Question / Help mp4 or flv?

[deh-cheesekake]

The file output path in broadcast settings when OBS is on file output mode has 2 options. mp4 and flv

Simple question - what are the pros and cons of each and which would you recomend overall?

 

[Jack0r]

MP4 is a container that allows faster seeking (depending on your video player) while FLV files are to my experience more robust when it comes to crashes. An MP4 file needs to be closed, so if a crash occurs, the file might be not usable while an flv should still work.
Apart of that, both are just the container we use to save the video and audio track!

 

[vbdkv]

Mp4 can be played locally by Windows Media Player without requiring any codecs or 3rd party software such as VLC and can be edited in any new'ish video editor such as Premiere Pro. I haven't used flv for anything as I dont really see the need for it. It might come in handy for specific scenarios but what those are I really have no idea :)

 

[deh-cheesekake]

Thanks for your info so far. I take it that in terms of quality there is no real difference then, it is purely the container that's differnet

 

[Krazy]

vbdkv, that's only true if the codecs used in the MP4 file are natively supported by WMP (a lot aren't)

MP4 is just a container, with a range of codecs available to be put in it.

As for your question, no, there is no visual quality difference. We tend to always recommend people record using FLV in case of crashses, like Jack0r mentioned. You can easily change the container in ffmpeg after you are done recording as most video editing software won't accept FLV: http://obsproject.com/forum/threads/guide-how-to-convert-flvs-to-mp4-fast-without-re-encoding.6406/

 

[vbdkv]

I know.

 

[DryRoastedLemon]

Mp4 can be played locally by Windows Media Player without requiring any codecs or 3rd party software

Then perhaps you need to say this differently. What you mean is that Windows Media Player supports reading the MP4 container, but whether or not it's able to decode the video and audio material depends on whether the WMP supports the codecs natively, or if the corresponding codecs are installed on the system.