MOVIES: smaller file size, higher quality, faster loading

Here is the scheme I use for my movies. (i.e. http://web.mac.com/kentcallison/iWeb/icallison/Sing%20and%20Dance%20with%20Emily .html)
(NOTE: You need QT Pro. If you plan on putting video on your website, invest the $30. It is the best tool I have in my video toolkit.)
I use the Share/Export command in iMovie or QT Pro (depending on what the movie was edited in), choose Quicktime/Expert Settings and select Movie to MPEG-4. Then I hit the OPTIONS button.
Once you are inside the options area, do the following:
1) File Format = MP4
2) Video Format = H.264
3) Data Rate = 256kbps
4) Image Size = 320x240
5) Frame Rate = 15
6) Key Frame = Automatic
Then I press the Video Options button:
Restrict profile to Baseline (uncheck anything else and only check Baseline)
Encoding mode: Faster encode (single pass)
Then select OK
Now Select Audio and change the CHANNELS setting to Mono. No one cares if your movie is in stereo on the web and changing this setting cuts the size of your audio track in half.
Finally, export the movie. You are almost finished. Once the export is complete, open the file in QuickTime Pro and choose File>Save As - choose any name, or use the same one. This step adds the Fast Start feature to your movie automatically.
Now you have an H.264 encoded movie that was encoded in half the time of the standard H.264 presets. The file size is a bit larger than the iWeb preset, but the quality is much better and the movie will start much faster.
Hope this helps!

n/a

Similar Messages

Best way to get small file size/best quality- starting from Logic?

I am in the process of embedding 3 mp3's into a PDF to submit as a portfolio. The PDF also has text, and two scores included, and with the 3 embedded mp3's it can't be more than 10mb.
So my question is: When bouncing a project out of Logic, what is the best method for getting the smallest file size, but retaining the best audio quality? And once it's out of Logic and it is an mp3 or other type of audio file, is there a best format for compressing it further, and still maintaining the relative quality?
I bounced out the three projects into wav's. Now I am using Switch for Mac to compress them down to smaller Mp3's. I basically need them to be about 3 mb each. Two of the recordings sound OK at that size, but they are just MIDI(one project is piano and string quartet, the other is just piano- all software instruments. The recording that combines MIDI and Audio and has more tracks (three audio tracks and 10 Midi/software instrument tracks)and sounds completely horrible if I get it under 5 mb as an mp3. The problem is that I need all three to equal around 9mb, but still sound good enough to submit as a portfolio for consideration into a Master's program.
If anyone can help I would really appreciate it. Please be detailed in your response, because I am new to logic and I really need the step by step.
Thank you...

Hi,
user5716448 wrote:
... Trying this
REGEXP_SUBSTR ( 'cus_postcode'
, '(\d+)\D*$'
, 1
, 1
, NULL
, 1
'cus_postcode' (inside single-quotes) is the 12-character literal consisting of c, u, s, underscore, p, o, another s, t, another c, another o, d and e. It doesn't contain any digits.
If you want to use a column called cus_postcode, then lose the single-qutoes.
>
where postcode for example DI19 1RI
Would expect 1 - first number after space starting from right but getting blank.
What am I doing wrong?
Thanks

Small file size, but still high quality?

Hello, I am filming weddings for clients but I am unable to export them with a small enough file size so that they are able to see it on their slower computer. And it is a pain when it doesn't even fit on a dvd. These videos are somewhere around 2 hours long. I would also like to have them still HD. The only way I have been slightly succesful is to upload them to youtube then download them off again. Is there a way to do this? I have already tried H.264. Thank you for your time!

Use the Adobe Media Encoder and h.264. It's currently your best option for small file size and HQ playback. You should also use AME to encode for DVD. 2 hours will easily fit on a DVD. If you want HD then burn a BluRay. That format will also hold a nicely compressed 2 hr movie. It's done all the time. You just have to learn about encoding for distribution. The standard presets are very good.

What's the best settings to Export movie for smaller file sizes?

Hi, I've been working on some helmet cam footage which was taken with Xvidmpeg4.avi and was advised to convert it to dvavi for editing in PrE, this created a huge file to work with, the original footage was 206mb and the finished edited dvavi file is now 1.56gb, what settings can I use to export the movie with a much smaller file size, but hopefully try to retain some quality, to upload to places like Vimeo? I thought I would try to export it in the same as the original footage Xvidmpeg4.avi thinking this might compress it again to something like the 206mb of the original and the original was good quality footage, but PrE just hangs up with a box stating 'Xvid Status (Not Responding)' and when I try to cancel that the whole thing crashes and closes? So when I go to File > Export > Movie, what would be the best settings in:
General > File Type ?
Video > Compressor
lots of options under compressor if I select the file type as Microsoft AVI, so I'm guessing something under that would compress it to a smaller file size but what, I could spend all night trying different settings so hoping for some advice?
Or, if I'm completely in the wrong place for the settings and should be doing something else please tell me?
Thanks, Gav

