Strange iTunes m4v problem

[judgejohn82]

Hi guys,

I'm having a strange problem with a DVD I ripped with Handbrake into m4v format.

The video plays perfectly in both Quicktime and VLC, but when I import it into iTunes it refuses to play. It sticks on pause, and pressing play does nothing.

I can pull the progress bar to various points in the movie, which displays the picture for the corresponding time, but again refuses to play.

Any ideas, as I am tearing my hair out!

EDIT: Forgot to say, I have tried re-ripping and encoding the movie again from scratch, and get exactly the same problem.

[judgejohn82]

Also, forgot to say that I have a library of over 200 similarly ripped movies, and every one works flawlessly except this one.

[judgejohn82]

Further update:-

The movie plays fine on my Apple TV, however if I try to copy it to my iPad, I get a message saying "The movie ... cannot be copied to iPad as it cannot be played on the iPad"

Very odd indeed...

[mic j]

Originally Posted by judgejohn82

Further update:-

The movie plays fine on my Apple TV, however if I try to copy it to my iPad, I get a message saying "The movie ... cannot be copied to iPad as it cannot be played on the iPad"

Very odd indeed...

can you use Media Info to analyze what's in the file and post it?

[judgejohn82]

* * * MediaInfo Mac 0.7.36.0 file analysis report.
* * * MediaInfo Mac is ©2010 by Diego Massanti - http://mediainfo.massanti.com
* * * MediaInfoLib by Jerome Martinez - http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net
Created on: 10 Oct 2012 21:57:01 BST
Report for file: *****.m4v

General / Container Stream #1
Total Video Streams for this File.................1
Total Audio Streams for this File.................1
Video Codecs Used.................................AVC
Audio Codecs Used.................................AC3
File Format.......................................MPEG-4
Play Time.........................................1h 42mn
Total File Size...................................1.72 GiB
Total Stream BitRate..............................2 395 Kbps
Title (Tag).......................................*****
Encoded with......................................iFlicks
Video Stream #1
Codec (Human Name)................................AVC
Codec (FourCC)....................................avc1
Codec Profile.....................................Main@L4.0
Frame Width.......................................1 280 pixels
Frame Height......................................720 pixels
Frame Rate........................................23.976 fps
Total Frames......................................147532
Display Aspect Ratio..............................16:9
Scan Type.........................................Progressive
Color Space.......................................YUV
Codec Settings (Summary)..........................CABAC / 6 Ref Frames
QF (like Gordian Knot)............................0.091
Codec Settings (CABAC)............................Yes
Codec Settings (Reference Frames).................6
Video Stream Length...............................1h 42mn 33s 320ms
Video Stream BitRate..............................2 000 Kbps
Video Stream BitRate Mode.........................VBR
Bit Depth.........................................8 bits
Video Stream Size.................................1.43 GiB (83%)
Video Encoder.....................................x264 - core 112
Video Encoder (Settings)..........................cabac=1 / ref=6 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x1:0x111 / me=hex / subme=7 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=0 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=0 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=9 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=5 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=0 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=240 / keyint_min=23 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=2000 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=3 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Date of Original Encoding.........................UTC 2011-02-18 09:38:57
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 Stream #1
Codec.............................................AC-3
Codec (FourCC)....................................ac-3
Audio Stream Length...............................1h 42mn 33s 344ms
Audio Stream BitRate..............................384 Kbps
Audio Stream BitRate Mode.........................CBR
Number of Audio Channels..........................6
Audio Channel's Positions.........................Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling Rate.....................................48.0 KHz
Bit Depth.........................................16 bits
Audio Stream Size.................................282 MiB (16%)
Date of Original Encoding.........................UTC 2011-02-18 09:38:57

[mic j]

Originally Posted by judgejohn82

* * * MediaInfo Mac 0.7.36.0 file analysis report.
* * * MediaInfo Mac is ©2010 by Diego Massanti - http://mediainfo.massanti.com
* * * MediaInfoLib by Jerome Martinez - http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net
Created on: 10 Oct 2012 21:57:01 BST
Report for file: *****.m4v

