy original footage is 1920×1080. Is there any advantage to follow what Jan did and compress it to a large pixel size rather than the 640×480?

The Withoutabox site is so poorly run so I wonder if maybe they just haven’t updated their specs and i can actually upload something of a higher quality than what they say to do.