Thanks for the replies, but to me it's still confusing - simply because there are so many settings, if I go to Share/Personal Computer I'm then presented with a whole load of settings
NTSC Flash Video
MPEG
DVAVI
Windows Media
QuickTime
and under each of those is a lot more advanced settings?
I'm guessing I wouldn't use flash or quicktime, so which of the others would I use and what are the advanced settings to use as I can't find anything that is .wmv or .mov
What I've done with other videos that I've exported from PrE as dvavi is then to put it through Windows Movie Maker, Publish Movie, This Computer, then put the settings to Windows Media DVD Quality (PAL) (3.0 Mps) - this seemed to be the only setting that reduced the file size considerably but still had good quality, but it's still about twice the original file size?
This all seems long winded to me, open original file, convert original file, output another file, then output the file again in something else which then results in loss of quality and a larger file than the original? I'm ending up with lots of files, was hoping just to edit in Premiere then export/publish that edited clip and that would be it, then upload to the net.
Is it not possible to just edit my original footage and save it, just like you would with something like a word document, should I be using something else and not Premiere?
Thanks.

With Premiere elements 11, when Publish/Share (saving) a finished video, selecting H.264 .mov file type, what are the recommended Codec and Aspect settings for a crisp video and a small file size?

With Premiere Elements 11, when Publish/Share (saving) a finished video, selecting H.264 .mov file type, what are the recommended Aspect and Codec settings , for a crisp video with a small file size?

Gary Krouse
We will customize a very detailed reply, but
(a) What are the properties of your source media?
(b) What did you or the program set as the project preset to match the properties of the source media?
(c) What specific requirements do you have for this H.264.mov export file?
File size can be a compromise between bitrate, file size, and quality.
Thanks.
ATR

Can i have a smaller file size for songs that i put on iphone vs mac

i have ripped a lot of my cds to itunes on my MBA. i used the aac high quality setting.
is there a way that i can upload lower quality/smaller size versions of the songs that i will put on my new iphone ?
Q2: once i rip cd into itunes (on my MBA)... is there an easy way I can later decide to save space and re encode them at 128 instead of 256 (for example).
i notice that you cant just willy nilly copy/delete from the itunes media folder because itunes doesnt seem to 'refresh' with the new files.
thx!

1. the ONLY place i see where you can set the sampling rate,etc is under preferences/general/'when a cd is inserted".... am i missing something?
No.
2. when i want to add an existing mp3 file (from outside the apple realm) , i am using itunes "add to library" and browsing to some mp3 file(s) . it doesnt give me a option to convert it to an m4a format... it seems to just add it to the itunes library without changing the mp3 file .... do i have any option here?
You don't need to convert formats and I would not recommend you do so. You will simply lose quality.
To answer your original question...
can i have a smaller file size for songs that i put on iphone vs mac
If you want smaller files on the iPhone, see my post above which converts them when syncing to theiPhone.
If you really want to convert when adding songs to iTunes...
iTunes prefs > General - Import settings as you want.
Hold Option (Mac) or Shift (Windows) and choose File > Create New Version > Convert AAC (or what your settings are in previous step).
This will convert and add the file instead of adding the file then converting and having 2 of the same song in iTunes.

Need to convert video and audio files in high quality

Hi to all, i need to convert file types such as .AVI, .WMV and .MOV and keep the high quality, but i dont have or know any software to do this, are there any good options out there?
I don't really want to use a trial version, thanks.

I've used FFMpegX for my conversions. I've never looked at them on a large screen to see how well the video quality held on, but they look fine on my MacBook.
http://www.ffmpegx.com/
~Lyssa

How to export in a small file size in FCP7 ?

Hi,
I'm filming with a GoPro camera on 720p 60fps.
resulting files are MP4 files wich I convert to Apple ProRes files.
Now when I want to export my movie, it has a VERY big file size..!
Can anyone tell me how to export my movie in a smaller file size.
It doesn't has to be the smallest file size, just small enough so I can upload it on the internet etc.
Thanks very much,
Yannick.

Export a reference video (command-E, current settings and "self-contained" should not be marked.
Then import to compressor, use one of the h.264 settings... Start with the LAN setting and go from there.

Aperture Exporting JPEG's from RAW: file size and quality questions?

