Handbrake rendered video stutters in Quicktime

Eddy Bee wrote on 8/1/2011, 1:33 AM
I processed and rendered some 1080i footage using the DNxHD -> Handbrake workflow described in musicvid's excellent YouTube tutorial, and as far as I know, I followed the instructions to the letter.

When I try to play the final MP4 file in Quicktime 7.6.2, the motion is choppy and stutters. However, if I bring the MP4 file into Vegas, it previews silky smooth, even at Best quality. Is this the expected behavior? I've never had issues playing MP4 files in Quicktime before, and the Handbrake render is the only file that exhibits the stuttery motion in Quicktime.

I haven't tried to upload the file to YouTube yet. I'm guessing it'll play fine on YouTube since that's the main purpose of the workflow, but it would be nice to know if the choppy Quicktime playback is normal or maybe the result of an error on my part.

Comments

John_Cline wrote on 8/1/2011, 2:17 AM
Quicktime is an absolutely horrid player, the choppy playback is normal.
Steve Mann wrote on 8/1/2011, 5:45 AM
You probably encoded a bitrate higher than you PC can handle.

If your destination is You Tube, then QT is not your best encoding option would be AVCHD.
musicvid10 wrote on 8/1/2011, 7:30 AM
Post the rendered video details reported by MediaInfo.

Quicktime Player won't work well because it is a dinosaur. How does the video play in VLC?

Your uploaded video gets converted again (to 2Mbps) when it get to Youtube.
Eddy Bee wrote on 8/1/2011, 9:30 AM
Thank you for the quick replies.

The video plays fine in VLC - smooth just like in Vegas. It would seem the jerky playback is limited to just the Quicktime Player, which apparently, is not surprising.

Here are the MediaInfo details:

General
Complete name : D:\Video Files\Video Output\Test1-1.mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID : mp42
File size : 18.0 MiB
Duration : 19s 389ms
Overall bit rate : 7 768 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2011-07-31 20:32:54
Tagged date : UTC 2011-07-31 20:33:57
Writing application : HandBrake 0.9.5 2011010300

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : Main@L3.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 2 frames
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 19s 353ms
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 7 459 Kbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.270
Stream size : 17.2 MiB (96%)
Writing library : x264 core 112
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=2 / deblock=1:-2:-1 / analyse=0x1:0x111 / me=umh / subme=6 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=0 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=0 / 8x8dct=0 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=6 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=2 / b_pyramid=0 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=0 / open_gop=0 / weightp=0 / keyint=300 / keyint_min=29 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=19.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=3 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Encoded date : UTC 2011-07-31 20:32:54
Tagged date : UTC 2011-07-31 20:33:57
Color primaries : BT.709-5, BT.1361, IEC 61966-2-4, SMPTE RP177
Transfer characteristics : BT.709-5, BT.1361
Matrix coefficients : BT.709-5, BT.1361, IEC 61966-2-4 709, SMPTE RP177

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : 40
Duration : 19s 389ms
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 318 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 342 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 752 KiB (4%)
Language : English
Encoded date : UTC 2011-07-31 20:32:54
Tagged date : UTC 2011-07-31 20:33:57

Thanks again for taking the time to address my question.
musicvid10 wrote on 8/1/2011, 9:34 AM
Your render settings look perfect.
If you "must" play it in QT Player you can reduce the bitrate considerably and/or give it Baseline profile by using a preset in HB that has CABAC unchecked.
MTuggy wrote on 8/2/2011, 8:03 AM
John is right, QT is a lousy player for MP4 formats. Files that play back smoothly on Media Player Classic Homecinema (freebie), will often play back poorly on QT player, even on a Mac! I've done a couple tests with the same file, Mac vs. PC and the results are consistent.

Perhaps it is Apple's way to say either use our codecs, our MOV formats, and our machines or else your playback will suffer. (a bit of Apple paranoia, I know).

Mike
musicvid10 wrote on 8/2/2011, 8:09 AM
No, I can comfortably say that this is a result of Apple's incompetence, and not a conspiracy. Their players are designed to work around technology that is 5+ years out of date, and anyone producing MP4 as a delivery format is forced to cater to Apple's prior implementations as the lowest common denominator (by providing Baseline profile in most instances).

iPhone 4, iPad, and Apple TV 2 are the only implementations I know of that fully support Main and High Profile.