GH2 MTS transcoding with FFMPEG - Lossless Settings please

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Inprogress

Well-known member
Setting up Windows is a PITA! I forgot how many hoops I have to jump through to get it setup the way I like. Linux is just easier.
Enough ranting.

I've tried a couple of ffmpeg GUI's just so that I can figure out which settings gives me a lossless mpeg4 format. Could someone please give me the sittings (even command prompt is perfect as well) for ffmpeg to transcode my MTS files to lossless MPEG4 to help reduce CPU processing on my old laptop.

Oh, and without the use of libfaac.

I'm done struggling for the past two days to get this figures out. I then thought about DSLRPrep, but dotNet 3.5 (which is required by DSLRPrep - at least with the version I downloaded last night) doesn't want to install, constantly giving me install errors. I seriously can't remember struggling this much with Linux.

Thanks.

P.S. If you have a different format for me that is even better than MPEG4 for NLE editing, please do suggest it....along with the settings. :)

Using HP530 laptop, 4Gig RAM, XP Pro
 
I think your best option is to upgrade the hardware and OS to something capable of handling the footage.

Windows 7
i7 CPU
8GB RAM minimum
3 hard drives
 
Try transcoding to Cineform avi using their HDLink transcoder. There is a fully functional free trial.

(I wasn't aware the was such s thing as "lossless mp4". Unless you mean simply repacking the mts transport stream as an mpg program stream? But that wouldnt be any less demanding on your NLE...)
 
Jim Simon said:
I think your best option is to upgrade the hardware and OS to something capable of handling the footage.
Click to expand...

Agreed


GrahamH said:
(I wasn't aware the was such s thing as "lossless mp4". Unless you mean simply repacking the mts transport stream as an mpg program stream? But that wouldnt be any less demanding on your NLE...)
Click to expand...

There is lossless AVC in MP4 container (using x264) , but most NLE's don't support it



@Inprogress:
Cineform will probably yield the best performance on a PC for "visually lossless" intermediate (it's not truly lossless) . The other options are DNxHD (ffmpeg can encode to this, but it's the 8bit variety and performance isn't as smooth as cineform)

Another option would be a proxy workflow (use a SD , lower quality version to edit, then swap back in the high quality version for final render)
 
Thanks for the replies. I'll try Cineform.

When I said Lossless, what I really meant was transcoding without degrading the footage, not the literal meaning of "lossless". My mistake.
 
Inprogress said:
When I said Lossless, what I really meant was transcoding without degrading the footage, not the literal meaning of "lossless". My mistake.
Click to expand...

But all lossy codecs (cineform included) degrade the footage. The question is how much are you willing to lose . If you use the highest quality setting "filmscan2", you'd be hard pressed to see any differences without zooming in frame by frame
 
Inprogress said:
Using HP530 laptop, 4Gig RAM, XP Pro
Click to expand...

Jim Simon's advice to upgrade hardware is the best solution.

What you have (I looked up the specs) is WAY underpowered for what you are trying to do. In today's editing environment a dual core processor generally won't "cut it". It takes a FAST quad core (generally not found in affordable laptop's) or six core processor (I'm seeing eight core processors starting to be offered).

What you have appears to be an Intel Core Duo 2400 processor running at 1.8Ghz clock speed. If you absolutely have to try to use that machine try using Koyote Soft's "Free Video Converter". The free version handles bitrates up to 8000, I paid the $19 for the upgraded version that would handle higher bitrates and had good luck transcoding .MTS and Canon DSLR .MOV files to MP4 which my NLE found easier to "digest". I could even edit on my dual core laptop (running at 2.0Ghz) as long as I didn't get into long timelines and a lot of effects and transitions.

But in your case I would look for a desktop with something like an Intel 2nd gen Core i7 (quad or six core processor) or one of the new AMD multi core offerings.

Good luck
 
Thanks Bruce.I am definitely looking at an upgrade, considering a desktop solution instead of a laptop. In the mean time I am finding success via proxy, but want to start familiarize myself with a non-AHCDV wrapper, and one that is friendlier to NLE's. My current setup doesn't even run Lightworks as I hoped, and it is the NLE I have chosen, for my requirements, as the best.

Have a spectacular week everyone.
 
tried Lagarith or Huffyuv lossless codec? both in avi wrapper.
also prores and dnxhd are another 2 "loss" options, you can easily find a program like ffmbc or 5d2rgb to do this job.

 
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