Best codec/file type for all (Mac & PC)?

paige wrote on 4/3/2011, 4:31 PM

Hello
I posted this question in the 'viral video' post, but John Dennis suggesed I open a new thread.

I've been asked to edit a 30 second clip to be sent as an email attachment to many.

What output format would be best for this file? Is there a standard for both mac and pc users?

To render straight from Vegas would be ideal.

Thank you
Paige

Comments

musicvid10 wrote on 4/3/2011, 4:41 PM

The only universally playable cross-platform codec is MPEG-1.
However, AVC / MP4 should work just fine for your purposes.
Or you could host it somewhere and just send people a link.

paige wrote on 4/3/2011, 4:49 PM

Thanks musicvid
Do you suggest the Sony AVC or Mainconcept AVC?
Should I change the file extension to .mov or leave as .mp4?
Thank you

musicvid10 wrote on 4/3/2011, 4:54 PM

Leave extension as .mp4.
Either encoder will look equally bad at low res and low bitrate.
Jerry (amendegw) is having good luck with Handbrake at very low bitrates.
Some email servers will spamguard video attachments, so hosting may be your best solution.
A private Youtube video would be very easy to do.

john_dennis wrote on 4/3/2011, 5:21 PM

My response was MPEG-1 also, but on testing Jerry and I both got and unexpected result in Vegas Pro 10.

paige wrote on 4/3/2011, 5:30 PM

Thanks John,
I've just rendered a mpeg1 file and sent it to a friend who has a mac to test, I'm still using vegas 8 - not confident to upgrade to 10 - there still seems to be issues according to this forum - so I could render to mpeg1 with no issues.

I've had problems with mp4 files in the past, especially the audio going in and out of sync.
Thanks
Paige

TheHappyFriar wrote on 4/3/2011, 5:47 PM

All the Mactel owners I know can play WMV no problem. Even the user-friendly releases of Linux over the past couple years support WMV.

paige wrote on 4/3/2011, 7:46 PM

WMV file would be ideal if you think it's mac friendly!