how do you compress video files

[type_r_556]

hi i just started learning how to use adobe premiere 6.5, and i made several videos, but oh my gosh, they are like 400 to 500 megs each, how do i compress them so that they are smaller and i can post them on a website? I tried using sorenson, but i don't get how it works, are there any software programs that shrink the file size hella while still keeping good picture quality?

[postmaster]

read this about codecs

What compression you should use for your video.

[schnazzy]

read the above thread. Sorenson sucks IMHO. tmpgenc has a wizard and it is reasonably easy to compress to mpeg1 from your source.

[Scho]

tmpgenc or the Panasonic MPEG codec work great. I prefer the Panasonic, but both work fine. It will make most files about 10% of original in file size.

[type_r_556]

mike from ********* helped me out, and i figured it out, i'm pretty stupid not to have seen it but none the less, my videos went from 400 megs to 20 megs, big space saver, thanks to everyone who did reply.

[steve]

********** = DVins*ght? Make sure you don't ask for anymore of his advice Learn the right way

[nismo skyline]

www.dvdrhelp.com

[SaBiH]

I understand about Mpeg1 and mpeg2, but what i still dont understand is the fact that my 1.41 min clip is 25 megs at mpeg1..

to encode to divx
file/export clip/ movie/
then i guess i hit settings
in general change it to microsoft avi
and in video change the compressor


now in the divx compressor settings..
im using divx pro 5.03,
what does the max keyframe do, its set at 300

the source interface is set to encode at progressive

also what should i set the encoding bitrate to.when its on 1 pass,

sorry about all the questions i finally! started using premiere

-sabih

edit: also, how should i compress the audio?

[schnazzy]

SaBiH,

hmmm, your post doesn't make sense and you haven't mentioned what program you are using to compress your video. Info such as OS, software, ram, proc speed are almost always essential. In this case just OS and software used to compress would be nice. My assumption is you are using premier 6.5.

Ok lets start with your statement that a 1.41minute clip is 25megs with mpeg1. that is unlikely but posible. For true MPEG1 which is compressed video at 352x240 and compressed audio, you should get about 10mb of size per minute. You seem to be off a bit there. My assumption is you went out of bounds of mpeg1 with certain software, maybe it's SVCD (mpeg1 at a higher res). More likely is that you used a crappy mpeg1 encoder like premier (really crappy) and therefore didn't read my stickied thread about compression stating you should use TMPGENC or you are confused, thinking that you are encoding in mpeg1 by choosing the divx codec.

Divx is a mpeg4 type codec. I think this because A) you talk about encoding in divx, and B) your file size is too large.

With MPEG1 encoding it is very easy to do and fairly troublefree unlike divx. There are no 2nd passes (by default) or keyframe setting or any of the other crap associated with the higher end codecs that have higher end learning curves. Use TMPGENC and stay with the defaults until you are comfortable.

So now you are asking about divx. I think you got confused maybe? Maybe you have an earlier version of premier that doesn't have a setting for MPEG1).

1st, why are you exporting a clip and not the timeline? thats what the yellow timeline is for? Why do you only have one clip? didn't you edit it?

In premier 6.5 you have to choose "ADOBE MPEG ENCODER" instead of "MOVIE" to encode in MPEG, but we already agreed you would use tmpgenc

Premier (even 6.5) does not have the ability to compress audio in MP3 or any other valuable codec, and this is where virtualdub comes in. You export your MOVIE in some reasonable high end (mpeg2 or mpeg4) codec and then open it in virtualdub and compress both audio and video.

In conclusion I think you are encoding in Divx with Premier and aren't compressing audio and THAT is the reason your "MPEG1" (not!) video is so large. This is just a guess of course, cause I don't have enough info. Use premier to export your MASTER AVI file, use virtualdub to do divx/mp3 and tmpgenc to do mpeg (audio and video). Virtualdub with divx can become so complex that it would take a few pages to explain. However, some answer are... use 2 pass and keyframes should be set to the approximate number of new clips (massive pixel change from frame to frame), you have in your video. (never less than 10).

Alex

[SaBiH]

sorry about all the rambling.. its kinda late

os: win2k
cpu: amd xp 2500+, with 512 meg ddr400 ram
160 gig harddrive 8mb cache
premiere 6.5

yes for that 1.41 meg file at mpeg1 i used premiere

when exporting in mpeg i did use the adobe mpeg encoder,

i just recently found out about tmpgenc.

