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You are here: MacNN Forums > Community > MacNN Lounge > H.264 + 5.1 Audio Sample (^v^)

H.264 + 5.1 Audio Sample (^v^)
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OwlBoy
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Apr 29, 2005, 05:58 AM
 
View it here:

http://owlboy.com/blog/?p=28

It will disappear real fast too, so view it while you can.

-Owl
     
Busemann
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Apr 29, 2005, 06:43 AM
 
I find Apple's H.264 implementation to be quite disappointing. The quality isn't quite there for sure.

At least there's some good room for improvement.
     
OwlBoy  (op)
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Apr 29, 2005, 07:28 AM
 
Now don't assume I know how to encode video well

Someone else might be able to to better, and using something other than QT Pro might be better too...

Then again, we might have the same problem mpeg4 did, and the quicktime encoder is inferior to things like XviD/DivX.

Then again... what other options are there at the moment that are not crazy hacks stuffed in a .avi (Like early DivX)?


Also: the audio alone in that file is 7.71mb � Bigger than your average file due to it being 5 channels.

-Owl
( Last edited by OwlBoy; Apr 29, 2005 at 07:36 AM. )
     
starman
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Apr 29, 2005, 07:51 AM
 
Very nice. I don't have a 5.1 card on my Mac, but when I get around to it I'll try that out on my PC.

Mike

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macintologist
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Apr 29, 2005, 08:02 AM
 
Originally Posted by Busemann
I find Apple's H.264 implementation to be quite disappointing. The quality isn't quite there for sure.

At least there's some good room for improvement.
Are you talking about Owlboy's movie file?

He was encoding a trailer he downloaded..silly! It was already compressed.
     
OwlBoy  (op)
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Apr 29, 2005, 08:04 AM
 
Originally Posted by macintologist
Are you talking about Owlboy's movie file?

He was encoding a trailer he downloaded..silly! It was already compressed.
No, your silly.

It was a DVD Rip. How the **** would I get an AC3 5.1 source to make the Movie have a 5.1 AAC audio track?



-Owl
     
macintologist
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Apr 29, 2005, 08:08 AM
 
/me blushes in embarrasment
     
starman
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Apr 29, 2005, 08:09 AM
 
Originally Posted by OwlBoy
No, your silly.

It was a DVD Rip. How the **** would I get an AC3 5.1 source to make the Movie have a 5.1 AAC audio track?

-Owl
I guess you don't know of the HDTV samples pages all over the net

That's where I thought you got it from.

Mike

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OwlBoy  (op)
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Apr 29, 2005, 08:12 AM
 
Yeah, I got it from my DVD, though I wonder how much better a HDTV version of this trailer would be as a source vs the DVD. The DVD seems to have great quality for being a trailer (many don't even come with the 5.1, I was gonna do the matrix revolutions first, but that was in stereo)

-Owl
     
Busemann
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Apr 29, 2005, 08:13 AM
 
I've encoded several MPEG2 samples myself and found it's just not as good as it should be. It is better than their MPEG4-ASP in QT6 (duh), but not as good as the other H.264 encoders out there. Seems they don't use many of the features that H.264 provides either, as the files are just standard baseline profile streams + B-frames.
     
OwlBoy  (op)
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Apr 29, 2005, 08:20 AM
 
What are some of the other H.264 encoders out there? I only know of ffmpegx having it...

Any that encode content Quicktime 7 can read?

H.264 stuffed in an avi file don't work in Quicktime.

-Owl
     
macaddict0001
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Apr 29, 2005, 12:06 PM
 
nice. near dvd quality in a package that uses just shy of twice as much bandwidth as apple lossless. we could fit entire dvd's on cd's in this format. or 14 hours on a dvd
     
OwlBoy  (op)
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Apr 29, 2005, 01:12 PM
 
Apple's HD Gallery is up

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/hdgallery/

KICK ASS QUALITY!

