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Best way to convert from HD 720p50 to MPEG4/H.264
I am shooting with the great Sony XDCAM EX-1 in HD 720p50 (which will probagly become the most used HD standard format for HD broadcast in Europe where I live). I am editing in FCP6 using the XDCAM EX 720p50 (35 mbps) preset. The video plays back perfect in the canvas on my MacPro. When I export the sequence via Compressor and choose the AppleProRes 422 Quicktime setting, the exported video also look perfect (and plays back nicely on my Mac), but the size (2 minutes and 12 sec playing time, 2,9 Gbyte size) and datarate is too big for any use other than on my Mac. So, the question is:
Since this is the first time I have been shooting in 50p, I have no experience with converting this video to formats that most people can watch. In other words, what are the best settings in Compressor to create Quicktime movies suitable for:
1. Vimeo (they accept HD video – I am not sure about size limits and datarate)
2. A downloadable MPEG4 H.264 which is below 100 Mbyte in size
3. A Quicktime move suitable for my AppleTV (I have had ok results with creating H.264 files as big as 1280×720 with 4061 kbps and 24 fps).
4. It looks like YouTube will show video with higher quality these days. What is the best format and compression to use when I create the video I will upload to YouTube? (Wonder if they will accept and show real 16:9 soon…?)
5. Is it realistic to use 50 fps in the HD videos I will distribute on the web, or will this fast frame rate be too much for most computers out there?
6. Is H.264 a compression that most PC and Mac-users will handle, or should I choose a different compression?
7. Will I get better results if I create new sequences with different video compression within FCP and paste my clips into them before I export the sequence, or is it ok to use Compressor with different settings?
I am thankful for any quality response to these questions 🙂 i will let you know how this develops, and where you can find the final video online later.
Helge K.
XDCAM-EX1
MacPro 2×2,8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
FinalCutPro6
MetaSynth, ArtMaticPro, ArtMaticVoyager
My music: https://homelessballoon.com -
3 Replies
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Hi.
The best way to export your HD project is to use QT h264 or DivX HD.1. To have an HD video on Vimeo you have to upload a 720P file (1280×720 pixels big). H264 works great, but there’s some saturation loss. I read somewhere that you should boost gamma a little bit before compressing. As for fps setting, you should set 25 with a keyframe every 24 frames and compress with the frame reordering option ON. As for bitrate i recommend not going below 5Mbps and always compress with multipass. Files are big, but they look perfect on Vimeo, after recompressing to Flash. Vimeo has 500MB upload limit per week.
2. Use h264 or DivX with native 720P resolution but with smaller bitrate around 2Mbps.
3. There are presets for that in Compressor.
4. Upload the same files you have for Vimeo or download if they fit 100MB limit or recompress with smaller bitrate.
5. No. And it’s pointless in such a low bitrates. More frames – a smaller bitrate per frame – a worse quallity. Converting 50 to 25fps goes rather smoothly.
6. To play h264 on a PC you need QT installed. You can also play it with VLC player. You can use DivX, but not every PC has DivX installed… ;-).
To get good quallity in DivX i recommend compressing from ProRess file in QT, Compressor can’t do DivX, FCP gives poor quallity sometimes.7. Use settings that are native for your format. If you shoot progressive then there’re no problems at all when compressing to another progressive format (no fields to worry about).
Hope i helped. Good luck!
Przemek
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Thanks for your detailed response! Your advice is very helpful 🙂
Helge
XDCAM-EX1
MacPro 2×2,8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
FinalCutPro6
MetaSynth, ArtMaticPro, ArtMaticVoyager
My music: https://homelessballoon.com -
Here is how the video looks like at Vimeo:
You will find some details about the conversion, too.
Helge
XDCAM-EX1
MacPro 2×2,8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
FinalCutPro6
MetaSynth, ArtMaticPro, ArtMaticVoyager
My music: https://homelessballoon.com
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