Hey Everyone,
So, I'm using Aperture 2 and I've got some questions about exporting from RAW to JPEG. I shoot with a Nikon D70 so original RAW files are 5-6mb in size. After doing some basic post processing when I export the pics at "full size" with picture quality of 11 out of 12 then the resulting JPEG is about half the file size of the original RAW file. For example a 5.6mb RAW becomes a 2.6mb JPEG. The resolution in pixels per inch and and the overall image size remain unchanged. Have I lost picture quality due to the exporting JPEG being smaller in file size?
My friend who works with me prefers to edit in Photoshop and when he follows the same workflow his saved JPEG from the identical RAW file in Photoshop is minimally smaller in file size, say 5.6mb to 5.3mb. He's telling me that my Aperture edited photos are losing quality and resolution.
Is he right, are my pics of lesser quality due to being a smaller file size? I've always been told that the quality of a picture is not in the mbs, but the pixel density.
I've bee told that Aperture has a better compression engine and that the resulting files are of the exact same quality because the PPI and image size are the same. Is that what explains the much smaller file sizes in Aperture?
I tried changing the picture quality in the export menu to 12 out of 12, but the resulting JPEG then becomes larger than the original RAW at over 7mbs.
Can someone please help me understand this better? I don't want to lose picture quality if that is indeed what is happening.
Thanks in advance for your help.

mscriv wrote:
So, I'm using Aperture 2 and I've got some questions about exporting from RAW to JPEG. I shoot with a Nikon D70 so original RAW files are 5-6mb in size. After doing some basic post processing when I export the pics at "full size" with picture quality of 11 out of 12 then the resulting JPEG is about half the file size of the original RAW file. For example a 5.6mb RAW becomes a 2.6mb JPEG. The resolution in pixels per inch and and the overall image size remain unchanged. Have I lost picture quality due to the exporting JPEG being smaller in file size?
JPEG is a "lossy" file compression algorithm. Whether Aperture or PS, *every time a JPEG is saved some loss occurs*, albeit minimal at the 11 or 12 level of save, huge losses at low save levels. Some images (sky, straight diagonal lines, etc.) are more vulnerable to showing visible jpeg artifacts.
My friend who works with me prefers to edit in Photoshop and when he follows the same workflow his saved JPEG from the identical RAW file in Photoshop is minimally smaller in file size, say 5.6mb to 5.3mb. He's telling me that my Aperture edited photos are losing quality and resolution.
*Both of you are losing image data when you save to jpeg.* IMO the differences between the apps is probably just how the apps work rather than actually losing significantly more data. The real image data loss is in using JPEG at all!
Is he right, are my pics of lesser quality due to being a smaller file size?
I doubt it.
I've always been told that the quality of a picture is not in the mbs, but the pixel density.
The issue here is not how many pixels (because you are not varying that) but how much data each pixel contains. In this case once you avoid lossy JPEG the quality mostly has to do with different RAW conversion algorithms. Apple and Adobe both guess what Nikon is up to with the proprietary RAW NEF files and the results are different from ACR to Apple to Nikon. For my D2x pix I like Nikon's conversions the best (but Nikon software is hard to use), Aperture second and Adobe ACR (what Photoshop/Bridge uses) third. I 98% use Aperture.
I tried changing the picture quality in the export menu to 12 out of 12, but the resulting JPEG then becomes larger than the original RAW at over 7mbs. Can someone please help me understand this better? I don't want to lose picture quality if that is indeed what is happening.
JPEG is a useful format but lossy. Only use it as a _last step_ when you must save files size for some reason and are willing to accept the by-definition loss of image data to obtain smaller files (such as for web work or other on-screen viewing). Otherwise (especially for printing) save as TIFF or PSD which are non-lossy file types, but larger.
As to the Aperture vs. ACR argument, RAW-convert the same original both ways, save as TIFF and see if your eyes/brain significantly prefer one over the other. Nikon, Canon etc. keep proprietary original image capture data algorithms secret and each individual camera's RAW conversion is different.
HTH
-Allen

How to Export a WMV file in High Quality but low MB?

How to Export a WMV file in High Quality but low MB?

I'm really afraid you are the only person who can answer that.
ANY compression is totally relative: what do you think is small? What do you define as high quality?
I can get a 5 minute wmv file at just under 100mb that I find acceptable for browser downloads. You might think that's too big. I don't.
Trial and error is the only way. Personally, I've set up a compressor preset to crunch my wmv files. While it's doing it's thing, I can do something else.

Using compressor Small file sizes?????

Can anyone help me with this. I get a lot of request from clients to have the video I edit for them compressed to very small files sizes so they can be emailed. At the same time the client complains about the quality of the video. I'm looking for some suggestions on how I can maximize quality but at the same time keep the file size low. Should I encode at MPEG-1 or MPEG-4 to do this? What about the other codecs, H.264 for example. Should I be making adjustments inside compressor to get low file size and better quality? What settings are those? Please help.

