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I'd like to encode a few short (e.g. 30 seconds-ish) video clips with a goal of maximising their out-of-the-box compatibility with Windows 7.
Specifically, what ffmpeg encoding parameters should I use to make the output video work with a completely plain/vanilla installation of Windows 7 SP1? (without installing anything else, no codec packs, no VLC, etc.)
My guess is that H.264 (or MPEG-4?) would work, but even so what other encoding paramaters should I use to maximise the chances of the videos playing without a hitch? What about audio? Thank you.
Thank you @Mulvya! So H.264 is indeed supported... I guess I wouldn't need to consider MPEG-4, then? – hpy – 2017-12-01T18:15:12.260
1@hpy If Mulvya's command works then there is no need to output MPEG-4 Part 2 video (which is what you get if using
-c:v mpeg4
). – llogan – 2017-12-01T18:41:00.3931
All codecs and containers listed with Windows Vista or higher should be good: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/dd757927(v=vs.85).aspx
– Gyan – 2017-12-01T18:44:44.300Thanks @LordNeckbeard and @Mulvya! Understood. That said, out of curiosity, how do I get ffmpeg to encode MPEG-4 v1/v2/v3? – hpy – 2017-12-01T23:41:30.687
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MPEG-4 v1/v2/v3
looks to be idiosyncratic terminology used by Microsoft. AFAICT, they are MS implementations of MPEG-4 Part 2 codec, so-c:v mpeg4 -qscale:v 5
in place of-c:v libx264 -profile:v main
– Gyan – 2017-12-02T05:18:18.963Got it, thanks @Mulvya! I wish there's a table or something that clears this up all this terminology... Oh, and does
qscale:v
affect compatibility?? – hpy – 2017-12-02T10:59:30.9131No, it affects quality and thus size. – Gyan – 2017-12-02T12:16:52.760
1@hpy You can encode the Microsoft MPEG-4 Part 2 variants "MPEG v2/v3" with
-c:v msmpeg4v2
&-c:v msmpeg4v3
. I've never tried them. – llogan – 2017-12-04T01:10:14.860Thank you @LordNeckbeard!! That's great to know. I just tried it but for some reason my virtual vanilla Windows installation claims it doesn't recognise that format... – hpy – 2017-12-04T15:57:15.837