H264 output appears black in QuickTime

[ssp]

I transcoded some videos to MP4/H264 with VLC.

When using the 1.1.0-pre3 version on the Mac, the resulting file has black video when opened in QuickTime (a regression compared to 1.0.5). I first suspected this is due to the 1.1.0-pre3 version using the High Profile (there seems to be a change in the default setting between versions, which may be considered a nasty surprise) but even after explicitly switching VLC to the Main profile, the video appeared only black in QuickTime.

The sound in the file exists (an improvement over 1.0.5) but has glitches all over it, so that seems buggy as well.

I already posted this over in the Mac forum where you can see more details ( viewtopic.php?f=12&t=76460 ) but finding the 1.1.0 forum, I figured you may want to have the information here instead.

[ssp]

It'd be cool if anybody could let me know what you think about this: Are these issues known? intentional? Do you care? Would you want additional information? If yes, which?

[Makarov]

Can you share your file. I can test on macbook.

[ssp]

Thanks for having a look at this!

I put a number of files online, the original and converted versions along with the console output created by VLC while doing its work.

* Original DV video: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/382997/VLC/Original.dv

DV file as coming from video camera, imported via FireWire by iMovie. Plays fine everywhere (e.g. QuickTime, VLC). PAL video, 32kbit/s audio.

* Conversion to MP4 using VLC 1.0.5:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/382997/VLC/VLC-1.0.5.mp4
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/382997/VLC/VLC-1.0.5.log

DV file converted to H.264 using VLC 1.0.5 using the command

/Applications/Vision/VLC.app/Contents/MacOS/VLC -vvv -I dummy Original.dv --sout='#transcode{vcodec=h264,vb=800,scale=1,acodec=mp4a,ab=128,channels=2,samplerate=32000}:std{access=file,mux=mp4,dst=VLC-1.0.5.mp4}' vlc://quit

RESULT:
- Video is fine
- Audio is bleeps and static


* Conversion to MP4 using VLC 1.0.5 resampling audio:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/382997/VLC/VLC-1.0.5-44kHz.mp4
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/382997/VLC/VLC-1.0.5-44kHz.log

Doing the same conversion with resampling of the sound to 44,1KHz:

/Applications/Vision/VLC.app/Contents/MacOS/VLC -vvv -I dummy Original.dv --sout='#transcode{vcodec=h264,vb=800,scale=1,acodec=mp4a,ab=128,channels=2,samplerate=44100}:std{access=file,mux=mp4,dst=VLC-1.0.5.mp4}' vlc://quit

RESULT:
- Video is fine
- Audio bleeps (but far less than in the 32KHz version)


continued in next message due to URL-per-message limit …

[ssp]

… continued

* Conversion to MP4 using VLC built from current git:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/382997/VLC/VLC-git.mp4
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/382997/VLC/VLC-git.log

Using a version built from source off the current (2010-05-25) git repository.

I have set it up (using the VLC GUI) to use H.264 Main profile:

> [0x10087a910] x264 encoder debug: version x264 0.96.X
> [0x10087a910] x264 encoder debug: Limiting to main-profile
> x264 [info]: using cpu capabilities: MMX2 SSE2Fast SSSE3 FastShuffle SSE4.1 Cache64
> x264 [info]: profile Main, level 5.1

/Users/ssp/Developer/builds/Debug/vlc_build_dir/x86_64/bin/vlc --plugin-path /Users/ssp/Deloper/builds/Debug/vlc_build_dir/x86_64/modules -vvv -I dummy Original.dv --sout='#transcode{vcodec=h264,vb=800,scale=1,acodec=mp4a,ab=128,channels=2,samplerate=32000}:std{access=file,mux=mp4,dst=VLC-git-44kHz.mp4}' vlc://quit

RESULT:
- video plays fine in VLC
- video appears black in QuickTime Player
- sound is fine


* Conversion to MP4 using VLC built from current git, resampling audio:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/382997/VLC/VLC-git-44kHz.mp4
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/382997/VLC/VLC-git-44kHz.log

Doing the same conversion with resampling the sound to 44,1KHz:

