View Full Version : Instructions for encoding video to H264-BP
Some H264 encoded video does not play well on the A3, usually caused by some of the optional features in the H264 Main Profile or High Profile. A video with resolution above DVD resolution (720x480) can also cause problems, and/or very high bitrates for the video stream.
The A3 has very good compatibility with video encoded using H264 Base Profile. H264 Main Profile is more complex, and compatibility is not perfect but it is improving with each firmware release. H264 High Profile is the most complex encoding scheme, and the A3's hardware will not support playback of most (if not all) H264-HP encoded video or any H264 video at HD (1280x720 and above) resolutions.
Unfortunately, most of the H264 video distributed via the web, P2P, bittorrent, USENET, etc is in H264 High Profile and HD resolutions, which not suitable for playback on a pocket-size, battery-powered device like the A3. For now it takes a reasonably fast PC, or a power-hungry dedicated decoder chip, to play H264-HP.
If you have an H264 encoded video that does not play properly on the A3, or if you simply want to encode a video to an H264 format that you know will play properly, the easiest thing to do is to encode/transcode to H264 Base Profile.
H264-BP is not quite as efficient as H264 Main or High Profiles, however the apparent video quality is very similar at DVD-like resolutions or below. All of the H264 profiles offer better video quality at equal or smaller file sizes compared to Divx/Xvid encoded video.
The following posts contain instructions for encoding to H264-BP using several different applications.
Making DVD rips to H264-BP using AutoMKV
AutoMKV uses H264-HP (High Profile) by default. This is unsupported by DaVinci and crashes the A3. Instead you need to manually specify the use of H264-BP (Baseline Profile) which produces results that will play normally on the A3.
To set it for Baseline Profile in AutoMKV:
In the section marked "Choose Container, Codec, and Profile" there is a box between "Codec" and "All Profiles". Check this box. Then more profile types will be available in the drop-down list next to "Profile". Select "Encoding-Baseline.xml" as the active profile.
Configure the other settings as per usual and Start Encoding.
Suggestion:
Most movies will fit into a 700mb file, at full DVD resolution, using H264/AAC/MKV with very good results.
Transcode any video to H264-BP using StaxRip
Same as before, you need to set it up for H264 Baseline Profile in order to get results that will play normally on the A3.
Configure your source and target settings as per usual.
On the top menu bar, select Profiles > Encoder > x264 > more > select "CE Baseline"
Check that it says "x264 CE Baseline | MKV" right above where it says "Codec Configuration" in the box on the right hand side of the screen, before you start to transcode.
Making DVD rips to H264-BP using Handbrake
Select source (folder with decrypted DVD VOBs).
In the upper right hand corner of the application, click on Show Presets if they are not already visible. Select the preset called "Classic" (this passes no encode options to mencoder, as you can see under the H.264 tab). Then on the left hand side of the app where it says "Encoder" use the drop-down box to select "H.264 Baseline 1.3"
[ Or you can just select Preset "iPod High Res" and use all its default settings. ]
Configure other options and then hit Encode Video.
Transcode any video to H264 using MediaCoder
Drag and drop video source file to main window under "File Name".
Under the Video tab, next to "Format" use the drop-down menus to select "H.264".
Click on the button where it says "Format".
A list of Parameters will pop up.
Click on the line that says "Maximum B frames between I and P frames". At the bottom left of the this pop-up window, enter 0 (zero) as the value and click the "Apply" button. [ This disables b-frames but leaves other settings for H264 Main Profile intact. This is the only parameter that needs to be changed for successful playback on A3. ]
Close the pop-up window.
Go back to Video tab, configure "Mode" using its drop-down menu. Suggest "2-pass" and then set the bitrate in the text box next to "Kbps". Something like 800-1000 is good at DVD resolutions. Then next to the "Container" button use the drop-down menu to pick one, like "Matroska" (MKV) or MP4.
Go to Picture tab, configure "Resize" - select from any resolutions in the drop-down list or type in your own. Make sure button next to "Frame Rate" is unchecked to keep the same fps (unless you want otherwise).
Click on Audio tab. Next to "Encoder" use the drop-down menu to pick an audio codec. Suggest choosing "Nero Encoder" for AAC audio. Then on the right hand side of screen, configure Nero settings.
