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Which video to use for mac min?

matteusclement

matteusclement

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jan 26, 2008
1,144
0
victoria
I have a mac mini

1.66ghz
2gigs 667mhz ram

running 10.6.5 with all updates

I need to run 1080p footage on it. The current h264 is playing a little choppy on it and I am not sure if it because it's 24p or if the machine is struggling.

Is there another file format that would would better?

i am using compressor right now to convert.
 
I don't know, if Keynote does support ProRes, but why don't you use that codec in a .mov container?

H264 is very CPU intensive, but ProRes might actually work, though the data rate is a bit higher.
 
tried AIC and that was a bomb. how do I get the codec into the system with out loading something like iMovie?
Prores is a FCP or FCE thing, so woulnd't I have to have those on the system?
 
matteusclement said:
tried AIC and that was a bomb. how do I get the codec into the system with out loading something like iMovie?
Prores is a FCP or FCE thing, so woulnd't I have to have those on the system?
Click to expand...

I thought you would have, as you mentioned Compressor, part of the Final Cut Studio, which includes Final Cut Pro, which therefore installs the ProRes codec.
You don't need to load iMovie to have access to AIC, but it needs to be installed, which should be less than a GB of data anyway, as you can choose what to install during the iLife installation.
 
sorry.
my bad.

AT HOME I have FCP but the machine I am using for this gig is the mac mini. I should be able to iLife onto it.
 
Random thoughts...

Out of curiosity, have you tried lowering the data rate?

Perhaps try the older common QuickTime Sorenson codec, or perhaps H.263 or Motion JPEG.
 
Balls!!!

Um... I feel like a total newb cause I have done what I hate people do... waste others time by not giving all the details. ARG! :mad:

To be exact, I have to play the video IN KEYNOTE during an automated slideshow.

I haven't tried H263.
I'd like to keep this HD.

I tried lower the data rate. @ 3000kbps it looks sexy @1000 it looks like hamburger meat. That was with the h264.

I was hoping buy using AIC I would be easing off the compression and making things easier for the mac. I still think that is my best bet. I will see if I can get imovie going on it so that I can have the AIC codec.
 
I think the mac mini you have might have a PPC chip and not intel and therefore will really struggle with HD playback.

I would suggest downsizing to at least 720p. What is the footage of that it is so necessary for it to be in HD?
 
Other thoughts...

That Mac mini isn't exactly a powerhouse. Bandwidth, graphics and drive speed are on the low side. Any or all could be contributing to the jerky result. I even found one entry at Apple's discussions where a user blamed Keynote for the jerkiness. I didn't include CPU in that list because I doubt it is the issue.

I played with a few codecs with QT7 and found AIC the most CPU efficient out of the group I tested, Sorensen 3, Motion JPEG B, H.264 and AIC.

I thought AIC was just part of QuickTime. Didn't realize I might have it due to iMovie. Does that machine have QuickTime Player 7 installed.

Have you considered dropping the resolution to say 960p or 720p. You'll still have a nice picture and the mini will likely perform better. Perhaps in Keynote you could tell it to expand the image back up to 1080.
 
prores... go figure

huh.
I can't figure it out for the life of me but go figure, AIC was a no go but prores422 was good to go .

Its the smallest bit choppy but still works. My guess is that it has a 5400RPM drive that is bogging it down.
 
I forgot to mention that you should have the minimum number of apps open when playing back the video. In the tests I mentioned, I had to close Safari because it want CPU and perhaps other sources, which added to the playback jittery affect.

If you can duplicate that file in less time than it takes to play back, then perhaps the slow drive isn't the issue.
 
because the video doesn't have to be UBBER good, I am going to try the prores PROXY version to see if that eases some of the pressure. There's just the SMALLEST bit of jerkiness still that I would be so happy to get rid of.

The problem is that I can't watch activity monitor while the movie is playing because it's full screen and password protected, so by the time I punch out of the keynote, it's past.
 
matteusclement said:
The problem is that I can't watch activity monitor while the movie is playing because it's full screen and password protected, so by the time I punch out of the keynote, it's past.
Click to expand...

If the mini is or can be networked, open up ssh login ability in System Preferences, login via Terminal, and use top on the command line to view what is happening with the processes.
 
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