New question from New user...

[Old_Friend]

Is there some way that I can "pre-encode" my "RAW" .avi files which I capture using FRAPS? The reason I'm asking is because when I currently add them into my VS PRO X-5 timeline, they are very large in Byte-size, and that makes my output files so large, that I have to reduce content, etc. If they were encoded before inserting them, then wouldn't the be much smaller, and therefore allow me to add more content, while keeping the overall project size smaller? I'm just wondering because Windows Movie Maker had a tool called "Window Media Encoder," which allowed what I'm asking here.

See the following example which shows just how large only 15 seconds of RAW .avi data is (captured with latest version of FRAPS).

RAW FRAPS AVI FILESIZE EXAMPLE

[Ken Berry]

The FRAPS website itself says this about its file size:

Why is the AVI movie generated by Fraps so big? How can I reduce the size?
The filesize is big because there isnt enough time to encode the movie while the game is running. The movie frames are slightly compressed, but still require a large amount of disk space due to the high resolutions. After you have finished capturing you can convert the clips into a compressed format using a video editing program. Probably the easiest one to use is Windows Movie Maker which is included free as part of Windows Live Essentials. It allows you to easily edit your clips and add text and other effects to your film. The end result will also be compressed into the Windows Media Video (WMV) format which can be played back in most media players.

And indeed, it does appear that it produces raw i.e. uncompressed .avi video, which is huge and runs to about 65 GB per hour. The only way to 'pre-compress' it is to run it through a video conversion program. There are any number of free programs out there which will do it. I use one called FreeMake Video Converter which will convert your avi to any number of output formats, depending what you want to do with it e.g. make a DVD or Blu-Ray disc, post on YouTube etc. And you can Google for others...

But Video Studio can also do that. You would need to insert the avi into VS then select Share > Create Video File > and then select the output format you are after e.g. DVD, mp4, AVCHD, Blu-Ray etc. Once the new file is produced, you could then delete the original avi to free up space and edit the new video.

[canuck]

Just because the source file is huge does not mean the output file will be huge. It all depends on the output settings you use. No actual source file are added to a project file, only the links to the source file is added to the project file when it is saved.
When you "add" a source file to the timeline/storyline the whole file obviously is not added all at once into memory, only a "window" into the source file.


I see Ken has commented on the FRAPS RAW file size.

(that is why I removed my FRAPS RAW size comment)

[Ken Berry]

Unfortunately, Fraps does indeed only seem to have one output format...

[teknisyan]

Following the suggestion of ken berry "Share > Create Video File > and then select the output format" will allow you to get a smaller output file.

[Old_Friend]

Unfortunately, Fraps does indeed only seem to have one output format...

Yes, that is unfortunate, but...

The problem is not with FRAPS. It generates perfect code exactly how it was recorded. The problem is finding software which has features that can encode it properly and efficiently. I was wondering how other users got their video clips into this program, and what format did they use. I'd like to encode it to a .wmv format, or even some sort of a .mpg format before adding it to the editor. Unless I'm wrong, I doubt if they paste the RAW UNCOMPRESSED .avi code directly into the editor without some way of encoding it first. So far, I'm still experimenting and am having to use the raw uncompressed .avi code -- which doesn't seem very practical, at all. That's why I wrote. I was wondering if I've overlooked such a feature in my 'trial version', or if somebody could explain what they do.

[Old_Friend]

Following the suggestion of ken berry "Share > Create Video File > and then select the output format" will allow you to get a smaller output file.

Thanks for the reply, but I think you have missed the point of my question.

If each clip is smaller going in, then processed as you said with the "Share > Create Video File" option, then the allotable time (in the timeline) would be increased greatly, due to the smaller-sized clips. That would allow adding more clips to make the movie even more interesting. Shorter clips by encoding them first = more clips for the same overall movie length.

[Ken Berry]

I regularly use uncompressed .avi in my projects, generated by programs such as Corel's Motion Studio 3D. But then again, I have plenty of disc space. Certainly it has never caused me any difficulty when mixed with other video. And in fact Motion Studio, unlike Fraps, offers a range of other output formats, but I deliberately choose uncompressed .avi as it gives me excellent quality...

[canuck]

Following the suggestion of ken berry "Share > Create Video File > and then select the output format" will allow you to get a smaller output file.

Thanks for the reply, but I think you have missed the point of my question.

If each clip is smaller going in, then processed as you said with the "Share > Create Video File" option, then the allotable time (in the timeline) would be increased greatly, due to the smaller-sized clips. That would allow adding more clips to make the movie even more interesting. Shorter clips by encoding them first = more clips for the same overall movie length.

