H.264 Conversion dilemma SOLVED!

[BrianKitts]

I wanted to post this as I know many have been fighting the gamma offset with converting to H.264. I was about to drop the $$ on procoder as the demo was giving me good results but then I struck gold.

 

I had used Handbrake in the past for converting DVD content to file, but hand't used it in a long time till I started researching the best methods for converting for iPad and iPhone viewing. I've been avoiding H264 because of the gamma shift but as we are now using the iPad heavily in our marketing department, I thought it was time to get it ironed out.

 

I've been playing around with numerous convertors and export types and finally have reached a solid solution using Handbrake. When it comes to converting to a quicktime H.264 file (m4v) it topped all in my trials for time and quality.

 

best part of it all...... HANDBRAKE IS FREE! :-) http://handbrake.fr/downloads.php

 

enjoy!

Edited May 14, 2010 by BrianKitts

[Jeff Mottle]

Hmm, I've encoded hundreds of H.264's in the past and have never had any problems with Gamma Shift. Were you always using Handbrake or was another encoder giving you problems. Last year I did extensive testing on quite a few H.264 encoders and eventually decided on Sorenson Squeeze. Handbrake was ok, but it can't do batch jobs. GPU acceleration and batching was a priority for me.

[BrianKitts]

Lately I've been using AVG and Quicktime Pro depending on the format I need to get to. AVG for WMV, and FLV, Quicktime for the rest. Quicktime has had a known issue for a while with H264. The compression can't be beat, but the shift was annoying.

 

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=quicktime+pro+gamma+shift+h264&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

 

You're correct handbrake can't batch a source, however it does have a queue which is great for loading up multiple conversions. Great for me now that we are doing exports for the iPads, iPhones, web, and download. Marketing dept is really making push right now to lock in browser/platform detection and get everything formatted for the best viewing experience for the end user whenever we send out e-blasts or other marketing announcments.

Edited May 14, 2010 by BrianKitts

[Koper]

Copy! LOUD and CLEAR!!!!!

 

Thanx Brian. I've been using qtPro and did the manual alpha shift technique to get the gamma back, but sometimes it just didn't work. Will give handbrake a run for its money tomorrow, oh wait, its FREEEE

[alias_marks]

I've had the washed out gamma shift for a long time and then found this quick fix you can do right inside qt pro without having to recompress.

 

Not sure if this is what your looking for but thought I'd share for inquiring eyeballs looking to solve the issue.

 

http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/2008/06/fix-quicktime-gamma-shift/

 

Basically:

Open h.264 mov in qt pro

ctrl-J to bring up mov properties

'Visual Settings' tab

in the 'Transparency' roll out select 'blend'

move slider to 100%

In transparency roll out select 'Straight Alpha'

Colse and save corrected mov

[Koper]

yup, thats the one Micheal, but sometimes for me this technique just doesn't work. have it always worked for you?

[alias_marks]

yep, always have had it work. sometimes after I close the video properties window i have to move the time slider a bit to have the shift click into place... kinda odd... but never had it just 'not work'.

[Chad Warner]

This is good news. I've always avoided h.264 because of the gamma shift, and this was exporting out of AE. I've tried the fix that alias_marks suggested, and it didn't always work.

[TSuess]

Brian,

 

I've run into this gamma issue as well. I'm currently using QT PRO to compile my image sequence and convert to H.264. I downloaded handbrake and I'm trying to figure out exactly how this solution works. In particular what file format are you using as your "Source" in Handbrake. From what I can tell it does not recognize image sequences of any file type. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks,

Tom

[BrianKitts]

Once you get used the handbrake's speed you'll cry if you have to wait on how doggedly slow QT Pro is!

 

I'm almost always converting from an uncompressed .avi

 

Typical work flow is to render out to image file, composite and effects in AE, final sequencing in Premiere, then write out to uncomp AVI for compression.

[TSuess]

Thanks Brian, Everthing seems to be working just fine. Although I still needed to go into the transparency rollout in QT Pro and select straight alpha from the Transparency roll out. After I did that it matched my original composition 100%.