mpeg4 codec problem

[marian vicena]

i have problems with creating ASFs. Can anyone tell me how to create one large ASF from more 2gb AVIs ? I already tried Adope premiere, did export and used mpeg4 v3.0 codec but people can't play this kind of video even they have this codec installed.

What is the difference between mpeg4 v1.0 and mpeg4 v2.0 and v3.0 ?

where to get standalone mpeg4 codecs?

I also tried dl the newest MS media player, but on friends computer the ASF file is not playable.

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M.Vicena
vicky@ultranet.sk

[fluggo99]

I'm guessing you're creating an AVI using the MPEG-4 V3 codec, because that's the only one people are having problems with. For best results, you should use the Windows Media Encoder to do the encoding. The only trouble there is that you can't combine multiple files together into one .asf file.

But you can make them stream seamlessly from one straight into another. Consult the Windows Media Tools help for details on making .asx files and adding script commands.

The difference between the codecs is in which bandwidth they were apparently designed for. I've never used anything but V3 (the supposedly high-bandwidth one), and I don't see a reason to use the other two.

"Standalone" MPEG-4 codecs are, to my knowledge, not available anywhere, and shouldn't even be showing up as a codec for AVI's. Why Microsoft did it that way is beyond me.

As far as your friend goes, once again try using the Windows Media Encoder to encode an .asf file, and don't trust one of the plugins to do it for you. The Encoder also gives you a lot more control over what you're doing.

If you don't have the Windows Media Tools, they're available from Microsoft for free. From their main page, follow the link to the Windows area, and continue into Windows Media territory. You should see the tools on the Windows Media download page.

[marian vicena]

thanks for reply.

I'm tried WMTools but exactly for the problem with joining asf's together i tried savint into AVI with mpeg4 compression.

I'll try the asf playlist thing and hopefullt it will work.

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M.Vicena
vicky@ultranet.sk

[Sun]

Hi!


1. Install windows media tools 4.x
2. Make your video in MPEG4 codec
3. Make your audio in MP3 codec
4. The windows media tools installs a file named vidtoasf.exe use this command line program to convert big avis to asf. This may take a long time.

The difference betwen MPEG4 v3, v2, v1 is the motion estimation engine. In v1 the motion estimation engine is set the low motion video (this means: with a low motion video this codec gives the best quality and performance).
In the v3 codec for the fast motion video.
The v2 codec is betwen them.

Sun

[Serengeti]

I believe MS can't make a standalone codec for MPEG4, because of licensing. The MPEG decided upon the Quicktime 'wrapper' to contain the MPEG4 CODEC, Microsoft created it's own derivatives, and stuffed 'em in ASF.


So I doubt you'll ever see an MPEG4 standalone CODEC, and you'll probably only see an OFFICIAL MPEG4 CODEC in Quicktime packages.

[jypma]

Does that mean that you could use Premiere in Quicktime (.MOV) mode to export your movie directly to ASF? Is there a quicktime filter then?

And something else: Can you re-import .ASF files into premiere for further processing?

Any help will be appreciated.

[fluggo99]

No and maybe.

".mov" files are not ".asf" files and vice-versa. QuickTime movies can be converted to Windows Media (.asf files), and so can AVI videos. I personally haven't seen an MPEG-4 codec for QuickTime, but I believe what Serengeti is saying is that when one comes out, it'll be the real MPEG-4 format instead of Microsoft's wrapper. In that case, it sounds like you would be encoding ".mov" files using the MPEG-4 codec, instead of stepping down to Micro$oft's level. This is just as if you were making a QuickTime movie using the Sorenson or other codec.

Re-importing ASF's should be possible if Premiere supports DirectX Media. I don't see why on earth you'd do that; it's like running a painting through a washing machine and then deciding you want to do some extra brushwork.

[kenobi]

yO marian. I make asf's with premiere and people can play them fine. Are you sure you were exporting a asf file, and not a mpeg4 avi? You have to install window media tools for the plug-in to be configured. Then go down to- export - export asf. I'm not sure about having multiple 2gig files to be rendered(what is premiere's limit? Maybe premiere can only work in 2 gigs at a time? I'm sure I've broken this though. And your final asf will be far bellow 1/2 gig so anyone playing it will have no prob.

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Damnit Jim I'm a film maker, not a systems tech!