/Users/ssp/Developer/builds/Debug/vlc_build_dir/x86_64/bin/vlc --plugin-path /Users/ssp/Deloper/builds/Debug/vlc_build_dir/x86_64/modules -vvv -I dummy Original.dv --sout='#transcode{vcodec=h264,vb=800,scale=1,acodec=mp4a,ab=128,channels=2,samplerate=44100}:std{access=file,mux=mp4,dst=VLC-git-44kHz.mp4}' vlc://quit

RESULT:
- video plays fine in VLC
- video appears black in QuickTime Player
- sound is almost good, but still has clearly audible imperfections, particularly noticeable towards the end of the video

[Lotesdelere]

That's because Pyramidal B-Frames (b-pyramid) are now enabled by default in x264 but this option is not QuickTime compatible.

You should turn it off in the Preferences:
Tools -> Preferences (All) -> Input / Codecs -> Video codecs -> x264

And use these settings for the best possible QuickTime compatibility:
B-frames between I and P = 1
Keep some B-frames as references = 0 <== the infamous B-pyramid that QT doesn't like
Number of reference frames = 4 max <== the more ref frames the more QT will struggle
H.264 profile = Main
Decide references on a per partition basis = OFF <== QT doesn't like mixed refs
Adaptive spatial transform size = OFF <== QT doesn't like 8x8dct

[ssp]

That's because Pyramidal B-Frames (b-pyramid) are now enabled by default in x264 but this option is not QuickTime compatible.

You should turn it off in the Preferences:
Tools -> Preferences (All) -> Input / Codecs -> Video codecs -> x264
[…]

Thanks a lot for the explanation.

I tried using the settings you state via the 1.1.0-pre3 GUI, but the resulting file still couldn't be read by QuickTime. Then I deleted my ~/Library/Preferences/org.videolan.vlc/vlcrc file and started off with a new one to be sure I don't have other gibberish in mine from earlier attempts and entered the values you posted again but that didn't help either.

Could it be that some other option needs to be changed?

I paste the x264 section of my vlcrc file below. It seems that some of the settings I changed still have a leading # in the file. Does that matter? I removed those leading #s but that didn't change the result either.

[x264] # H.264/MPEG4 AVC encoder (x264)

