Delivering project on USB drives, exFAT or FAT32 file system?

Teagan wrote on 4/22/2021, 8:07 AM

Hi, I will probably be using USB flash drives instead of all DVDs for an upcoming project (client says people don't use DVDs anymore) and I have some PNY 32GB drives picked out that I can get at $5-$8 each on amazon which is great, but my question is that should I use exFAT or FAT32 file system?

On both file systems it can be opened on Mac or PC but exFAT can't be opened on Windows XP and similarly older versions of Mac OS.

Should I use FAT32 and break the video up into about three 4GB chunks just in case someone has windows xp or a similarly older version of Mac OS? Or should I ask them about this and offer both types and risk confusion?

The project will be MP4 H.264 29.97p 24Mb/s-14Mb/s VBR and AAC audio 192Kb/s, so that will work on anything, including smart TVs, but should I risk using exFAT so it's easier to watch the whole thing or go safe with FAT32 so it will 100% work on everything but at the cost of forcing people to play 3 files separately?

Also, in the H.264 section for encoding, should I use 1 or 4 slices for best compatibility? In some options like Magix AVC internet video 1080p NVENC I'm locked at 4 slices. In the non NVENC option I can go to 1 slice if I want.

Comments

set wrote on 4/22/2021, 8:12 AM

Besides of MacOS or WinXP, hardware usb players also need to be considered and for these - maximum compatibility should be FAT32. (as so far I learned - but technology may changes in the future)

Teagan wrote on 4/22/2021, 8:20 AM

Sounds wise. I used to use my blu ray player's USB to play movies off of for a while, but I bet older ones probably don't support newer file systems, or maybe even really old smart TVs or some other weird device. They all should support FAT32 though, at the least.

Do you have any advice on the slices question? I think the default 4 should be fine. I saw that higher slices could cause issues on some players.

Also, I've decided to make one version at 1080p 20Mb/s-24Mb/s VBR, split into 4GB parts, and then a version that is all separate scenes at 1080p 14Mb/s-20Mb/s VBR and then a backup SD 854x480 at 4Mb/s CBR just in case someone's machine can't handle the other files. That would leave me with about 1GB or less of free space ion the 32GB drive and sounds like what I should do.

Teagan wrote on 4/24/2021, 1:37 PM

Besides of MacOS or WinXP, hardware usb players also need to be considered and for these - maximum compatibility should be FAT32. (as so far I learned - but technology may changes in the future)

Would you use 29.97p in the MP4 files used for this project on this USB drive? As that seems like it's most compatible with more things? Or would the source 23.976p be Ok?

Also, would you stick to 192Kb/s AAC or would 256Kb/s be ok?

set wrote on 4/24/2021, 4:19 PM

I think all frame rates are ok... and for my area, that is 25p. So no prob.

as to other deeper settings, I usually leave as it is, where 192 Kb/s AAC is sufficient - but I believe many settings are ok. - must be tested.

Teagan wrote on 4/24/2021, 5:06 PM

I think all frame rates are ok... and for my area, that is 25p. So no prob.

as to other deeper settings, I usually leave as it is, where 192 Kb/s AAC is sufficient - but I believe many settings are ok. - must be tested.

Ok so 24p 256Kb/s works on all kinds of things I can try except a mac.

One more thing, would it be a good idea to make 2 partitions on the USB drive, one that is 28GB exFAT and one 4GB FAT32 so that I can have the best of both worlds? If a device can't read the exFAT part would it show the FAT32 partition as another drive that is compatible? Or is that too confusing to some older devices that can't show two drives for one?

With an exFAT partition I can have the HD all in one file and then a backup small 854x480 29.97p 192Kb/s file in the FAT32 section that is under 4GB.

On windows 10 it shows as 2 drives, one in exFAT and one in FAT32.

Former user wrote on 4/24/2021, 5:21 PM

You might want to explore this yourself, but my understanding is all Macs can read windows formatted NTFS drives. Which eliminates the size problem. They can't write to them, but they can read from them.

Teagan wrote on 4/24/2021, 5:26 PM

You might want to explore this yourself, but my understanding is all Macs can read windows formatted NTFS drives. Which eliminates the size problem. They can't write to them, but they can read from them.

Macs from before version Mac OS X 10.6.5 can't read exFAT nor NTFS but only FAT32 and mac's stuff.

Windows XP can't read exFAT, and it would either need to be exFAT or FAT32 to read on all systems.

One smart TV shows only the exFAT and the other only shows the FAT32 one.

Windows 10 shows both partitions as separate drives but windows 7 doesn't know how to show either, just "removable device". My xp pc is having driver issues and the USB hub is actually damaged.

Also, one of the devices made the drive corrupt and it's now just RAW space on disk management in windows 10.

I'll just stick with FAT32.

Former user wrote on 4/24/2021, 5:38 PM

10.6 was released in 2009. I don't know of any Mac users that would still be using older software. But it is your call.

Teagan wrote on 4/24/2021, 5:55 PM

I asked the client and we'll see what they think. I also doubt people still use windows xp and older mac os but it could happen. I just don't want someone to buy this and put it in and have it not work. Minor inconvenience to others but at a small cost.

Musicvid wrote on 4/25/2021, 8:39 AM

For my own (PC) use, my portable drives are all formatted NTFS.

Teagan wrote on 4/26/2021, 6:44 AM

10.6 was released in 2009. I don't know of any Mac users that would still be using older software. But it is your call.

For my own (PC) use, my portable drives are all formatted NTFS.