Click on Summary tab to check if the setup looks right then the "Start" button on the top menu
If any trouble, go back to Video tab. At the bottom uncheck both boxes for "Auto Select". Next to "Source" and "Backend" there is a drop-down menu for each, set both to MEncoder. Make sure the box next to "Enable Video" is checked. Under the Audio tab, make sure the button next to "Enable Audio" is checked.
Encode to H264-BP using Quicktime Pro
Open a source video using the QTP player.
On the menu bar at the top, select File > Export.
Click on the "Options" button and then the Export Settings window will pop up.
Where it says "File Format", use the drop-down menu to select "MP4" (not MP4-ISMA).
Where it says "Video Format", use drop-down menu to select "H.264".
Click on "Video Options" button.
In the pop-up window, de-select the check box next to "Main", and select the check-box next to "Baseline".
Hit the "OK" button and the pop-up window will close. Configure other options. Suggest setting "Frame Rate" to "Current" so the fps is unchanged. Set "Data Rate" which is the video bitrate (quality). Set "Image Size" to current so the resolution is unchanged, or reduce the resolution.
Then hit the "OK" to close the Export Settings window.
Where it says "File Name", write a name for the video file to be exported (converted) and then hit the "Save" button to start encoding.
Encode to H264-BP using Nero Recode
Nero Recode is part of the Nero 8 Ultra package. A fully functional demo can be downloaded from the company's site and it's good for 15 days.
Launch app, on the first menu, select "Recode DVDs and Videos to Nero Digital" for transcoding.
Click on the "Import Files" button.
A pop-up window will appear. Select a file to transcode. Nero can read MP4s and AVIs but not MKVs. Click the "Add Title" button at the bottom. The window will close.
Back on the main Nero Recode screen, where it says "Profile Catagory" use the drop-down menu to select "Nero Digital" if it's not set like that already. Where it says "Profile" use the drop-down menu to select "Nero Digital AVC" (for H264). Where it says "Encoding Method" select either "Fast (1-pass)" or "High Quality (2-pass)" depending on the speed of your PC. Right below that, where it says "Fit to Target" select the file size that you want to end up with. Or if you want to encode based on bitrate instead of file size, then uncheck the box next to "Fit to Target". Towards the top of the window, next to your source file name, use the slider to adjust bitrate or double-click on the Kbps number to manually enter a bitrate.
On the "Video" tab, click the "Settings" button. A pop up window will appear. Leave Interlacing and Framerate to default settings (Automatic). Select the "Crop" tab, and you may need to set this to "Disable" if you source is already widescreen formatted (Nero doesn't seem to realize it doesn't need to crop). Then select the "Resize" tab and select the "Custom Size" radio-button, if you want. Set width to 720 for full DVD resolution. Hit the "OK" button to close this window.
Back on the "Video" tab, click on the "Encoder" button. A pop up window will appear. Select "Encoding Tools" from the list on the left. Then on the right side of the window, de-select all of the check boxes under "Main Profile". The settings under "Baseline Profile" can be left as they are. At the bottom, hit the "OK" button to close this window.
Back on the main Nero Recode screen, go the "Audio" tab. If you want to change the quality of the AAC encoding, click on the "Settings" button or leave it as is.
Check anything else you want, then hit the "Next" button.
Select a "Target Folder".
Click the "Burn" button to start encoding.
I have Nero 8 and tried this procedure. Sorry for being such a noob
but my resulting file plays in sloooow motion on the A3???? I also tried
downloading a Simpsons Movie Trailer in H264 and it played the same
way.
My setting were ( for the file I encoded):
Nero Digital Category - Nero Digital AVC
Nero Digital Profile - Standard - AVC
Fit to target ( unchecked )
Video Quality = 1.64Mbps
Audio = DD 5.1 48khz with settings HE NeroDigitalAudio 128/48000
Boost Volume High
Video ( deinterlace,crop,resize ) all at default.