-Owl
     
pman68
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Apr 29, 2005, 01:16 PM
 
Originally Posted by OwlBoy
Apple's HD Gallery is up

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/hdgallery/

KICK ASS QUALITY!

-Owl
Beat me to it!

G5 required.

Quicktime 7 too.
     
f1000
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Apr 29, 2005, 01:57 PM
 
Originally Posted by OwlBoy
KICK ASS QUALITY!
1080p plays back like WMV-HD on my rev. B 12" PowerBook.

I'm sticking with MPEG-2 for now.
     
demograph68
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Apr 29, 2005, 01:59 PM
 
I ran a test with it on some really intense scenes from the Matrix. I think it's nearly on par to XviD.
     
demograph68
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Apr 29, 2005, 02:02 PM
 
Originally Posted by OwlBoy
What are some of the other H.264 encoders out there? I only know of ffmpegx having it...
Sorenson Squeeze 4
Originally Posted by OwlBoy
Any that encode content Quicktime 7 can read?
I hope their is one too.
     
olePigeon
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Apr 29, 2005, 02:07 PM
 
Anyone try it via AirPort Express using that Audio Hijack program? Is it 5.1 through DVD or VLC?
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C.J. Moof
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Apr 29, 2005, 02:19 PM
 
So how long did the rip take, and on what hardware?
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macintologist
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Apr 29, 2005, 03:15 PM
 
I don't understand why Quicktime is not as versatile at reading different formats and containers like XVid and .avi when VLC can read all of them perfectly.
     
demograph68
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Apr 29, 2005, 03:20 PM
 
Originally Posted by macintologist
I don't understand why Quicktime is not as versatile at reading different formats and containers like XVid and .avi when VLC can read all of them perfectly.
Get the Divx codec.
     
MaxPower2k3
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Apr 29, 2005, 03:30 PM
 
Quicktime must really optimize the video to be played back by quicktime player, because that trailer you posted plays back perfectly smooth on my rev. A 867 12" PowerBook and choppy/slightly out of sync on my 2GHz Athlon64 PC using VLC. That said, the surround sound does work on the PC (don't have surround on my PB, so i couldn't test it there)

even the 1080p Serenity trailer plays better in QT7 on my PB than on the much faster PC using VLC, although (not surprisingly) it still plays pretty badly on the PB. interesting.
( Last edited by MaxPower2k3; Apr 29, 2005 at 03:52 PM. Reason: added 1080p comment)

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f1000
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Apr 29, 2005, 03:58 PM
 
Originally Posted by MaxPower2k3
even the 1080p Serenity trailer plays better in QT7 on my PB than on the much faster PC using VLC, although (not surprisingly) it still plays pretty badly on the PB. interesting.
The 1080p Serenity trailer crashes VLC on my PowerBook. It plays like a PowerPoint presentation in QT7.

This can only mean that PowerBook G5's with H.264 GPU decoding are around the corner.
     
OwlBoy  (op)
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Apr 29, 2005, 04:04 PM
 
Ok lots to reply to:

Sorenson Squeeze 4
That is its own implementation? or is it using Apples...
Edit: I just checked, appears to be their own implementation, is is interoperable with the new QUicktime implementation? if so I bet they used it to make all those HD clips.

Anyone try it via AirPort Express using that Audio Hijack program? Is it 5.1 through DVD or VLC?
What? Airport Express will downmix it to stereo I would assume, if not airfoil would.

The 5.1 in this file for sure will play on a mac with a sound card with an analog output for each speaker (like a revolution card) works on mine. I don't think you will get 5.1 audio from the Digital out with a receiver though, this is NOT Dolby Digital/AC3.

I don't understand why Quicktime is not as versatile at reading different formats and containers like XVid and .avi when VLC can read all of them perfectly.
XviD/DivX/MP3 in a .avi file is a hack. Most anything used on the net in a .avi file is like this.

Meaning, its NOT using the standard specifications of an .avi file.

