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What are the best settings for export of .mov files to h264?

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
August 26, 2020
2 replies
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trial version of Premiere Pro -- brand new user

I am capturing home videos with a Magewell USB capture hdmi gen2,

using the Magewell capture device plugin for Premiere Pro

Windows 10, i5-10400, 500 gb ssd , 32 gb ram, nvidia gtx 1660

I'm capturing with these settings:

Video resolution: 1280 x 720

Video frame rate: 60.00

Video bitrate: 8192 kbps

Audio bitrate: 192 kbps

The Magewell plugin produces .mov files that I want to export as h264. What are the best settings to use for (hopefully lossless) conversion?

Export

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R Neil Haugen

Legend

H.264 compression is pretty efficient from a visual standpoint through one, at most two generations. That is, it cuts file size down dramatically compared to relatively low levels of visual issues. Going into a second generation can be where you really note issues.

So when I'm trying to keep things for permanence, I tend to do Cineform or ProRes now ... though DNxHD/R works well also. Bigger file sizes, but better visual data.

If I were trying to get close to loss-less with 1280, I think I'd probably stay at 20Mbps or a bit above for a recode. And a level of 5.1 or higher. Others here have more specific knowledge/experience with H.264 compression, and if someone else pops in, may have more specific data to add.

Neil

Everyone's mileage always varies ...

E

E5FC7Author

Participating Frequently

Thanks again for taking the time to answer. Those specific export settings really help because otherwise I am largely guessing. I did a quick test with ProRes and saw that I would not be able to afford the space to archive my collection that way.

Now that I know there is significant loss in each generation, I'm thinking I should archive a complete set of the "original" .mov files (I don't think I have a format option with the Magewell plugin), so that when my kids want to edit them down the road, they will have higher quality files to work with than if I saved exported files (and hoping they will still be able to find software to edit .mov files at that time). Do you think that's a good idea?

For the clips I want to share with friends and family right now, I can export them as h264 (at your recommended settings if I have space), because they probably won't care about doing further editing.

Magewell also has their own capture software that captures directly to h264. Is that a better way to go, at least for the files that I am going to share immediately? That is, would there be less loss to import their h264 files to Premiere Pro (for simple trimming and cutting) and exporting to h264?

R Neil Haugen

Legend

Save the first set at a higher bitrate in the H.264/265 settings. At least a level 5.1 and decent bitrate for the framesize.

Then use those as your archives. Distribute lower bitrate for general YouTube or other streaming stuff, handing around, that sort of thing.

Neil

Everyone's mileage always varies ...

R Neil Haugen

Legend

First, "lossless" and "H.264" aren't synonymous. The closest you can get is "visually lossless" which means you don't probably notice it while it's playing back. And of course, a second generation will be worse.

So you need a higher bit-rate in Mbps, and probably at least 5.1 for the 'level' setting for the codec. Others may have more data.

Neil

Everyone's mileage always varies ...

E

E5FC7Author

Participating Frequently

Thank you very much!

With a capture bit-rate of 8192 kbps, is it sufficient to set the export target bit-rate at 10 Mbps? Would a higher bit be redundant or would it contribute to the quality?

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