I didnt even know about virtualdub, Maybe ill try using that also, But for that i need my exported timeline to microsoft AVI

then open that AVI in virtualdub, to compress vid/aud into divx/mp3, then take that into tmpgenc for mpeg

-Sabih

edit:
am i supposed to be using standard 32 or 48khz when starting a new project, I did 48 because all my audio is at 16bit

and all of my captured video is at 720 x 480, which later i reduce to 320-240

btw im using a canon gl1

[schnazzy]

You can try saving your MASTER (once the video is edited and you want to export the final version). Microsoft DV AVI will work in tmpgenc. It may not work in virtualdub. Virtualdub and tmpgenc are different applications and I see you get that but use the MASTER to compress either. Don't compress it to divx then take the divx version and compress it to mpeg1.

Wow, premier sucked more than I thought. tmpgenc (DEPENDING ON FOOTAGE) will be about 10mb per minute. looks like the premier version SUCKS! I didn't like the output anyway.

You should capture and edit in the highest reasonable quality. I use 48k. When you export the timeline, leave the audio and video the same size for the MASTER. TMPGENC will automatically encode to mpeg1 at mpeg1's standard settings. 352.240 etc.

virtualdub has TONS of filters which is where you change the size etc.

Also note virtualdub does not automatically have the mp3 codec you must somehow find the LAME ACM codec on the internet and install it properly. Have fun!.

Why do you want a divx version and a mpeg1 version? And if you do both why would you make the divx version 352x240 that defeats the purpose.

alex

[SaBiH]

man i have no idea, i just thought divx compresses the size and keeps the quality pretty nice. and If i resize it to 320 then It'l become a smaller file size.

for some reason, the exported time clip in Microsoft DV AVI, wont open on tmpgenc

[schnazzy]

hmmm,

I am not going to go into the details of codecs but here is some basic info.

DivX is generally used to play at near DVD quality. It is based on original mpeg4 designs. It is similar to MPEG2 in that it compresses "inter-frame". You can customize multiple settings including stream size, video resolution, audio codec and resolution, keyframes, etc etc etc. It is very advanced. It is probably the best codec/system out there for quality based on size. Again, it can be very complex.

Mpeg1 is a very old codec. It is also a very standard codec and just about every OS has a player that works with mpeg1 right out of the box (unlike divx which has to be installed). In its true form it is limited to 352x240 resolution. It compresses "intra-frame" which is not nearly as good as "inter-frame" in regard to size. It is not CPU intensive (ala intra-frame) when played.

Video is (approx) 30 frames per second (non-interlaced).

In Intra-frame (mpeg1 etc), each frame is of the video is compressed with the mpeg1 codec, the audio stream is also compresses. When a computer plays it back it just has to do simple math to unencode the video. The size of the video is 1/4 of normal NTSC (ala 352x240) which helps keep the size down. It is fairly simplistic. Think of taking a bitmap and resaving it as a jpg file. Same concept.

In Inter-frame(mpeg2, mpeg4 and mpeg4 derivatives (divx, wmv), the first frame is compressed (this is the first keyframe), then subsiquent frames are compressed, but ONLY the differences from the keyframe are compressed and copied. So lets say you have 10 second of video of an apple and bannana on a table and nothing is moving. Lets say you set it to record only 1 keyframe (which works in this scenario but is unusual in the real world). Your video would be SUPER SMALL once encoded. I think the raw DV (DV25 miniDV) file would be about 170mb but the divx version (720x480 with a small stream size) would be maybe 100k or less and an mpeg1 version would be about 150k. hmm you have an almost DVD quality and SIZE that is 4x the resolution of mpeg1 and yet it is similar or smaller size. I have found that I can get divx down to 1/4 the size of an mpeg1 file when using the same resolution and tricks However that defeats the purpose.

Use MPEG1 for wide distribution, it is hard to beat the quality for the resolution. Use Divx for less distribution but higher resolution such as 720x240. You can attaing great quality with a small size. You have a higher learning curve with divx and less of an audience willing to install the divx codec in comparison to mpeg1 (which is natively supported by the OS's).