Video from Blu-ray can't be synced to iPhone 3GS in iTunes

[star-affinity]

Like this: Blu-ray disc > MakeMKV > MKV file > iFFmpeg > MP4 file

That MP4 video I get won't sync in iTunes to my son's iPhone 3GS because it says it can't be played back on that device. If I make an MKV of a DVD and then convert the MKV to MP4 there's no problem.

I know there are other video players that will play back the file, but I prefer to use the built-in (Apple's) because it seems to be the most efficiant. I have VLC too, but it struggles with the videos even if they have been converted to 640 x 480.

Any ideas why the MP4's made from Blu-rays won't play back (i.e. won't sync) to the iPhone 3GS (running iOS 6) from iTunes?

[Romansh]

Ask iFFmpeg support.

Are yo sure whatever settings you're using actually downscale the content? The iPhone 3GS cannot play high-defnition videos, it's limited to 720x576 up to 25 fps, 720x480 up to 30 fps…

[star-affinity]

Ask iFFmpeg support.

Are yo sure whatever settings you're using actually downscale the content? The iPhone 3GS cannot play high-defnition videos, it's limited to 720x576 up to 25 fps, 720x480 up to 30 fps…

Thanks for your reply!
Yes, they are 640 x 480. I have contacted them and they gave me different presets top try, but no go. The same presets work for a DVD that I run through MakeMKV, but for Blu-rays I get the problem that they won't sync to the iPhone 3GS in iTunes because it is said the file can't be played.

[Woodstock]

There is also the issue with audio CODECs that Bluray has but aren't supported on the 3GS...

[Romansh]

Maybe if you post a MediaInfo report of two example files (DVD -> MakeMKV -> iFFmpeg -> output.mp4, BD -> MakeMKV -> iFFmpeg -> output.mp4) we can spot the culprit.

[star-affinity]

Sorry for late followup.

I'll try to gather Mediainfo reports for the two files as suggested. I probably won't have time until next week.

Thanks so much for trying to help – you are awesome!


Edit

Here we go – hope you can find something.


Works to sync:

General
Complete name : /Volumes/Data2/Video Factory/iFFmpeg-RIPs/Vem.mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media
Codec ID : isom
File size : 210 MiB
Duration : 30mn 4s
Overall bit rate : 979 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 1904-01-01 00:00:00
Tagged date : UTC 1904-01-01 00:00:00
Writing application : Lavf56.4.101

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : Main@L3.0
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 3 frames
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 30mn 4s
Bit rate : 780 Kbps
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 576 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 25.000 fps
Standard : PAL
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.075
Stream size : 168 MiB (80%)
Writing library : x264 core 142
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=3 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x1:0x130 / me=hex / subme=2 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=0 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=0 / threads=8 / lookahead_threads=2 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=1 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=20.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=3 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Language : English
Encoded date : UTC 1904-01-01 00:00:00
Tagged date : UTC 1904-01-01 00:00:00

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : 40
Duration : 30mn 4s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 192 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 41.4 MiB (20%)
Title : Stereo
Language : Swedish
Encoded date : UTC 1904-01-01 00:00:00
Tagged date : UTC 1904-01-01 00:00:00

Menu #1
ID : 3
Codec ID : text
Duration : 30mn 4s
Language : English
Encoded date : UTC 1904-01-01 00:00:00
Tagged date : UTC 1904-01-01 00:00:00
Bit rate mode : CBR
00:00:00.000 : Chapter 01
00:04:20.240 : Chapter 02
00:07:50.960 : Chapter 03
00:11:23.120 : Chapter 04
00:15:00.080 : Chapter 05
00:18:35.120 : Chapter 06
00:22:10.160 : Chapter 07
00:25:47.120 : Chapter 08
00:30:02.000 : Chapter 09

Menu #2
00:00:00.080 : Chapter 01
00:04:20.240 : Chapter 02
00:07:50.960 : Chapter 03
00:11:23.120 : Chapter 04
00:15:00.080 : Chapter 05
00:18:35.120 : Chapter 06
00:22:10.160 : Chapter 07
00:25:47.120 : Chapter 08
00:30:02.000 : Chapter 09

Doesn't work to sync:

