Forum Discussion

Lionheart's avatar
Lionheart
Visitor
16 years ago

Can Roku Stream MOV Files?

We've successfully created and customized a channel and can stream content using the example players.

We are using Macs and iMovie's native format is MOV. We'd really like to stream MOV files, rather than converting to MP4.

Does ROKU support streaming MOV format? If so, what are the exact settings in the sample video player code that would allow one to do this? I've tried changing the filetype to MOV, but it's not working.

Anybody help me on this?
Thanks!
😄
Roku Developer Program

15 Replies

  • DeftOne's avatar
    DeftOne
    Visitor
    16 years ago
    According to the SDK documentation .mov files are supported. Check out Section 3.1 of the RokuDvp-DeveloperGuide.pdf for the particulars on the required encoding settings.
  • bcl's avatar
    bcl
    Channel Surfer
    16 years ago
    According to the docs it supports .mov, but remember that is just a container. The content still needs to be H.264
  • Lionheart's avatar
    Lionheart
    Visitor
    16 years ago
    Thanks everyone... I finally figured out what I was doing wrong. You guys gave me hope to press on!

    However.. my HD quality MOV (1280x720) file stops and stutters every 4 secs or so and another little piece streams in. Very annoying. My 960x540 plays smoothly. I tried messing with the bitrate setting, but no luck. Any suggestions on how to get it to pull in the content fast enough to keep up with the player? I'm on a 20mbps fiber network using ethernet cable...

    Thanks again!
    😄
  • bbefilms's avatar
    bbefilms
    Visitor
    16 years ago
    "Lionheart" wrote:
    Thanks everyone... I finally figured out what I was doing wrong. You guys gave me hope to press on!

    However.. my HD quality MOV (1280x720) file stops and stutters every 4 secs or so and another little piece streams in. Very annoying. My 960x540 plays smoothly. I tried messing with the bitrate setting, but no luck. Any suggestions on how to get it to pull in the content fast enough to keep up with the player? I'm on a 20mbps fiber network using ethernet cable...

    Thanks again!
    😄


    Which codec are you using to create the HD .mov files?
  • Lionheart's avatar
    Lionheart
    Visitor
    16 years ago
    "bbefilms" wrote:

    Which codec are you using to create the HD .mov files?


    H.264, AAC

    How do I find the proper bitrate setting to plug into the simple player code... or does this make any difference? The default is only 1500. I've tried various settings but doesn't help.

    Thanks again!
  • RokuKevin's avatar
    RokuKevin
    Visitor
    16 years ago
    If you run mp4info on the fiile, you can get the average bitrate for the audio and video... Add these two together and set the StreamBitRates to the sum.

    --Kevin
  • bbefilms's avatar
    bbefilms
    Visitor
    16 years ago
    "Lionheart" wrote:
    "bbefilms" wrote:

    Which codec are you using to create the HD .mov files?


    H.264, AAC

    How do I find the proper bitrate setting to plug into the simple player code... or does this make any difference? The default is only 1500. I've tried various settings but doesn't help.


    My experience has been that 720P HD material produced with the Apple H264 codec doesn't run properly in the Roku player without constant rebuffering, no matter how you specify the bitrates. We downloaded and installed the free x264 codec and used that for all conversions with Compressor (or however you're making your .mov's) and our problems went away. Would strongly advise using this codec if you aren't already.
  • bcl's avatar
    bcl
    Channel Surfer
    16 years ago
    "RokuKevin" wrote:
    If you run mp4info on the fiile, you can get the average bitrate for the audio and video... Add these two together and set the StreamBitRates to the sum.

    --Kevin


    Oh! Really?! I've just been setting it to the rate of the video. I suppose at lower bitrates it would make more of a difference than at higher rates.
  • Lionheart's avatar
    Lionheart
    Visitor
    16 years ago
    "bbefilms" wrote:
    "Lionheart" wrote:
    "bbefilms" wrote:

    Which codec are you using to create the HD .mov files?


    H.264, AAC

    How do I find the proper bitrate setting to plug into the simple player code... or does this make any difference? The default is only 1500. I've tried various settings but doesn't help.


    My experience has been that 720P HD material produced with the Apple H264 codec doesn't run properly in the Roku player without constant rebuffering, no matter how you specify the bitrates. We downloaded and installed the free x264 codec and used that for all conversions with Compressor (or however you're making your .mov's) and our problems went away. Would strongly advise using this codec if you aren't already.


    Thanks a million. I've installed this and tried exporting in iMovie with this codec, settings in the attached PNG.

    Roku debug console says this:
    ---
    Displaying video:
    Unknown event: 11 msg: Unsupported media format.
    play failed: The format is not supported or the media is corrupt.
    Closing video screen
    ---

    I'd sure like to get HD running. If anybody has a method that works in iMovie 09 and wants to share specifics, I'd be very appreciative. I have to be doing something wrong here.

    For the benefit of others, here's where I found the x.264 codec for OSX:

    http://mac-free.com/download/x264-QuickTime-Codec.html

    Thanks again!