ULAW Audio Codec not working correctly with Kodak Z1012is camera .MOV files

[craigarno]

I don't know where to report AVIdemux software issues, so am posting this here...

AVIdemux 2.5.6 OpenSUSE 12.2 x64 Linux
AVIdemux 2.6.0 Windows Vista 32-bit (downloaded from CNET)

Input file: .MOV - Eastman Kodak Company Kodak Easyshare Z1012 IS Digital Camera

MOV file sound during AVIdemux playback and in AVIdemux converted video file is "choppy" and unusable.  Same MOV input file plays flawlessly in VLC 2.0.3 and converts properly using MP4Cam2AVI 2.98.  AVIDemux reports the input file as Audio[ULAW, Stereo, 16000Bps/128kbps, VBR-No, 16000Hz] which I believe is correct.  VLC reports the same input file Audio[PCM MU-LAW (ulaw), Stereo, 16000Hz, 8 Bits per sample].  Input MOV video plays back and converts fine using AVIdemux, Video[DIVX, 1280x720, 1:1, 30.172fps]. My input files are in the 10MB-1GB range each {large}, so I won't attach one unless requested.

After using MP4Cam2AVI to convert the MOV file audio ULAW track to MP3, AVI Demux performs perfectly to convert the AVI to H.264-AAC-MKV, often using 1/5-1/10 the disk space for a result which to me looks and sounds the same as the original file when played with VLC on a 1080p monitor and Sennheiser HD 420 Hi-Fi headphones.

The result is the same/similar with the two programs listed at the start of this message.  Same/Similar means the Audio/Video effect is the same, however file sizes are slightly different (not identical).

I would like to use only AVIdemux for a 1-step conversion of MOV[720p, stereo ULAW] to MKV[H.264, AAC].

Thank you,
Craig

[mean]

Sample source video ?

[Jan Gruuthuse]

As mean asked, provide a sample recording (5 seconds or 20 MB in size). Upload to rapidshare or similar web service and provide the link here.

[craigarno]

I shot 2 seconds of video with enough audio to demonstrate the issue.  The result is a 3.8MB .MOV file.  You can retrieve the file with http://arno.com/avidemux/100_5100.MOV

This is my own server... easier for me than Rapidshare.  Thanks!

[mean]

Confirmed

[craigarno]

Thank you.  This tells me you received the file, and are likely able to reproduce what I see.

Let me know when you figure it out and there is something for me to investigate/try.  Since I've only been using "distribution" copies, if I need to recompile, I may need a little help with setting up the development environment dependencies, unless it will compile straight away in an OpenSUSE 12.2 x64 development environment (the OS I use the most).

I was impressed to watch an MPEG-2 file (from my ReplayTV 5080) convert at 200+ frames/second and result in 1/10 size last night.  Very impressive performance (I'm new to using AVIdemux).  I had to use the audio shift feature to make lip movement line up with audio.  -500mS did the trick, and matched the audio correction offset displayed by VLC to correct the file which didn't sync!  Only two passes required to determine the "recipe".

[mean]

should be better now
It is really a hack and should be cleaned up

http://www.avidemux.org/nightly/win32

[craigarno]

Executive summary: Output MKV files from input MOV files play correctly.

I downloaded files from the link provided...  didn't really know how to install, so I unpacked and copied what was in the "Release" directory over the top of my existing 2.6.0 installation.  The original "avidemux.exe" wouldn't launch, so I tried "avidemux3.exe" which did launch.

Once launched, pointed to one of my 1:11 long MOV files, configured Video (first "Mpeg4 AVC (x464)" entry, {there are two with the same label}), Audio(AAC (Faac) - 192Kbit), and Output Format (MKV).  Saved the Input file, it converted, and played.

About... under Help says "Avidemux 2.6.0 (r8254).

