MP4 Part-2 to Something macOS Compatible

[alex_sisk]

Description of problem or question:

I've used HandBrake for years to compress videos, but what I need for this scenario is different.

The problem is: My Xbox One X puts out 4K HDR video captures using a version of the MP4 container that is incompatible with Mac environments.

Microsoft does warn about this being an issue for Mac. They (of course) provide no additional advice. Unsurprisingly, VLC will play the video with no problem on my iPad Pro. My actual Mac is too old to play back 4K regardless, but a macOS compatibility issue will usually be an iOS compatibility issue as well. My iPad video editor, Luma Fusion, actually warns that the format is incompatible with iOS and says that it may cause random crashes.

I assume the following is simply two different ways of saying the same thing:

Per VLC, the Xbox output is: MPEG-H Part 2/HEVC (H.265) (hvc1)
Per MediaInfo, the output is: MPEG-4 Base Media / Version 2; Codec ID mp42 (mp41/isom)

(Why is Microsoft combining a modern compression codec like HEVC with a super outdated [or so I read] version of the MP4 container?)

I'm just looking for the fastest way to make this MP4 coming from the Xbox compatible with my Mac environments. I do not care about changing the container (unless it would somehow speed things up) Also, compression is absolutely not a concern in this case. I'm aware of the Apple presets - I thought of setting the HandBrake quality slider to 0 since I don't need compression, but I don't know that I'm approaching this correctly.

I'm letting it run with the Apple 2160p preset in Handbrake, but is there a better (faster) way that I should be doing this? It seems Microsoft apparently has Windows users rolling with this outdated technology but no transcoding is necessary in that environment.

Steps to reproduce the problem (If Applicable):

Not applicable.


HandBrake version (e.g., 1.0.0):

1.2.2


Operating system and version (e.g., Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, macOS 10.13 High Sierra, Windows 10 Creators Update):

macOS 10.14.3 Mojave


HandBrake Activity Log ***required*** (see How-to get an activity log)

https://pastebin.com/xT3FuyZe

[Ritsuka]

It's weird that's not compatible, can you upload a short 10 second sample somewhere so we can have a look at it?

HandBrake right now can't convert HDR to SDR, it might in the future, so the color won't look right when played back.

[alex_sisk]

Hi Ritsuka, thanks for getting back to me.

I'm not actually trying to convert the video from HDR to SDR - my iPad Pro is HDR10/DV compatible, and the intended recipient will be watching the video on an HDR capable device as well.

But...is it even HDR? - Strangely, even though the Xbox Capture Settings screen clearly indicates that the output is a "4K HDR" video, the typical "(HDR10)" displayed after the container / codec information in MediaInfo is not present. I highly doubt that they're using Dolby Vision, which MediaInfo doesn't detect. It may just be related to metadata.

It's been a while since I owned a game system (just bought the Xbox), and I'm absolutely horrible at this game, but my friend is a Formula 1 fan and wanted to see F1 2018.

Here is a sample clip from the original Xbox output:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lhFf1w ... sp=sharing

Here is a still screenshot along with a linked video screenshot both taken while using a video player on my iPad Pro other than VLC (in this case, "Infuse") I also have another video player called "nPlayer" that has the same trouble with this file. These are both fairly robust video players that have been around for many years, regularly updated and maintained.

(For some reason, I can't get the BBCode to work here, so check out the still if you would like, at:
https://ibb.co/BV2DTzs



iPad playback video screenshot:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Eu297s ... sp=sharing

[Ritsuka]

Is the sample clip from the Xbox or did you reencode it? Because it plays on QuickTime here.
There is nothing outdated in the way Microsoft is using the MP4 container. HEVC support has been added in macOS 10.13 / iOS 11.

Reencoding takes time, you can use one of the General preset, or a Production preset if you want to edit it later in a video editor. Quality 0 means lossless and it means the output file will be much larger than the input most of the times.

[alex_sisk]

Let me do some additional testing real quick.

The sample is from the Xbox output - I wonder if trimming it using Luma Fusion altered it in any way.

I did re-encode, but the HandBrake output was very similar, per MediaInfo. (And is not what I uploaded)

I definitely know encoding takes time - I’ve probably had HandBrake running for 24/7 for 3 months nonstop over the years if you added up all the videos I’ve ever encoded.

What is so frustrating is that there IS something here going on:

-Current Microsoft documentation states that the video is incompatible in some way. (way to be detailed Microsoft...ugh)

-Also that message stating that the file is incompatible - from the video editor that a couple of Google searches will reveal is the most powerful / competent software for that purpose available on iOS.

I know this isn’t an OS / codec compatibility issue. About 70% of my ~480-movie library are HEVC MKVs.

Infuse absolutely supports HEVC. I use it almost everyday. My iPad Pro is running iOS 12 and absolutely has HEVC hardware acceleration. I primarily use Infuse on my Apple TV 4K, also plenty powerful.

www.firecore.com (Infuse)

I’ll try playing pre and post-Luma Fusion videos, and the post HandBrake video in 3 additional hardware accelerated-HEVC environments, and report back:

-Kodi 18.1 in Android 8.0 on my Nvidia Shield TV.
-Infuse in tvOS 12 on Apple TV 4K.
-Infuse in iOS 12 on iPhone XS

[alex_sisk]

That’s exactly why I didn’t choose 0 - I was worried about blowing up the file. Forgot to mention that.

[alex_sisk]

I was right. LumaFusion made some sort of alteration...but that doesn't help much.

I guess I'm at a loss.

The original, the post-Handbrake encode, and the post-Luma Fusion trim all work in Kodi. (Android)
The first two fail in Infuse. (iOS / tvOS)
The original produces a compatibility error in LumaFusion (iOS)

Microsoft specifically states that its GameDVR output video is incompatible with Mac environments. It is my belief that this is why Infuse fails and LumaFusion produces an error message.

Something is going on here, but I don't know how to go about asking the right questions for help here.

If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know. The simple fact that Microsoft makes that statement in their documentation means that I am not the only person who has ever experienced this problem.

[BradleyS]

We need a short sample directly from the Xbox.