Compressor: .mp4 file H264/AAC optimized both for RTMP and HTTP streaming ?

[Paul Sellis]

Hum… let’s resume my “problem” :
– I use RTMP streaming on Amazon CloudFront.
– Compressor 4 .mp4 generated files are well played with RTMP. Good so far…

– I only have a little problem with this file when it’s played on iPhone with HTML5: I get 15 seconds before playing…
(I use JW Player with HTML5 fallback if RTMP isn’t supported)

So I am looking for a way to compress the file which would make it fully optimized for RTMP and HTML5

[Craig Seeman] “Look under the HTTP Live Streaming presets.”
HTTP Live Streaming isn’t compatible with RTMP streaming, isn’t it ?

[Craig Seeman]

[Paul Sellis] “HTTP Live Streaming isn’t compatible with RTMP streaming, isn’t it ?”

While that’s the name of the preset, it should be a standard H.264 .mp4 which would work in RTMP streaming.

HTTP Livestreaming itself is a different technology than RTMP but the same file should be usable in both.

[Craig Seeman]

See this as well.
https://www.longtailvideo.com/support/jw-player/jw-player-for-flash-v5/12535/video-delivery-rtmp-streaming

RTMP supports video in FLV and H.264 (MP4/MOV/F4V)

[Paul Sellis]

[Andrew Stuckey] “I can highly recommend using the x264 codec for H264/mp4 format video rather than Apple’s default H264 codec found in QT and Compressor. I’ve recently switched and seen far superior results.”
I tried Handbrake but didn’t get a better result than Compressor 4…
For what I have seen in my tests, contrast and chroma are better in Compressor 4. I got more details too in images.

I tried also Squeeze and didn’t get much better results…

So I am still for now using Compressor 4 as the better choice for me… but when I see you guys saying that Apple’s Compressor has one of the worst H264 codec I get confused…
😉

What would be your encoder chart for .mp4 …264/AAC for Web diffusion at 1Mbs ?
For the moment, it could be something like that for me:
1 – Compressor 4
2 – Squeeze 8
3 – Handbrake
4 – MPEG Streamclip or ffmpegX

I don’t have tested yet Episode…

[Paul Sellis]

[Paul Sellis] “So I am still for now using Compressor 4 as the better choice for me… “
Not so sure now !
😉

I have seen that in case of low data rate (700Kps) and H264/AAC that Squeeze is better than Compressor…
I just use filter to adjust sharp, saturation and gamma.

I have to check again with bigger data rate 1200Kps

[Craig Seeman]

Apple’s H264 codec is about the worst (least efficient) I know of.
MainConcept, used by Telestream Episode and Sorenson Squeeze, are better as is x264 and hardware accelerated encoders like Matrox MAX.

If you care about quality relative to bitrate, pick something other than Compressor.

I should mention that you can use x264 through Quicktime and certaing Matrox MAX through Compressor so if you like that interface you can use it with something other than Apple’s H264.

[Paul Sellis]

[Craig Seeman] “MainConcept, used by Telestream Episode and Sorenson Squeeze, are better as is x264 and hardware accelerated encoders like Matrox MAX.”I am not sure to fully understand :
do you recommend me to use MainConcept or x264 ?
(I use 1200kps and 700kps depending if the .mp4 movie is encoded for web browsers or for 3G smartphones)

[Craig Seeman]

[Paul Sellis] “do you recommend me to use MainConcept or x264 ?”

Both are better than Apple’s H.264. To take best advantage of x264 can require some “under the hood” encoding knowledge to tweak settings. Even using its defaults can get great results and if you want to stick with Compressor you can use x264 with it.

MainConcept, tied to the professional front end encoders such as Episode or Squeeze is a bit easier to use and you get an app that is far more flexible and deep than Compressor along with it.

Any of the above is better than Apple’s H264 and even more so at lower bit rates which may be obvious down around 700kbps.