Delivering in Thumbdrive at DVinfo.net

Sean Seah · March 21st, 2013, 11:11 PM

After experiencing several crappy blueray players we are thinking of delivering the entire wedding video on thumbdrives.

Only one issue is we cant figure out how to do a menu. I am aware Flash can do it but it seems quite over the hill now. We need a menu as well deliver a documentary edit in chapters on top of the highlights.

Nigel Barker · March 22nd, 2013, 01:17 AM

Sorry but it can't be done. There is no standard way of providing menus on a USB stick. The problem is that you don't know what it will be played on. If it was only going to be used on a compute then it would be easy to create a page in HTML to use as a menu. However what if they plug the USB stick into a TV or a Blu-ray player or a networked HD media player? You could create an ISO of a Blu-ray or DVD which some media players can play just as if it were a disk but then it won't play elsewhere.

Chris Harding · March 22nd, 2013, 03:00 AM

Hey Nigel

I remember asking the question a couple of years back as it would be nice to have. I have however found that if you split the wedding video into logical segments (mine are already compiled that way) so you have a clip for bridal prep, a clip for the arrival, a clip for the ceremony etc etc and then name the MP4 clips with a sensible name so instead of seeing MV0012.mp4 the client's TV/media player will list files like BridalPrep.mp4 and Ceremony.mp4 and that would allow them to at least see what they have selected to watch. Most TV's and Media Players do list the files on the drives so you can select what you want.

Chris

Roger Gunkel · March 22nd, 2013, 08:18 AM

Hi Nigel, as Chris said, splitting the wedding into segments is pretty much what I do as well. Just keep them to logical breaks, rather than halfway through the ceremony. Many players, tvs computers etc, will roll from one segment to the next automatically, so it's not really a problem. If you tell your client what to expect, they are unlikely to be bothered, as most seem to just hit the fast forward when they want to move on anyway.

Roger

Nigel Barker · March 23rd, 2013, 02:12 AM

Guys, I know all that.

Sean wrote " We need a menu" & I told him why he can't have one.

BTW You need to name the files something like this to get them to play in the correct order

001-BridalPrep
002-Ceremony
003-Speeches
004-FirstDance

Dave Partington · March 23rd, 2013, 04:46 AM

What codec and resolution are you encoding these files to?

Chris Harding · March 23rd, 2013, 04:58 AM

Hi Dave

I do mine in Sony Vegas as a standard MP4 file (called Sony AVC) which is 1280x720 and I use their hi quality internet template ...it looks pretty good on a big TV! It's at 25P and a bitrate of 8mbps

The reason I use 1280 is cos some of the smaller LCD TV's here are not genuine 1920x1080 resolution but something between 1280 and 1980 ... strange but true so I decided to stick to 1280 ..also some brides also may have their laptop res lower than full HD as well.

Thanks Nigel ..yes my files are named so they stay in sequence otherwise the first to come up is usually speeches which is not what you want!!

No complaints so far!!

Chris

Dave Partington · March 23rd, 2013, 05:19 AM

Chris - thanks, but MP4 is just a container, like .mov. What 'codec' are you encoding to ? Is 'AVC' an H264 file? None of my TVs or any one else I can find will play H264 files in an MP4 wrapper.

Chris Harding · March 23rd, 2013, 05:36 AM

Hi Dave

I have no idea at all!!! I would suggest a post in the Vegas forum maybe? I just know that it seems to play on anything I put it into!! That sorta tells me it's probably not H264??

I'm sure someone will know

Chris

Roger Gunkel · March 23rd, 2013, 10:45 AM

I just ran a 10sec clip from some MTS 3d video into Magix and rendered it out as a 2d H264 mp4 file at 1920 x 1080. I put it onto a usb stick and it played with no problem in my Samsung tv. It also played in my laptop in Windows Media Player.

Roger

Dave Partington · March 23rd, 2013, 10:52 AM

Thanks Roger. Perhaps I could ask a few more questions ? :)

What level of H264 are you rendering to (1 - 5.1) ?

What Profile (Baseline, Main, High) ?

What bit rate are you using ?

Roger Gunkel · March 23rd, 2013, 11:33 AM

Ok some of this is out of my league, I work on if it looks good it is good, but here goes

Preset = AVCHD
Profile = High
Level = Auto
Performance=9(balanced)
Frame type= Progressive
Slice Count= 1
Rate Control Mode= Variable bit rate
Rate Control Pass=Single Pass
Bit Rate= 6000kbs

In addition, I am using PAL at 25fps. And the codec is by Main Concept

This gives about 20 minutes per gigabyte although I think max file size for playback of mp4 may be limited to 4gb. Others can probably give more info on this as there seems to be conflicting info.

Roger

March 21st, 2013, 11:11 PM	#1
Sean Seah Trustee Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Singapore Posts: 1,498	Delivering in Thumbdrive After experiencing several crappy blueray players we are thinking of delivering the entire wedding video on thumbdrives. Only one issue is we cant figure out how to do a menu. I am aware Flash can do it but it seems quite over the hill now. We need a menu as well deliver a documentary edit in chapters on top of the highlights. __________________ Firewerkz Films SGP

March 22nd, 2013, 01:17 AM	#2
Nigel Barker Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Norwich, Norfolk, UK Posts: 3,531	Re: Delivering in Thumbdrive Sorry but it can't be done. There is no standard way of providing menus on a USB stick. The problem is that you don't know what it will be played on. If it was only going to be used on a compute then it would be easy to create a page in HTML to use as a menu. However what if they plug the USB stick into a TV or a Blu-ray player or a networked HD media player? You could create an ISO of a Blu-ray or DVD which some media players can play just as if it were a disk but then it won't play elsewhere.

