-
Best MP4 settings to use that will work for most people…
I transfer home movies. I am getting more requests for mp4 files. The issue is that people have Macs/Windows 7/Windows 10 etc. Sometimes they only get audio, sometimes nothing will work, sometimes it works fine.
Right now I am using the attached. I am looking for the most compatible option for the most people.
I should mention, when I transfer a DVD to MP4 I use Aimersoft DVD Ripper and use the Apple TV option. I have never had a call back on those. But I don’t know in particular when codec etc they are using.
Please keep in mind that these are movies made in the 60’s so the quality to start with is not wonderful. Thanks in advance for your help!
-
5 Replies
-
The most common misunderstanding that people have is that MP4 is a container format and it can contain video and audio with different codecs. There are two reasons why your settings above are unlikely to work for many people.
Vegas offers you h264 = AVC, or h265 = HEVC codecs. The later is very new and not supported on many devices yet. So I suggest for compatibility to use the AVC/AAC presets.
Secondly, the bitrate is a critical setting when it comes to playability on various devices. The option you have set on the screenshot above will work on most newer computers, however, it will struggle with older ones. Since your source material is from DVD, it is not of much value encoding with very high bitrates as you will not notice the difference. For maximum compatibility with all types of older computer hardware, I would recommend CBR of 6 Mbps.
Remember that this recommendation is based on your requirements. The default settings provided by Vegas is usually just fine on most computers with the latest generation of CPUs/graphics cards.
The symptoms you describe are what you would expect if the client computer is unable to keep up with the bitrate of the video file. You usually get an error message if the client is unable to decode using the codec you have specified, however, as I said h265 is relatively new and it may be that the video decoding is pushed into an underpowered CPU and results in long pauses or stuttering.
Ultimately, the quality of encoding can only be judged by yourself, since you know what the original material looks like. I would suggest starting off with the suggested settings above and even consider lowering the bitrate if you cannot see a difference, since it will result in a smaller video file which is even easier to play on older hardware.
-
Bernie, Thank you so much for your reply. You have been extremely helpful.
-
Another two questions.. There are two options for AAC.
Magix AVC/AAC MP4 or
MainConcept AVC/AAC
Would one be better than the other in this situation?
-
My personal best MP4 render output solution, is simply Voukoder (the default mp4 setting).
You can give it a try if you choose.
-
They should both give you the same finished product. The MainConcept one is “older” as it was the one shipped with Sony Vegas many years ago, but as far as I am aware, no development is being done on this renderer by Magix. The Magix one is the one to use if you want to be sure that you get the best rendering performance with current hardware.
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up