Instructions for encoding video to H264-BP

[austinv]

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.

[austinv]

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.

[austinv]

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.

[austinv]

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.

[austinv]

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.

[austinv]

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.

[austinv]

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.

[Joemt]

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]

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]

h264-PB is working fine for the moment, but StaxRip doesn`t seem to be able to read .mov files.

[austinv]

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.

[kevink]

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

[pmrdij]

Originally Posted by kevink

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]

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.

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

[dav88]

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