If you are experiencing poor video playback of AVC / H.264 / HEVC codecs in DaVinci Resolve, here’s what you need to know.
There is no magical way to ensure perfect real-time playback of AVC / H.264 and H.265 / HEVC encoded video natively in DaVinci Resolve, especially if you’re dealing with multiple streams. These common but complex video codecs need to be decoded before you can work with the images. Decoding AVC or HEVC in real time is dependent on your CPU performance, and if your GPU and software support hardware acceleration.
H.264 Codec For After Effects
One typical issue is that we can't play H.265 in QuickTime on Mac OS X easily as we image. Q: 'Does Apple QuickTime support H.265 on the Mac I've been editing a video and just finished it and encoded it from h.264 to h.265 but when I play it back on QuickTime it doesn't go through any suggestions.' As you see, QuickTime won't support H.265 codec. Nov 30, 2006 Download the latest version of x264 QuickTime Codec for Mac - Encode H.264 faster than the Apple encoder. Read 11 user reviews of x264 QuickTime Codec on MacUpdate. This codec format is mainly used while recording, compressing and distributing video content over different media. Using this codec it is very simple to merge, trim, crop or add subtitles to MPEG-4 or MP4 video file. MP4 with H.264 codec is also referred to as AVC –Advanced Video Coding.
AVC / H.264 / HEVC / H.265 and DaVinci Resolve
DaVinci Resolve has a long history, with its origins dating back to the early 1980’s as da Vinci Systems, long before the technology was bought by Blackmagic Design in 2009.
DaVinci has always been a high-end color correction and finishing system. It was designed primarily for performance with uncompressed media. Of course, this has changed and the software has evolved to be far more flexible and inclusive of all kinds of common compressed media. In fact, Resolve is compatible with just about every common codec in use today.
Just because Resolve will read your AVC or HEVC encoded camera files, doesn’t mean it will play them back at full resolution in real-time. Depending on your hardware, Resolve may or may not manage to offer real-time playback when working with compressed video sources natively.
DaVinci Resolve Studio does support hardware GPU encoding and decoding if you’re using a compatible GPU. However, the free version of Resolve doesn’t, and so transcoding these files to an easier (less compressed) codec may be the best solution. For various technical reasons, transcoding your AVC / HEVC source media into an edit friendly format is a good idea even if your system does support hardware acceleration.
What is AVC / H.264 and HEVC / H.265?
Camera manufacturers have been using H.264 compression for a long time. More recently H.265 also known as HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) has been introduced. HEVC offers roughly twice the image quality of H.264 at the same bit rate, or the same quality at half the bit rate.
One of the most well known is Sony’s XAVC and XAVC-S. Sony XAVC is a very efficient compressed video formats, enabling high quality video encoding in low to intermediate bit-rates and small file sizes. XAVC and XAVC-S are based on the H.264 codec with uncompressed LPCM audio.
It’s not only Sony of course. All consumer video and many professional video formats employ H.264 compression. These codecs are also behind video streaming and broadcast formats.
Video Wrappers
A wrapper is the container for audio and video data. It is where your video file extension comes from… .mov, .avi, .mxf, .mp4 etc. XAVC uses the MXF wrapper, and XAVC-S uses MP4 wrapper, but the video inside is still H.264.
Video Codecs
The H.264 codec is a very flexible codec for efficient video encoding. It comes in a number of profiles which can accommodate different capabilities when it comes to color bit-depth, chroma sub-sampling, resolution, and intra or inter-frame compression. The H.265 / HEVC codec is even more efficient, at the cost of higher complexity.
CPU and GPU Decoding
Any discussion of performance in DaVinci Resolve is always spoken about in close connection with the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit). However, the decoding of source media is generally tasked to the CPU, not the GPU. As I mentioned previously, DaVinci Resolve Studio does support hardware decoding on supported GPU’s.
CPU or GPU, it is important to understand the internal processing pipeline involved. Resolve first must decompress and decode the source media into its uncompressed 32-bit floating point YRGB space regardless of source media color space, color bit-depth or chroma sub sampling scheme.
