Off to a rocky start... codex compatibility

tsoilihoi wrote on 3/8/2017, 10:33 AM

tsoilihoi asked on 03/08/2017, 07:12 AM

I have accomplished much with Movie Studio 13 and moved forward to 14 with a great amount of optimism... There are a lot of changes in 14 and the documentation is sparse... also the defaults are different. I think I'm getting used to the placement of tools. I contacted support and the response was fast, however I initially had a lot of questions and its taking quite awhile to get up to speed. I guess some videos will appear on Youtube to help out, but most are related to Sony's Movie Studio 13.

I choose to put up clips, many 4:3 (that's how they were filmed) on my website... Using an ftp client. Youtube is not my first choice...

A problem continues with creating mp4 clips that play on different platforms. The Sony avc/mvc memory stick sd ntsc widescreen 6256 creates a great sized file, however the movies will not play on LG or Samsung Smart Phones, some iphones and some internet browsers. The Internet 1920x1280 30p profile works but creates a huge file. A file created with the former is say 50 mb, whereas the latter's is 150 mb. The 4:3 profiles are few and the image size small with large borders. This requires that the image be cropped in. I used Applian's Converter and that solves the problem, albeit an additional step.

I am glad that I found this forum...

I must comment that the sales department does not answer their phones, the registration wizard does not recognize serial numbers, I hope that Magix will get up to speed which will help me get up to speed. I'm giving this a go, however I must say that when I did get through on the phone, I asked for a refund, info was taken and the request seems to have fallen into a black hole. Upon further study... the warranty from Sony Creative and Magix both state that downloaded products are not refundable as there is a trial. I did not take advantage of that basically because I imagined that there would be hassles and I had no idea what would become of version 13 and its components with the installation of a trial. I also trusted it would be a seamless transition and the price was right. So I just went ahead on the special offer. I will give Magix the benefit of the doubt, but as of now, contact with Magix is basically non-existent and email support is by its nature, very cumbersome.

Any thoughts on how to produce a mp4 (h.264) file that plays on a variety of platforms (newer clips are widescreen and older ones are 4:3 format)? And it would be nice if Magix or someone would produce a video detailing the changes.

Comments

Cornico wrote on 3/8/2017, 12:10 PM

Do you know that most of the codecs used for export templates can be customized to match your wished output?
Example for the Sony AVC codec to produce a customized mp4:

>>>>>>>>> where you're able to customize the framesize, framerate, P.A.R. and bitrate.
Greater bitrate and/or framesize gives a bigger videofile.

tsoilihoi wrote on 3/8/2017, 12:44 PM

I have been working to that conclusion! thanks. Do you happen to know what would be a reasonable setting for the 1280 x 720 30p profile for internet use. When I produced a short video using the memory stick widescreen sd profile it created a file of about 10 megs. The Internet 1280 x 720 30p produced a like clip but was 10 x bigger. So I gather that best would be to reduce the bit rate!? Thanks for your input!

Cornico wrote on 3/8/2017, 1:15 PM

Your only possibility in this program in this case is to lower the bitrate.
But lowering the bitrate decreases the quality.
You have to figure out to what level it is acceptable for you.

tsoilihoi wrote on 3/8/2017, 1:28 PM

The Sony avc/mvc memory stick sd ntsc widescreen 6256 creates a great sized file. a good balance, however its not compatible with a galaxy or lg phone. Thumbnails are placeholders. So as I mentioned, I use the Applian converter and that always works. I'm going to try to use similar settings to the The Sony avc/mvc memory stick sd ntsc widescreen 6256 in the internet 1280 x 720 profile and see what happens. thx for you info!

Cornico wrote on 3/8/2017, 2:28 PM

To me the best converter for smartphone and tablet is Handbrake.

john-baker wrote on 3/10/2017, 10:58 AM

@ tsoilihoi

. . . .

The Sony avc/mvc memory stick sd ntsc widescreen 6256 creates a great sized file a good balance, however its not compatible with a galaxy or lg phone . . .

It won't be - this export is for an Interleaved top field first video, you need progressive video for most mobile devices.

Try creating a custom profile from the Sony AVC/MVC, Internet 1280x720-30p and change the Bitrate setting to 8,000,000 bps or 6,000,000 - save it with a meaningful name for future use.

Also apply a light sharpen effect to the whole video - this will take care of any reduction in sharpness with any downsizing in the project.

I get good results with either of the above bitrates and good quality when viewed at 1920*1080 - they are very similar to the settings, with the exception of GOP length, to those I posted in your question on the Magix forum.

If you need to convert any existing video, I would recommend MovAvi Video Converter - this is a paid for converter and IMHO is currently the best available and at a reasonable cost.

HTH

John EB