as announced here yet another payware mp4 container editing tool is available:
ulead released a MPEG-4 Plug-in for its VideoStudio 8 editing tool, which also handles the MP4 container
The Ulead MPEG-4 Plug-in gives VideoStudio 8 users a needed way to import and edit MPEG-4 video files, while, at the same time, allowing them to turn commonly-used video formats into MPEG-4. With VideoStudio 8’s MPEG-4 smart rendering technology, the software saves time by rendering only the edits made to the MPEG-4 video content, without rendering the entire file. By using the MPEG-4 video format, consumers can maintain quality, yet reduce the size of video files in order to effectively share longer or higher quality videos via e-mail, the Web, and on DVD/CD.
anyone able to buy and check it out, would be nice to report some more details about it (like the handling of audio formats, full mpeg-4 asp support, cutting at non-keyframes aso...)
the mpeg-4 plugin costs quot;onlyquot; $29.95
we need an opensource MP4 editing tool!
Nice on Ulead...
Ulead VideoStudio often gets bundled with some DV camcoders, so hopefully there might be a few people on the forum who could give it a go!Cheers
there is a free demo for ulead video studio 8, but it probably doesn't contain the mp4 plugin ... what a pity
---
well, the trial version surely doesn't know mp4 - and upon rereading the description, i guess this is just another mpeg4 codec, and not mp4 file format support ... or am i totally wrong?
Originally posted by yakima
upon rereading the description, i guess this is just another mpeg4 codec, and not mp4 file format support ... or am i totally wrong?
the plugin has been advertised for having compatibility with digital cameras or mobile phones, which basically use the mp4 container
also at the same time they released a 3gp plugin including support for .3gp files, also used in mobile phones, and the .3gp container basically is .mp4
I bought the Sanyo Xacti C1 (it's this MPEG4 camcorder which records to SD Cards). Ulead VideoStudio 7 was bundeled with it which works pretty well with the mp4 files produced by the C1.
Had the experience that no other video program was working flawlessly with mp4 (except for TMPGenc which uses directshow) and it's pretty easy to work with mp4 now. It's even possible to export to mp4 (with AAC sound).
Even though it's VideuStudio 7, I think that there is not much difference to 8.
Originally posted by Tommy B.
I bought the Sanyo Xacti C1 (it's this MPEG4 camcorder which records to SD Cards). Ulead VideoStudio 7 was bundeled with it which works pretty well with the mp4 files produced by the C1.
hm strange that an old version of a tool handles things, which you need a special plugin for to get it to work with a newer version of the tool...
when did you buy the cam? long ago? do you find anywhere a note that a special mpeg-4/mp4 plugin is additionally installed?
also its important to say that when we talk about mp4 files we mean files with the .mp4 extension!
not something like mpeg-4 video stored in .avi or .mov!
It's even possible to export to mp4 (with AAC sound).
Even though it's VideuStudio 7, I think that there is not much difference to 8.
well the difference is that you need a special plugin to get it to work with 8
about videostudio7:
did you try if .mp4 files with mp3 audio work?
did you try cutting mpeg-4 video streams with b-frames placed in .mp4?
does it allow cutting also at non-keyframes, meaning at any frame of the stream?
does it allow joining of different .mp4 files?
does it allow the conversion from mpeg-4 in .avi to .mp4 without the need for reencoding?
does it allow the combining of single streams stored in different .mp4 files to one .mp4 files (like merging audio and video)
does it allow the importing of raw audio streams (.aac and .mp3)?
lots of questions i know
This is quot;very interestingquot;
Can you make a small clip and upload?
Let's see...
hm strange that an old version of a tool handles things, which you need a special plugin for to get it to work with a newer version of the tool...
when did you buy the cam? long ago? do you find anywhere a note that a special mpeg-4/mp4 plugin is additionally installed?
also its important to say that when we talk about mp4 files we mean files with the .mp4 extension!
not something like mpeg-4 video stored in .avi or .mov!
The C1 is available since November 2003. The CD with VideoStudio seems to have been produced by Sanyo so the chance of distributing a quot;special editionquot; of Ulead VideoStudio 7 on these CDs might be given.
I looked at the content of the disc and it might be possible that the quot;pluginquot; is already included in VS7. The mp4 streams produced by the C1 seem to be some sort of non-standard since working with them in some other video editing programs gave problems (video compressed with unknown method) even though they support mp4 (as it was printed on the box).
did you try if .mp4 files with mp3 audio work?
