Converting an existing digital video file to H.264 Quicktime.

Goal: To convert your existing file to something more suitable for upload to our servers.

In general, if your digital video file is more than 200 MB (for a 60-minute file), you should use this tutorial to make it smaller.

Requirements:

Macintosh Computer (Intel Power Mac or G5)
Windows Computer with Quicktime installed.
A working familiarity with digital video files.
Quicktime Pro 7.01 or greater. or
Compressor

If you're looking for a information on how to upload files, use our Uploading Digital Files tutorial.

Assumptions:

You already have an existing Digital Video file that Quicktime can open but is too large to upload to our server.

Settings for Apple's "Compressor" program

Download our settings template for use in Apple's Compressor program. (You will need to 'right click' or 'Control-Click' in order to download the links as files.)

Option 1	16:9 Footage - Burn TC Window
Option 2	16:9 Footage - No TC
Option 3	4:3 Footage - Burn TC Window
Option 4	4:3 Footage - No TC

If you use one of the timecode templates, be sure to double check that the timecode it is burning into the image is what you expect!

At this time we do not have a complete tutorial for using Compressor.

Quicktime Tutorial

The first step is to open the existing digital video file ('Original File') in Quicktime.

Then select "Export..." from the File menu. If this option is not available, you will need to upgrade to Quicktime Pro.


Figure 1

When the export window opens up as show in Figure 1, rename your file to something different than your existing file. In this example, we're calling the new file "Tape 03_new.mov". From the pull down menu highlighted in orange, select "Movie to QuickTime Movie." and then click the "Options..." button highlighted in red. This will take you to the screen shown in Figure 2.


Figure 2

We're going to change the setting for the Video and the Sound. First the video, click the Settings button highlighted in Green to access the menu shown in Figure 3


Figure 3

Set all the areas in Figure 3 highlighted in Green as show in the image.

Compression Type: H.264
Frame Rate: 15 for 29.97 fps footage or 12 for 24 fps footage.
Data Rate: Restrict to 350 kbit/second
Encoding: Faster encode (Single-pass)

Click 'Ok' when done to return the menu show in Figure 2. Now select the video "Size.." button shown in Figure 2 to pull up the menu shown in Figure 4.


Figure 4

Select 'Custom' from the Dimensions pull down highlighted in Green. Use 320 for the first number as shown. If your footage is 16:9 aspect ratio, use 180 for the second number. If your footage is 4:3 aspect ratio, use 240.

Click 'Ok' to return back to the menu show in Figure 2. Select the Audio 'Settings..' button highlighted in red in Figure 2 to access the menu shown in Figure 5.


Figure 5

Set the settings as highlighted in green in Figure 5.

Format: AAC
Channels: Stereo (L R)
Rate: 44.100 khz

Do not use "MPEG 4 Low Delay AAC" under any circumstances. It is not compatible with most machines.

Click 'OK' when done. You are now ready to convert. Click the 'Ok' button in Figure 2, then 'Save' in Figure 1 to begin converting your Original File to a nice small H.264 MOV file.

Conversion speed is highly dependent on processor speed. On our Dual 2.0 Ghz G5, render time was approximately 1-to-1. Thus an hour long files will take about one hour to render to H.264. Your mileage WILL vary. G4 machines are much slower, newer Intel Power Macs are faster.

After conversion, upload the .mov file to our servers.

If you think this tutorial is useful, please consider sharing it.

If everybody's thinking alike, somebody isn't thinking.
--Unknown