Exporting to Flash using Quicktime pro

Question

I'm trying to export a 43 min vid from FCP6 using quicktime conversion. I want to export to Flash. Its for web content, and its in widescreen.
Any help with size and converting to flash would help. I've never done web content before.
Thanks!!
tec24

Answer 1

First, some questions: 1) what's the purpose? 2) who's your intended audience? 3) has it got to be done quickly, as in a short deadline? 4) Why Flash? 5) Why 43 minutes (have you ever in your life watched a 43 minute streaming video on the internet on anything but the most powerful 'puter with the highest-speed, dedicated internet connection)? 6) Do you care that what people see you throw up on the internet ultimately reflects on how you yourself are perceived by those same people?
For what could be a quick disaster, or if this project is mainly for sh*ts and giggles, follow the advice given in the first reply, post it pronto and don't bother with the rest of THIS reply.
Or, if you're on a deadline, pay someone who TRULY knows what they're doing to do it for you -- and they might still balk (if they have any scruples) at a 43 minute web video unless you've got a really good reason to make folks wait for way longer than 43 minutes of stop-and-start Flash stuff.
Otherwise, if you're not in a hurry:
FIRST, procure a book on the subject, like Apple's "QuickTime for the Web" (available on line and at Borders, for sure).
THEN, with some reading under your belt, be prepared to start experimenting with combinations of smaller movie dimensions and FPS rates (generally, half of what the original is); then on to varying types of video compression (Sorenson or Sorenson3 have historically given some of the best results, with H.264, the newest and more difficult to configure giving the truest quality, but not discounting the various MPEG settings; and last, but certainly not least, playing with your audio compressions to see what you're willing to lose in order to (hopefully) gain an internet audience. Like it or not, it depends on YOUR vid's content and audio as to how to make it small enough to be seen in its best internet presence.
OR, You might try some of Compressor's export settings -- and be totally satisfied. It's all relative to the work you've created and how long you're willing to work at what you're willing to sacrifice to still pull off a good illusion of your original video at a fraction of its original size.
I wish it weren't so, but there's no quick and easy answer to your question if you're serious at all about the end result. You have to consider all the angles I've posed (and then some) to get good results that'll show YOU in your best light.
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