[FFmpeg-user] Encoding 3gp6 with MPEG-4 Visual and Simple at L1

[Curtis Farnham]

Hi all,

I’m trying to encode some videos to match the 3GP formats offered by YouTube, but I’m stuck on which command line options to use.  I can get ffmpeg to produce 3GP files, but when I inspect them with mediainfo and compare them to what I get with YouTube-generated ones, some important bits aren’t coming out the same.  Here’s are the main bits I’m focusing on, which YouTube’s files have:

General
Format                                   : MPEG-4
Format profile                           : 3GPP Media Release 6 Basic
Codec ID                                 : 3gp6

Video
Format                                   : MPEG-4 Visual
Format profile                           : Simple at L1

If I use "-vcodec libx264 -profile:v baseline -level 1 -f 3gp” when encoding, I get the same 3gp6 codec ID up top. But in the Video section, the Format is “AVC” and the Profile is “Baseline at L1.0”.  Or if I use “-vcodec mpeg4 -profile 0 -level 1 -f 3gp” instead, I get 3gp4 rather than 3gp6, but in the Video section, the format and profile are correct ("MPEG-4 Visual” and "Simple at L1”.)

Any pointers on what I should be using?  I’ve been g00gling for hours and trying all sorts of things, but no luck yet.  FWIW, I’m using ffmpeg 2.2.1 compiled by Homebrew on Mac OSX.  I’m happy to provide more output of ffmpeg, mediainfo, or other commands.  I’m not really sure what’s relevant.  Some will be tempted to respond with, “Why in the world are you encoding in a crusty old format such as 3GP? Don’t do that.”  I have my reasons, so please bear with me. :-)

Thanks,
Curtis