support for .h264 with .mp4 wrapper?

[starman]

Hello to all:

Long time Ulead DVD movie factory user. Running version 6 now. My needs are for very basic standard def DVD creation with minimal editing or additions and this program does it very well.

What's the skinny on MF working with h.264 files with the .mp4 wrapper? Like to be able to have it work with HandBrake
and these are the files it creates.

I have had no luck getting this to work even with installing codecs on my system. Is this not possible?

If not, do any of the current Corel products work with h.264 files with the .mp4 wrapper?

Appreciate the help on this.


Thanks!

[Ken Berry]

MF6 was produced well before the h.264 codec even emerged so it is hardly surprising it cannot handle it. Even MF 7 Pro could have difficulties with it, though I confess I have not tried it (though I have MF 7 Pro).

Video Studio can certainly handle AVCHD, including in the mp4 wrapper. I use it all the time with my GoPro Hero 3 footage, which is precisely in that format. But if your footage comes from a recent smartphone which uses variable frame rates, then VS has difficulty with that. You then need to use a video converter to convert the footage to mp4 with a standard frame rate (25/50 fps for PAL, 30/60 fps for NTSC).

[starman]

Downloaded the trial version of MF7. According to the site it's supposed to work with .mp4 files. The sales guy was less than specific on the matter. I was not able to install the updates until I get their paid version so not sure what that might do for me.

If you convert the files to .mov it works fine but there is quality loss.

There must be a workaround that does not require re-encoding. Some way of altering the file name to fool the program into taking it in.

[starman]

Partial luck. Changing the file attribute from .mp4 to .mov would get Ulead 7 to open it and place on the time line. File would play fine from the beginning but if you stop and restart it went back to the head. If you tried to cut it up you got white after the first edit.

Going back to Plan B using DIVX as the codec. MF6 would work with DIVX albeit a bit on the clunky side. Could not scrub the file. Took its time to update any time line movement... but it did work.

Testing MF7 now with DIVX. Hoping they have made some improvements in this regard.

[starman]

Yikes.

Not sure where the improvements are in Version 7. Just keeps crashing on the same files that work perfectly fine in Version 6.

As far as the ease of handling DIVX files... no improvement whatsoever. Scrolling is stop and start... waiting for it to catch up. Might be a tad faster but not by much : (

They're offering me a $30 upgrade path but even at that low price not even sure it's worth it.

Really looks like Version 6 of MF is as good as it's gonna get with this product... IMHO.

[Ken Berry]

Given that I purchased MF 7 in August 2008, and it has never been upgraded since then, you can see how old the program is -- and of course MF6 is even older. This was well before AVCHD ever appeared...

Though you can still buy MF7, Corel has made it clear that it is not interested in continuing Movie Factory as a product. In other words, if you really intend to get into AVCHD in a big way, you need to start thinking about a newer, supported product. As I have already mentioned, Video Studio -- now in version X8 (18) -- will do all you want and probably more!

[canuck]

Yikes.

Not sure where the improvements are in Version 7. Just keeps crashing on the same files that work perfectly fine in Version 6.

As far as the ease of handling DIVX files... no improvement whatsoever. Scrolling is stop and start... waiting for it to catch up. Might be a tad faster but not by much : (

They're offering me a $30 upgrade path but even at that low price not even sure it's worth it.

Really looks like Version 6 of MF is as good as it's gonna get with this product... IMHO.

There is no upgrade from version 7, a 7 year old program. It is an "orphan" program.

[starman]

Given that I purchased MF 7 in August 2008, and it has never been upgraded since then, you can see how old the program is -- and of course MF6 is even older.

Well, actually h.264 has been a viable codec since prior to 2006. I wrote a web article about using it for filing news stories using FTP back then and that article is dated 2006.

http://www.ctshooter.com/ftp.htm

Ulead/Corel has just been behind the 8 ball in getting .h264 incorporated into their products. For what it does MF is the best product out there. Simple to use for basic cuts-only assembly editing straight to a DVD with minimal fuss and time. Perfect for most peoples needs... like mine.