# Maximum GOP size (Ganzzahl)
#sout-x264-keyint=250

# Minimum GOP size (Ganzzahl)
#sout-x264-min-keyint=25

# Extra I-frames aggressivity (Ganzzahl)
#sout-x264-scenecut=40

# B-frames between I and P (Ganzzahl)
sout-x264-bframes=1

# Adaptive B-frame decision (Ganzzahl)
#sout-x264-b-adapt=1

# Influence (bias) B-frames usage (Ganzzahl)
#sout-x264-b-bias=0

# Keep some B-frames as references (Text)
#sout-x264-bpyramid=none

# CABAC (boolesch)
#sout-x264-cabac=1

# Number of reference frames (Ganzzahl)
sout-x264-ref=4

# Skip loop filter (boolesch)
#sout-x264-nf=0

# Loop filter AlphaC0 and Beta parameters alpha:beta (Text)
#sout-x264-deblock=0:0

# Strength of psychovisual optimization, default is "1.0:0.0" (Text)
#sout-x264-psy-rd=1.0:0.0

# Use Psy-optimizations (boolesch)
#sout-x264-psy=1

# H.264 level (Text)
#sout-x264-level=0

# H.264 profile (Text)
sout-x264-profile=main

# Interlaced mode (boolesch)
#sout-x264-interlaced=0

# Force number of slices per frame (Ganzzahl)
#sout-x264-slices=0

# Limit the size of each slice in bytes (Ganzzahl)
#sout-x264-slice-max-size=0

# Limit the size of each slice in macroblocks (Ganzzahl)
#sout-x264-slice-max-mbs=0

# Set QP (Ganzzahl)
#sout-x264-qp=-1

# Quality-based VBR (Ganzzahl)
#sout-x264-crf=23

# Min QP (Ganzzahl)
#sout-x264-qpmin=10

# Max QP (Ganzzahl)
#sout-x264-qpmax=51

# Max QP step (Ganzzahl)
#sout-x264-qpstep=4

# Average bitrate tolerance (Fließkommazahl)
#sout-x264-ratetol=1.000000

# Max local bitrate (Ganzzahl)
#sout-x264-vbv-maxrate=0

# VBV buffer (Ganzzahl)
#sout-x264-vbv-bufsize=0

# Initial VBV buffer occupancy (Fließkommazahl)
#sout-x264-vbv-init=0.900000

# QP factor between I and P (Fließkommazahl)
#sout-x264-ipratio=1.400000

# QP factor between P and B (Fließkommazahl)
#sout-x264-pbratio=1.300000

# QP difference between chroma and luma (Ganzzahl)
#sout-x264-chroma-qp-offset=0

# Multipass ratecontrol (Ganzzahl)
#sout-x264-pass=0

# QP curve compression (Fließkommazahl)
#sout-x264-qcomp=0.600000

# Reduce fluctuations in QP (Fließkommazahl)
#sout-x264-cplxblur=20.000000

# Reduce fluctuations in QP (Fließkommazahl)
#sout-x264-qblur=0.500000

# How AQ distributes bits (Ganzzahl)
#sout-x264-aq-mode=1

# Strength of AQ (Fließkommazahl)
#sout-x264-aq-strength=1.000000

# Partitions to consider (Text)
#sout-x264-partitions=normal

# Direct MV prediction mode (Text)
#sout-x264-direct=spatial

# Direct prediction size (Ganzzahl)
#sout-x264-direct-8x8=1

# Weighted prediction for B-frames (boolesch)
#sout-x264-weightb=1

# Weighted prediction for P-frames (Ganzzahl)
#sout-x264-weightp=2

# Integer pixel motion estimation method (Text)
#sout-x264-me=hex

# Maximum motion vector search range (Ganzzahl)
#sout-x264-merange=16

# Maximum motion vector length (Ganzzahl)
#sout-x264-mvrange=-1

# Minimum buffer space between threads (Ganzzahl)
#sout-x264-mvrange-thread=-1

# Subpixel motion estimation and partition decision quality (Ganzzahl)
#sout-x264-subme=7

# Decide references on a per partition basis (boolesch)
sout-x264-mixed-refs=0

# Chroma in motion estimation (boolesch)
#sout-x264-chroma-me=1

# Adaptive spatial transform size (boolesch)
#sout-x264-8x8dct=0

# Trellis RD quantization (Ganzzahl)
#sout-x264-trellis=1

# Framecount to use on frametype lookahead (Ganzzahl)
#sout-x264-lookahead=5

# Use Periodic Intra Refresh (boolesch)
#sout-x264-intra-refresh=0

# Use mb-tree ratecontrol (boolesch)
#sout-x264-mbtree=1

# Early SKIP detection on P-frames (boolesch)
#sout-x264-fast-pskip=1

# Coefficient thresholding on P-frames (boolesch)
#sout-x264-dct-decimate=1

# Noise reduction (Ganzzahl)
#sout-x264-nr=0

# Inter luma quantization deadzone (Ganzzahl)
#sout-x264-deadzone-inter=21

# Intra luma quantization deadzone (Ganzzahl)
#sout-x264-deadzone-intra=11

# Non-deterministic optimizations when threaded (boolesch)
#sout-x264-non-deterministic=0

# CPU optimizations (boolesch)
#sout-x264-asm=1

# PSNR computation (boolesch)
#sout-x264-psnr=0

# SSIM computation (boolesch)
#sout-x264-ssim=0

# Quiet mode (boolesch)
#sout-x264-quiet=0

# SPS and PPS id numbers (Ganzzahl)
#sout-x264-sps-id=0

# Access unit delimiters (boolesch)
#sout-x264-aud=0

# Statistics (boolesch)
#sout-x264-verbose=0

# Filename for 2 pass stats file (Text)
#sout-x264-stats=x264_2pass.log

[ssp]

A friend helped me make the following observation in case that helps: unpacking the audio and video track from their VLC-created MP4 container and repacking them into a new MP4 container seems to fix the problem.