Quicktime does everything by the book. So nothing is broke, it just aint been re-tooled to use the crazy stuff people put in the avi container these days.

The DivX made a workaround for their mac quicktime plugin.

So how long did the rip take, and on what hardware?
Ripping the DVD was fast... seconds.

Encoding the h.264/AAC though, that took awhile, I did not feel that it was longer than my other encodes in the past with other modern codecs like mpeg4/xvid.

Dual 1.8G5 1.25gb ram

No times though

The 1080p Serenity trailer crashes VLC on my PowerBook.
Only the most recent versions of VLC might support it (those nightly builds) and it *might* just use quicktime to decode it if its in a .mov,,,

Note: I re-saved the video with fast start so it progressively streams/downloads now.

-Owl
( Last edited by OwlBoy; Apr 29, 2005 at 04:21 PM. Reason: Typos)
     
ambush
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Apr 29, 2005, 04:04 PM
 
1080 Batman.... over 100 meg.

DUDE. Not even FUNNY.
     
OwlBoy  (op)
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Apr 29, 2005, 04:06 PM
 
Originally Posted by ambush
1080 Batman.... over 100 meg.

DUDE. Not even FUNNY.
Thats about as good as it will get for HD file sizes

-Owl
     
f1000
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Apr 29, 2005, 04:08 PM
 
Originally Posted by OwlBoy
Ripping the DVD was fast... seconds.

Encoding the h.264/AAC though, that took awhile, I did not feel that it was longer than my other encodes in the past with other modern codecs like mpeg4/xvid.

Dual 1.8G5 1.25gb ram

No times though
That does it. I'm getting one of these:

<-- DON'T BE SO HARD ON YOURSELF, DANNY.

Alas, it only has a single G5.
( Last edited by f1000; May 2, 2005 at 06:09 PM. )
     
pman68
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Apr 29, 2005, 06:01 PM
 
The HD Batman trailer didn't play on my Powerbook G4/500. Too much stuttering. Maybe it's time to upgrade soon
     
Mafia
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Apr 29, 2005, 06:13 PM
 
the new hd trailors are awesome.
http://www.mafia-designs.com
     
MilkmanDan
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Apr 29, 2005, 09:50 PM
 
holy wow, thats some nice video quality. Too bad my G4 Powerbook just doesn't cut it these days. Sigh... what has my world come to when a 1.33 G4 doesn't cut it.
( Last edited by MilkmanDan; Apr 29, 2005 at 10:00 PM. )
     
RonnieoftheRose
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Apr 30, 2005, 03:19 AM
 
Originally Posted by MilkmanDan
holy wow, thats some nice video quality. Too bad my G4 Powerbook just doesn't cut it these days. Sigh... what has my world come to when a 1.33 G4 doesn't cut it.
1.5Ghz won't cut it for playing back 1080p either 720p looks fine.
     
badidea
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May 2, 2005, 05:31 PM
 
I have a 7.1 audio card (M-Audio Revolution) but the movie only plays like standard Dolby Surround (which is actually 2 channel stereo) and not with 5.1 channels!
Does this only work on a G5 with optical out?
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MallyMal
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May 2, 2005, 06:50 PM
 
So, has Quicktime caught up to Windows Media 9 in the image quality/file size equation?
     
iCol
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May 2, 2005, 07:38 PM
 
Can anyone else get this to work?

I have QT7 on my iMac G5, I click the 'play movie' button, but it just opens a blank QT window which doesn't seem to do anything... Am I missing something?

[HTML]http://images.apple.com/movies/us/hd_gallery/gl1800/nasa_shuttle_m720p.mov[/HTML]
( Last edited by iCol; May 2, 2005 at 07:40 PM. Reason: Bad link!)
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iCol
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May 2, 2005, 07:42 PM
 
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Kenneth
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May 2, 2005, 08:07 PM
 
Downloading right now... 46.1MB
     
   
 
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