preparing for streaming video

sharonrieger wrote on 2/15/2005, 8:56 AM
Hi,

So, I have a few basics down in Vegas. The objective is to take snippets of video from Camcorder and save in wmv9 format to be streamed from a website. The clip is 1 minute long. Movie size was set to 320 X 240

When rendering the clip, I tried 2 settings:
100 kbps, which has a 15 fps settings and the file size was 755 KB,
then tried:
256 kpbs ,30 fps, file size 2,303 KB

I heard that 15 fps was best to use for web, but it comes out choppy cause there is a lot of movement. Things look much better when saving as 256 kps

Do you think it would be ok to go with the 256 kpbs? The site is used as a portfolio for a comedian and I think quality is important.

Also, I am totally unsure of the proper Project Properties settings. I guess I would match the video size so it reads as 320 X 240, and set the full resolution rendering quality as "good", but beyond that, I am lost. Remember, this is for web output, not dvd or cd.

Thanks
Sharon

Comments

Chienworks wrote on 2/15/2005, 9:20 AM
The "good / best" setting has almost no effect unless your video contains large still images. Don't worry about it. Leave it at good for faster rendering.

Most folks consider 256Kbps as a minimum acceptable quality for web delivery these days. 2.3MB is not that large for a file anymore. Even 56K dialup users can download it in 10 minutes or less. What i would highly recommend is using Variable Bit Rate two-pass encoding. I do this by changing the Mode in the Video tab to Bit rate VBR (Peak) and setting the average bitrate you desire there. 250 K should result in about the same 2.3MB file. The difference is that bits will be conserved where there is less motion and used where there is more motion too keep the image looking better.
sharonrieger wrote on 2/15/2005, 12:00 PM
Chienworks,
Thanks for the info. It makes me feel better about the settings I will choose. The only question that I have is the VBR settings under the Video tab.

I have two choices for VBR: Bit Rate VBR and Quality VBR. I am guessing that the latter is equivalent to VBR Peak. Is that right?

Sharon
B.Verlik wrote on 2/15/2005, 1:12 PM
If your .avi is under 1 minute (50-55 Sec.), I've gone into the settings of Windows Movie Maker and in the 'setting', I'll choose 'other'. Then in the 'profile' window I'll choose Video for Broadband 768kbps. It's the highest setting. It will turn your .avi into approx 4MB file that I have sent over the 56k modem before. It takes about 25 minutes to send and about half that to receive. If you're converting using Vegas, I've never used Vegas for this yet. Only Windows Movie Maker, which I'm not that crazy about.
sharonrieger wrote on 2/15/2005, 1:58 PM
TheGr8Steve ,

Wow, 4 Mb is pretty large to use on a website. I hear that Windows Movie maker isn't bad. But I don't think you can save in mp3 or wmv with it. the wmv file I created from my avi is turning out to be smaller than a mp3 with Vegas,

B.Verlik wrote on 2/15/2005, 8:59 PM
Sorry, I was gone all day. It will save in .WMV, I don't know about the mp3. Usually, I put in a short .avi in the Windows Movie Maker (open/select file). Drag the file to the "timeline"?? (at the bottom) Once there, the "Save Movie" switch will become available. When you click the 'Save Movie', that's where you can change the settings to whichever quality you want. If you choose the "Other" setting, then a new 'dropdown' will appear and when you open that, new options. You can fill out the info on this page that will be displayed on everyones WMPlayer. When you push "Okay", then it will ask you where you want the file to go, choose that file and then you title it blahblah.WMV (the .WMV will be there already.) It will then render out a WMV in that file. I think it would be easiest to do all your editing in .avi in the Vegas timeline and either render a new .avi or frameserve it to Windows Movie Maker.
Chienworks wrote on 2/16/2005, 2:48 AM
It's probably even easier to render to WMV right from Vegas and not bother with Windows Movie Maker.
B.Verlik wrote on 2/16/2005, 11:07 AM
My suggestion to use Windows Movie Maker was only brought up because they have various compression settings made for internet use and they are presets, so you don't have to set anything up. Once you have an .avi ready. It will just convert it. Plus you can add that other data that will display your info on the bottom of the WMP screen.
Mandk wrote on 2/16/2005, 11:30 AM
I use procoder express for the same reasons. Presets and no thinking involved. My 8 - 10 minute videos usually end up at about 12-16MB or so.

I have only had one user (I have about 200 regular visitors) unable to watch the streaming video. I send him links and he downloads.