Video is not my main area of expertise... I have a film that when exported as an MP4 works great. But when trying to export as a MOV, it looks all bad and pixely. Can anyone help with what settings I should be using to get a full 1080p HD MOV file?
Being totally honest I have no idea haha... The film festival asked for a mov file. No idea why they would want it that way. I did reach out to ask if the mp4 would be fine, which hopefully it is and it's just a non-issue. But I figured I'd get a mov exported in the meantime just to be safe, and when I did it looked all awful.
Your film festival is catering to people who use Apple equipment and software to produce videos. Videos made on PC are not in their league. Make sure you want to compete with this nonsense.
Get the exact specs to use. For example, the 48 Hour Film competition (can't find it) has specs on how to export your video file from Vegas, Premiere, Avid & FCP. Very specific settings so it will work. They also give alternative forms of submission (a video DVD, maybe a MiniDV tape, etc).
Try renaming the .mp4 file to .mov and send it to them. The MPEG4 container is a proper subset of the QuickTime container format and they should not be able to tell the difference. Lots of people here have done this with great success with AVC/H.264 (MPEG4) video.
The reason for this workaround is that Vegas Pro cannot render MPEG4 video in a QuickTime container.
Haha Ok so renaming it seems to work yea. At least I can play it in Quicktime so I assume that means it works. I'll be sure to thank all of you guys if we win. :-) Haha
You have to test this process against your client - in other words - the festival admin.
Renaming an extension does nothing to the original file. It is not what we call a rewrap of container around codec. >mov is a container for many codecs. The reason this simple renaming works in a PC environs is because the extension is a clue to the OS about where and how to process the file. This is JUST a trick on the OS - nothing more clever or technical than that.
Yes I understand. Also if it does come down to them really truly needing a .mov we'll be sure to mention that we'd like them to test it to be sure (I'm sure they would test it anyway since we're going to be screening at the fest).
I would hazard a guess that there are but a handful of individuals on this planet who are interested or capable enough to make the distinction. It's trivial.
This is an important point. You didn't say what codec they expect to find in the mov file. You are assuming the want AVC/H.264. They may want, MPEG2, or MJPEG, or ProRes 422. Delivering a QuickTime file is only half the solution. You should probably ask them what codec they are expecting it to contain.
The acceptance letter literally says "Ideally we'd like a large, high definition .MOV file."
Haha, so yea. I'm still waiting to hear back if they were fine with the mp4 file. If not I'll have them try the renamed .mov and if that's not cool than I'll definitely be back for further suggestions :-)
You have already received the best answer here - you need to get the TRUE spec of the festival preferably in writing - or better yet talk to a live person who knows what they are talking about.,
From what you have got - my Apple store comment still best applies.
Stringer - your comment could be valid depending on how loosey goosey this event really is. BUT - I have been in festival operations and as well as in position of submittals - and the process to just take -in, catalogue, and screen is an arduous task for the organizers. So if you want to hunt all over the place for a way to screen a submission - when you don't have the least idea how the submission was intended - NOT REALISTIC! I have seen festivals where the submissions that presented even the least little problem were quickly tossed in the ashcan!