FFMPEGX question Bitrate

I downloaded all the FFMPEGX components and installed them. Made my 1st conversion of an HD quality .MP4 to .MOV and it came out very choppy.. the video was horrible. I read somewhere to up your bitrate to correct... so I just randomly input a much higher number...

Two questions:
(1) What bitrate should I be using?
(2) Will the bitrate fix my problem or is something else wrong?

Thanks

I used the bitrate calculator and increased the bitrate to GREEN (about 6k) and the video is still choppy. Not sure what to do.

Please help if you know how....thanks.

Did you change the frames per second by chance?

6K, as in 6Kbps? or 6000Kbps? Usually a higher bit rate will result in higher video quality, and can reduce some choppiness like if the chop is caused due to an image that is very blocky. But I'd agree with xstep also that it seems your fps might be off from the original.

What are the dimensions of the video you working with? if it's SD video from DVD, I'd try a bitrate of 1000-6000Kbps, and make sure your framerate is set to what the source is (if it's from a camera, probably 29.97fps).

If it's HD video, somewhere between 3500 - 12000Kbps and the frame rate will depend on the original video again - ie: 720p60 tends to be 59.94fps

Thanks for the response, but how do I change the FPS? I tried to change it but it is a pulldown that gives me PAL (25 FPS) or NTSC (29.97).. there are no other options and no way to change it.

Thanks for the help!

Hmm, I don't use ffmpegx too often (most of the time I use mpegstreamclip) - but, if the video is from a camcorder, or from a vhs tape or DVD, make sure NTSC 29.97 is selected. You may have to look for advanced options - XStep can probably help more as I think he uses ffmpegx more then I do (I see him posting about it more often then I do ). My main reason for posting was to clarify some on the fps, and to get more info on your bitrate

Yeah, this is a .MP4 h264 1280x720 HD video my buddy put together and has it playing on Youtube.

I was using it as an example on how to convert using FFMPEGX and import into FC7.

Thanks, I will hope and pray someone knows the answer!

And it is set to NTSC 29.97 for reference... still not working. Even when I try to convert it to some other format (like .avi) it remains choppy which is wierd. Gotta be something in the settings.

Hmm, if it's 720, then it probably is 720p60, which is 59.94 fps. One thing that is weird tho, I launched my ffmpegx, dropped in a 720p file, and in the video format for the output it states 59.92, which I knew was the wrong rate - went to the video tab, and yes, the drop down only lists a few formats - but ignore the dropdown, just click in the space where the fps is and enter the frame rate of the original file (you can find that by watching the mp4 in quicktime - check the FPS setting (not necessarily the current rate as it will report the current rate of a 59.94 fps video as 60fps). just key in the appropriate rate, I keyed in the appropriate rate for the file I chose and it shows in the summary tab now as 59.94