Help with best settings for AVI to MP4 file conversion

[Guest cmberry20]

Been doing a bit of digging around & most people either use Handbrake or Super C to convert their video files to MP4 H.264(x264) which the Blade is supposed to support out the box.

I perfer Handbrake as it seems to convert the files a lot quicker & i perfer the interface.

However, heres my problem: When ever I use Handbrake to convert an AVI file to an MP4 file I can only get it to play using RockPlayer, the default phone player cannot open the file.

Also, I have to convert the AVI file to a smaller resolution or else it wont play smoothly - Video is very slow but audio is ok. A normal AVI file is about 640 x 300 & I need to convert it to 320 x 150 which is half the res. I know the phone can handle this res as I can play the AVI file using RockPlayer but a get Audio/Video sync issues - sometimes very badly, as much as 5 seconds.

Has anyone used Handbrake successfully so that their MP4 files have a good resolution & will also play using the default player?

Also, The files that get converted can only be played by RockPlayer using software decoding - I have an MP4 from my old phone that allows me to play it using Hardware Decoding Mode. I think this is linked to not being able to play the file using the phones default player. If it can play using the default player then RockPlayer can use Hardware Decoding.

btw - Using Froyo 2.2 FLB R8a

Edited February 23, 2011 by cmberry20

[Guest womble_sanfran]

I use handbrake, I followed a post from someone else on here that told me exactly what buttons to push and settings to set. Try a search. I play them back on the stock player.

[Guest cmberry20]

hmm, i searched before & found these settings: http://android.modaco.com/content/zte-blad...e-supported/#

But these settings dont work for me.

Edited February 23, 2011 by cmberry20

[Guest womble_sanfran]

I did a search, I follow post 3 here

http://android.modaco.com/content/zte-blad...with-my-videos/

[Guest cmberry20]

Cool thanks. Will try that.

I also found this http://www.mattsbits.co.uk/item-73.html

so will try them both.

[Guest cmberry20]

Found the problem.

If the file is encoded using the H.264(x264) codec then the file will not play. However, if MPEG-4 is used the file plays fine using the phones player.

[Guest richardop]

Found the problem.

If the file is encoded using the H.264(x264) codec then the file will not play. However, if MPEG-4 is used the file plays fine using the phones player.

Android supports H.264, so it should work if you have the correct settings (from memory, you need to disable CABAC and select baseline profile at the very least). I don't think I managed to get H.264 working when streaming from VLC, I also just resorted to mpeg4 also!

[Guest wolverine73]

Found the problem.

If the file is encoded using the H.264(x264) codec then the file will not play. However, if MPEG-4 is used the file plays fine using the phones player.

I've been watching this thread with interest - video has been a huge stumbling block for me on the Blade.

My problem is that i have been able to convert various dvd's and get them to run on the Blade (although the sync is off and the playback stuttering at best) with a mixed degree of success; Starwars = pretty decent quality, Xmen = average quality, Predator = terrible quality.

I've also tried to put some 'sitcoms on the Blade (Bottom :) ) but the quality of these are really bad even with the same settings.

I'm using Rockplayer but have tried with Stock, mVideoPlayer,arcMedia etc etc - Rockplayer seems the best.

So cmberry20 please could you give me your settings for converting to the Blade? as i'm struggling in a big way :huh:

I guess you are using HandBrake - out of interest are you using a Rom which allows you to up the limit of the CPU? would a Rom allowing this be beneficial for the playback of Video i wonder..........

Thanks for any help i could get :P

[Guest Gibbo501]

I always use AutoGK and the XVID codec on my videos and found these work ok.

[Guest cmberry20]

So cmberry20 please could you give me your settings for converting to the Blade? as i'm struggling in a big way

I guess you are using HandBrake - out of interest are you using a Rom which allows you to up the limit of the CPU? would a Rom allowing this be beneficial for the playback of Video i wonder..........

I'm on 2.2 ROM FLB 8a, this really helps with video play back.

I used Handbrake to convert videos. I used the settings found here: http://android.modaco.com/content/zte-blad...with-my-videos/ (the 3rd post)

As you can see from the 4th post that this method doesnt work properly....however.......

I set the codec to MPEG4 NOT H.264(x264).

Also, you will find that the default player plays the converted files fine, however, Rockplayer will struggle unless you play them using Hardware Acceleration. (You can set this as default in the options menu or set it by selecting (long press) the video file.

Edited February 23, 2011 by cmberry20

[Guest wolverine73]

I'm on 2.2 ROM FLB 8a, this really helps with video play back.

I used Handbrake to convert videos. I used the settings found here: http://android.modaco.com/content/zte-blad...with-my-videos/ (the 3rd post)

As you can see from the 4th post that this method doesnt work properly....however.......

I set the codec to MPEG4 NOT H.264(x264).

Also, you will find that the default player plays the converted files fine, however, Rockplayer will struggle unless you play them using Hardware Acceleration. (You can set this as default in the options menu or set it by selecting (long press) the video file.

Thankyou my friend - i'll give it another bash

[Guest cmberry20]

I also dont bother ticking/selecting '2 Pass Encoding'

I tried a file with & without & the quality was exactly the same. Plus it only takes 1/2 the time to encode if you dont tick it.

[Guest toytown]

Below is a encode i did of "Pirates Of The Caribbean - Stranger Tides" Trailer.

www.host-codes.com/v/Stranger Tides (Trailer).mp4

I used handbrake to encode it, simply dragged by file into the window, selected apple/universal as the profile on the right hand side. Changed the audio bitrate to 96Kbps, the video bitrate to 700Kbps and used 2 pass encoding using x264 as the encoder.

