This fancy ol' H.264

[TheJadeArcAngel]

Okay, here's the scenario; everybody and their dog keeps mentioning to me the quality of my videos ( and, to be fair, I dont say that sarcastically or in any mean-spirited way, its true <_< ) and the standard is seemingly the H.264 codec.

Understandable.

However, 90% of the AMV's I am downloading are .AVI files and here is my problem

MPEG Streamclip, seemingly the only MAC encoder I have been made aware of ( which has worked extremely well in-so-far ) seems to not like exporting a H.264 AVI file.

Here's what i have tried simply as an experiment ---

1:46 seconds of footage from a VOB file of an anime.

Test #1 -
EXPORT TO AVI.
ENCODE USEING: H.264
option for MULTIPASS used
QUALITY - 100%
FRAME SIZE - 640 x 480
Option for DEINTERLACE clicked

The file renderd and yeilded a 156 MB file. When I try to play it any player, even VLC, I hear SOUND but no video plays. The window never opens.

- - - -

test #2 -

EXPORT TO AVI.
ENCODE USEING: H.264
option for MULTIPASS not used
QUALITY - 100%
FRAME SIZE - 640 x 480
Option for DEINTERLACE clicked

The file created is 0 KB and again, the same thing in VLC - I hear sound but no video

- - - -

test #3

EXPORT TO MPEG-4.
ENCODE USEING: H.264
option for MULTIPASS not used
QUALITY - 100%
FRAME SIZE - 320 x 240
Option for DEINTERLACE clicked

The file this one made was playable in all players and was 41.7 MB. However it was a .MP4 file and from what I understand not really used/supported?

- - - -

test #4

EXPORT TO MPEG-4.
ENCODE USEING: H.264
option for MULTIPASS not used
QUALITY - 100%
FRAME SIZE - 640 x 480
Option for DEINTERLACE clicked

The resulting file size for 1 minute and 48 seconds was over 100 MB, totaling in at 139.5 MB and, honnestly, some of the edges around a few of the frames looked ... odd, not 'pixelated' but certainly they showed signs of compression.

- - - -

Thats what I've been seeing so far and I know there is a step I have to be missing, or am doing wrong?

Any help is greatly appreciated

[Scintilla]

test #3

EXPORT TO MPEG-4.
ENCODE USEING: H.264
option for MULTIPASS not used
QUALITY - 100%
FRAME SIZE - 320 x 240
Option for DEINTERLACE clicked

The file this one made was playable in all players and was 41.7 MB. However it was a .MP4 file and from what I understand not really used/supported?

No, .MP4 is the new standard; you're doing it right. If you've got H.264 video, you really should be putting it into an MP4 or a Matroska, not an AVI.

.MP4 may not be widespread yet, but I've noticed a LOT more AMVs being released in that format in the past year or so. It really shouldn't take long for the software companies to start supporting the format better; it is supposed to be the new standard, after all, and adhering to decent standards makes life easier for everyone.

[trythil]

Okay, here's the scenario; everybody and their dog keeps mentioning to me the quality of my videos ( and, to be fair, I dont say that sarcastically or in any mean-spirited way, its true <_< ) and the standard is seemingly the H.264 codec.

It's no magic bullet. If you feed it garbage, it won't make it better.

What is the condition of your source material?

MPEG Streamclip, seemingly the only MAC encoder I have been made aware of ( which has worked extremely well in-so-far ) seems to not like exporting a H.264 AVI file.

Don't put H.264 video into AVI files. AVIs don't easily support some of the features that help H.264 does what it does (reference frames and B-frames, for one), and there's other problems with AVIs as well, such as it lacking native support for variable bitrate audio.

On the topic of other OS X encoding systems: my encoding setup consists of mencoder, the x264 command-line interface, bash (the default OS X shell), and MP4Box. If you don't mind using Terminal (it's really a fast way to work once you get used to it), it may work for you, too.