When the specs are “Just send me an MP4”, what bitrate do y’all choose?
What’s the point of diminishing returns?
-Ted
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For a normal HD export, my go-to has been 20mb/sec for a while. It was the standard for Youtube deliverables and so we just started using it for all-around postings as well.
I think it might be slight overkill, because it probably isn’t TOO different from 10 mb/sec, but the footprint isn’t all that bad at something like ~70mb for a :30 so I just leaned on Google/Youtube with where they landed and went with that.
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Arrgh!!! This really triggers me. I’m sorry.
Not just what bit rate but what codec. It screams of someone not really knowing.
I can probably help them and assume they want h.264 but I usually go back and ask them if they want it large or small.
Do they want a file that they can email to their corporate client or are they looking for something to upload as a deliverable.
We are doing SO much more of the encoding these days. I’m not sure what has changed but I am popping out 100’s of deliverables. My nerves get triggered whenever I am asked to “just send an MP4” 
“Just send me a tomato 
“
“Wait why did you send me a cherry tomato. This is too small!”
“Why did you send me a Beefsteak tomato? This will never attach to my clients email”
I think I have stretched this analogy a bit too far now 
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I feel your pain!
In this scenario, I’m imagining they want an H264 for delivery.
-Ted
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So many similar stories… Encoding, conform, color, etc.
But, never make them look stupid, and never make them think.
Make reasonable assumptions. If you guessed wrong, just say ‘apologies, that wasn’t clear, updating now’.
As long as the Amex swipes while the clock ticks, it’s their prerogative to be wasteful.
@allklier - or do it faster, more accurately, for more money…
My comment was more about clients who provide incomplete, ambiguous instructions because they don’t know better.
But yes, you can always upgrade to premium clients that are 99% in sync with you, race to the finish line, and collect premium fees. But they’re not always easy to come by, especially in the current economy.
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@allklier - hilarious and true
equally, we have the world’s most valuable companies doing work for pennies on the dollar…
My goto for “. . . an MP4” is straight out of flame, 20mb/s h.264, CBR. On rare occasion they ask for bigger/smaller. For Deliverables, I do 50mb/s h.264, CBR for YouTube, Meta, AmazonPrime, LinkdIn, and probably a few others. They don’t set a min/max, and that’s as high as MediaEncoder goes. For ER and Hulu I send ProResHQ with -24 audio. Everyone else I send -14 audio. On occasion I make a few real small ones for a few random platforms. If someones spec is 15-30, I send them the 20mb/s version out of flame. For what it’s worth, I don’t think anyone cares about audio anymore. I know ER has stopped bouncing -14 for broadcast. The just turn it down. I have heard rumors that Meta/YouTube/LinkdIn crowd does the same. They don’t specify in their specs.
That’s a shame on the audio. Just gaining it straight down on the full mix is not the same as having the mixer achieve a specific LUFS target that sounds balanced and has intelligible dialog.
But standards on quality have been degrading for a while.
I will stop sending -14 to the Web services if I get written proof that they crank it down. It’s just a rumor as far as I know. I still send -24 to ER and Hulu.
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for h264 I always go with CRF instead of bitrate, its independent of resolution or anything else, makes way more sense to me
A lot of web services request CBR. People are just looking at this shit on their phones anyway. I try not to overthink it. The fewer versions I make the better.
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what is CRF
Constant Rate Factor. Yet one more TLA to remember. It’s a hybrid between VBR and CBR. I am not enough of a bit dweeb to understand more.
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And today I had one bounced because I was paying too close attention to bitrate and put out a file that was oversized for LinkdIn. Sue me . . .
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I’m with you. This is a new term I have only learned today
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ifs just nice , we run automatic dailies at crf 21 or so, they just look nice , they are never too large or overly compressed , size depends on content, complex scenes have more bitrate
If you open that streaming preset for h264 from adsk they setup a whole ruleset around resolution and bitrates, its pretty involved , udk why they wouldnt just go with CRF …