- I notice the output files are nearly equal in size to the input MOV file.  i.e. my original 100_2881.MOV file is 124MB, the Release AVIdemux 2.6.0 produces a 39.8MB MKV (from MP3 audio produced by MP4Cam2AVI_v2.98, and untouched input video track).  This developer Avidemux version r8254 produces 111MB files.  The output files work, but much of the previous file size savings are gone.  I'm hoping this is because I don't have something installed/configured, pointed to in the registry correctly, and this will be fixed when a real release comes out.  If this baffles, I placed the 100_2881.MOV file at http://arno.com/avidemux/100_2881.MOV if you need it for testing.  100_2881.MOV: size: 126948446, md5sum: 493b0ed7cdec337edc6141cd37cc24ad  I expect a converted MOV->MKV file size to reduce from 124MB to 40MB using h.264/AAC(192Kbit) settings, as it did before.

- GOOD NEWS

• The output MKV files play Audio/Video correctly on my WD-Live media player (the input .MOV files play without audio, video does display on the WD-Live player)
  
  
• The Windows program (avidemux3.exe) runs fine under Linux WINE, and MS Windows Vista 32-bit.  Output file sizes are 100K different (0.1%) between WINE/Vista for the same CODEC settings, presumably same program binary, and both output MKV files work.

Thank you for addressing the Audio issue so quickly!

[craigarno]

Ok guys, now I'm really confused...

The new program you had me try fixed the audio problem, but makes files 3x the unfixed size.  The example file I provided earlier http://arno.com/avidemux/100_2881.MOV is 121.1MB.  When I convert this file using the OpenSUSE 12.2 delivered AVIdemux, the converted from MOV source file size is 39.9MB with messed up audio.  If I convert the audio track externally to MP3 (using lame) and copy the video track, then use AVIdemux to convert that result, the result is again 39.8MB with "perfect" audio/video... just what I want from AVI demux using the MPEG-4 AVC video compressor.  I'm posting the "good" 39.9MB result in case it is of interest to you http://arno.com/avidemux/100_2881.h264.aac192.mkv

I was recently introduced to a program called HandBrake.  Like AVIdemux, it's a wonderful tool which seems to produce h264.aac files (according to VLC) from DVD's about half the size of what AVIdemux produces (528MB vs 309MB on the one disk I tried).  Curious to me because both programs appear to be producing H.264/AAC output.  So I tried it on my 100_2881.MOV file.  The HandBrake result is 3x the size of AVIdemux at 115.4MB, but does work.  The resulting HandBrake file at 3x the size is nearly identical in visual quality to 39.9MB AVIdemux on a 1080p monitor.  I say nearly because the only difference I can detect with my nose against the screen is slightly less foliage detail while panning.  During brief pauses in panning, the slight lack of detail immediately corrects itself to an image which to my eyes is identical between the 115.4MB file and the 39.8MB file.

Any idea what makes AVIdemux so impressively (3:1) better compression on the Kodak Easy Share input?  I also tried fiddling with AVIdemux video compressor settings to see if I could match the HandBrake compression performance on a DVD, and couldn't find the magic combination.  Do you guys know how to set AVIdemux MPEG-4 AVC conversion to match what HandBrake does for DVD conversion?  I also notice the DVD source video is interlaced and HandBrake deinterlaces, so maybe the deinterlaced result is helping the compressor?  How do I get AVIdemux to deinterlace interlaced input?  As near as I can tell, my camera is producing 30fps "deinterlaced" video as input to AVIdemux.  The DVD input is what needs deinterlacing, and I'm speculating AVIdemux might get better compression with a deinterlaced input result, like my camera input and HandBrake optionally does on DVD's.  I also had trouble with aspect ratio in the DVD result using AVIdemux, but seemed to be able to fix this by changing Output2 from default "PAL 16:9" to "NTSC 4:3", which produced an even larger output file.

In summary, I guess the "sound" issue is the only real show stopper, and you found a fix for this issue.  The rest is "would be nice if..."

Thanks for your time and patience.

[mean]

If the video is interlaced you definitively want to deinterlace it prior to encoding
Then you can change the AQ factor depending you which size you want. Smaller value=bigger size but higher quality

[craigarno]

How do I deinterlace using AVIdemux?

[styrol]

You can use and configure a corresponding video output filter.

Following your post and your problems: You may use Avidemux for cutting in Copy Mode (it's superior for that) and convert the output video using Handbrake (it's much easier to use and it's made for this kind of task).