In the case of H.264 and H.265 this is a computationally intensive task. In order for Resolve to play back your XAVC or XAVC-S (or AVCHD for that matter) at full resolution in real-time, your system CPU (or GPU) must be capable of decoding and expanding the video data into 32-bit float YRGB space in memory in real-time. This is a vast amount of data to generate, from scratch, on the fly.
CPU Decode
Resolve has to decode H.264 and H.265 / HEVC encoded files using your system CPU before full raster video frames can be processed, and while this has been improved in Resolve, it’s still a problem for many on laptops and lower power systems to do this in real time. Working with these codecs natively can also result in audio drift and sync issues over the duration of long clips.
From the DaVinci Resolve 15 Hardware Selection and Configuration Guide on page 5:
However, for editing, VFX, and grading, the compressed data needs to be decompressed to the full RGB per pixel bit depth that can use four times or more processing power of a HD image for the same real time grading performance. The decompression process, like compression, uses the CPU, so the heavily compressed codecs need more powerful and a greater number of CPU cores. H.264 and H.265 are heavily compressed formats and while not idea for editing are often used by lower cost cameras. If you use these types of compressed codecs you will need a more powerful CPU or be prepared to use proxies or Resolves optimized media feature.
The fact is, these codecs have never been good for post production. The solution is to transcode your camera media to an easily decoded post-friendly codec. If you don’t want to do this as a separate step before you start editing, you can create Optimized Media within Resolve, and / or use Render Cache to transcode your clips on the timeline. Each of these has pros and cons.
GPU Decode
Free Video Codec For Mac
If you are running Resolve Studio on Windows, and have a compatible Nvidia or AMD GPU, you will be able to take advantage of hardware H.264 decoding. Hardware decoding on Nvidia GPU’s is more clearly documented in the Nvidia Video Encode and Decode GPU Support Matrix.
Hardware decoding is not supported in the free version of DaVinci Resolve on Windows or Linux, but is enabled on Mac. If you’re a Windows user and your GPU supports it, hardware acceleration alone is a good enough reason to buy Resolve Studio over using the free version.
How To Improve AVC / H.264 and HEVC / H.265 Performance in DaVinci Resolve
Improving playback performance of compressed media in DaVinci Resolve may require you to transcode your video files into a codec your system can more easily handle. This has the added advantage of allowing you to work with constant frame rate, edit friendly video files that will behave consistently throughout your post production workflow.
Transcoding Media
The fact of the matter is these highly compressed codecs are very efficient for encoding video data into small file sizes. It is not however easy or quick to decode for high-quality finishing and post production processing.
What you can do, is transcode your source media to a intermediate format which Resolve is able to process far more efficiently. These files then become your master media for post. Apple ProRes is a great general purpose format for this, as is Avid DNxHD or DNxHR and as long as you are transcoding at the same resolution, to a less compressed format, in the same or greater color bit-depth, you should not be losing any image quality as a result. Here’s a guide of possible transcode formats to consider.
Mac
- Apple ProRes 422 HQ – for source media of 8 or 10-bit color depth, 4:2:0 or 4:2:2
- Apple ProRes 4444 / 4444 XQ – for source media of 10-bit color depth or more, 4:4:4, suitable for HDR
Windows
HD
- Avid DNxHD 220 – for source media of 8-bit color depth, 4:2:0 or 4:2:2
- Avid DNxHD 220x – for source media of 10-bit color depth, 4:2:2
- Avid DNxHD 444 – for source media of 10-bit color depth, 4:4:4
4K
- Avid DNxHR HQX – for source media of 8 or 10-bit color depth, 4:2:2 or 4:2:0
- Avid DNxHR 444 – for source media of 10-bit color depth or more, 4:4:4, suitable for HDR
The resulting transcoded media should have the same timecode as the source media as well as the same filename. Only the file extension may have changed. Transcode into a separate folder in order to avoid overwriting your camera source files if the extension is the same. The resulting files will be larger, but since all the decoding of the source files has been done, Resolve no longer has to rely on the CPU to do it in real-time.