The "alottable time" in the timeline has absolutely nothing to do with file size. A 50GB video and a 500MB video file, assuming they are both 60 minutes long, would have exactly the same "allotable time" on the timeline. Encoding the RAW avi to create a smaller file does not create "shorter" clip: the timelength will still be exactly the same.

[lata]

Hi Old Fart

Just to add to "canuck's" comments.

The length of the video depends on the number of frames and the frame rate.
A 15 minute raw AVI video will still be 15 minutes long after converting to another format.
Compressing does not physically change the length of the clip but changes the MB file size.

However if your raw AVI uses 15fps, some conversions to 30 fps may in fact reduce the length effectively doubling the speed. Video Studio will retain the same duration.

Are you saying that after compressing the raw AVI that they are indeed shorter in minutes?

[Old_Friend]

Okay. You have each pointed out and helped me to understand just how much I don't understand! ha ha. And, I'm certain that there's much more for me to learn.

After reading each of your comments repeatedly, I see that I'm more confused by the semantics than anything else. When lata wrote:

quote by lata: "Compressing does not physically change the length of the clip but changes the MB file size."

His comment summoned up in one single sentence what I have been referring to as "size" or "smaller going in." And, if I'm understand his statement, it's exactly what I've been talking about (although I never phrased it correctly).

I'll try an anology to see if I'm wrong again?
Example: Creating 2 separate movies:
* On my HDD there are 5 FRAPS avi files, each one is @200 MB's (filesize). That = @1000 MB's (total filesize).

* If I add all 5 of them (just as they are) into the editor, and then use "Share" to create a movie named "movie-1.wmv", the resultant HDD filesize in Bytes would be some number.

* On the other hand, if each of those original 5 FRAPS avi files were encoded before adding them into the editor and producing a new movie with "Share" named "movie-2.wmv", would the "movie-2.wmv" file on my HDD be exactly the same Byte-size as the "movie-1.wmv" file, or would it be a smaller?

EDITED: I want my movies to run as long as possible (time-wise!), yet the Byte-sized file on my HDD must remain as small as possible. That's what I'm trying to accomplish.

In any event, I want to thank each of you for your patience with me. You are all very kind.

[canuck]

I'll try an anology to see if I'm wrong again?
Example: Creating 2 separate movies:
* On my HDD there are 5 FRAPS avi files, each one is @200 MB's (filesize). That = @1000 MB's (total filesize).

* If I add all 5 of them (just as they are) into the editor, and then use "Share" to create a movie named "movie-1.wmv", the resultant HDD filesize in Bytes would be some number.

* On the other hand, if each of those original 5 FRAPS avi files were encoded before adding them into the editor and producing a new movie with "Share" named "movie-2.wmv", would the "movie-2.wmv" file on my HDD be exactly the same Byte-size as the "movie-1.wmv" file, or would it be a smaller?

EDITED: I want my movies to run as long as possible (time-wise!), yet the Byte-sized file on my HDD must remain as small as possible. That's what I'm trying to accomplish.

In any event, I want to thank each of you for your patience with me. You are all very kind.

I have no idea whether the 2 movies would be "exactly the same byte size" but I doubt it very much. It is really not important. You still seem to think that a smaller sized file means a shorter video in time. That is absolutely wrong. A 60 minute video can have dozens of different file sizes (depending on your settings) but it will always be 60 minutes.

[BrianCee]

just a few basics which may help.

A video (or cine film even) is NOT made up of moving pictures - - - it is made of a sequence of still images shown in quick succession known as 'Frame rate' - for normal TV work this would be 30 fps for an NTSC video and 25 fps for a PAL video. Videos for showing on a web site or other computer display often use a lower fps - typically 15.

So imagine your video is made of a series of still photographs - therefore the total file size is a combination of the size of each photo (pixel size) - the amount of information in each photo (bit rate) and the number of pictures you show each second (fps) - and the total length of the video

therefore it follows that by changing anyone of those you can reduce the total file size - but you can also see that reducing anyone of those (except the length) will cause some deterioration in the final viewed video - so all formats are a compromise between the quality and the file size.