We used the mp4creator tool to do that and got the file at http://dl.dropbox.com/u/382997/VLC/VLC-settings%2B.mp4 out of it which does play in QuickTime.

To me this sounds like there may be an issue with the MP4 container vs QuickTime rather than with the video format now.

Does that make any sense?

[Lotesdelere]

To me this sounds like there may be an issue with the MP4 container vs QuickTime rather than with the video format now.

Does that make any sense?

Yes it does make sense. The MP4 container created by VLC is still a bit strange for now, there is an opened ticket about that, awaiting for a fix.

On a sidenote you shouldn't use the Git versions (aka v1.2.0) for now because they are quite unstable and I strongely suggest you to use the Branch versions (aka v1.1.0) instead as they are actually in RC stage.

[ssp]

Great to hear this makes sense to you.

On a sidenote you shouldn't use the Git versions (aka v1.2.0) for now because they are quite unstable and I strongely suggest you to use the Branch versions (aka v1.1.0) instead as they are actually in RC stage.

Thanks for the note. I think I just followed building instructions for OS X from the wiki and ended up with this. Just wanted to make sure I didn't report an issue that's already solved. It's not really clear to me, though what you mean by the 'Branch versions'. Just the ready-built 1.1.0-pre3 from the server?

BTW, using my proper stereo at home (rather than headphones in a noisy environment), I am afraid I have to report that the audio I reported OK in my previous reports still sounds broken in all the files I created. So that may be another issue lingering there.

[ssp]

BTW, using my proper stereo at home (rather than headphones in a noisy environment), I am afraid I have to report that the audio I reported OK in my previous reports still sounds broken in all the files I created. So that may be another issue lingering there.

I looked into this a bit more and I definitely heard problems with the AAC created by VLC in all my attempts. Sometimes those problems are small glitches, at other times they are wildly distorted audio (as in the films linked to previously).

I did some test encodes with VLC 1.1.0-pre3 to AAC@128kbit/s from DV audio and mp4 audio with the audio channel only and kept hearing the distortion there. Glitches on the right audio channel seem much stronger while those on the left channel often seem to be much harder to notice.

Update: I redid the tests with the VLC 1.1.0-RC that was made available for download in the meantime, but that didn't change the results.

That's probably a completely different issue. If you want a more formal report on that, please let me know where and how to file it and what kinds of examples would be helpful.

[ILEoo]

this is muxing issue, you can work it around by using avformat-muxer (ffmpeg) eg transcode{yourstuff}:file{mux=ffmpeg{mux=mp4},dst=myoutput.mp4} . Difference is mux=ffmpeg{mux=mp4} instead of just mux=mp4. If you have tickets opened relating to this issue, please mention ticket numbers.

[ssp]

Thanks a lot for the workaround!

Unfortunately VLC (both 1.0.5 and 1.1RC crashes for me when using it.

Code: Select all

ssp% /Applications/Vision/VLC.app/Contents/MacOS/VLC -I dummy ~/Dropbox/Public/VLC/Original.dv --sout='#transcode{vcodec=h264,venc=x264{profile=main,level=3},vb=800,scale=1,acodec=mp4a,ab=128,channels=2,samplerate=32000}:standard{access=file,mux=ffmpeg{mux=mp4},dst=/tmp/test.mp4}"}' vlc://quit [0x28d7e8] main interface error: no interface module matched "globalhotkeys,none" [0x28d7e8] main interface error: no suitable interface module [0x20a188] main libvlc error: interface "globalhotkeys,none" initialization failed [0x1000538] dummy interface: using the dummy interface module... x264 [info]: using threads=0 x264 [info]: using cpu capabilities: MMX2 SSE2Fast SSSE3 FastShuffle SSE4.1 Cache64 x264 [info]: profile Main, level 3.0 x264 [info]: using threads=0 x264 [info]: using SAR=1/1 x264 [info]: using cpu capabilities: MMX2 SSE2Fast SSSE3 FastShuffle SSE4.1 Cache64 x264 [info]: profile Main, level 3.0 track 0: codec frame size is not set [0x10017f8] avformat mux error: could not write header x264 [info]: frame I:3 Avg QP:22,27 size: 40565 x264 [info]: frame P:524 Avg QP:23,94 size: 3991 x264 [info]: consecutive B-frames: 100,0% 0,0% x264 [info]: mb I I16..4: 55,6% 0,0% 44,4% x264 [info]: mb P I16..4: 7,3% 0,0% 0,1% P16..4: 27,4% 3,7% 0,9% 0,0% 0,0% skip:60,7% x264 [info]: coded y,uvDC,uvAC intra: 68,6% 26,0% 2,0% inter: 8,5% 5,2% 0,1% x264 [info]: i16 v,h,dc,p: 24% 26% 33% 17% x264 [info]: i4 v,h,dc,ddl,ddr,vr,hd,vl,hu: 19% 25% 26% 4% 5% 5% 6% 5% 5% x264 [info]: Weighted P-Frames: Y:0,0% x264 [info]: ref P L0: 56,8% 10,4% 7,1% 17,9% 7,8% x264 [info]: kb/s:839,88 Bus error

