Mov to mp4

[act1980]

Hi everyone, I have been using Handbrake to convert HD home movie from mov to mp4. Could someone please explain why the mov file is 3gb and then ends up at 1gb once converted even though the settings are the same? Will this affect the quality? Is it just a compression thing?

I would also like to add, that this happens on some files but not on others. Does anyone know what is going on here?

Thanks!

 

[gorskiegangsta]

Are you exporting at the same bitrate as the input file? Check the info (Command+i) for both files and see if their bitrates are the same.

 

[act1980]

Are you exporting at the same bitrate as the input file? Check the info (Command+i) for both files and see if their bitrates are the same.

Hi, thanks for your post!

The original file is 6400 bitrate and the export file is 128. But the maximum bitrate for export I can set it to is 320.

Do you know what the best setting would be?

Thank you!

 

[admwright]

Mov and mp4 are just container files. If all you want to do is change the container then Mpeg Streamclip (www.squared5.com/) is the tool you need. You just open the mov file, click File - Save As... and change the type to mp4. It will write the new file and this takes just a few seconds because there is no recoding of the original data.

 

[gorskiegangsta]

Hi, thanks for your post!

The original file is 6400 bitrate and the export file is 128. But the maximum bitrate for export I can set it to is 320.

Do you know what the best setting would be?

Thank you!

Alright, by the looks of it, the 6400kbps is the total (i.e. audio + video) bitrate of the file. The 128-320kbps is the audio bitrate. You can change the video bitrate as well. If it's a 720p file, 2500-2800kbps will do fine; if it's a 1080p file, 3200-3500kbps fill do fine. Also, you may want to change the audio settings to AAC Passthru or Audio Passthru to preserve the audio quality.

Also, there's a great, free application called VideoMonkey. It is easier to use than handbrake and it shows size and bitrate of to be encoded video before you encode it. I recommend you give it a try. However, tweak the settings a bit for every encode as shown in the screen shot.