Does anyone know of an editor that will do this on a Mac? I downloaded a fully functional demo of SimpleMovieX (one notch up above QT Pro) which does allow native (lossless) editing of H.264 files, but in a very limited way. One can only trim a clip (remove footage before and after the I/O), whereas I want something that will allow me to split a clip into smaller sections that I can then move around within the movie.
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Lossless H.264 (mp4) editor
- Thread starter akadmon
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iMovie or FCP can't do this for you??
they will import then allow you to export to .mov with exactly the same bitrates etc. or isnt that enough?
they will import then allow you to export to .mov with exactly the same bitrates etc. or isnt that enough?
I'm pretty sure iM and FCP transcode, which means things are lost in translation. I already tried this with iM HD & iM9, and there is a clear degradation in image quality. I just bought a Canon DSLR (Rebel T1i) which records movies in 720p using H.264 file format, and what I ultimately want is to be able to create a movie that will play in the original HD quality (or damn near it) on a regular DVD (or BRD if that's what it takes)
hmm could MPEG Streamclip or VisualHub transcode them into something that wont compress it?
i know that FCP can export as a .mov file which doesn't change its settings or anything.. not sure how to get it into FCP without losing quality though
Never mind the orginal question. I figured out how to do more than just trim in SimpleMovieX. It was too obvious: cut & paste!
But the other question still remains. How can I make the final product play in nearly the same quality as the original on a physical medium (DVD or Blue Ray)? I've burned a DVD in iDVD directly and via iMovie, and the results are less than satisfactory.
But the other question still remains. How can I make the final product play in nearly the same quality as the original on a physical medium (DVD or Blue Ray)? I've burned a DVD in iDVD directly and via iMovie, and the results are less than satisfactory.
haha well thats good!
had a quick google and i couldnt find any answer, it seems unlikely that you will be able to directly put the h264 file straight onto a DVD and let it be played (and the likelihood of finding a program to do this is very low). i looked for programs to transcode (i think thats the word) h264 encoded videos straight to .vob files, but came across nothing. i know of many, many programs that will do this but all will pretty much reformat the video..
i have no solution as of yet, im sorry.
You might be able to burn the mp4 directly to Blu-Ray (assuming it is standards-compliant), but for DVD there is no way (afaik, ymmv, etc) to keep the quality of the original since it is of a higher resolution than DVD-video allows for.
Edit: The MPEG-2 encoder in iDVD is a bit simple, but I have heard of a trick where you first encode the file to a disk image, then do a proper encoding in eg. ffmpegX (with optimised size/bitrate ratio) and replace the VOB file in the video_ts folder. Do a search and see what you find.
Edit: The MPEG-2 encoder in iDVD is a bit simple, but I have heard of a trick where you first encode the file to a disk image, then do a proper encoding in eg. ffmpegX (with optimised size/bitrate ratio) and replace the VOB file in the video_ts folder. Do a search and see what you find.
OK, I'll give the ffmpegX trick a go. I suppose the results will be a no thrills DVD: no menus, no chapters, no tittles, no transitions, etc. Still, I prefer watching HD quality video to watching fancy looking fuzz.
As has been said, the DVD-Video standard does not allow for 720p video. The highest resolution you can get from DVD is that of PAL video - 576i. Since you're in the USA and your TV probably does not support PAL, you'd have to settle for NTSC 480i.
If you want to burn a 720p file to disc and play it back on a standalone deck in 720p, you need to go to Blu-ray.
Correct me if I'm, wrong, but there is no way to burn a blue-ray disk in OS X, right? I suppose I could do this in BootCamp or Fusion, but that means I will have to purchase a copy of WinXP or Vista (I currently run W2K under Fusion), which adds more cost. I'm not even sure that a buying a blue-ray burner/player is such a good investment, even if OS X eventually will have support for blue-ray, because in all likelihood we're all be streaming HD videos to our TVs in a few years time anyway.
One last question. Can I stream my H.264 movies in 720p via the Apple TV? And if streaming HD video is not possible right now, can I play them after copying them to the Apple TV?
One last question. Can I stream my H.264 movies in 720p via the Apple TV? And if streaming HD video is not possible right now, can I play them after copying them to the Apple TV?
No, Roxio Toast 10 and BD Plug-in will allow you to burn Blu-ray-set-top-box-player friendly BDs in OSX, using (for example) the LG BD-writer. Have a look here:
http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/taming_the_wild_blu.html
and
http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/taming_the_wild_blu_2.html
and even here:
http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/blu-ray_fcp_fields.html
If you're happy using Toast to encode your HD video, you don't need the expense and hassle of Encore at all, as mentioned in that third article.
I use the LG burner in an external, FW-connected enclosure to produce MP4/H.264/1080i BDs from HDV footage. You can read, but you can't playback BDs in OSX, but this kit produces working BDs for me and my customers.
Thanks for the links, mooblie!
I checked out Titanium 10 Pro page on roxio.com and there is an intriguing tidbit that says that Titanium 10 Pro will write HD content onto standard DVD discs for playback on B-R players. However, it's not clear if the burner drive has to be B-R or if a standard DVD burner (e.g., the one the one my Mac Pro came equipped with) can be used to do this. Hm? If the answer is yes, I might just spring for Titanium 10 Pro and a B-R player, otherwise I need to invest in a B-R burner also. Which brings me back to the previous question: will Apple TV allow me to play (that is to say stream, or at least play back after uploading) HD content (720p H.264)? If the answer is yes, then getting an Apple TV might be the most cost effective option.
I checked out Titanium 10 Pro page on roxio.com and there is an intriguing tidbit that says that Titanium 10 Pro will write HD content onto standard DVD discs for playback on B-R players. However, it's not clear if the burner drive has to be B-R or if a standard DVD burner (e.g., the one the one my Mac Pro came equipped with) can be used to do this. Hm? If the answer is yes, I might just spring for Titanium 10 Pro and a B-R player, otherwise I need to invest in a B-R burner also. Which brings me back to the previous question: will Apple TV allow me to play (that is to say stream, or at least play back after uploading) HD content (720p H.264)? If the answer is yes, then getting an Apple TV might be the most cost effective option.
Apple TV will play 720p H.264, but only up to 'Main Profile' spec and up to a certain bit rate. Check Wikipedia for details.
This is the least hassle option for playing back within your own home. For sharing with others, Vimeo.com and YouTube both support H.264 at 720p (and perhaps other sites). Vimeo being the better of those two as they are less brutal with their own re-compression and offers the ability to download the original, non-transcoded file for download.
This is the least hassle option for playing back within your own home. For sharing with others, Vimeo.com and YouTube both support H.264 at 720p (and perhaps other sites). Vimeo being the better of those two as they are less brutal with their own re-compression and offers the ability to download the original, non-transcoded file for download.
or just quote it to save others the time...
and according to apples website (contains bitrate info)