What can I do to create a video that has good quality still and has a minimal file size? I have seen avi copies of movies that are 2-hourish movies and the file size is only 250ish MB (if i remember, was years ago) and yet whenever I try to make my own movie from the MSP 6.5 editting board, the smallest file size for a 3min 10 sec movie is 51MB.
My project settings are:
NTSC drop frame (29.97 fps)
Frame-based
Overlay track(s):3
MPEG Files
24 Bits, 720 x 480, 29.97 fps
(MPEG-2)
Video Data Rate 3000 Kbps
Audio Data Rate 224 Kbps
Layer 2, 44.1 kHz, Stereo
and I created an AVI 29.97 FPS (640x480...note 880x600 made no noticible change in file size) using Div/X 5.1.1 codec for compression.
The AVI was 51MB, the MPG was 78MB (mpeg-2, 3k data rate).
Is there something I can do to be more effective in reducing file size?
oh yeah, the raw footage was obtained using Fraps (www.fraps.com), which seems really awesome for capturing video-game footage!
*newb disclaimer: new to editting.
Final avi/mpg file size
-
Terry Stetler
- Posts: 973
- Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2005 3:34 pm
- Location: Westland, Michigan USA
Dependds on what you want to do with the finished product.
For playing off a computer then the DivX files are fine, but if you want to make DVD's then I'd recommend MPEG-2. The legal MPEG-2 frame sizes for DVD are;
NTSC: 720x480, 352x480
PAL: 720x576, 352x576
The bitrate that will allow 2 hrs of movie to fit on a 4.7g DVD I use is 4500 to 5000 kbps VBR with a quality setting of about 80. This encodes a bit slower, but improves the look.
I set the audio to AC3 (Dolby Digital) at a bitrate of 160-192 kbps. For something with a lot of music I use a Dolby bitrate of 224 kbps.
When burning dual-layer DVD's (the new 8.5g discs) I up the bitrate to no more than 7500 kbps since some DVD players have problems playing DVD recordables at 8000 kbps or more.
While it may seem that the 352 wide files would look horizontally squished (they do on a computer) when played on a DVD player (or on many display cards TV Out) they are upsampled and look VERY good.
Just make sure the DVD software is set not to re-encode DVD-compliant files when using already encoded DVD-legal MPEG's. Uleads authoring software can do this.
For playing off a computer then the DivX files are fine, but if you want to make DVD's then I'd recommend MPEG-2. The legal MPEG-2 frame sizes for DVD are;
NTSC: 720x480, 352x480
PAL: 720x576, 352x576
The bitrate that will allow 2 hrs of movie to fit on a 4.7g DVD I use is 4500 to 5000 kbps VBR with a quality setting of about 80. This encodes a bit slower, but improves the look.
I set the audio to AC3 (Dolby Digital) at a bitrate of 160-192 kbps. For something with a lot of music I use a Dolby bitrate of 224 kbps.
When burning dual-layer DVD's (the new 8.5g discs) I up the bitrate to no more than 7500 kbps since some DVD players have problems playing DVD recordables at 8000 kbps or more.
While it may seem that the 352 wide files would look horizontally squished (they do on a computer) when played on a DVD player (or on many display cards TV Out) they are upsampled and look VERY good.
Just make sure the DVD software is set not to re-encode DVD-compliant files when using already encoded DVD-legal MPEG's. Uleads authoring software can do this.
Terry Stetler
-
averse thule
I am trying to make a video that I can ftp somewhere for other people to download, so file size is important.
I have seen other people with videos that look comparable and they run 14 megs for a 2 min video using Div/X yet mine is running 51 megs for a 3 minute one. Trying to figure out if I am doing something inefficiently on the settings of MSP.
I have seen other people with videos that look comparable and they run 14 megs for a 2 min video using Div/X yet mine is running 51 megs for a 3 minute one. Trying to figure out if I am doing something inefficiently on the settings of MSP.
-
Terry Stetler
- Posts: 973
- Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2005 3:34 pm
- Location: Westland, Michigan USA
Two major things that affect size other than bitrate and encoding type (CBR vs. VBR) are the frame size and the audio codec. Full frame sizes are a bit large for internet and mono audio is much smaller than stereo.
I'd go with something more like 320x240 or 352x240 and stick to mono audio. Here are some results from my experiments;
All encoding done with MSPro 7.3 w/3 minute DV source
MPEG-1, 352x240, 1770 kbps, 32k mono at 64 kbps:
38 megs
WMV-9 LAN100 preset (320x240, VBR etc.):
19.8 megs
DivX5 preset - Home Theater Generic (Pro Features), MP3 audio 32k mono:
27 megs
DivX5 manual - 352x240 512kbps, delaced, audio 32k mono:
16.6 megs
Quicktime 352x240 Sorensen3 codec, mono audio:
8.8 megs
Hope this helps....
I'd go with something more like 320x240 or 352x240 and stick to mono audio. Here are some results from my experiments;
All encoding done with MSPro 7.3 w/3 minute DV source
MPEG-1, 352x240, 1770 kbps, 32k mono at 64 kbps:
38 megs
WMV-9 LAN100 preset (320x240, VBR etc.):
19.8 megs
DivX5 preset - Home Theater Generic (Pro Features), MP3 audio 32k mono:
27 megs
DivX5 manual - 352x240 512kbps, delaced, audio 32k mono:
16.6 megs
Quicktime 352x240 Sorensen3 codec, mono audio:
8.8 megs
Hope this helps....
Terry Stetler