General / Container Stream #1
Total Video Streams for this File.................1
Total Audio Streams for this File.................1
Video Codecs Used.................................AVC
Audio Codecs Used.................................AC3
File Format.......................................MPEG-4
Play Time.........................................1h 42mn
Total File Size...................................1.72 GiB
Total Stream BitRate..............................2 395 Kbps
Title (Tag).......................................*****
Encoded with......................................iFlicks
Video Stream #1
Codec (Human Name)................................AVC
Codec (FourCC)....................................avc1
Codec Profile.....................................Main@L4.0
Frame Width.......................................1 280 pixels
Frame Height......................................720 pixels
Frame Rate........................................23.976 fps
Total Frames......................................147532
Display Aspect Ratio..............................16:9
Scan Type.........................................Progressive
Color Space.......................................YUV
Codec Settings (Summary)..........................CABAC / 6 Ref Frames
QF (like Gordian Knot)............................0.091
Codec Settings (CABAC)............................Yes
Codec Settings (Reference Frames).................6
Video Stream Length...............................1h 42mn 33s 320ms
Video Stream BitRate..............................2 000 Kbps
Video Stream BitRate Mode.........................VBR
Bit Depth.........................................8 bits
Video Stream Size.................................1.43 GiB (83%)
Video Encoder.....................................x264 - core 112
Video Encoder (Settings)..........................cabac=1 / ref=6 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x1:0x111 / me=hex / subme=7 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=0 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=0 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=9 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=5 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=0 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=240 / keyint_min=23 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=2000 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=3 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Date of Original Encoding.........................UTC 2011-02-18 09:38:57
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 Stream #1
Codec.............................................AC-3
Codec (FourCC)....................................ac-3
Audio Stream Length...............................1h 42mn 33s 344ms
Audio Stream BitRate..............................384 Kbps
Audio Stream BitRate Mode.........................CBR
Number of Audio Channels..........................6
Audio Channel's Positions.........................Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling Rate.....................................48.0 KHz
Bit Depth.........................................16 bits
Audio Stream Size.................................282 MiB (16%)
Date of Original Encoding.........................UTC 2011-02-18 09:38:57

Nothing really stands out except that you said you used HB and it says it was written with iFlicks and it does not have an AAC 2 channel audio track for the iPad. Was it from an mkv?

[judgejohn82]

Originally Posted by mic j

Nothing really stands out except that you said you used HB and it says it was written with iFlicks.

Hi,

I used Handbrake to encode the file.

iFlicks just adds all the metadata / artwork and then imports it easily into iTunes.

[mic j]

Originally Posted by judgejohn82

Hi,

I used Handbrake to encode the file.

iFlicks just adds all the metadata / artwork and then imports it easily into iTunes.

Got it. Did you use a HB preset?

[Galootje]

i am having the same problem, word for word..

any updates regarding a solution? want them to play on iTunes as well as my iPad.

[mic j]

Originally Posted by Galootje

i am having the same problem, word for word..

any updates regarding a solution? want them to play on iTunes as well as my iPad.

So, I assume you are using HB to transcode. Did you use a preset? Which one? Does your file have an AAC Prologic audio track? Is the source a disk or a download?

[Galootje]

Yes, i am using Handbrake, Preset Apple TV3, Audio Ac3 (FFMpeg). 6 Channel Discrete.


The source is an MKV download.

it play's in quicktime perfectly.

just itunes is the problem, plus when i try to reencode the file using quickime or itunes i get a error.

[0dev]

Probably just codec issues. m4v is basically the same as mp4 and that's just a container, so not all m4v's are created equal. It's the same issue you get with avi files and the like.

This is why I play all my videos in VLC, it's fine with pretty much absolutely everything

[mic j]

Originally Posted by 0dev

Probably just codec issues. m4v is basically the same as mp4 and that's just a container, so not all m4v's are created equal. It's the same issue you get with avi files and the like.

This is why I play all my videos in VLC, it's fine with pretty much absolutely everything

+1

In my experience, it's really not worth the time trying to figure out why some downloads have issues. You get what you pay for. Sorry.

[Idgit]

I think you need to have a 2-channel AAC audio track for it to play in iTunes. Run it through Subler to have it convert the AC3 track to 2-channel Prologic II track. Be sure to keep the AC3 track but uncheck it in Subler.