Also, when I play back this file using Nero Showtime 4,
it plays and looks great. So why does it play slow on
the A3?
bootlegapparel
01-30-2008, 05:59
i just tried two h264 files
the bourne ultimatum trailer.mp4
1920x816
30fps 7413kbps
aac
resolution too big, lol fair enough, doesn't even play on this computer oio'm on at the moment
2. serenity trailer 1280x720
30fps 4699kbps
aac
plays at about 10fps, so not really watchable, but it does work
substance90
03-02-2008, 08:52
h264-PB is working fine for the moment, but StaxRip doesn`t seem to be able to read .mov files.
StaxRip does not read MOV, no. Convert the video to an MP4 container using something like MediaCoder, then it will work in StaxRip. In MediaCoder you can set all the video options the same and use Stream Copy. That you don't lose any quality from converting it, as it simply rips out the audio/video from the MOV and dumps it in a MP4 container. No transcoding.
Hi Austin,
Please check the below list.
This is test report from our engineer, looks like he tested with X264 encoder that you've mentioned earlier on your post.
They told me that you should not check 2 boxes from the X264 encoder's option. (You can find this from the picture I've attached.)
1. B-frames Use as references
2. Interlaced
* Baseline
- 8x8, 8x16 and 16x8 P-frame search O
- 4x4, 4x8 and 8x4 P-frame search O
- Deblocking Filter O
- 4x4 Intra search O
* Main
- 8x8, 8x16 and 16x8 B-frame search O
- use as references for B frame X
- Bidirectional ME for B frame O
- Adaptive for B frame O
- Weighted prediction for B frame O
- Direct MV prediction for B frame able to All options
- CABAC O
* High
- 8x8 Transform O
- 8x8 Intra search O
- Chroma ME O
- Interaced X
Let's me know if you still having a trouble with this.
Cheers,
Kevin
Hi Austin,
Please check the below list.
This is test report from our engineer, looks like he tested with X264 encoder that you've mentioned earlier on your post.
They told me that you should not check 2 boxes from the X264 encoder's option. (You can find this from the picture I've attached.)
1. B-frames Use as references
2. Interlaced
* Baseline
- 8x8, 8x16 and 16x8 P-frame search O
- 4x4, 4x8 and 8x4 P-frame search O
- Deblocking Filter O
- 4x4 Intra search O
* Main
- 8x8, 8x16 and 16x8 B-frame search O
- use as references for B frame X
- Bidirectional ME for B frame O
- Adaptive for B frame O
- Weighted prediction for B frame O
- Direct MV prediction for B frame able to All options
- CABAC O
* High
- 8x8 Transform O
- 8x8 Intra search O
- Chroma ME O
- Interaced X
Let's me know if you still having a trouble with this.
Cheers,
Kevin
so kevink you are an employee of Cowon's? jumping the gun on that answer let me be the first to say it's about ******* time that you all posted this information somewhere.. in my case this just pleases me to the core seeing as i have since downgraded to a D2 (even with my troubles i remain a loyalist) from my A3 due to this information lacking right out of the gate. hope this info solves the issues for those that held onto theirs.
- Robert (PmR)DeathInJune
nivlacbot
04-04-2008, 04:11
Hey Kevin, thanks for posting... fingers crossed on this one.
There's a lot of love waiting to burst out in this forum regarding H264. [wink]
Can someone test this out and get back? In short, if this works, Cowon needs to be applauded for getting their head down instead of responding to the flames.
I agree with pmrdij, that this information should have been made public along with the Ads on the website. However better late than never. Don't know how this compares with the info - that TI had made available regarding that the DaVinci chip cannot possibly do this.
-- Gishu
Found these settings which work for archos 604/605 using Jesterware:
It`s H264 Level: 5.1 and AC3 in an AVI container.
Here are the settings I use - obviously changing the bitrate will change the quality - I found 1100 to give a very good result, however 800 - 900 also does a good job with a smaller file size.
If you change the audio down to 2 channels and don't use AC3 then your file will get even smaller.
