[FFmpeg-user] PAL MP4 displays VITC in transcodes

[Mark Himsley]

On 29/12/2012 01:54, marcus at sonicpool.com wrote:
> Hello All
> 
> I'm fairly young to FFMPEG but I'm coming across an unusual problem.
> I've been encoding various (NTSC) QT ProsRes HQ to mp4. So far no
> problems.
> When using very similar settings for my (PAL) QT ProRes, the end results
> are unusual.
> 
> I'm seeing VITC TIMECODE and additional "blanking" in the (PAL) mp4's.
> The source files of 
> the active picture don't have any visible VITC and no blanking. However
> once I've transcoded the file, it is severely shifted. Displaying VITC &
> Blanking in the final product. Please see attachment. 
> 
> I've checked the files in MEDIA INFO to verify the resolution.
> The QT ProRes is 720x576 5:4 and the MP4 is reporting 720x608 5:4
> Is there away transcode only Active Lines?

<SNIP>

>     Stream #0:1(eng): Video: mpeg2video (4:2:2) (mx5p / 0x7035786D),
> yuv422p, 720x608 [SAR 152:135 DAR 4:3], 50000 kb/s, SAR 16:15 DAR 24:19,
> 25 fps, 25 tbr, 25 tbn, 50 tbc

What you have here is 'PAL' IMX50 video - MPEG2 I-Frame only at 50Mbps.

(I'm using 'PAL' to mean 25 FPS Standard Definition)

For those who don't know, 'PAL' IMX50 is, as you can see, 720x608. That
is 720x576 with 32 lines of VBI (Vertical Blanking Interval) at the top,
which may include VITC (Vertical Interval Time Code).

So Marcus, you want to use the crop filter in FFmpeg.

Your bare minimum command would be:

./ffmpeg -i /Volumes/XXXXXX/XXXX/PAL/TJB_WTextless_PAL_ENG.mov -r 25 -vf
crop=720x576:0:32 JungleBook/TJB_WTextless_PAL_ENG/video.mp4

Hope that helps.

-- 
Mark