Do I Keep The .mov or .mp4 or .mpg ?

I created three movies from the same source in the following formats with the following file sizes: xxx.mov 261MB xxx.mp4 233MB xxx.mpg 189MB All three movies appear to play identically on QuickTime on my iMac G4 running 10.4.11. I can discern no visual or audible differences between them. I played them on QuickTime on my Win XP machine earlier this week. One of the formats wouldn't play. I can't remember which one. I'll try it again next week. Does anyone have any suggestions which format I should use in the future, considering file size, playability, cross platform compatibility, and any other factors that you consider pertinent? I want to keep the movie on my Mac, and I want to upload the movie to my iPhone 3GS 32GB eventually. Thank you. -- Kurt Todoroff Markets, not mandates and mob rule. Consent, not coercion.

In article <kurt.r.todoroff-F64E55.20492823012010@nntp.aioe.org>, Kurt R. Todoroff <kurt.r.todoroff@comcast.net> wrote: > I created three movies from the same source in the following formats > with the following file sizes: > > xxx.mov 261MB > > xxx.mp4 233MB > > xxx.mpg 189MB > > All three movies appear to play identically on QuickTime on my iMac G4 > running 10.4.11. I can discern no visual or audible differences between > them. I played them on QuickTime on my Win XP machine earlier this > week. One of the formats wouldn't play. I can't remember which one. > I'll try it again next week. > > Does anyone have any suggestions which format I should use in the > future, considering file size, playability, cross platform > compatibility, and any other factors that you consider pertinent? I > want to keep the movie on my Mac, and I want to upload the movie to my > iPhone 3GS 32GB eventually. > > Thank you. The iPhone wants mp4 files, but they must be of the appropriate resolution and bitrate. ..mov doesn't really say anything except that it is a QuickTime container. Other users or machines just need to have QuickTime and the codec in use installed to play the file. ..mpg is ambiguous: it could be an MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 (the size listed implies that it is an MPEG-1, but that's not guaranteed, depending upon the bitrate, framerate, and framesize) In general, if you're going to only keep one copy, I would recommend mp4 (which is MPEG-4), but strongly encourage you to learn more about the requirements for use on other platforms (iPod, iPhone, AppleTV, PSP, etc). -- Spenser

Kurt R. Todoroff wrote: > I created three movies from the same source in the following formats > with the following file sizes: > > xxx.mov 261MB > xxx.mp4 233MB > xxx.mpg 189MB > Does anyone have any suggestions which format I should use in the > future, what you need to do is to open each and record what codec (compression algorythm) was used. Many types can be used for a quicktime (.mov). Also, when you create them, you usually specify parameters which shape how much the movie is compressed, the frames per second, number of audio channels etc. so the extension alone is not an indication of the movie's quality. Try playing the movie at 3 times its normal size and you might then see differences. quicktime is generally better for frame-by-frame (especially going backwards).

In article <230120101802289578%dogbreath@chaseabone.com.invalid>, sbt <dogbreath@chaseabone.com.invalid> wrote: > In article <kurt.r.todoroff-F64E55.20492823012010@nntp.aioe.org>, Kurt > R. Todoroff <kurt.r.todoroff@comcast.net> wrote: > > > I created three movies from the same source in the following formats > > with the following file sizes: > > > > xxx.mov 261MB > > > > xxx.mp4 233MB > > > > xxx.mpg 189MB > > > > All three movies appear to play identically on QuickTime on my iMac G4 > > running 10.4.11. I can discern no visual or audible differences between > > them. I played them on QuickTime on my Win XP machine earlier this > > week. One of the formats wouldn't play. I can't remember which one. > > I'll try it again next week. > > > > Does anyone have any suggestions which format I should use in the > > future, considering file size, playability, cross platform > > compatibility, and any other factors that you consider pertinent? I > > want to keep the movie on my Mac, and I want to upload the movie to my > > iPhone 3GS 32GB eventually. > > > > Thank you. > > The iPhone wants mp4 files, but they must be of the appropriate > resolution and bitrate. > > .mov doesn't really say anything except that it is a QuickTime > container. Other users or machines just need to have QuickTime and the > codec in use installed to play the file. > > .mpg is ambiguous: it could be an MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 (the size listed > implies that it is an MPEG-1, but that's not guaranteed, depending upon > the bitrate, framerate, and framesize) > > In general, if you're going to only keep one copy, I would recommend > mp4 (which is MPEG-4), but strongly encourage you to learn more about > the requirements for use on other platforms (iPod, iPhone, AppleTV, > PSP, etc). Thank you to both of you. iTunes informed me that the xxx.mp4 file was already compatible with my iPhone and did not needed to be converted to xxx.m4v format. I uploaded it to my iPhone. I will research the formats. Thank you for the suggestion. -- Kurt Todoroff Markets, not mandates and mob rule. Consent, not coercion.

In article <kurt.r.todoroff-7F4DD7.23052024012010@nntp.aioe.org>, "Kurt R. Todoroff" <kurt.r.todoroff@comcast.net> wrote: > In article <230120101802289578%dogbreath@chaseabone.com.invalid>, > sbt <dogbreath@chaseabone.com.invalid> wrote: > > > In article <kurt.r.todoroff-F64E55.20492823012010@nntp.aioe.org>, Kurt > > R. Todoroff <kurt.r.todoroff@comcast.net> wrote: > > > > > I created three movies from the same source in the following formats > > > with the following file sizes: > > > > > > xxx.mov 261MB > > > > > > xxx.mp4 233MB > > > > > > xxx.mpg 189MB > > > > > > All three movies appear to play identically on QuickTime on my iMac G4 > > > running 10.4.11. I can discern no visual or audible differences between > > > them. I played them on QuickTime on my Win XP machine earlier this > > > week. One of the formats wouldn't play. I can't remember which one. > > > I'll try it again next week. > > > > > > Does anyone have any suggestions which format I should use in the > > > future, considering file size, playability, cross platform > > > compatibility, and any other factors that you consider pertinent? I > > > want to keep the movie on my Mac, and I want to upload the movie to my > > > iPhone 3GS 32GB eventually. > > > > > > Thank you. > > > Thank you to both of you. > > iTunes informed me that the xxx.mp4 file was already compatible with my > iPhone and did not needed to be converted to xxx.m4v format. I uploaded > it to my iPhone. I will research the formats. Thank you for the > suggestion. I played all three movies on my Dell Core 2 Duo Win XP Pro machine using QuickTime. The xxx.mov movie was quite poor and nearly unviewable. The xxx.mp4 and xxx.mpg movies played well. The xxx.mp4 movie plays well on my iPhone. -- Kurt Todoroff Markets, not mandates and mob rule. Consent, not coercion.

> > > > I created three movies from the same source in the following formats > > > > with the following file sizes: > > > > > > > > xxx.mov 261MB > > > > > > > > xxx.mp4 233MB > > > > > > > > xxx.mpg 189MB > > > > > > I played all three movies on my Dell Core 2 Duo Win XP Pro machine using > QuickTime. The xxx.mov movie was quite poor and nearly unviewable. This means it was encoded with the wrong codec (or with the wrong parameters). A mov can be encoded with practically any codec, for example MPEG2 and MPEG4 .... and then the result would likely be the same as your .mpg and .mp4 files. > The > xxx.mp4 and xxx.mpg movies played well. > > The xxx.mp4 movie plays well on my iPhone.