Crash log for 1.0.5:

Code: Select all

Exception Type: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGBUS) Exception Codes: KERN_PROTECTION_FAILURE at 0x0000000000000038 Crashed Thread: 3 Thread 0: Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread 0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x91bd5066 __semwait_signal + 10 1 libSystem.B.dylib 0x91bd4d22 _pthread_cond_wait + 1191 2 libSystem.B.dylib 0x91bd69b8 pthread_cond_wait$UNIX2003 + 73 3 libvlccore.2.dylib 0x00092c98 vlc_cond_wait + 24 4 libvlccore.2.dylib 0x00026562 libvlc_InternalWait + 66 5 libvlc.2.dylib 0x0000ad23 libvlc_wait + 19 6 org.videolan.vlc 0x00004e4f main + 559 7 org.videolan.vlc 0x00004be6 start + 54 Thread 1: 0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x91bd5066 __semwait_signal + 10 1 libSystem.B.dylib 0x91bd4d22 _pthread_cond_wait + 1191 2 libSystem.B.dylib 0x91bd69b8 pthread_cond_wait$UNIX2003 + 73 3 libvlccore.2.dylib 0x00092c98 vlc_cond_wait + 24 4 libvlccore.2.dylib 0x0003c892 Thread + 130 5 libSystem.B.dylib 0x91bd481d _pthread_start + 345 6 libSystem.B.dylib 0x91bd46a2 thread_start + 34 Thread 2: 0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x91bd5066 __semwait_signal + 10 1 libSystem.B.dylib 0x91bd4d22 _pthread_cond_wait + 1191 2 libSystem.B.dylib 0x91bd69b8 pthread_cond_wait$UNIX2003 + 73 3 libvlccore.2.dylib 0x00092c98 vlc_cond_wait + 24 4 libvlccore.2.dylib 0x0003e45f Thread + 127 5 libSystem.B.dylib 0x91bd481d _pthread_start + 345 6 libSystem.B.dylib 0x91bd46a2 thread_start + 34 Thread 3 Crashed: 0 libavformat_plugin.dylib 0x02057401 mov_write_udta_tag + 33 Thread 4: 0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x91bd5066 __semwait_signal + 10 1 libSystem.B.dylib 0x91bd4d22 _pthread_cond_wait + 1191 2 libSystem.B.dylib 0x91bd69b8 pthread_cond_wait$UNIX2003 + 73 3 libvlccore.2.dylib 0x00092c98 vlc_cond_wait + 24 4 libhotkeys_plugin.dylib 0x003f8eec Run + 220 5 libvlccore.2.dylib 0x00039c61 RunInterface + 481 6 libvlccore.2.dylib 0x00092a8c thread_entry + 76 7 libSystem.B.dylib 0x91bd481d _pthread_start + 345 8 libSystem.B.dylib 0x91bd46a2 thread_start + 34 Thread 5: 0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x91c1397a __sigwait + 10 1 libSystem.B.dylib 0x91c13956 sigwait$UNIX2003 + 71 2 libsignals_plugin.dylib 0x00668d32 SigThread + 98 3 libSystem.B.dylib 0x91bd481d _pthread_start + 345 4 libSystem.B.dylib 0x91bd46a2 thread_start + 34 Thread 6: 0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x91ba70fa mach_msg_trap + 10 1 libSystem.B.dylib 0x91ba7867 mach_msg + 68 2 libSystem.B.dylib 0x91bbebee mach_port_mod_refs + 139 3 libSystem.B.dylib 0x91bdd579 mig_dealloc_reply_port + 140 4 libSystem.B.dylib 0x91bdd2e3 _pthread_free_pthread_onstack + 121 5 libSystem.B.dylib 0x91bdd12a _pthread_exit + 974 6 libSystem.B.dylib 0x91bd46a2 thread_start + 34 Thread 3 crashed with X86 Thread State (32-bit): eax: 0x00290390 ebx: 0x020573f9 ecx: 0x00857810 edx: 0x00000000 edi: 0x00000000 esi: 0x00000002 ebp: 0x002902c0 esp: 0xb0184b80 ss: 0x0000001f efl: 0x00010202 eip: 0x02057401 cs: 0x00000017 ds: 0x0000001f es: 0x0000001f fs: 0x0000001f gs: 0x00000037 cr2: 0x00000038