These are my settings:
Video Settings:
Bitrate: 1100
Video Size: 720 x 576
Video Presets: Original DVD Source
Frame Rate: 25
H264 settings (checkbox next to video codec choice)
Enable Cabac: Yes
Enable 8x8 DCT: Green Box (means software will decide)
Adjust B Frames: No (this is what caused stuttering on some files)
The others are all the defaults
Motion Search Range:16
Subpel: 5
Trellis: 0
Constant Quality Mode: 0
Quantizer Compression: 0.6
Adv. Video Settings
Filter: None
High Quality: Yes
Maintain Aspect Ratio: Yes
Automatic Aspect Ratio: No
Don't skip Frames: No
Detect and Delete Bars: No
Include Duplicate Frames: Yes
H264 Level: 5.1
keyframe Interval: 250
Two Pass Encoding: Yes
Forced Subs: No
Audio Settings
Audio Codec: AC3
Bitrate: 384
Sampling rate: 48
Channels: 6 (5.1)
Normalise sound: Yes
Adjust volume: Yes
Volume: 20
Under general settings
Just have Enable Treads ticked to use all cores
adayismo
04-27-2008, 06:20
Making DVD rips to H264-BP using AutoMKV
AutoMKV uses H264-HP (High Profile) by default. This is unsupported by DaVinci and crashes the A3. Instead you need to manually specify the use of H264-BP (Baseline Profile) which produces results that will play normally on the A3.
To set it for Baseline Profile in AutoMKV:
In the section marked "Choose Container, Codec, and Profile" there is a box between "Codec" and "All Profiles". Check this box. Then more profile types will be available in the drop-down list next to "Profile". Select "Encoding-Baseline.xml" as the active profile.
Configure the other settings as per usual and Start Encoding.
Suggestion:
Most movies will fit into a 700mb file, at full DVD resolution, using H264/AAC/MKV with very good results.
Hello,
with new firmware features:
- Support H.264 HP(High Profile) format
- Not support [B frame use as references] and [Interaced] options yet.
What encode option is correct with new automkv version??
There's a archos 604 profile but I think cowon a3 can playback better quality...
Thanks
hobbes4444
05-31-2008, 08:04
Making DVD rips to H264-BP using Handbrake
Select source (folder with decrypted DVD VOBs).
In the upper right hand corner of the application, click on Show Presets if they are not already visible. Select the preset called "Classic" (this passes no encode options to mencoder, as you can see under the H.264 tab). Then on the left hand side of the app where it says "Encoder" use the drop-down box to select "H.264 Baseline 1.3"
[ Or you can just select Preset "iPod High Res" and use all its default settings. ]
Configure other options and then hit Encode Video.
In the latest Handbrake, there is no dropdown for H.264 Baseline 1.3. It only has a dropdown for h.264. Should we choose that?
Transcode any video to H264 using MediaCoder
Drag and drop video source file to main window under "File Name".
Under the Video tab, next to "Format" use the drop-down menus to select "H.264".
Click on the button where it says "Format".
A list of Parameters will pop up.
Click on the line that says "Maximum B frames between I and P frames". At the bottom left of the this pop-up window, enter 0 (zero) as the value and click the "Apply" button. [ This disables b-frames but leaves other settings for H264 Main Profile intact. This is the only parameter that needs to be changed for successful playback on A3. ]
Close the pop-up window.
Go back to Video tab, configure "Mode" using its drop-down menu. Suggest "2-pass" and then set the bitrate in the text box next to "Kbps". Something like 800-1000 is good at DVD resolutions. Then next to the "Container" button use the drop-down menu to pick one, like "Matroska" (MKV) or MP4.
Go to Picture tab, configure "Resize" - select from any resolutions in the drop-down list or type in your own. Make sure button next to "Frame Rate" is unchecked to keep the same fps (unless you want otherwise).
Click on Audio tab. Next to "Encoder" use the drop-down menu to pick an audio codec. Suggest choosing "Nero Encoder" for AAC audio. Then on the right hand side of screen, configure Nero settings.
Click on Summary tab to check if the setup looks right then the "Start" button on the top menu
If any trouble, go back to Video tab. At the bottom uncheck both boxes for "Auto Select". Next to "Source" and "Backend" there is a drop-down menu for each, set both to MEncoder. Make sure the box next to "Enable Video" is checked. Under the Audio tab, make sure the button next to "Enable Audio" is checked.
Hi, I am new here, was reading ard on how to convert videos and after following the above, my video came out out of sync. I had to disable CABAC before they are in sync...
