saving to MPEG 4

jamesglynn wrote on 2/28/2025, 2:26 AM

i need to save my edited video files to MPEG 4 i can't save to mpeg 4 from my cleaning lab 4 but i can using my older cleaning lab 2014 premium! magix told me my save titles were too long but even reducing the titles to one word "test" it does not save in mpeg 4 only if i click on original format will it save. any suggestions from the audio world out there? thanks i don't get on here that much so maybe contact me at email address removed by Moderator thanks all!

Comments

emmrecs wrote on 2/28/2025, 3:51 AM

@jamesglynn

Please be aware these are public forums and personal data, like your email address, should never be posted here. Hence I have edited your post.

MPEG4 is a video format so I am a little confused as to what SFACL4 has to do with this question? Which video editing program do you have?

I suspect the answer to your question is to export the audio from SFACL4 as .wav, import that file to your video editor and mute/silence any existing audio track and export your video with the "cleaned?" audio muxed in. Depending upon which video editor you use it should be relatively easy to ensure the "cleaned" audio exactly aligns with the original.

However, all the above is pure speculation (!) so please give us much more detail about exactly what you are doing, and how.

Jeff
Forum Moderator

johnebaker wrote on 2/28/2025, 7:26 AM

@jamesglynn

. . . . my save titles were too long but even reducing the titles to one word "test" . . . .

Is Audio Cleaning lab 4 running as a trial version, ie not activated with a purchased serial number?

If so the movie length that can be exported is, IIRC, limited to ~ 3 mins.

John EB
Forum Moderator

jamesglynn wrote on 2/28/2025, 4:34 PM

my sound forge cleaning lab 4 is registered but will not save to MPEG4 why can i save to MPEG4 from the older magix cleaning lab 2014 premium? magix tech service has closed the ticket with no help! they tell me they can't reproduce it on their end which ok, i get it but they never tell me why the 2014 premium software can! i'd rather use the MCL 4 as i like the way it handles audio a little better but i do want the option to save in MPEG 4. to my ears it sounds better especially or streaming platforms but maybe that's just my ears? thanks for any feedback from this community!this is my platform

Device name    DESKTOP-MS9E40B
Processor    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2540M CPU @ 2.60GHz   2.60 GHz
Installed RAM    8.00 GB (7.88 GB usable)
Device ID    Removed by Moderator
Product ID    Removed by Moderator
System type    64-bit operating system, x64-based processor
Pen and touch    No pen or touch input is available for this display

Edition    Windows 10 Pro
Version    22H2
Installed on    ‎7/‎21/‎2021
OS build    19045.5555
Experience    Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.19061.1000.0

SP. wrote on 2/28/2025, 5:07 PM

@jamesglynn MP4 is a container. It contains an audio stream and a video stream. Both can have different codecs which might be supported or not be supported. For example, the software might be able to play back the video but not be able to export it because the encoder of SFACL4 doesn't support the video stream. It could very well be that the encoder of version 2014 did.

You can check the video and audio codecs in your file with a free tool like MediaInfo. You can re-encode your file with free tools like Handbrake or Xmedia Recode to another video codec that might work better, like h264. I currently don't know which codecs are supported by SFACL4.

jamesglynn wrote on 2/28/2025, 10:38 PM

thank you, this is more info than i ever got from magix support. i will try a few things you suggest here. peace, James Glynn

johnebaker wrote on 3/1/2025, 3:32 AM

@jamesglynn

SFACL 4 can supports the following video formats for import/export:-

MPEG-21 - this may need online activation (free) on first use.
MPEG-4 (mp4) h.264 and AVCHD encoding) 1
MOV depending on the video encoding format of the source file, you may need Quicktime for Windows installed.
WMV
MXV which is a custom Magix intermediate format.

Do note that, with your laptop specification, exporting of video is going to be slow for higher resolution videos such as FullHD 1920 x 1080 or 4K UHD 3840 x 2160.

John EB
Forum Moderator

jamesglynn wrote on 3/1/2025, 8:33 PM

thanks, so if i bring in a mp4 video to set new e.q. parameters in my cleaning lab 4 then try to save in mpeg4 I'm outta luck unless i click on original format instead of mpeg4? am i wrong thinking mpeg4 is a better format for video streaming or is mp4 equivalent? sorry for being such a freaking dunce here but i'm so confused as to why the older cleaning lab 2014 premium can do it with no issues! but am i wrong thinking that MPEG4 files sound better for streaming platforms or is it just the opposite that mp4 is preferred? thanks all and i promise no more questions from me.peace to all! Jimmer Glynn

johnebaker wrote on 3/2/2025, 1:56 AM

@jamesglynn

. . . . . am i wrong thinking mpeg4 is a better format for video streaming or is mp4 equivalent? . . . .

Technically MP4 and MPEG-4 are not the same thing.

MP4 is a standard for the 'container file' format which can contain video and audio encoded is several different formats.

MPEG-4 is one of those video encoding formats, and is more commonly referred to as h.264 or AVC and is the most common video encoding format found in a MP4 container file..

The 2 terms are often used incorrectly,

The video content inside an MP4 file is encoded using the MPEG-4 standard.

. . . . am i wrong thinking that MPEG4 files sound better for streaming platforms or is it just the opposite that mp4 is preferred . . .

The audio encoding format, along with it s bitrate and sample frequency, determines the quality of the audio, With h.264/AVC encoded video the two most common, acompatible, audio encoding formats are AAC (stereo) and AC3 (stereo or surround sound).

The export from SFACL can be very slow due to the CPU/GPU limitations of the computer, as I mentioned above.

John EB

jamesglynn wrote on 3/2/2025, 1:18 PM

thanks so much for your consideration! peace, stay safe