No, I haven't tried this since I don't encode to strict mp4 (instead I use XviD) but I asume that this shouldn't give a problem (I would be surprised if it will though).
did you try cutting mpeg-4 video streams with b-frames placed in .mp4?
Again, I don't use mp4 and therefore can't really tell you. One thing I'm quite sure of is that these mp4 streams produced by the C1 don't use b-frames since compressing is done in 1 Pass and it would slow down the process a lot.
does it allow cutting also at non-keyframes, meaning at any frame of the stream?
Yes, it does. But you I have to admit that VS is a pretty simple video editing tool, not as complicated as VirtualDub where you can cut out exactly these frames you don't want to see. I think that VS simply remembers where the user told it to set a cut and then reencodes it. There is no such thing as DirectStream Copy.
does it allow joining of different .mp4 files?
Yes. It does not matter whether the resolution, method or audio track differs.
does it allow the conversion from mpeg-4 in .avi to .mp4 without the need for reencoding?
Again I can not tell you since VS is not that transparent. I think it is not that advanced that it can convert without reencoding.
does it allow the combining of single streams stored in different .mp4 files to one .mp4 files (like merging audio and video)
Yes. Else it would be a pain in the ass to combine all those mp4 files produced with the C1 (it does not same them in one streams but makes a single file each time you start recording - which actually is really good since you can delete bad scenes etc.) into one file.
does it allow the importing of raw audio streams (.aac and .mp3)?
Importing raw audio streams into mp4? Well, it does. But it converts the audio stream to aac when saved to mp4 anyway.
Can you make a small clip and upload?
I'll look into it. Have to get some material first.
Okay. Just took a look into the compression of mp4 and I'd say it... uhm... pretty limited.It's German, but there shouldn't be any problem in understanding this.
First there quot;Kodier-Treiberquot; which defines which MP4 Codec is being used. This is the only choice you have so it might be a proof that VS7 uses a plugin.
quot;Datenspurquot; (stream) simply defines whether you want to compress Video and Audio or Video only.
quot;Bildratequot; specifies the framerate. You can choose between 15fps and 29.97fps (which is independent of the framerate of the source).
quot;Bildtypquot; does not matter here since there is only one choice.
quot;Bildgroessequot; (resolution) can only be set to standard, there is no 16:9 or anything like that (forcing the stream to being compatible I guess) and you can not define a custom resolution (greyed out quot;Benutzerdifiniertquot; - custom).
There are also some other settings where you can define which bitrate can be used. 2000 is the lowest, while 3000 is the highest.
You can't choose which codec to use to compress the audio and the bitrate is also fixed to 128kbps (it's covered). quot;Audiomodusquot; (audiomode) is set to quot;Stereoquot;, you can't change this.
I have encoded a 22 secs short scene from Kill Bill Volume 1 DVD.
mp4test.mp4
Originally posted by Tommy B.
so the chance of distributing a quot;special editionquot; of Ulead VideoStudio 7 on these CDs might be given.
this can definitely be
The mp4 streams produced by the C1 seem to be some sort of non-standard since working with them in some other video editing programs gave problems (video compressed with unknown method) even though they support mp4 (as it was printed on the box).
what other video editing programs with .mp4 container capabilities do you mean?
No, I haven't tried this since I don't encode to strict mp4 (instead I use XviD) but I asume that this shouldn't give a problem (I would be surprised if it will though).
there is no problem placing video streams created by xvid in .mp4, as xvid is mpeg-4 compliant
but i think this means that its not possible to encode with external codecs in your vs7 version!?
thanks for the info, i can only say that hopefully the official plugin used in vs8 is more powerful
what other video editing programs with .mp4 container capabilities do you mean?
I don't remember exactly what it was. I think I Pinnacle Studio 8 or 9 but I can't recall exactly since this some time ago.
but i think this means that its not possible to encode with external codecs in your vs7 version!?
It is possible. You can encode to any sort of codec which fits into an Avi container and also to RealMedia, Windows Media, MPEG (1+2) and even Quicktime.
What I think is that VS is not that advanced and always reencodes the content of the videos.
thanks for the info, i can only say that hopefully the official plugin used in vs8 is more powerful
Yeah. I bet it has more options since this plugin in VS7 seems more like a quot;betaquot; to me.
