[Frameworks] HOW TO USE WITHOUT A BOX TO SUBMIT FILMS

Sat Feb 15 08:55:45 UTC 2014

It depends on what equipment will be screening 
the MP4 file. What is the native resolution of 
the projector? What is the computer that will be 
playing back the file? Encode the file to the 
maximum resolution and bitrate that the system can handle, and no more.

Usually a 1080p master should be encoded at 20 
megabits per second, two-pass variable bit rate 
encoding. This is Blu-ray standard quality.

Certain types of footage, especially fast motion 
or flicker, may benefit from setting the 
compression keyframe distance explicitly. There's 
no way to recommend what that distance should be, 
it's totally footage-dependent. I would do an 
encode without a specific keyframe distance and 
see if the result looks good. If you are seeing 
frame blending or other artifacts, set the 
keyframe distance to 24 or 30, depending on 
source frame rate. That's one keyframe per 
second. If you still see artifacts, reduce the 
keyframe distance incrementally. If keyframe 
distance is set to the minimum of 1, then each 
frame is compressed individually (interframe) and 
there is no interpolation across frames 
(intraframe). This is an extreme setting that may 
cause more problems than it solves, but I'm describing options.

The potential issue with high bitrate encoding is 
that the playback computer has issues playing it 
back. If the processor or hard drive is not fast 
enough, the playback will stutter and drop 
frames. This has happened to me personally, and 
it utterly sucks in ways I can't begin to 
describe. Therefore I suggest also encoding a 
720p file as a backup in case the target playback 
system chokes on the 1080p file. Encode the 720p 
file at 10 megabits per second, two pass variable bit rate.

Aaron

At 2/15/2014, you wrote:
>While we're on this topic, I've just been asked 
>for mp4 files for projection from a computer. 
>Would any Frameworkers care to share settings 
>they've used successfully? I'm working from 1080 
>masters, and I'm on a Mac, where I understand 
>that all the mp4 presets sacrifice quality to 
>compression. Thanks in advance, Peter EnvoyÃ© de 
>mon iPad > Le 15 fÃ©vr. 2014 Ã  02:31, "Aaron F. 
>Ross" <aaron at digitalartsguild.com> a Ã©crit 
>: > > Hey Sandra... > > You need an MP4 file. 
>That means it's encoded using H.264 compression. 
>Don't bother with Quicktime. Don't bother with 
>any other compression types. They will take too 
>long to upload. > > If it's standard definition 
>(DVD quality), make sure it's encoded with a 
>bitrate of at least 3 megabits per second. > > 
>For 720p extended definition, go for 10 megabits 
>per second. > > For 1080p full high definition, 
>the bitrate should be 20 megabits per 
>second. > > To give you an idea of resulting 
>file sizes... > > 3 megabits per second will 
>yield a file size of 23 Megabytes per minute of 
>footage. > > 10 megabits/sec will be 75 
>Megabytes per minute of footage. > > 20 
>megabits/sec will be 150 Megabytes per minute of 
>footage. > > Let me know if you have more 
>questions. > > Aaron > > > > At 2/14/2014, you 
>wrote: >> This is embarassing...as a FILMmaker I 
>finally got used to submitting on DVD, and 
>now...its Withoutabox to submit to Edinburgh 
>Black Box. I have attempted to weed my way 
>through the application but the first thing I 
>need to know is what specs to give to the person 
>doing the video transfer - what type of file are 
>we talking about.  Can someone help !?!?!?!? 
>thank you, Sandra Davis 
>_______________________________________________ 
>FrameWorks mailing list 
>FrameWorks at jonasmekasfilms.com 
>https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks 
></x-flowed> > > > 
>--------------------------------------------------------------  
> > >      Aaron F. Ross, artist and 
>educator >      http://dr-yo.com > 
>http://digitalartsguild.com > > 
>_______________________________________________ > 
>  FrameWorks mailing list > 
>FrameWorks at jonasmekasfilms.com > 
>https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks 
>_______________________________________________ 
>FrameWorks mailing list 
>FrameWorks at jonasmekasfilms.com 
>https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks

--------------------------------------------------------------

       Aaron F. Ross, artist and educator
       http://dr-yo.com
       http://digitalartsguild.com