iOs Video Formats - Two versions of game REQUIRED???

[VAPMichaelaLaws]

Okay. So I've been spending close to about 48 hours trying to wrap my brain around video formats that can be used for PC, Android, and iOs devices without surrendering to making multiple different versions of the same game with different files because reasons.

So far, it's come up REPEATEDLY that mkv is the best option, but no one has answered one simple question:

Does mkv run on iOs?

Obvious steps are obvious, but in order to make an iOs/Mac build of a game, you have a Mac and transfer your game from your PC with RenPy to the Mac with RenPy. Now, RenPy supports mkv 100%, but will that translate when rendering the game for iOs devices because the last time I put a game out, I could not use my video files as they would not play and would crash the game on iPhone devices (outside of RenPy.)

From what I have seen SO FAR, iOs video support is as follows:
*H.264 video up to 720p, 30 frames per second, Main Profile level 3.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats;
*MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps per channel, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats;
*Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280 by 720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format.
*Max size: 100 MB

MKV, not on the list.

So are we to assume that, in order to have videos in games that will be released for PC, Android, AND iOS/Mac, we will have to make MULTIPLE versions of the games with the respective supported formats or is there some hidden gem file type that is supported ALL AROUND?

Note: With what has been spread around about MP4's, it is VERY unclear if they are supported at all, as many say yes and others say no.

[Andredron]

The best . webm format

[ComputerArt.Club]

I just started publishing to iOS very recently, but I don't use video in my games. Andredron has posted a lot of really useful information for both iOS and Android in the past, so he is probably right. Let us know if it works for you!

[Imperf3kt]

mkv is not a format, it's a container.
generally speaking, I've advocated it's use in the past, but as noted by Andredon, .webm is better overall for this sort of use.

[PyTom]

So are we to assume that, in order to have videos in games that will be released for PC, Android, AND iOS/Mac, we will have to make MULTIPLE versions of the games with the respective supported formats or is there some hidden gem file type that is supported ALL AROUND?

The answer is "yes, probably". It depends on if you want the device to use hardware acceleration, or to use software decoding that could overtax the processor on older devices, but might not. Unfortunately, the hardware in iOS devices is limited in what it can support. If you use software decoding, then iOS supports the same formats that other Ren'Py platforms does.

To enable software decoding, use:

Code: Select all

define config.hw_video = False

This is probably fine at this point, as older iOS devices age out of the pool of devices.

[rayminator]

maybe by installing vlc on the ios will make them work not 100% sure though I don't use apple products to much $$$$$$