Best Output Settings For Subsequent Conversion To Mp4

[PeterPan]

I'm a musician, and hobby level web designer. I want to use my ancient version of Videowave (2012, running on XP) to put together promotional videos of excerpts from some of my music performances. This will mostly be to show venue owners in hopes of landing a gig. The audio quality of most of my live recordings stinks anyway, and the result does not have to be super quality. But we all know how multiple generations of format conversion degrades video. Every time you 're-sample" more detail gets lost. Well since most of the video I have available for editing is in MP4 format already, usually at 720i, I'd hoped to output in that same format so it wouldn't get mangled too badly, but no such luck. Videowave 2012 doesn't have much in the way of MP4 options. And if I put the resulting file onto a website for viewing, MP4 is only one of the formats I'll need to convert to (MP4 (H.264), OGG, and WEBM are also popular and wise to include to be HTML5 compatible). Well I know the best answer for conversion is the very popular and powerful FFMPEG tool. But my question is, whats the best output format and combination I should choose from Videowave, so that its most likely to survive through at least another set of conversions.

PS... if there is a way to coax MP4 out of this old Videowave product, maybe with some add-on, that would probably be a great start.

Thanks for any help!

[Brendon]

PS... if there is a way to coax MP4 out of this old Videowave product, maybe with some add-on, that would probably be a great start.

 

I just popped an AVI video clip into Videowave and simply exported it as an MP4 (H264). Why don't you try that and see if it's what you want.

 

-Run Videowave

-Add Video

-Export As, and select Video File for your destination, along with a suitable output type. I used AVC Good Quality for a start, and got a very nice MP4.

 

 

 

 

Regards,

Brendon

[PeterPan]

 

I just popped an AVI video clip into Videowave and simply exported it as an MP4 (H264). Why don't you try that and see if it's what you want.

 

-Run Videowave

-Add Video

-Export As, and select Video File for your destination, along with a suitable output type. I used AVC Good Quality for a start, and got a very nice MP4.

 

vw.jpg

 

 

 

Regards,

Brendon

 

Thanks for the info! Well when i select the "AVC Good quality", there's no indication that its going to output in MP4 format, but it does indicate 640 x 360, 25fps. I know all the raw video clips I used in this project were at least 1280 x 720 (wide screen), and 30 fps, but I tried it anyway as a starting point, and it did indeed generate an MP4. But it is interesting that the program doesn't indicate anywhere MP4 or H264. But knowing the format is definitly "in there", I'll experiment some more!

[Brendon]

If you have a peep between Purpose and NTSC in my screenshot you'll see that it tells you H264. That's a pull-down value too, so clicking in there will show an interesting Purpose list. Have a good poke around and see what you can find.

 

It's a pity Roxio stopped putting out PDF manuals after Creator 2011, but the C2011 manual is still available. It can be downloaded here (link).

I haven't reviewed it lately, but it might help you to some extent.

 

Regards,

Brendon

[cdanteek]

When you open videowave you have a 4.3 or 16.9 option both have different output 'export as' options.

 

[d_deweywright]

Excellent point, CD!

 

If you select a "Normal 4:3" project, you won't have any HD output options, you have to select a "Widescreen (16:9)" project to output in HD.

[PeterPan]

Thanks guys. I did manage to get through it, and even saved some "user defined" templates with the quality I wanted. I wonder if any of the newer versions (I know I'd have to run them on a newer OS) have more export options for the common formats needed for HTML 5. It already does a decent job producing MP4 files (though I think to compression could be better). But it would be nice to be able to directly export to OGG (OGV ) and WEBM formats too. I know there are many converters available, including some very good online ones. But conversions always lose detail, and so you end up having to start with a huge (ofetn uncompressed) export to get good conversion results. Exporting directly into multiple formats would be a main wishlist item to make me upgrade.