MP4 Video codec probs. FFmpeg/FFconvert/pdvdrsdab

[greengeek]

I am trying to play videos on a Pioneer car stereo and some are successful but some are not. Unfortunately when it fails to play the bad videos I can't read the error message as the radio is set to Japanese.

However, the successful videos seem to use video format=MP4V and video codec=FFODIVX

The unsuccessful videos seem to use video format=H264 and video codec=FFH264

If I try to reformat the bad videos using menu,multimedia, FFconvert multimedia converter, it does not appear to list MP4V or FFODIVX as possible format/codec choices.

The videos that are successful were made (as far as I can remember) using menu, multimedia, Pdvdrsab DVD rip/shrink/burn - which would indicate that the MP4V and FFODIVX codecs are somewhere in my system - but how do I get ffmpeg to recognise them and use them to reformat the non-working files?

Any thoughts how to best re-encode a video file to meet a specific codec/container structure??

I use Slacko 5.6

Below is an image of the encoding details of the successful files as given by Mplayer.

[nic007]

Try to select MPEG4-AVC in FFConvert's preset window.

[greengeek]

Thanks nic - sorry for the slow reply but i have been testing heaps of different options to confirm what works and what doesn't.

I had previously tried the MP4 presets in the multimedia FFconverter and had it in my mind that the AVC setup only produced 640x480 resolution whereas my car stereo wants 720x480.

As a result i tried various options with Fullscreen and Widescreen presets but still no joy.

Anyhow after your tip i have been trying the AVC preset again - but this time selecting libxvid as the video codec - and that did the trick! Even though it defaulted to 640x480 it plays fine on the stereo.

And strangely - if i try it again but selecting 720x480 it still works but ACTUALLY creates a video that is 845x480. Can't figure that one out. Maybe a bug in FFconverter.

So it seems that the FFODIVX codec as shown in the Mplayer details window corresponds to the libxvid codec as selected in the ffmpeg based converter.

I am really not sure why the stereo won't accept videos encoded with the libx264 video codec that is the default with the AVC preset but oh well, the libxvid codec seems to work so it's all good.

Cheers!

[nic007]

Try to set screen size to "Same as source". Leave the aspect ratio as "Not specify".

[nic007]

Oh, another question. You say you are playing it on a Pioneer stereo. Is the Pioneer stereo the actual video player or are you only using it as a sound system and playing the videos on computer? It may be that the pioneer system does not support the H264 codec if that is your player. Same can be said if you use a video player on computer. Depends on the codecs installed and the video player. Also use a new version of FFconvert. Version 1.4.3 at least.

[greengeek]

Also use a new version of FFconvert. Version 1.4.3 at least.

Ironically i also tried Xenialpup64 which does have a newer FFconvert however it told me that it's ffmpeg does not support libfaac - the audio codec I needed in this case. I could not find any combination that worked in this stereo. By contrast the ffmpeg installed in Slacko 5.6 was great once I started using the libxvid video codec. The Slacko libfaac in use for the audio codec was fine.

Is the Pioneer stereo the actual video player or are you only using it as a sound system and playing the videos on computer?

It is a Pioneer Carrozzeria AVIC-RZ500 multimedia with inbuilt "NAVI" gps unit (see cover pic). It is typical of the "Japan only" units in imported second hand vehicles here in NZ. Unfortunately it seems impossible to get English translation pdf manuals so I am using a combination of Google Translate and Katakana/Hirugana guides to try to understand what is required to make it work.

It may be that the pioneer system does not support the H264 codec if that is your player

The other pic below suggests that the H264 codec is supported when playing from SD card - which I am - but I could not make it work. Either the Slacko libx264 is unsuitable or else there was something else wrong with my combination of parameters selection.

The Japanese text may offer more clarification or limitations but i have not translated it yet. It may well be that the newer Xenial ffmpeg and FFconvert might create a file with a properly working H264 codec but until I sort out why Xenial has a faulty or missing audio libfaac I cant get the player to attempt to play those files. It wants everything just right before it attempts to push either audio or video.

Definite progress using the AVC+libxvid though. Watched the whole video of MammaMia in the car today. Awesome! (Making the best use of the lockdown....)

For some reason the manual makes no mention of DIVX or xvid so i have no idea why that worked.

[nic007]

According to that chart it does support H264 mp4 but only if it is on SD medium? (the last option, can't quite make out what it is). It won't work if it's on CD, DVD or USB flashdrive. libx264 seems to be the correct video codec for that. Did you try the "Same as source" parameters where possible as suggested? Anyways - I would just encode them to the formats as those videos which do work.

[greengeek]

libx264 seems to be the correct video codec for that. Did you try the "Same as source" parameters where possible as suggested?

Yes, i did try selecting same as source but it didn't change the outcome. Definitely seems that the stereo does not accept the libx264 output from FFconvert.

I trialled a number of other pups also but that gave lots of other problems. Most of the newer pups refused to let me select libfaac for the audio codec. As a result i decided to try the aac codec and again the newer pups would not do it - telling me that aac is experimental and cant be used.

Fortunately the log suggested adding the parameters "-strict -2" when using aac so at last i have a working method.

I don't pretend to understand exactly why i have to choose these particular codecs, but this is how I got a video with a working combination of mp4v and mp4a:

1) Start by choosing MP4 preset and either the AVC or Fullscreen options. Change the codec from libx264 to libxvid. Select screen size and frame rate to match target device or leave as "same as source" etc.
2) Set audio codec to "aac" and in the "adv. options" field write "-strict -2"

Hope this helps someone some day.

Thanks for the help nic.

[nic007]

Just as a matter of interest. I use the "copy" and "same as source" parameters a lot. Use it like that if you want to make a mkv file for example. Matroska (mkv) is a container format which can combine video and audio streams of almost all different formats without reformatting them.

[greengeek]

How would you make an mkv? I don't see that option in FFconvert.

[nic007]

It shows as matroska under file format in older versions of FFCONVERT. The output in these versions will be .matroska (which you can change to .mkv). I find that ffconvert 1.4.3 is a big upgrade to previous versions, supports more codecs. Example to make a mkv file: Typically you'll have two files which you want to combine (one video, one audio) > add the two source files under ffconvert's in/out tab , click detail tab and set the video and audio codecs to copy > select other boxes as "same as source" where you can > select file format as matroska/mkv.

[greengeek]

Hmmmm, I definitely don't see Matroska as an option. Are you looking under "group" or "preset" - and on what puppy?

[nic007]

Detail tab > file format > matroska. This is in ffconvert 1.4.2. In version 1.4.3 there will also be a mkv option.

[greengeek]

Detail tab > file format > matroska. This is in ffconvert 1.4.2. In version 1.4.3 there will also be a mkv option.

Ahhh, ok thanks nic. For some reason I had completely overlooked the "format" parameter as I thought it was an advisory only and that the actual selection of format was in the "group" tab.

It has taken me a long time to understand the idea of a container being the outside skin and the codecs being the inner organs. I guess the "format" box is selecting "container" - is that right? So nothing to do with the fact that I already selected mp4 in the "group" box?

[nic007]

"Group" is under the preset tab. If you select something there, the default settings for that preset will show under the detail tab. Under the detail tab you can however "manually" specify whatever you want and there are more options. The final settings under the detail tab are the settings used for the conversion.