So. I really, REALLY wanted MPEG-4 output from Cinelerra to go directly
into iTunes. I had output a test file:
http://content.serveftp.net/video/renderTest/test.mpeg4.mov (7.8MB)
that loaded and played in iTunes. However, when I went to upload it, iTunes
gave me the message:
"Some of the songs in the iTunes music library, including the song "(Video
name)",
were not copied to your iPod because they cannot be played on this
iPod."
Luckily, Apple provides a feature called "Convert Selection for iPod" when
you right-click. But GEEZ! I already rendered this thing. I've got to do
it again? Ugh. OK. And OH NO! The conversion utility takes a RIDICULOUS
amount of time! Even on a very fast machine like
mine, a 3.2Ghz P4 with 1GB of PC3200 memory, the conversion speed is roughly
1.5 minutes per minute of video. Argh!! That is way TOO slow. But I went
ahead and did the conversion with my short test video. On the bright side,
once the video was converted, I could then update my iPod and the video was
on my iPod. Hooray!!
I continued playing around and loading many different videos into iTunes. In
my travels, I stumbled upon one that did not require a conversion. I was
shocked! I then reasoned that I'd save a helluva lot of time if I just
produced the videos in the format that iTunes expects in the first place.
But how to do that? So, my next course of action was to research why that
one file worked
in iTunes without a conversion and why mine needed the conversion.
To do this, I analyzed the output of MPlayer to determine the differences
between files. I learned quite a bit over the past couple of days about
audio and video formats by reviewing the output of MPlayer. It helps to
have the text of both files displayed in two windows next to each other in
order to more easily compare the files line by line. I've done this for you
in the image below (click this link with SHIFT-click to open a second
browser window)
http://content.serveftp.net/video/renderTest/cinItunesConversion.jpg
Reviewing the diffences, I noticed the following:
1) iTunes compatible file had the audio track as the first track in the MOV
container
2) iTunes compatible file was 44.1Khz audio, my file was 48000Khz
3) iTunes compatible file included an extra audio header
4) iTunes compatible file audio compression method was MPEG-4, my file was
twos complement
5) iTunes compatible file FPS rate was 15, my file was 59.97
After way too many hours of trial and error (and scowls from my girlfriend
and dog), I am proud to say that I have found the settings in Cinelerra that
will make an MPEG-4 video totally compatible with iTunes so that iTunes does
not need to re-render (the "Convert Selection for iPod" feature) the video!
Here are the specs:
For the project:
Set Format
Sample Rate to 44100khz
Number of Channels to two
FPS can be the FPS of your source video (try lower to 25 or less if you
experience problems)
Width 320
Height 240 (my video happened to be 320x180 because my source video was
16x9 hidef, which worked fine as well)
For the render:
Audio
MPEG-4 Audio
Bitrate 128000
Quantization of 10
Video
MPEG-4 Video
The rest of the parameters are Cinelerra's defaults, but I will reiterate
here:
Bitrate 7000000
Tolerance 500000
Fixed Quantization selected
Quantization 10
Keyframe Interval 45
I don't care how you do it, but you have to get your videos in that format
because iTunes is COMPLETELY STRICT when it comes to these settings! If you
expect your video to upload into iTunes without needing a re-render, you
CANNOT deviate from ANY of these settings!!
Caveat: with the possible exception of the MPEG-4 Video defaults. But I
would only deviate from the settings after you've got the file uploaded into
iTunes without any issues first.
Please let me know how this works for everybody,
scott
References:
http://www.apple.com/ipod/specs.html
http://www.ipodwizard.net/showthread.php?t=4413
http://members.shaw.ca/Kyle-Rogers/
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