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Vernon5CF5
Participant
October 19, 2020
Question

Trying to export H.264 video with multiple stereo audio channels

  • October 19, 2020
  • 2 replies
  • 2470 views

Hello everyone,

 

I'm new here so please don't assume I know anything obvious. I did some googling and found a few people having similar complaints to what I've encountered, but I haven't been able to find a solution.

 

My root problem:

I'm recording rather large files (100-120gig or so or 3840x1080p@60  video). When I go to edit these videos After Effects responds slowly (I'm guessing due to the very large file size).

 

My idea for a solution:

A lot of the recorded content is junk that I plan on cutting. So I've been doing quick cuts to try and cut out all the junk I don't care about so that I can conserve disk space to work on editing these videos lately. I want to then turn around and export the video at 3840x1080@60  with multiple stereo audio channels.

 

My subproblem:

Unfortunately the only way I've found to export video with multiple stereo audio channels is by exporting as quicktime. I've found that the quicktime video codecs actually increase the size of my files. And Since I'm starting with H.264 and converting to quicktime and then back to H.264 I feel the whole thing would best be suited by never leaving h.264 in the first place.

 

My questions:

 

1.) Is there any way in premiere pro 2020 to export H.264 video with multiple stereo audio channels attached? From searching the forums I see this was an option and was available in earlier versions when H.264 was a codec for quicktime. It seems this functionality was removed.

 

2.) Am I maybe missing something obvious with the premiere pro configuration that could help my computer handle such big video files?

 

3.) Is there a better way to accomplish what I am trying to accomplish?

 

Thanks in advance!

This topic has been closed for replies.

2 replies

Mike Dziennik
Community Expert
Mike DziennikCommunity Expert
Community Expert
October 19, 2020

You can export 5.1 so if you need 6 channels or less you could hack it and pretend your channels are a 5.1 mix.

    V
    Vernon5CF5Author
    Participant
    October 19, 2020

    Is there any way to embed stereo channels into each of the 5.1 channels? I know they're usually mono, but I really need to be able to keep all 6 stereo channels (or 12 mono channels).

    P
    Community Expert
    Phillip HarveyCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    October 19, 2020

    I believe you'd need to set up a multitrack sequence for that and it would be 12 mono channels. But I don't think you can use H264 for that. You'd need an intermediate codec like ProRes/DNxHD.

     

    You can find the old Quicktime H264 in Resolve, so you can see if that will do it for you.

     

    A note on your H264 thoughts. It doesn't benefit you to keep using H264 as an intermediary codec. You can increase the bitrate to reduce the quality loss, but you're adding generations of compression every time you do that. The proper editing codecs that are higher bitrate (and higher file size) will do a better job of retaining quality when moving between applications.

     

    Is there a reason you're not just doing your editing in Premiere to begin with? After Effects is not great for editorial. It's not really meant to play anything in real-time without caching all the frames first.

    chrisw44157881
    chrisw44157881
    Inspiring
    October 19, 2020

    what about apple prores 422 proxy or dnxLB? they are farely small. another option is use free shutter encoder to encode h.264 or h.265 files with fast decode for editing to make external proxies and then reconnect.

    V
    Vernon5CF5Author
    Participant
    October 19, 2020

    I did test exports of H.264, 422 proxy, and dnxLB for a tiny clip. H.264 definitely seems the way to go. I guess that's why it's the industry standard for so many uses. I'll play around with shutter, but based on first glance I don't think it's going to give me what I want.

     

    file size in H.264: 17MB

    file size in 422 proxy: 164 MB

    file size in dnxLB: 330MB

    chrisw44157881
    chrisw44157881
    Inspiring
    October 19, 2020

    shutter encoder is amazing. it can do 10 bit h.265 at 4:2:2 main, multiple audio streams embedding. fast decode, GOP to zero etc. and I talk directly to the creator for free upgrades. its based on ffmpeg so can do anything (even more than handbrake) and gives me unlimited batch encoding for my proxies while not tying up media encoder. actually i think adobe should license his product.

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