DaVinci Resolve Optimized Media
If you don’t want to transcode all of your source media before bringing it into Resolve, you can use Resolve’s built in Optimized Media tool. DaVinci Resolve gives you the option of generating optimized media directly from clips in the media pool and it handles all the internal linking of files between your original camera files and the optimized media, allowing you to switch between camera media and optimized media in your timeline. You can set the resolution and format for the optimized media in the General panel of the Project Settings.
There are a number of formats to choose from, but keep in mind your storage configuration when you select one. Resolve stores optimized media on the same scratch disk location it stores render cache files. You’ll need to make sure you’ve specified a location on fast enough storage to read your optimized media real-time.
Resolve lets you make optimized media in any flavor of Apple ProRes from “Proxy” up to 4444 XQ as well as Avid DNxHR LB through 444. You also have the option of making Uncompressed 10-bit or Uncompressed 16-bit float media which is stored in Resolve’s own .dvcc image format.
Conclusion
Transcoding your AVC / H.264 and HEVC / H.265 encoded media before bringing it into Resolve, or generating optimized media within Resolve is your best solution to improve performance, stability and reliability throughout your post production workflow.
Further Reading
- Learn more about DaVinci Resolve Minimum System Requirements
- Check my complete DaVinci Resolve GPU list with the best Nvidia and AMD GPU options for DaVinci Resolve listed and ranked by performance
- Read more about using an eGPU in my article The Best DaVinci Resolve eGPU Options
- Read more about Resolve monitoring in my article Low Budget Resolve Monitoring and Video Color Management
- Read more about storage in my article The Best Storage for Video Editing | Post Workflow Strategy & Backups
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As the next-generation video compression format, H.264 video has been used in high definition systems such as HDTV, Blu-ray and HD DVD as well as low resolution portable devices such as Sony's PSP and Apple's iPod. H.264 offers better quality at lower file sizes than both MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 ASP (DivX or XviD). In this post, we would like to show you 3 ways to play H.264 video files on your computer: install H.264 player codec, use free H.264 file player, and decode H.264 video.
Solution 1: Install H.264 Player Codec
A video codec pack could be an all-inclusive solution for you to play all videos in different formats on your computer. The only problem is that you need to take use of the right codec pack. This happens to H.264 video playback as well. You could download and install H.264 player codec for your media player so as to turn your media player into a H.264 file format player and play H.264 files with ease.
There are a lot of H.264 player codec pack tools you could use for turning your player for H.264 format like MainConcept SDKs, Divx H.264 Decoder, DivX Codec, ffdshow, etc. All of these H.264 player codec packs could help you decode H.264 videos and make it possible to play H.264 format on your computer's default media player.
The only thing you need to attention is that you should choose an ads-free H.264 player codec pack, and pay attention to the computer security.
Solution 2: 5 Free H.264 Players
Besides installing H.264 player codec, adopting 3rd-party H.264 video player would also be a good choice to play H.264 video files. H.264 format video player refers to those media players that could recognize H.264 video codec and play H.264 video without quality loss. The below are 5 best H.264 player software, some of which are free H.264 video players.
1. Leawo Free Blu-ray Player
Leawo Free Blu-ray Player is an all-inclusive movie player freeware that could play back all kinds of movies, like Blu-ray, DVD, 4K movies, 1080P videos, ISO image file and even movie audios. As an all-inclusive media player combo, Leawo Free Blu-ray Player could act as H.264 player to read and play H.264 video files for totally free, without any loss of quality. What's more, it is a region free Blu-ray player software program, which means it could play Blu-ray and DVD discs of all regions and different disc protections for totally free. Besides these, this free H.264 video player could also play DVD disc, HD video (up to 4K), audio and ISO image files for free.
Leawo Free Blu-ray Player
☉ 100% free movie player for Mac users to play Ultra HD 4K, 1080P and 720P video for free.
☉ Free Blu-ray disc player to play 4K Blu-ray disc and 1080P Blu-ray disc, regardless of disc protection and region code.
☉ Support multiple audio decoding systems like Dolby, DTS, AAC, TrueHD, DTS-HD, etc.
☉ Adjust subtitles, video and audio during media playback.
