Unfriendly ".mov" files from client

Adi-W wrote on 8/10/2018, 12:55 PM

I recieved a bunch of .mov video files from a client and Vegas pro 14 can only read the audio (at least!). I have a hard time to find a way to convert them in a satisfaying or convenient way. As a note, even on my macbook-pro, quicktime have problem playing fluidly these files (hey, Apple !).

So, what do you think about the media info : does it show that these files have been through FCP (not the original from camera) and also l find strange that Width and Height are not the samne as the Original Width and height. Any help is welcome... thanks !
 

Format                                   : MPEG-4
Commercial name                          : HDV 1080i
Format profile                           : QuickTime
Codec ID                                 : qt  
File size                                : 1,11 Gio
Duration                                 : 5mn 39s
Overall bit rate                         : 28,2 Mb/s
Encoded date                             : UTC 2018-05-23 11:30:15
Tagged date                              : UTC 2018-05-23 11:30:25
Writing library                          : Apple QuickTime
com.apple.quicktime.make                 : Apple
com.apple.quicktime.model                : MacBookPro11,3
com.apple.quicktime.software             : Mac OS X 10.13 (17A405)
com.apple.quicktime.creationdate         : 2018-05-23T13:29:28+0200

Vidéo
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : MPEG Video
Commercial name                          : HDV 1080i
Format version                           : Version 2
Format profile                           : Main@High 1440
Format settings, BVOP                    : Oui
Format settings, Matrix                  : Personnalisée
Format settings, GOP                     : M=3, N=12
Format settings, picture structure       : Frame
Codec ID                                 : hdv3
Duration                                 : 5mn 39s
Bit rate                                 : 25,0 Mb/s
Width                                    : 1 416 pixels
Original width                           : 1 440 pixels
Height                                   : 1 062 pixels
Original height                          : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 16/9
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 25,000 Im/s
Standard                                 : Component
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Entrelacé
Scan type, store method                  : Trames entrelacées
Scan order                               : Ligne du haut d'abord
Compression mode                         : Avec perte
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.665
Stream size                              : 1 013 Mio (89%)
Title                                    : Core Media Video
Encoded date                             : UTC 2018-05-23 11:30:15
Tagged date                              : UTC 2018-05-23 11:30:25
Color primaries                          : BT.709
Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.709

Comments

OldSmoke wrote on 8/10/2018, 1:11 PM

Try Sony's Catalyst Browse, maybe it can read and re-render the file(s) but the width and height is certainly strange.

Proud owner of Sony Vegas Pro 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 & 13 and now Magix VP15&16.

System Spec.:
Motherboard: ASUS X299 Prime-A

Ram: G.Skill 4x8GB DDR4 2666 XMP

CPU: i7-9800x @ 4.6GHz (custom water cooling system)
GPU: 1x AMD Vega Pro Frontier Edition (water cooled)
Hard drives: System Samsung 970Pro NVME, AV-Projects 1TB (4x Intel P7600 512GB VROC), 4x 2.5" Hotswap bays, 1x 3.5" Hotswap Bay, 1x LG BluRay Burner

PSU: Corsair 1200W
Monitor: 2x Dell Ultrasharp U2713HM (2560x1440)

Adi-W wrote on 8/10/2018, 4:11 PM

Thanks for the suggestion, just tried it and Catalyst cannot read the file. The other media info that I find strange is this part:

Writing library                          : Apple QuickTime
com.apple.quicktime.make                 : Apple
com.apple.quicktime.model                : MacBookPro11,3
com.apple.quicktime.software             : Mac OS X 10.13 (17A405)

It looks like this info is coming from software (maybe FCP), that cannot come from the camera or is it possible ?

Musicvid wrote on 8/10/2018, 4:18 PM

HDV MOV is not supported natively in Windows or Vegas. Convert to ProRes in FCP or convert in Handbrake to mp4 are two options.

Rewrap to Windows .mts is your elegant solution if you are handy with ffmpeg.

Adi-W wrote on 8/10/2018, 8:22 PM

Thanks Musicvid, I am not familiar with Handbrake but I will give it a try. It is too bad, I also tried Movavi Video Converter, and it could read and do a convertion of a 2 GB mov file (without recompression) but it seems it cannot handle large video files (most of them are between 5 GB to 12 GB) and it take like 30 min to one hour to analyse these large files to let you know that there is a problem...

Musicvid wrote on 8/10/2018, 9:14 PM

MOV files above 4GB will not open, sorry to say.

Adi-W wrote on 8/10/2018, 9:48 PM

You mean on Windows system specifically, and by not open you mean will not "play" ? Why this limitation ?

Musicvid wrote on 8/11/2018, 8:17 AM

It is a proprietary Apple format. Ask them.

Windows HDV format is .mts

JohnnyRoy wrote on 8/11/2018, 2:05 PM

@Adi-W I believe that the Codec ID of 'hdv3' signifies the Apple Intermediary Codec which has long been deprecated in favor of Apple ProRes. Not sure why your client is still using it but it was the standard codec for iMovie for quite a while so maybe they captured that footage with iMovie? or a very old copy of FCP 7.

If you can upload a sample file, I will see if I can read it on one of my Macs. I have Final Cut Pro X with the Apple Professional Codecs installed and perhaps I will be able to read it.

~jr

Musicvid wrote on 8/11/2018, 3:27 PM

Thanks, jr!

Adi-W wrote on 8/14/2018, 9:15 PM

Hi Musicvid, you were right about the 4 GB limit on Windows for mov file. While handbrake can “scan” these files, it will only do the conversion of the audio (with a black screen).             

Hi jr, sorry for the late answer. I was out for fews days and I just received an answer from my client that confirm what you said. So he filmed with a Canon XLH1 HD Camcorder (mini dv) and used imovie to get the tapes digital. I have two question here : does imovie re-encoded the data or it did just “encapsulate” it to make automatically the mov file ? And what other alternative he could have used to get these data from the tape to get a format (mov or anything else) that Vegas could read ?

As for sending you a sample, it would not be practical as the smallest file I have is 2 GB and, in all, I have 200 GB of mov file to convert. So, I have installed hanbrake on my macbook pro and spend few hours trying to find the best compression/quality ratio. At the end, the only way I could get near the orignal quality (that has already some noise) was to go with some settings that give a bit rate of 62,7 Mb/s, everything under that didnot gave any good results.  I thougth that handbrake could do better than that. And now, after loosing one day of work with that I am going towards a 500 GB… Anyway, thanks a lot for your explanations and help.

Musicvid wrote on 8/14/2018, 9:54 PM

It is unknown because we don't know how iMovie acquired the source!

Correct, tried and true workflow:

Capture the xlh1 hdv footage to mts over 1394 FireWire. 2 GB chunks, no bigger!

Open the Windows .mts HDV files in Vegas.

Done. Whatever those files are, they're probably already crippled for Windows use.

If they open in your friends FCPX, convert to ProRes or DNxHD, both of which are friendly with Vegas.