Are you asking how to find the smallest files and sync those? Or are you asking how to make the big files smaller without making duplicates. If the former, you can sort your library by file size or make a smart playlist that looks for files below a certain size. If the later, you really can't. You'd have to downsample the tracks which would create a smaller copy.

Why Is "Export Small File Size" Large?

Hi, I work in CS3. Out of 100 brochures, I have two brochures that will not export to a small file size PDF. The settings for export are all the same. What else should I be looking for? The sizes are usually 1 MG. These particular 2 brochures are 5 - 6 MG. What can I look for to correct this?
Thanks

Small size is very dependent on the contents being exported to PDF. Images are readily compressed. Text and vector data isn't. Thus, if your content is primarily text and vector, it is very unlikely that the content can be compressed signficantly more via change of settings.
Another factor that can relate to image compression is use of any duotones that use spot colors. Such images cannot be JPEG-compressed, only ZIP-compressed.
- Dov

Ntsc to pal conversions with small file sizes

I'm trying to convert a file from NTSC to PAL, which I have done successfully in the past. However, the file needs to be under 200MB (the video is 3.40) and I can not seem to get it any lower than 346 MB using the dv-pal setting and everything as low as possible and the sound set to mono. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Christy

DV PAL is a set data rate - 3.56 MB/s when run at 25 fps.
If you want a smaller file size you have two choices -
1. convert the file to another codec that allows for smaller frame sizes, slower frame rates and increased intra and inter frame compression.
2. If it must be DV/PAL, cut the length of the video to reach your 200mb limit.
Of course there is the third choice of simply giving them the larger file because that's what an un-compromised DV/PAL version of the file will be.
x

Need to export Movie to Quicktime Movie w/ similar file size and quality.

Let me preface in that I am not in the video editing profession. Many times I have exported my work to the professionals. I'm sure knowing what you're doing is half of the battle. Here is my dilemma. First, I'm using Quicktime pro just to add a text track to the movie. I then save the file as what Quicktime pro calls Movie .mov. This looks good and has the quality of the original .mov and the small data size. However, no other player than quicktime will recognize the text track. I then tried exporting from Movie to quicktime movie format (still .mov, can anyone explain the difference of the two .mov types???), but I find that the image quality is poor. Yet, in the quicktime format other players (except windows media player) recognize the text track. By poor quality I mean that I think what I have is the blocking effect. I assume that this is due to the bitrate being to low. Again, I would like to keep the file size low and managable for data storage and downloading purposes. I was hoping that in the end all video players would be able to have no issues.
My current file sized are all less than 1MB and are of good quality.
Just adding a small test track the Movie .mov is still less than 1MB
The size of the image is 512x512
I should also say that I'm a PC user with a quicktime pro windows version. I'm sure that doesn't help me one bit!! However, I believe my issues are more with the fact that I'm not experienced in compressing files and knowing exactly the right settings.
Here is what I've tried thus far. Movie to quicktime movie
H264 codec
Current for fps (Which is in the original is 8fps)
Key frames automatic
frame reordering checked
I've tried Automatic data rate and setting the bit rate, even at 2000kbps (the quality is low). My original movie with the highest kbps is only 1151kbps and has no artifacts
encoding Best quality multi-pass
custom size 512x512
deinterlace checked

am i correct that this 'my photo stream' process is not removing any image data?
Yes, as long as you have iPhoto's iCloud preference pane configures as follows:
You're be getting the full image file, pixel dimensions, etc. which is essentially a bit by bit copy of the photo on the Phone.
When you add tags and other metadata and export the file out of iPhoto as a jpeg with the checkboxes selected to include that metadata there will be some image compression. However, if one chooses High or even Medium JPEG Quality one will be hard pressed to detect any image degradation unless printing very, large prints or otherwise displaying the image at a very, large size.
I ran a test on a 1.4 MB photo from my iPhone and compared the original to two exports, one at High and the other at Medium JPEG Quality and got these results:

Export Settings for best quality, smaller file size?

I have a one hour movie I made of a concert and exported it using Share --> Media Browser --> 720p. It came out great quality but it's 4.4gb's.
I need to figure out how to get that down to about 1GB while keeping 720p. HD movies in iTunes are two plus hours and only 3gb's from what I've seen. How can I use the same compression settings? There has to be a way to compress it a little more, while staying in 720p right?
What am I missing? TIA!

Compression quality really depends on the type of video that you are trying to compress. If the video is full of motion and noise, it will be very hard to reduce the file size through compression without massive loss. Compression is a trade-off. If you reduce the fame size to 480p, you may increase the quality of the video while reducing the file size versus trying to do the same thing at 720p.

MOVIES: smaller file size, higher quality, faster loading

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