2. VLC Media Player
VLC is a renowned media player that works with most multimedia files and DVDs, audio CDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. VLC is so well respected that it's the go to media player for downloads that won't play in its commercial counterparts. It is also a compelling server that streams live and on-demand video, through both IPv4 and IPv6 protocols, on a high-bandwidth network. Acting as free H.264 video player, VLC media player could also deliver extraordinary movie playback experience. What's more, it has multiple versions for diverse platforms like iOS, Mac, Windows, Android, Linux, etc.
3. Media Player Lite
MediaPlayerLite – the best Free H264 video player software. It supports MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 playback. Media Player Lite is capable of VCD, SVCD and DVD playback, without needing any codecs. Play and open WAV, WMA, MP3, OGG, SND, AU, AIF, AIFC, AIFF, MIDI, MPEG, MPG, MP2, VOB, AC3, DTS, ASX, M3U, PLS, WAX, ASF, WM, WMA, WMV, AVI, CDA, JPEG, JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP, D2V, MP4, SWF, MOV, QT, FLV files. MPL also supports H.264 DivX, XviD and Flash Video without need of installing codec.
4. MW MPlayer
MW MPlayer is a all-in-one media player classic which tries to provide the best media experience. Mwplayer is an open source multimedia player and framework based on mpui code , which plays most multimedia files, DVDs, Audio CDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. MW media player is simple, fast, and powerful. It plays everything, files, discs, webcams, devices, and streams. MW media player plays most codecs (MPEG-2, DivX, H.264, MKV, WebM, WMV, MP3, etc.) so no codec packs are needed. It runs on all at glance without the need to install anything.Its an easy to use player that allows you to create,download or save videos from or any tube site with the help of an integreated video downloader.
5. QuickTime Player
Apple has already officially adopted H.264 as the format for QuickTime.
This means that QuickTIme player could act as a totally free H.264 player for you to play H.264 video files. The most important thing is that QuickTime player is the default media player of Apple's Mac computer. Therefore you don't need to download and install other H.264 video players. But you still have to do the downloading and installation work if you're using a Windows computer.
Solution 3: Decode H.264 Video for Playback
Since H.264 video files are with H.264 codec, which offers higher quality compression of video content at less storage, therefore you could decode H.264 video or uncompress H.264 video for playback, though it might result in large capacity occupation.
Leawo Video Converter is a top-rated H.264 video decoder for you to decode H.264 video to videos with other codecs that are friendly with your default media player. With this H.264 video decoder, you could easily play H.264 video on your computer.
Video Converter
☉ Convert video and audio between 180+ formats.
☉ Convert HD video up to 4K without quality loss.
☉ Trim, Crop, Effect, Watermark to edit video.
☉ Support 2D to 3D conversion in 6 3D effects.
☉ Add external subtitle and select audio channel.
Download and install Leawo Video Converter on your computer (Mac users please download the Mac version). Get source H.264 videos ready and follow the below steps to convert H.264 video for free playback.
Step 1: Add H.264 videos
After you launch Leawo Video Converter, click 'Video Converter' module option. You'll be guided to the 'Convert' tab, on which you click the 'Add Video' button to browse and add H.264 video(s). You could also directly drag and drop source H.264 videos into the 'Convert' module.
H.264 Mpeg-4 Avc Codec Download For Mac
Step 2: Set output format
Click the drop-down box next to the 'Add Photo' button and then select 'Change' option to set output format. Open the 'Format' tab and then select a video format according to your media player.
Note:
- To decode H.264 video, click the 'Pen' editing icon on the profile you select on the 'Profile' panel to enter the 'Profile Settings' panel. Then, under the 'Video Codec' box, select a video codec like MPEG-4.
H.264 Codec Format
Step 3: Set output directory
After setting output format, click the big green 'Convert' button to set output directory in the 'Save to' box.
Step 4: Convert H.264 video
Finally, click the bottom 'Convert' button on the sidebar. Leawo Video Converter would start to decode and convert H.264 video to the format you've selected with the codec you've set.
Once the conversion is finished, you could then load the converted H.264 video file into the media player for playback. However, it should be noted that by decoding, the video quality might be lower and the output video file would be larger than the original H.264 video file.