General
Complete name : /Volumes/Data2/Video Factory/iFFmpeg-RIPs/Wall•E.m4v
Format : MPEG-4
Codec ID : M4V
File size : 542 MiB
Duration : 1h 38mn
Overall bit rate : 767 Kbps
Movie name : Wall•E
Performer : Andrew Stanton
Recorded date : 2008
Encoded date : UTC 1904-01-01 00:00:00
Tagged date : UTC 1904-01-01 00:00:00
Writing application : Lavf56.15.102

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : Baseline@L3.1
Format settings, CABAC : No
Format settings, ReFrames : 3 frames
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 1h 38mn
Bit rate : 635 Kbps
Width : 640 pixels
Height : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.086
Stream size : 448 MiB (83%)
Writing library : x264 core 142 r2479 dd79a61
Encoding settings : cabac=0 / ref=3 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x1:0x130 / me=hex / subme=7 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=0 / 8x8dct=0 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=0 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=8 / lookahead_threads=1 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=0 / weightp=0 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=24 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=24.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=3 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Language : English
Encoded date : UTC 1904-01-01 00:00:00
Tagged date : UTC 1904-01-01 00:00:00

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : 40
Duration : 1h 38mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 128 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 90.5 MiB (17%)
Language : English
Encoded date : UTC 1904-01-01 00:00:00
Tagged date : UTC 1904-01-01 00:00:00

Menu #1
ID : 3
Codec ID : text
Duration : 1h 38mn
Language : English
Encoded date : UTC 1904-01-01 00:00:00
Tagged date : UTC 1904-01-01 00:00:00
Bit rate mode : CBR
00:00:00.000 : Chapter 01
00:03:36.320 : Chapter 02
00:05:49.704 : Chapter 03
00:09:18.788 : Chapter 04
00:12:03.452 : Chapter 05
00:17:56.471 : Chapter 06
00:19:33.402 : Chapter 07
00:21:10.165 : Chapter 08
00:23:46.821 : Chapter 09
00:29:18.027 : Chapter 10
00:31:25.113 : Chapter 11
00:33:27.777 : Chapter 12
00:35:20.139 : Chapter 13
00:38:49.557 : Chapter 14
00:42:53.383 : Chapter 15
00:43:31.672 : Chapter 16
00:51:08.962 : Chapter 17
00:52:07.604 : Chapter 18
00:54:47.472 : Chapter 19
00:56:05.800 : Chapter 20
00:57:58.037 : Chapter 21
00:58:41.205 : Chapter 22
01:02:14.919 : Chapter 23
01:03:21.068 : Chapter 24
01:05:49.717 : Chapter 25
01:11:44.905 : Chapter 26
01:15:54.237 : Chapter 27
01:19:22.821 : Chapter 28
01:20:14.706 : Chapter 29
01:24:14.112 : Chapter 30
01:25:45.787 : Chapter 31
01:30:17.516 : Chapter 32

Menu #2
00:00:00.021 : Chapter 01
00:03:36.320 : Chapter 02
00:05:49.704 : Chapter 03
00:09:18.788 : Chapter 04
00:12:03.452 : Chapter 05
00:17:56.471 : Chapter 06
00:19:33.402 : Chapter 07
00:21:10.165 : Chapter 08
00:23:46.821 : Chapter 09
00:29:18.027 : Chapter 10
00:31:25.113 : Chapter 11
00:33:27.777 : Chapter 12
00:35:20.139 : Chapter 13
00:38:49.557 : Chapter 14
00:42:53.383 : Chapter 15
00:43:31.672 : Chapter 16
00:51:08.962 : Chapter 17
00:52:07.604 : Chapter 18
00:54:47.472 : Chapter 19
00:56:05.800 : Chapter 20
00:57:58.037 : Chapter 21
00:58:41.205 : Chapter 22
01:02:14.919 : Chapter 23
01:03:21.068 : Chapter 24
01:05:49.717 : Chapter 25
01:11:44.905 : Chapter 26
01:15:54.237 : Chapter 27
01:19:22.821 : Chapter 28
01:20:14.706 : Chapter 29
01:24:14.112 : Chapter 30
01:25:45.787 : Chapter 31
01:30:17.516 : Chapter 32