How to encode video in H264 format

Ffmpeg/x264 (profile High, level 3.0) (latest versions of x264)

We have successfully been using ffmpeg/libx264 with two pass encoding using the following commands:

  infile ="video.avi"  tmpfile="video_tmp.mp4"  outfile="video.mp4"  options="-vcodec libx264 -b 512k -flags +loop+mv4 -cmp 256 \   -partitions +parti4x4+parti8x8+partp4x4+partp8x8+partb8x8 \   -me_method hex -subq 7 -trellis 1 -refs 5 -bf 3 \   -flags2 +bpyramid+wpred+mixed_refs+dct8x8 -coder 1 -me_range 16 \           -g 250 -keyint_min 25 -sc_threshold 40 -i_qfactor 0.71 -qmin 10\   -qmax 51 -qdiff 4"  ffmpeg -y -i "$infile" -an -pass 1 -threads 2 $options "$tmpfile"  ffmpeg -y -i "$infile" -acodec libfaac -ar 44100 -ab 96k -pass 2 -threads 2 $options "$tmpfile"  qt-faststart "$tmpfile" "$outfile"

The last line 'qt-faststart' is optional. It doesn't hurt though and it even may save a little time on the server which is hosting the movie files.

Thanks to S0ma for the updated options.

Ffmpeg/x264 (profile High, level 3.0) (older versions)

Replace the options above with:

  options="-vcodec libx264 -b 512k -bf 3 -subq 6 -cmp 256 -refs 5 -qmin 10 \           -qmax 51 -qdiff 4 -coder 1 -loop 1 -me hex -me_range 16 -trellis 1 \           -flags +mv4 -flags2 +bpyramid+wpred+mixed_refs+brdo+8x8dct \           -partitions parti4x4+parti8x8+partp4x4+partp8x8+partb8x8 -g 250 \           -keyint_min 25 -sc_threshold 40 -i_qfactor 0.71"

Ffmpeg/x264 (profile Baseline, level 3.0) (iPhone)

Replace the options above with:

  options="-vcodec libx264 -b 512k -flags +loop+mv4 -cmp 256 \   -partitions +parti4x4+parti8x8+partp4x4+partp8x8+partb8x8 \   -me_method hex -subq 7 -trellis 1 -refs 5 -bf 0 \   -flags2 +mixed_refs -coder 0 -me_range 16 \           -g 250 -keyint_min 25 -sc_threshold 40 -i_qfactor 0.71 -qmin 10\   -qmax 51 -qdiff 4"

Mencoder & mp4creator

Thanks to Martin Bündgens for the following PHP script.

system("mencoder ". $file_input ." -o ". $file_output_raw ." -ovc x264 -x264encopts       bitrate=300:threads=auto:subq=6:partitions=all:8x8dct:me=umh:frameref=5:bframes=3:b_pyramid:weight_b       -vf bmovl=0:0:mylogo.fifo,scale=". $nw .":". $nh .",harddup -oac faac -faacopts br=56:mpeg=4:object=2       -srate 44100 -ofps 24000/1001");system("mplayer ". $file_output_raw. " -dumpaudio -dumpfile ". $file_output_aac ."");system("mplayer ". $file_output_raw. " -dumpvideo -dumpfile ". $file_output_h264 ."");system("mp4creator -create=". $file_output_aac. " ". $file_output ."");system("mp4creator -create=". $file_output_h264. " -rate=23.976 ". $file_output ."");system("mp4creator -hint=1 ". $file_output ."");system("mp4creator -hint=2 ". $file_output ."");system("mp4creator -optimize ". $file_output ."");

Telestream Episode Engine Pro 5

Files transcoded by a ​Telestream Episode Engine Pro 5 are reported to work. The files are H264/AAC in an MP4 container. They are compatible with both Flash and iPod.

Encoding H264 on Tiger

Here is a little wisdom snippet from challefredde:

I'm using different tools but mostly this combination: On Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger:

• Perian plugin installed (watch almost all videos in Quicktime)
• Mpeg Streamclip from Squared 5
• ​x264 Quicktime codec. Encodes better h264 videos than Quicktime's built-in.
• QTFastStart

Video: 900 kbit/s, Audio: AAC, stereo 96 kbit/s, Res: 640x360 (widescreen)

The video plays fine on iPod's.