GH4 MP4 vs MOV

[blazer003]

I posted in the workflow forum with no responses, so I'll give the main forum a shot with hopes of more exposure.

Does anyone know definitively what the differences are in MOV vs MP4 (LPCM) modes at the same bitrate? Is it only the wrapper that changes, or is the video data fundamentally also different. In my unscientific tests they look the same quality wise. My assumption would be that they are both H.264 encoded video with different audio formats and within different wrappers. The GH4 manual is a bit scant when it comes to actual information about these formats. "Best for viewing on a PC." Oh, thanks!...

I also searched this on google and when I couldn't find specific information about the GH4 modes in my googling, I searched for info on the GH3, which also had MOV and MP4. I didn't own the GH3, so no first hand experience, and from the info I pulled up it appeared that the MP4 modes were made to create lower bitrate files on the GH3. On the GH4 all bitrates between the two are equal.

Also, as a side note, what are people having better luck with in Premiere between MOV and MP4? So far both have worked fine for the most part, save a couple of C4K 24p MOVs that Premiere is choking on every time I try to play them. When I render the timeline with those clips it takes forever and the rendered video seems to be only playing every 10th frame or so. It then gets to other C4K, and 1080p clips and the rendered file plays those fine. So the jittery frames are rendered into the file itself. I recently read in the manual that when changing between frequencies it is best to change cards as well to not have a mix of footage. I didn't do that and wonder if that may be the issue.

As always, thanks for any insight you can give.

 

[Jim Simon]

I would be surprised if there's any difference other than format, with the contents being the same in both.

 

[tacotim]

I would be surprised if there's any difference other than format, with the contents being the same in both.

so the question becomes, why offer both? what is a reason one would have for choosing MOV over the MP4 or the other way around? I don't have an answer, as they both seem functionally identical. I use premiere, perhaps other software is less flexible. Anyone have insight here?

 

[Lpowell]

While both MOV and MP4 are based on the QuickTime file format, QuickTime is owned and licensed by Apple. Apple originated the MOV format and has the prerogative to extend and modify it as it sees fit. MP4 was standardized by the ISO, which requires all proposed extensions to be formally submitted for approval by international committee. MP4 files contain XMP metadata, a format created by Adobe that has likewise been standardized by the ISO. Documentation and development tools for XMP metadata are currently provided by Adobe. Documentation and development tools for QuickTime metadata are currently provided by Apple.

 

[wwjd]

so quality-wise they are identical? how about NLE speed and file size?

 

[izoneguy]

I always wrap a h.264 .mov into .mp4 - why?

It is mainly a client thing….

Most PC people freak out when they get a .mov file…..but an .mp4 file…oh that's fine, plays perfect….
The .mov file would play fine as well.

 

[blazer003]

Thanks for the replies. Thank you Lpowell, your insight is always appreciated and respected. It would seem that a lot of us are pretty uninformed (and I'm totally and definitely including myself in this) as to which format does what so hopefully this topic will shed a little light. While all most of my initial footage except a couple of tests was shot in MOV, I'm doing some studio green screen shots in 4K MP4 this week. So far I really see no difference in how Premiere handles them.

 

[Lpowell]

so quality-wise they are identical? how about NLE speed and file size?

Both MOV and MP4 are data containers (or "wrappers") rather than codecs. In the GH4's case, they're used to store videos produced by the camera's internal H.264 encoder, and its properties are what determines quality, editing efficiency, and file size. MP4 files almost always contain H.264 video, but MOV files may contain a variety of QuickTime-compatible codecs.

 

[Phil_D]

Hi

A tool called MedaInfo is good for checking what the formats are. There could be differences in the GOP format or the average bit-rates but somehow I doubt this is the case.

As for changing frequency this may be a case of the files are still recorded tagged at the original frequency the card was first used at, so they play back at the wrong frame-rate. If you can override the frame-rate to what it should be in the editor that might fix it.

Regards

Phil

 

[blazer003]

Thanks Phil. Unfortunately I tried that. It's not a frame rate issue. If I had to guess, it looks like somehow Premiere's gpu frame buffer or memory is getting overloaded. I have 12GB total with 10 dedicated to Adobe. It plays with peculiar green frames, plays back very choppy on the timeline, and it's only these clips. I'm going to next try renaming them and reimporting (stranger things have worked) and if that doesn't work, rewrapping them and see if that changes anything. Premiere isn't reading the video data correctly in these files and I'm hoping to figure out why. I'll keep you all posted.