Edit: I couldnt hardsub in too even though i selected the srt subtitles which I ripped out of the source mkv file...
Edit edit: got it working, adjusted font and size as well. mediacoder is awesome...but only if cowon A3 didnt require time to transcode those h264 HP..
quatermass
06-06-2008, 10:16
I tried the Audio Nero Encoder option using Mediacoder (http://mediacoder.sourceforge.net/) and the result was that the video was fine but the sound was in slow motion! I switched to Lame MP3 and it came out fine.
:-)
Thanks for telling us about this tool. I usually use VirtualDub. (http://www.virtualdub.org/)
I tried the Audio Nero Encoder option using Mediacoder and the result was that the video was fine but the sound was in slow motion! I switched to Lame MP3 and it came out fine.
:-)
Thanks for telling us about this tool. I usually use VirtualDub.
oo! That's weird...Mine works fine...
I use virtualdub for ripping out subs from ogm haha... used to use it to convert stuff for my psp and then finally got sick of converting for psp so I dumped it =D
ajayritik
06-08-2008, 12:08
I have tried many methods using Media Encoder but I end up still having some problem. Initially I went by the settings mentioned in the Post #5 by austinv. However when I used that settings the video was OK but the audio seemed to come very slow. I think problem was similar to the one mentioned by quatermass in # 19. So I changed the audio codec to Lame MP3. But this time around I didnt get any volume at all. Can someone please help me encode this mkv file so that I can play it on my A3? Should I use the other softwares like handbrake etc?
ajayritik
06-13-2008, 07:03
austin can you help me on this?
ajayritik
06-22-2008, 01:31
Can someone help me with this? I need to encode my mkv files so that it can be played on my A3. I'm unable to take out the options.
quatermass
06-22-2008, 09:23
I'm unable to take out the options.
That doesn't make any sense. Care to elaborate?
Start with tell us the exact format and specifications of the original video and sound?
O.J. Simpson
06-22-2008, 10:52
I've found H264 conversion with Mediacoder to be "buggy" depending on what build you are using. I recommend Giving Automkv or Staxrip a shot if you are having trouble.
ajayritik
06-22-2008, 11:56
That doesn't make any sense. Care to elaborate?
Start with tell us the exact format and specifications of the original video and sound?
B Frames and CABAC. I'm unable to figure about CABAC, this is one of the options which is mentioned in the thread that needs to be deselected. I have used Gspot to find out the codecs in the original video but it doesnt give any info about the original file.
I could not find in automkv 0.95c the profile for baseline, can anyone tell me which one I should choose from the drop list, or send me his baseline profile file please?
O.J. Simpson
07-24-2008, 08:17
Use automkv 0.93 it has the baseline profile.
how do i know if a h264 is HP or not?
go google for a program called media info
sprockkets
09-01-2008, 14:13
I've dabbled with the x264 codec with the encoder program avidemux. They have a pdf that explains all the options. CABAC adds about 15% more CPU power to decode in a computer. It saves about 10% on the encode, losslessly. If you look at that pdf, ok, I'll link it, it shows the chart defining the many profiles.
http://mulder.dummwiedeutsch.de/pub/x264/
I wish I had an A3 to test with. I use the mkv container and vorbis audio.
Using B Frames reference option causes stuttering (audio doesn't skip, the video framerate isn't as smooth as it can be) even on my 2ghz Dual core pentium system, even at SD resolutions, on seemingly simple scenes. I never will use that option if it stinks that much (using MPlayer; VLC may not stutter but MPlayer seems to handle MKV and HD x264 better than VLC at times, especially in Windows)
dummyacct7
11-04-2008, 01:29
The method for converting videos to Cowon A3 compatible H.264 that works best for me is using StaxRip, since it has a nice GUI and gets the job done.
The newest beta doesn't have the same options as the older version, (ie there's no encoding choice that says, "baseline") but if you select x264->device->Archos605 the resulting file will be baseline. For simple encodes that don't require any knowledge on your part, this is probably the easiest, just set the encoder like that, and if the video is larger than DVD resolution (720x480), just turn on the resize filter and slide it to the appropriate size, just watch that the aspect ratio isn't more than a couple percent off.