The file plays perfectly fine on my blade, however it can appear a little laggy if you bring up the UI, i.e. when seeking etc. I've encoded several music videos and full length films doing this and they are all fine on playback.

[Guest cmberry20]

Yep, works fine. Quality is great.

Odd that x264 encoder works when you do it & when i do it it doesnt.

What was the source of the original file? DVD, AVI, MKV etc.

[Guest toytown]

What was the source of the original file? DVD, AVI, MKV etc.

Can't remember if it was the mov file from apples trailer site or the mp4 from youtube. Most of my encodes are from MKV's/AVI's

If you are using CRF or 2pass encoding, its possible that the bitrate will go over what the blade can handle, so sometimes lowering the resolution or lowering the avg bitrate can help make the files playable and of course the resolution should always be 400p or under as thats the max the blade can display anyway.

Not sure why the x264 option doesn't give playable files for you, as long as the quality is the same it shouldnt matter and if your that bothered i guess you could use mediainfo to see the difference in H264 specs that are outputted.

[Guest wolverine73]

Just some feedback regarding Video playback on the Blade;

I've got it working flawlessly now - much thanks to the contributors of this thread and the threads that were linked :)

Just some info with what i'm playing with myself; Rom = Modaco R11, Video player on Blade = mVideoPlayer,

Converted using Handbrake

Settings as follows;

Presets --- Apple,Universal

Container --- MP4 File

Picture --- Anamorphic=none, Keep Aspect Ratio enabled (width and height have to be in boundaries of Blade i think)

Video Filters --- all OFF

Video --- Video Codec =MPEG4, Framerate= same as source, Avg Bitrate = 1000, 2 pass encoding enabled

AUDIO

Source always says 'Unknown MP3 2.0ch' The audio Codec is AAC(faac) ,Mixdown = Dolby Pro Logic II, Sample Rate = Auto, Bitrate = 160

Audio --- i left untouched, it always gives me two lines - the first under Mixdown it gives me 'Dolby Pro Logic II' and the bottom it gives me 'Automatic'

The rest i leave 'as is' but i do rename the destination as an MP4 also - if it makes a difference!

Side Note - mVideoPlayer seems ALOT better than Rockplayer to me, much more customisable, audio and video always in sync too.

Hope the above helps others like i myself have been helped :huh:

[Guest Vansphone]

I have just used Handbrake to encode a movie using the settings in the earlier link and played it using MixZing and it worked well. I also picked a random movie encoded a long time before I had an Android phone. I think it is Xvid or perhaps Divx and that also worked well via MixZing except it does not use the whole screen.

[Guest mark ryan]

Hello, sorry to bring this back up, however I've tried everything! I can't get any mp4 or h.264 files to work. Tried stock player, rockplayer, mobo etc .. tried cm7,ss7,miui all gingerbread. Tried hw / sw decoding and overclocking.

Please tell me how to play them, (480p files btw)

[Guest kerikimora]

Hello, sorry to bring this back up, however I've tried everything! I can't get any mp4 or h.264 files to work. Tried stock player, rockplayer, mobo etc .. tried cm7,ss7,miui all gingerbread. Tried hw / sw decoding and overclocking.

Please tell me how to play them, (480p files btw)

Try download a VLC player, it works for almost every file format.

I always use AppGeeker video converter to convert my movie files to mp4 format, have never had this problem.

How to convert flv to mp4 for mac and windows

It has options to convert videos for various devices.

Works well for me.

[Guest dysonk]

You can reference to some guides about convtering video ,such as convetering avi video to mp4, it`s easy to understand and works pretty well for me. And the conversion quality is nice.

[Guest bobjoel]

I would recommend you to use the Video Converter Assist program, it is not free but it works much better than Handbrake. The program provides optimized presets for video conversion. So you can convert avi to mp4 for your specific portable devices such as iPhone, Android or TV devices.

[Guest lcf80]

Use H.264 Constrained Baseline Profile, resolution 800x480 or lower (Blade has problems with downscaling), and bitrate 500 kbps or less for video, and AAC-LC 128 kbps for audio - built-in hardware decoder should work nicely, then.

 

If you plan to stream over HTTP, make sure MOOV atom goes first (you can use qt-faststart tool from FFmpeg package to convert the MP4, or "-movflags +faststart" ffmpeg parameter during encoding).

 

Full syntax for ffmpeg to convert video.avi to video.mp4 will look like that:

ffmpeg -i video.avi -f mp4 -movflags +faststart -vcodec libx264 -acodec libvo_aacenc -profile:v baseline -profile:a aac_low -b:v 500k -b:a 128k -ac 2 -s 800x480 video.mp4

Current ffmpeg builds for Windows can be found here: http://ffmpeg.zeranoe.com/builds/. I've just tested conversion using it, and playback was fine (both audio and video), using Android built-in player on my Blade.

Edited January 9, 2014 by lcf80

[Guest keepreason]

I use iDealshare VideoGo which is just designed to convert AVI to MP4 at fast speed and with original video quality.. Batch AVI to MP4 conversion is also supported.

 

Besides converting AVI to MP4, it also allows you to batch convert AVI to MOV, Apple ProRes, DV, FLV, WebM, 3GP, MP3, WAV, AAC, M4A, FLAC, AIFF and etc.

 

Here is the easy guide https://www.idealshare.net/video-converter/avi-to-mp4-converter-mac-windows.html

[Guest PonyFeline]

An old thread. I'd like to add an way: http://www.videoconverterfactory.com/tips/mp4-to-avi.html

It's work well for me and can do conversion in bathces.