Losing Resolution While Compressing...

Question

I have an HDV 1080i 30F sequence that I exported out of FCP as a QuickTime file. I am trying to compress it down pretty small (probably needs to be less than 100MB) for the web. I tried making it into an iPod video and that made it look HORRIBLE.
Why did that happen? I figured scaling it down it would keep the image sharp? What should I do to compress this video down small enough for the web?

Answer 1

svalkar13 wrote:
Image size reads as 68.7m and dimensions read as 4000 px x 6000 px  on all
three (RAW, PS edit and LR edit).  So does that mean I don't have a problem?    
Correct, you don't have a problem.
Any idea why the size (in inches) come up so differently between the PS
file and the LR file?  In my limited experience I'd been told that the
measurements listed within "image size" indicated the maximum size you
could print while maintaining quality.
Because again, it's a difference in the resolution tag. The tag uses the total number of pixels to provide a 'size'. Digital images don't have a size other than the space they take up on a drive.
Exampe: you have 1000 pixels. If the tag was set for 100, the 'size' would be 10 inches. You take 100 pixels of your total 1000 pixels and divide that up, you get of course, 10". If the tag were instead 1000, you'd have a 'size' of one inch. Same data. Same number of pixels. IF you want LR and Photoshop to be in sync, just ensure that the value for 'resolution' is the same. But again, it's rather meaningless until you decide how to output those pixels to a print size. Do you want 1 inch or 10 inches from your 1000 pixels?
see: http://www.digitaldog.net/files/Resolution.pdf