I have compressed a 3D Animation from 1.5GB to 60 megs and it still runs like garbage through the app. While running it as a regular movie full screen it looks beautiful. While running it though iScreensaver it runs poorly and looks worse too. Is it possible that there is some post processing that is happening that I can turn off? I have turned off overlays and sound. What else can I try. It really appears that there is some other processing occurring that is completely unneeded. Help? I have something I am delivering to a client and it will not work.
Hello, we can probably help but need a lot more info…
- What OS?
- What Screen Size?
- What video format are you using?
- What encoder did you use?
- What app are you using when you say “it looks beautiful”?
- What stretch mode are you using inside iScreensaver?
- What browser version do you have installed (Safari on Mac, IE on Window)?
- What version of QuickTime do you have installed?
Provide us a URL to download your screensaver and we can test it for you (email us if it’s a private download).
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What OS?
Tried Window7 and Windows XP (looks fine on mac) -
What Screen Size?
Any, tried multiples -
What video format are you using?
Tried MP4, MPEG, M2V, MOV and FLV -
What encoder did you use?
Tried After Effects, Media Encoder, and Handbrake -
What app are you using when you say “it looks beautiful”?
Windows Media Player or VLC -
What stretch mode are you using inside iScreensaver?
Letterbox -
What browser version do you have installed (Safari on Mac, IE on Window)?
Using Chrome and IE, both with all latest updates.
Would like to know what an ideal compression would be.
On windows, iScreensaver uses the QuickTime Plugin via a WebBrowser control (which is part of IE).
Further questions:
- What version of IE do you have installed? (8, 9…or later?)
- What version of QuickTime do you have installed?
More tests:
- How does the movie file play back within QuickTime Player?
Suggestions:
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the “ideal” video encoding is more of an art than a science. You replied that you are using “MP4, MPEG, M2V, MOV and FLV” but some of those are video container formats, not video codecs. It sounds like you aren’t quite sure what you are doing with this?
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For smoothest playback, we recommend you try the PhotoJPEG file format - the main disadvantage is large file size. For a good combination of size/performance, try H264 format within a QuickTime container (.MOV).
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We’ve seen terrible results with After Effects and Adobe Media Encoder, so we don’t recommend you use those apps.
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For best results, export the movie file from within the QuickTime Player app (you’ll need the $29 Pro expansion, sold separately from Apple computer which you can purchase here: http://store.apple.com/us/product/D3381Z/A or http://store.apple.com/us/product/D3380Z/A ).
Again, if you have a sample file, we’d be happy to test it out for you.
I’ve tried QTPro also, which we have. We’re working with very high end machines. 32core 48GB ram with dual quadro 4000’s. Even on this is slows down and looks worse. While played through QT or through WMP the movies playback fine. There is obviously some movie container that is creating the problem. Is it loading a browser to play the file back through? If not, I don’t see why browser info matters. I have tried H264 within a Quicktime movie, the movie looks great and plays back fine. While played back as a screen saver though it gets like 4fps and looks aliased. Trying PhotoJPEG compression in MOV now.
We are looking into this on our end, we are seeing some things that don’t look quite right. Stay tuned.
We have created an FLV and embedded it into an SWF. This plays back as expected. We’ve ditched other types for now since this option is working. Thanks for looking into it, perhaps we can just use the native formats of M2V or MOV in the future.
Using FLV inside a Flash SWF is a good workaround for the moment, that’s a very good idea!
We see the issue and believe we have a fix on the QuickTime side, we’ll report back when we have more info.
Update: it appears as if there is a bug in QuickTime on Windows, such that if you have any stretching or shrinking of the movie playback, there can be some quality issues.
We’ve determined that it does not show up when older versions of Internet Explorer (such as version 6.0) are installed. But it does show up with IE8 or later.
We are in the process of contacting Apple and Microsoft to see if they are aware of this issue and can fix it.
In the meantime, some workarounds:
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Inside iScreensaver, use “Actual Size” stretch mode: Right click the item in the sequence editor, choose Item/Media, then Display, and choose the “Actual Size” popup.
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If you use “Actual Size” mode, you may find that the movie playback is too small (or too large) for some screen sizes. We suggest you consider making a few variations on your screensaver to accommodate : Perhaps a “SD” version which is 800x600, and HD version which is 1280x720.
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Convert your video to FLV format and embed the FLV inside a Flash SWF file.