Which format is best for mac and PC, as I can't play videos on my Virtualbox Mac due to graphics accelleration issues which are known about. I can get access to a mac but I have to go to my mother's house.

Sample: (200KB)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/10bQZFGfx2jd3iZwTaIWQYw_4RpJ0aYk3/view?usp=sharing

Right now I'm using this:

Magix AVC/AAC MP4

Format                      : MPEG-4
Format profile              : Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID                    : mp42 (isom/mp42)
File size                   : 2.87 GiB
Duration                    : 22 min 49 s
Overall bit rate mode       : Variable
Overall bit rate            : 18.0 Mb/s
Encoded date                : UTC 2021-04-24 21:36:58
Tagged date                 : UTC 2021-04-24 21:36:58Video
ID                          : 1
Format                      : AVC
Format/Info                 : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile              : High@L4
Format settings             : CABAC / 3 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC      : Yes
Format settings, Reference  : 3 frames
Format settings, GOP        : M=1, N=30
Codec ID                    : avc1
Codec ID/Info               : Advanced Video Coding
Duration                    : 22 min 49 s
Bit rate                    : 17.8 Mb/s
Width                       : 1 920 pixels
Height                      : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio        : 16:9
Frame rate mode             : Constant
Frame rate                  : 23.976 (24000/1001) FPS
Color space                 : YUV
Chroma subsampling          : 4:2:0
Bit depth                   : 8 bits
Scan type                   : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)          : 0.357
Stream size                 : 2.83 GiB (99%)
Language                    : English
Encoded date                : UTC 2021-04-24 21:36:59
Tagged date                 : UTC 2021-04-24 21:36:59
Codec configuration box     : avcCAudio
ID                          : 2
Format                      : AAC LC
Format/Info                 : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Codec ID                    : mp4a-40-2
Duration                    : 22 min 49 s
Bit rate mode               : Variable
Bit rate                    : 253 kb/s
Maximum bit rate            : 391 kb/s
Channel(s)                  : 2 channels
Channel layout              : L R
Sampling rate               : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                  : 46.875 FPS (1024 SPF)
Compression mode            : Lossy
Stream size                 : 41.4 MiB (1%)
Language                    : English
Encoded date                : UTC 2021-04-24 21:36:59
Tagged date                 : UTC 2021-04-24 21:36:59

It will be 1-5 files like this, with the 4GB limit. (this is a test file, not the biggest I can make)

Musicvid wrote on 4/26/2021, 7:54 AM

Your video bitrate is way to high for efficient use of AVC in a confined partition format.

Half of that, or 8-10 Mbps should look just as good at 1080p unless these are high-motion sporting films.

x264 in HOS or Voukoder may give you an even better compression : quality ratio.

Teagan wrote on 4/26/2021, 8:19 AM

Your video bitrate is way to high for efficient use of AVC in a confined partition format.

Half of that, or 8-10 Mbps should look just as good at 1080p unless these are high-motion sporting films.

x264 in HOS or Voukoder may give you an even better compression : quality ratio.

You're right, it does look the same at 10Mb/s (at least to me). That cuts my data in half so I could choose a smaller USB drive. But the 32GB ones are $5 each, I was just trying to be generous with the bit rate.

Going up to 20Mb/s wouldn't look any better? Or is that past the point of diminishing returns?

Musicvid wrote on 4/26/2021, 9:23 AM

Stick with the 32 GB drives. People love them.

No. Yes.

Teagan wrote on 4/26/2021, 10:22 AM

Stick with the 32 GB drives. People love them.

No. Yes.

One last thing, why is the average professional blu ray's video bit rate anywhere from 16Mb/s-41Mb/s? Or is that just accounting for all the 5.1 and 2.0 audio tracks in it?

Isn't that the same thing as h.264 we're talking about here?

Former user wrote on 4/26/2021, 10:26 AM

Originally Blurays were primarily MPEG files which need a higher bitrate to match AVC quality. I believe most commercial Blurays are still MPEG.

Teagan wrote on 4/26/2021, 10:33 AM

That would be news to me if they're still MPEG2 but it would make sense.

Musicvid wrote on 4/26/2021, 5:34 PM

AVCHD BluRay (Transport Stream Acquisition) is much less compressed than AVC MP4 (Program Stream Delivery). Same codec, entirely different compression goals.

MPEG-2 BluRay is much less compressed than AVCHD BluRay.

That's how it stands.

Former user wrote on 4/26/2021, 6:12 PM

@Musicvid are commercial Blurays more commonly AVCHD now or are they staying with MPEG?

Teagan wrote on 4/26/2021, 6:14 PM

@Musicvid are commercial Blurays more commonly AVCHD now or are they staying with MPEG?

Every blu ray I have digitized says it's AVC as the codec except the oldest ones that are VC-1.

I don't have one that says MPEG2.

Musicvid wrote on 4/26/2021, 6:20 PM

I haven't bought a recent collection of BluRays so I can't tell you.

Stephanie_Sy wrote on 4/28/2021, 12:38 PM

How to Recover Data after formatting USB flash drive using FAT/FAT32/NTFS/exFAT?

Teagan wrote on 4/28/2021, 12:49 PM

How to Recover Data after formatting USB flash drive using FAT/FAT32/NTFS/exFAT?

You don't. When you format a drive, all data is lost. Windows and Mac tell you this before you click confirm.

When testing, take all data off of it. When you're done, format it back to what it was and put the data back on it.

If you lost something you really need, I would suggest seeing if Recuva can get anything back, but it's a long shot. This is only if you did quick format, it might find anything left.