Ugh. Nevermind. At least I have a program which directly works with mp4.
Originally posted by Tommy B.
I have encoded a 22 secs short scene from Kill Bill Volume 1 DVD.
mp4test.mp4
Nice one!
Just, as a matter of interest I took your encode and corrected the aspect ratio. mp4test_SMD.
Cheers
sorry, i might be wrong but playing that file showed me quot;crapquot; all over the screen, but the audio played fine
where a Xacti user from Italy reported problems with the *.mp4 files and Ulead's VS7 version. Anyhow, it's good to know that even the older version is supposed to work with this container format now, thanks for reporting this.
By the way, quot;other video editing programsquot; besides QuickTime 6.x Pro are not able to handle *.mp4 files yet, as far as I know. So maybe you experienced this problem with QuickTime which can only decode the Simple Profile of MPEG-4 video? On the other hand the Xacti only uses this profile, as far as I remember...
Importing raw audio streams into mp4? Well, it does. But it converts the audio stream to aac when saved to mp4 anyway.
Heureka!
Originally posted by Phobos
sorry, i might be wrong but playing that file showed me quot;crapquot; all over the screen, but the audio played fine
Works fine here, via hardware and software players!
mp4UI reports the video stream as being: MPEG-4 Reserved
Interestingly, mp4UI will allow you to export the individual streams but not delete them!Cheers
By the way, it seems that the Ulead MP4 file muxer does not generate BIFS and OD tracks, although they should be there if the there's more than one elementary stream in the container. So that's what might cause the problems with other MPEG-4 editors or players. Osmo4 can play it, but it generates missing BIFS and OD tracks automatically.
Originally posted by hans-jürgen
By the way, it seems that the Ulead MP4 file muxer does not generate BIFS and OD tracks, although they should be there if the there's more than one elementary stream in the container. So that's what might cause the problems with other MPEG-4 editors or players. Osmo4 can play it, but it generates missing BIFS and OD tracks automatically.
Yes, I noticed this too!
It will be interesting to see if the file will play OK in the new Kiss stand-alone player. When it's eventually launched.
In fact, it might be interesting to see if Mpeg4/mp3 .MP4 files without BIFS and OD tracks can be played on the Philips DVP642... you never know!Cheers
Although it would be better if Ulead fixes this problem, it's always possible to extract the video and audio tracks from the container and remux it with any of the known MP4 muxers that are able to create BIFS and OD tracks, too. Then no editor or player should have problems to handle these repaired files. This is what MP4Box -info says about the unmodified Ulead file:
* Movie Info * Timescale 48000 - Duration 1059840 Fragmented File no - 2 tracks File Brand 3gp5 - version 512
File has no MPEG4 IOD/OD
Track # 1 Info - TrackID 1 - TimeScale 30000 - Duration 661661
Media Type quot;videquot; - Media Sub Type quot;MPEGquot; - 661 samples
MPEG-4 Config: Visual Stream - ObjectTypeIndication 32
MPEG-4 Visual Size 640 x 480 - Simple Profile @ Level 0
Self-synchronized
Track # 2 Info - TrackID 2 - TimeScale 48000 - Duration 1059840
Media Type quot;sounquot; - Media Sub Type quot;MPEGquot; - 1035 samples
MPEG-4 Config: Audio Stream - ObjectTypeIndication 64
MPEG-4 Audio AAC LC - 2 Channels - SampleRate 48000
Synchronized on stream 1
----
And this is the output of mp4creator -list:
Track Type Info
1 video MPEG-4, 22.055 secs, 1990 kbps, 640x480 @ 29.97 fps
2 audio MPEG-4 AAC LC, 22.080 secs, 132 kbps, 48000 Hz
Originally posted by hans-jürgen
Although it would be better if Ulead fixes this problem, it's always possible to extract the video and audio tracks from the container and remux it with any of the known MP4 muxers that are able to create BIFS and OD tracks, too.
Yes, this is what I did a few posts above!
I also used MPEG4Modifier to correct the streams DAR before re-muxing it back into the MP4 container. I even made the new file available for download.
Seems to work OK but just like the source, it's a bit jittery. Why not download it and give it a try?Cheers
afaik bifs and od tracks are not mandatory for mpeg-4 compliance (for isma compliance they are)!? |
Post at 2011-4-15 16:10
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