March 22nd, 2013, 03:00 AM	#3
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Re: Delivering in Thumbdrive Hey Nigel I remember asking the question a couple of years back as it would be nice to have. I have however found that if you split the wedding video into logical segments (mine are already compiled that way) so you have a clip for bridal prep, a clip for the arrival, a clip for the ceremony etc etc and then name the MP4 clips with a sensible name so instead of seeing MV0012.mp4 the client's TV/media player will list files like BridalPrep.mp4 and Ceremony.mp4 and that would allow them to at least see what they have selected to watch. Most TV's and Media Players do list the files on the drives so you can select what you want. Chris

March 22nd, 2013, 08:18 AM	#4
Roger Gunkel Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: LIncolnshire, UK Posts: 2,213	Re: Delivering in Thumbdrive Hi Nigel, as Chris said, splitting the wedding into segments is pretty much what I do as well. Just keep them to logical breaks, rather than halfway through the ceremony. Many players, tvs computers etc, will roll from one segment to the next automatically, so it's not really a problem. If you tell your client what to expect, they are unlikely to be bothered, as most seem to just hit the fast forward when they want to move on anyway. Roger

March 23rd, 2013, 02:12 AM	#5
Nigel Barker Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Norwich, Norfolk, UK Posts: 3,531	Re: Delivering in Thumbdrive Guys, I know all that. Sean wrote " We need a menu" & I told him why he can't have one. BTW You need to name the files something like this to get them to play in the correct order 001-BridalPrep 002-Ceremony 003-Speeches 004-FirstDance

March 23rd, 2013, 04:46 AM	#6
Dave Partington Trustee Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: York, England Posts: 1,323	Re: Delivering in Thumbdrive What codec and resolution are you encoding these files to? __________________ Qualified UAV Pilot with CAA PFAW Aerial Photo / Aerial Video \| Corporate Video Production

March 23rd, 2013, 04:58 AM	#7
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Re: Delivering in Thumbdrive Hi Dave I do mine in Sony Vegas as a standard MP4 file (called Sony AVC) which is 1280x720 and I use their hi quality internet template ...it looks pretty good on a big TV! It's at 25P and a bitrate of 8mbps The reason I use 1280 is cos some of the smaller LCD TV's here are not genuine 1920x1080 resolution but something between 1280 and 1980 ... strange but true so I decided to stick to 1280 ..also some brides also may have their laptop res lower than full HD as well. Thanks Nigel ..yes my files are named so they stay in sequence otherwise the first to come up is usually speeches which is not what you want!! No complaints so far!! Chris

March 23rd, 2013, 05:19 AM	#8
Dave Partington Trustee Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: York, England Posts: 1,323	Re: Delivering in Thumbdrive Chris - thanks, but MP4 is just a container, like .mov. What 'codec' are you encoding to ? Is 'AVC' an H264 file? None of my TVs or any one else I can find will play H264 files in an MP4 wrapper. __________________ Qualified UAV Pilot with CAA PFAW Aerial Photo / Aerial Video \| Corporate Video Production

March 23rd, 2013, 05:36 AM	#9
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Re: Delivering in Thumbdrive Hi Dave I have no idea at all!!! I would suggest a post in the Vegas forum maybe? I just know that it seems to play on anything I put it into!! That sorta tells me it's probably not H264?? I'm sure someone will know Chris

March 23rd, 2013, 10:45 AM	#10
Roger Gunkel Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: LIncolnshire, UK Posts: 2,213	Re: Delivering in Thumbdrive I just ran a 10sec clip from some MTS 3d video into Magix and rendered it out as a 2d H264 mp4 file at 1920 x 1080. I put it onto a usb stick and it played with no problem in my Samsung tv. It also played in my laptop in Windows Media Player. Roger

March 23rd, 2013, 10:52 AM	#11
Dave Partington Trustee Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: York, England Posts: 1,323	Re: Delivering in Thumbdrive Thanks Roger. Perhaps I could ask a few more questions ? :) What level of H264 are you rendering to (1 - 5.1) ? What Profile (Baseline, Main, High) ? What bit rate are you using ? __________________ Qualified UAV Pilot with CAA PFAW Aerial Photo / Aerial Video \| Corporate Video Production

March 23rd, 2013, 11:33 AM	#12
Roger Gunkel Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: LIncolnshire, UK Posts: 2,213	Re: Delivering in Thumbdrive Ok some of this is out of my league, I work on if it looks good it is good, but here goes Preset = AVCHD Profile = High Level = Auto Performance=9(balanced) Frame type= Progressive Slice Count= 1 Rate Control Mode= Variable bit rate Rate Control Pass=Single Pass Bit Rate= 6000kbs In addition, I am using PAL at 25fps. And the codec is by Main Concept This gives about 20 minutes per gigabyte although I think max file size for playback of mp4 may be limited to 4gb. Others can probably give more info on this as there seems to be conflicting info. Roger