Crash log for 1.1RC

Code: Select all

Exception Type: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGSEGV) Exception Codes: KERN_INVALID_ADDRESS at 0x0000000000000004 Crashed Thread: 1 Thread 0: Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread 0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x00007fff814fdeb6 __semwait_signal + 10 1 libSystem.B.dylib 0x00007fff81501cd1 _pthread_cond_wait + 1286 2 libvlccore.4.dylib 0x00000001000a0529 vlc_cond_wait + 9 3 libvlccore.4.dylib 0x000000010002213d libvlc_InternalWait + 45 4 libvlc.5.dylib 0x00000001000094dc libvlc_wait + 12 5 org.videolan.vlc 0x0000000100003baa main + 410 6 org.videolan.vlc 0x00000001000039e4 start + 52 Thread 1 Crashed: 0 libavformat_plugin.dylib 0x000000010212f609 mov_write_moov_tag + 89 1 ??? 0x0000000000008000 0 + 32768 2 ??? 0x000200006d6f7369 0 + 562951789441897 Thread 2: 0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x00007fff81524b3e __sigwait + 10 1 libSystem.B.dylib 0x00007fff81524b17 sigwait + 73 2 libsignals_plugin.dylib 0x00000001007e97ed SigThread + 77 3 libSystem.B.dylib 0x00007fff814fc456 _pthread_start + 331 4 libSystem.B.dylib 0x00007fff814fc309 thread_start + 13 Thread 1 crashed with X86 Thread State (64-bit): rax: 0x0000000101805828 rbx: 0x0000000101804610 rcx: 0x0000000000000000 rdx: 0x0000000000000001 rdi: 0x0000000000000000 rsi: 0x0000000000000001 rbp: 0x0000000101006120 rsp: 0x00000001007e4800 r8: 0x0000000000000000 r9: 0x0000000101805800 r10: 0x0000000000000001 r11: 0x0000000000000007 r12: 0x0000000000000020 r13: 0x0000000000000002 r14: 0x0000000101006020 r15: 0x00000001002a5dd0 rip: 0x000000010212f609 rfl: 0x0000000000010246 cr2: 0x0000000000000004

Could this be any of my settings causing the issue?
Do you want me to file an issue for that?

[ILEoo]

Didn't spot any option that could cause that segfault. Seems that libavformat is crashing on mov_write_moov_tag for some reason.

[ILEoo]

Hi,

I'm working on this issues, could you try tomorrows nightlies (or build from git) if it's any better with quicktime? or test with quicktime following clip made with recent changes http://www.porogrammer.fi/~ileoo/new_provi.mp4 (11M file)

[ssp]

Great to hear this ILEoo, thanks.

I couldn't find a current nightly build, but the video you link to plays all right in QuickTime.

If you want me to test anything else, just let me know what to do.

[ILEoo]

Thats all I needed to hear, thank you for testing. This issues should be fixed on next nightly builds (branch is the upcoming 1.1).