If your source file has multiple audio or subtitle streams, staxrip tends to blow up, which is kind of annoying, but not hard to get around. The easiest way to get around it is to use mkvmerge and create a new mkv from your source that only has the streams you want in the encode, or if you want to use multiple streams in the end, just use mkvextract to pull them all apart and just attach the extra streams with mkvmerge when you're done encoding the video.
For better encodes, there are a few things you can do, depending on how much time you're willing to wait, warning, this is gonna get a bit more technical:
The default Subpixel Refinement (subme) on the Archos profile is set to 6, but can be changed to anything you want; higher values will take longer to encode, but have better compression rates. The number of reference frames used can also be increased slightly, I have it set at 3, though slightly higher might work as well, but 16 will not work, at least not with my other options. If you use average video bitrates of, say, 1000 or less, cabac may also be an option. Note that cabac is a feature of h264 main profile, and as such, requires more power to decode, so if you choose to enable it, set the max bitrate to around 2000, as higher bitrates will cause the A3 to fall behind. If you need higher quality and don't care about filesize, you can go over 2000 without cabac, though keep it reasonable. You can actually resize videos to non-multiples of 16 (such as 704x396), all you need to do is right-click and edit the filters section, and replace the default %target_width%,%target_height% in the resize filter with, say, 704,396. Note that both values must still be multiples of 2, as x264 cannot work with odd numbers, and that if you choose to not use multiples of 16 your encode will be slower, though this may be worth it to preserve the aspect ratio.
Hardcoding subtitles is generally pretty easy with staxrip, there's an option to add them under tools. When hardcoding .ass subs, it might be best to first use mkvextract to pull any fonts off the video source, and install them. That way you'll be able to hardsub using the correct fonts, so it will look like its supposed to. However, if you wish to put, "new" effects from .ass subs (such as a transforming blur tag) you will need to replace the VSFilter.dll in the AviSynth 2.5 folder that staxrip uses with the newest version. Staxrip will bitch about you having the wrong version, but it can be ignored, and it will work.
When it comes to variable frame rate video, it depends how the source file is put together. If it's an mkv, it's plenty easy to work with, if it's a, "120fps" avi, the process is a little uglier. For mkv's, you'll be able to tell they're vfr if they come up at weird lengths, such as a 23 minute show showing up as 19 minutes in staxrip. If you just wish to convert a video without subs, simply encode as usual, then when done, use mkvextract to extract the timecodes from the video (enable the timecodes tab), then mkvmerge to re-mux the output file with the timecodes from the original video. Try playing it on your computer to make sure it syncs up, the A3 is capable of playing back vfr mkv files. For the, "120 fps" avi files, you will need avi2tc. Feed the vfr avi into it and it will spit out an avi containing all the actual frames and a timecodes file to go with it. Now encode the new avi with staxrip, and when done, re-mux the output with the original timecodes and audio. I guess there are vfr wmv's out there too, but I've never seen such a thing =/
Hardsubbing onto vfr is a little trickier, as simply trying to put the subs onto the vfr stream will cause them to be massively off sync. For this, you will need aegisub. Extract the timecodes from the video, and using aegisub, pop open the subtitle file that you're trying to hardsub and hit video->open timecodes file. Use the timecodes from the video, then hit file->export subtitles. Check the transform framerate box, and set the input framerate to whatever staxrip thinks it is (probably 29.970), then select the variable bubble and check the reverse transformation box, then export. This will shift the times such that they match with the video when hardsubbed.
If you run into anamorphic video, ie you toss in something you think is widescreen and staxrip reads it as 640x480 or something... Ugh. I haven't figured out a pretty way to make anamorphic video work, as generally I want to hardsub onto these things and the way I go about it makes some ugly files, so I won't say anything about it.
For anyone who cares/understands it, the encoding settings I use at the moment for the A3 are: cabac=1 / ref=3 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x1:0x111 / me=umh / subme=9 / psy_rd=1.0:0.0 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=0 / 8x8dct=0 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=3 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / mbaff=0 / bframes=0 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40(pre) / rc=2pass / bitrate=800 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / vbv_maxrate=2000 / vbv_bufsize=5000 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
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