The other alternative is the format - ie .avi, .mpg, .wmv - these are really just different ways of processing the data which makes up the image - just as there is a difference in still photos between jpeg, bitmap, tiff, png etc. - so changing from .avi to .wmv will reduce the file size - but an .avi file with the same properties (frame size/bit rate/fps) as a .wmv will be much bigger - but the .avi will be better quality than the .wmv

And yes - given that all things are equal - if you put 5 avi files in the timeline and made wmv1 - and then converted the same 5 avi files to wmv and put them into the timeline and rendered that to wmv2 it should produce a file which is very close in size to wmv1 - no one is going to say 'exactly' though - there is to much going on to guarantee that - but they would be close.

[lata]

Example: Creating 2 separate movies:
* On my HDD there are 5 FRAPS avi files, each one is @200 MB's (filesize). That = @1000 MB's (total filesize).

* If I add all 5 of them (just as they are) into the editor, and then use "Share" to create a movie named "movie-1.wmv", the resultant HDD filesize in Bytes would be some number.

* On the other hand, if each of those original 5 FRAPS avi files were encoded before adding them into the editor and producing a new movie with "Share" named "movie-2.wmv", would the "movie-2.wmv" file on my HDD be exactly the same Byte-size as the "movie-1.wmv" file, or would it be a smaller?

If you converted the 5 files using the same properties as converting in the timeline then yes they would be the same size, ish.
You may be best to convert the raw AVI at 65 Gb per hour to DV-Avi at 13 Gb, DV-Avi is good for further editing.
You can use Batch Convert with Video Studio to add all files and convert in one go.
The original files could then be removed from the pc to save space.

[Old_Friend]

You may be best to convert the raw AVI at 65 Gb per hour to DV-Avi at 13 Gb, DV-Avi is good for further editing.

I've been steadily busy, trying every default option as well as trying to customize my own templates. I must have created 100 movies so far, and only a couple of them got close to what will work for me.

I do not understand your comment (above). It mentions values/settings that, so far, I haven't seen in any of the dialogs in the program. And, I think my topic has run so long that my original goal has been forgotten. I'm trying to create movies that are 25MB or less, so that I can email them. I think I also stated that I want to keep the same aspect ratio (16:9), and an output size of 960x720px (min) to 1280x720px, while maintaining fairly decent visual clarity!

Obviously, I'm the only user (or, maybe one of the few) users who actually needs to email videos. It appears to me that other users either upload huge (filesize) videos to 3rd-party websites, put them on DVD's, or store them locally on their huge HDD's.

The program itself doesn't seem to have what I had hoped for, and that is "some way" to input or click checkboxes to tell it more-or-less precisely what kind of a video output I want to create. I had hoped that it would compare my objective [by using something like "AI" (Artificial Intelligence)] to the -many- options it has built within itself, and then produce an optimal file (based upon what I had asked for). It doesn't do that. The closest it gets is producing files that fail to meet my requirements for aspect ratios, video quality, and final file-size. They are either too small, too pixelated and muddy, or way too large! Nearly every video I've created so far does not exceed more than 1min or 1:30secs of video length, and still meet my requirements, no matter which options I've chosen to produce them.

I'm aware that there are limitations to encoding! But I expected that the X-5 PRO program would have considered that, and --still-- allowed users a "Share" choice related to "optimal file-sized output with user-desired quality settings/aspect ratios, etc." all based upon the user's choice of desired end-product. If it couldn't match the users request, then a dialog should pop up and offer relevant suggestions, clearly stating what the user needs to do to meet the original request. It doesn't do that either. We have to guess, or else continue experimenting until something works to meet our desired outcome. I've experimented for days (and nights) since I began using this trial version; countless hours, and I'm only slightly closer each time to accomplishing what I need to get.

Your kind replies have helped me very much, but some of them seem to be a little beyond my expertise level, and/or my topic's main objective. I know I get side-tracked. That's why my user name is "Old_Fart". At 67, I'm not as sharp as I used to be at age 19! ha ha. But....... I still want to create videos and learn how to do it easily with this program! All of you are helping me, and I appreciate it!

The program may be suitable (and understandable) for those of you who were previously-experienced with configuring the many dozens of protocols, each of which might have many of their own varying optional parameters, before you bought it. Or, else maybe some of you took the weeks/months... even years!, and lots of trial and error [like I'm forced into doing], in order to educate yourselves. But, as a "normal, farily-novice new user," I find Corel Video Studio PRO X-5 very un-user-friendly, so far.

Also, I noticed that there are hundreds of requests in the "Suggestions for X-6" forum Topic pertaining to things users cannot do with X-5, and I've not yet seen an expected release date of that upgrade, nor any developer's comments on things they've added or are working on -- based upon user's wish-lists.

Anyway, I'm still struggling to do what I had hoped this program would do easily for me.