From your PM:
f you have a second could you guide me in the right direction on which video format would be the fastest, clearest, best quality to convert 4 hdd's that have a hodgepodge of video formats?
I'd like to convert 4 hdd's so that ALL files will play from within gizmo and ALLOW for fast forwarding as discussed here - http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=90039.msg619222#msg619222
what's your recommendation on the best video format to accomplish my task?
Thanks in advance for your time, and advice
If you are just using Gizmo, then MC should be converting all your videos on the fly and streaming them to Gizmo based on the quality setting of High, Med, Low. This quality setting is really so you can talor the delivery based on the NW speed you have. Eg, you could use High when at home on WiFi, and Low when traveling on a Mobile network. Files being streamed to Gizmo are all AVC/AAC in a TS container. Seeking should be fine (it works for me).
If just using Gizmo I'd keep the files as they are and let MC/Gizmo do it's think automatically. If you want to convert all your files for other reasons (space saving, native compatibility with other devices like iStuff etc), then I'd suggest you test a couple of formats such as one of the "H264-TS AutoFPS" or "MP4 AutoFPS" (if you want better native iStuff compatibility). The issues to be aware of are:
- pending on your source material, it could make it bigger OR smaller on your HDD, and
- MC/Gizmo will still transcode it on the fly anyway each time you play
- you will introduce generational loss with each transcoding
Also I know that Hendrik is looking at this whole area, so I'd hold off.
That said I did convert all my old "DV-AVI" years ago H264 in a TS container for better compatibility.
Thanks
Nathan