Help please! I need to convert an MP4 video for Apple TV?

[sonictonic]

Hi Guys,

I have a few super high quality live music performances from my favorite artist, in 720p HD, each in .mp4 format. When I imported them into my iTunes and then tried to sync them to my Apple TV it said it's not playable on this Apple TV because they are not compatible.

I thought MP4's were totally compatible?

What do I need to do to get these to play on my Apple TV?! I have iSquint and Handbrake, but Handbrake seems like its just meant for DVD's am I right? And I tried iSquint on the highest quality setting and H264 and it lost a LOT of the quality.

How can I get them to play on my Apple TV but NOT lose any of the HD goodness?!

Thanks in advance.

 

[theBB]

Video formats supported:

H.264 and protected H.264 (from iTunes Store):
• up to 5 Mbps, Progressive Main Profile (CAVLC) with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps (maximum resolution 1280x720 @ 24fps, 960x540 @ 30fps)
• iTunes Store purchased video, 320x240 or 640x480

MPEG-4:
• up to 3 Mbps, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps (maximum resolution 720x432 @ 30 fps


You must be exceeding one of these limits. I am guessing it is the last one.

 

[sonictonic]

This is almost too technical for me but according to the place I got the files from these are 720p h264 videos, at 29.97fps So I guess I am just barely past the 24fps, if this is the only place I'm messed up.

Is there anything I can do? These videos look so good and I'd love to have em on my ATV but man... I really don't wanna miss out on the super HQ as this artist usually doesn't have stuff in HD available.

 

[sandman42]

MPEG Streamclip

Try MPEG Streamclip. It's free and should be able to do what you need.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Or, you can just open it in QuickTime Pro, then export it using the AppleTV option. It will adjust the settings to be compatible with AppleTV, without you having to get into experimenting with the fine-tuning details.

 

[sonictonic]

Try MPEG Streamclip. It's free and should be able to do what you need.

Thanks. This program looked pretty cool, but the damn thing will not work at all! No matter what export options I set up (tried a BUNCH!) I get "Error: Can't prepare movie." Their help file doesn't say anything about this error either.

Gonna try QT Pro now. Thanks guys - will keep ya posted.