Old 01-26-2019, 02:52 AM   #1
ksor
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Default Saving to MP4 files ??

I am in a very slow process converting my old VHS videos to MP4 files on my computer.

I have got a small USB unit to connect the video recorder/player to the computer and some SW with the unit to record on my computer into MPG files.

I record a tape into a very large MPG files on the computer and want to use Reaper to cut it into smaller files for every date on the tape.

Reaper is very, very VERY much faster and more stable than the SW delivered with the USB Video Capture unit.

But how can I render a cut out into a MP4 video file ?
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Old 01-26-2019, 03:28 AM   #2
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When rendering from Reaper, you set up the output in the render to file window - choose output format 'Video (ffmpeg/libav encoder)' and then under format choose 'QT/MOV/MP4'.

-W
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Old 01-26-2019, 04:28 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Winfield View Post
When rendering from Reaper, you set up the output in the render to file window - choose output format 'Video (ffmpeg/libav encoder)' and then under format choose 'QT/MOV/MP4'.

-W
I did, but still it came out as a MOV and in a very bad quality !
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Old 01-27-2019, 03:58 PM   #4
Meo-Ada Mespotine
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Mac, Windows, Linux?

The Windows-version of Reaper has very limited mp4-export-capabilities.
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Old 01-28-2019, 12:37 AM   #5
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Windows 10 fully updated.
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Old 01-28-2019, 02:44 AM   #6
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ksor, its a bad idea to convert the files two times. The quality loss takes place because you re-encode the already bad VHS quality to a loss mpeg2 and once again into the final mp4 codec. Every step reduces the bad quality more.

And by the way, the .mov output just needs to be renamed to mp4. At least that is what others wrote about the mp4 export problem. Its also not that important because its only a container which can contain several codec types.

If you really want to save the videos in good quality you should avoid the mpeg2 step by saving the files into a lossless format right after the USB converter. This creates very large files but those are necessary if you don't want to much loss of quality. After that you could cut and convert them finally with a good codec like H264 with 100% (pseudo) quality. Pack it into mp4 or mkv and everything should be fine.

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Old 01-28-2019, 03:32 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Eliseat View Post
ksor, its a bad idea to convert the files two times. The quality loss takes place because you re-encode the already bad VHS quality to a loss mpeg2 and once again into the final mp4 codec. Every step reduces the bad quality more.

And by the way, the .mov output just needs to be renamed to mp4. At least that is what others wrote about the mp4 export problem. Its also not that important because its only a container which can contain several codec types.

If you really want to save the videos in good quality you should avoid the mpeg2 step by saving the files into a lossless format right after the USB converter. This creates very large files but those are necessary if you don't want to much loss of quality. After that you could cut and convert them finally with a good codec like H264 with 100% (pseudo) quality. Pack it into mp4 or mkv and everything should be fine.

Greetings
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The Q is allready bad when I view the file just after the USB !

Converting them to M4V makes it worse.

I think something is wrong with my USB-interface I cant access all setting and those I CAN corrupts the file when I change them = lots of flickering and still pale colors
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Old 01-28-2019, 04:13 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Eliseat View Post
<snip>

And by the way, the .mov output just needs to be renamed to mp4. At least that is what others wrote about the mp4 export problem. Its also not that important because its only a container which can contain several codec types.

<snap>
Yes, this is true. Just rename the *.mov to *.mp4. Those formats are for all practical purposes identical.
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Old 01-28-2019, 09:13 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ksor View Post
The Q is allready bad when I view the file just after the USB !

Converting them to M4V makes it worse.

I think something is wrong with my USB-interface I cant access all setting and those I CAN corrupts the file when I change them = lots of flickering and still pale colors
I guess you bought one of those 20€ USB converters from amazon. A friend of mine did the same to archive some family recordings from an old camcorder. And she also struggled with the quality.
You have to understand that VHS already is very low quality. It also has a very low resolution. Converting it with loss to another format can't be good. Do you have the ability to choose another format in the USB software? Maybe something with the tiny hint "lossless"?
If you can't access every setting you maybe only have a restricted version of the software which needs payment, upgrade or both. But maybe you could use an other (free) program to get the data from the USB to the HD?
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Old 01-28-2019, 09:25 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Eliseat
At least that is what others wrote about the mp4 export problem.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fabian View Post
Yes, this is true. Just rename the *.mov to *.mp4. Those formats are for all practical purposes identical.
True but... Just an aside that I think the resulting file size is much larger if exporting MP4/MOV from Reaper, vs exporting MKV from Reaper then converting to MP4 via Handbrake (with the same quality) - or it's still actually MOV with an MP4 extension hence the larger file. I need to confirm but pretty sure that's the case, for my uses that doesn't often matter but wanted to mention.
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Old 01-28-2019, 10:05 AM   #11
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Ah, okay. Didn't know that.

Do you mean Handbrake can load the file from inside the mkv container and put it inside a mp4 container without any re-encoding? This would be indeed a nice way to solve the problem.
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Old 01-28-2019, 10:09 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Eliseat View Post
Ah, okay. Didn't know that.

Do you mean Handbrake can load the file from inside the mkv container and put it inside a mp4 container without any re-encoding? This would be indeed a nice way to solve the problem.
It reencodes but I 'think' the resulting MP4 quality is the same since MKV is archive quality (higher than MP4)? which is why many use MKV-->MP4 instead of Reaper's .MOV AFAIK.

Pros for MKV:

Better video & audio quality than MP4

Ideal format for storing HD videos
Support multiple video/audio tracks & subtitles

IIRC the file size difference was something like 5 or 10:1 but don't quote me without testing.
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Old 01-28-2019, 11:20 AM   #13
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I've tried Handbrake, hoping it could make me some smaller files ... and it can !

It too has a facility to vary the quality without steps - simply a slider.

... the talk about codex I don't know anything about ;-)
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Old 12-08-2021, 01:59 PM   #14
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You should input the .mp4 suffix after the file name already in the render dialog window.
For me quality is the same as with .mov or similar to .avi. It is ok, not bad.
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