Using QTIndexSwapper with MP4's from VP8

Cliff Etzel wrote on 11/8/2008, 5:43 PM
It appears that I have stumbled upon a workaround for those looking to embed MP4's to be played through Adobe FLV players.

The idea is that the latest version of Adobe Flash now supports playing mp4 files within an FLV player. When SONY released 8.0c, it did something to the MP4 encoder and QTIndexSwapper cannot process the file to move the Atom Metadata from the end to the beginning - which allows for progressive playback without waiting for the file to completely download before beginning to play.

It appears that Vegas Pro 8.1 64bit does encode the MP4 files correctly for QTIndexSwapper to move the Atom Metadata from the end of the file to the beginning - thereby allowing the progressive playback in the FLV player.

Not sure why this is, but it does work.

Cliff Etzel - Solo Video Journalist
bluprojekt | solo video journalism blog

Comments

Cliff Etzel wrote on 11/8/2008, 6:13 PM
As a test, I replaced the files mcmp4plug folder that installs with Vegas Pro 8.0c with the same files from 8.0b - I extracted the folder from the 8.0b mcmp4plug.cab file. Had to rename a couple of files to the appropriate dll files and rendered out a test mp4

Voila - QTIndexSwapper now reads the MP4 files being rendered out from 8.0c with the MP4 encode dll's from 8.0b.

Those who have read my tutorial on encoding MP4 files from Vegas Pro to FLV can now do so. I have also posted an update at the bottom of the article to reflect this discovery.

Thought you guys might want to know.

Cliff Etzel - Solo Video Journalist
bluprojekt | solo video journalism blog

BrianStanding wrote on 11/28/2008, 8:20 AM
I found an alternate solution that saves a step.

The freeware A0A MP4 patch, available at:
http://www.aoamedia.com/mp4patch.htm

It seems to fix the "bad atom" problem with 8.0c renders, and properly sets the file for progressive download in one step. No need to use the QTIndexSwapper program. Render to MP4 from V8c, run the MP4 patch, and the file is readable by Flash.

Hope this helps.
Spot|DSE wrote on 11/28/2008, 1:07 PM
Brian, thanks for letting us know about this. Very nicely done. Thanks!
Cliff Etzel wrote on 11/28/2008, 2:24 PM
Thanks Brian!

Cliff Etzel - Solo Video Journalist
bluprojekt | solo video journalism blog