QuickTime: 23 Video Format Codec Options - Geez!!!

Nathan_Shane wrote on 6/21/2004, 8:06 PM
Geez...my head's about to explode trying to learn about all the different codecs available under QuickTime. I've been rendering with all different kinds of settings to get a good idea of final file sizes and render quality.

In Vegas 5, under the "Video Format" option of QuickTime, there are 23 options for codecs...that seems like such overkill, certainly many of these are not even considered or used.

I did find a good reference page on the Siggraph website that helps to really explain the different codecs of QuickTime, the link is below.

http://www.siggraph.org/education/materials/HyperGraph/video/architectures/QuickTime.html

But I tell you what, a person could spend a lifetime evaluating all these codecs alone for the results they produce. I was curious as to how many of you actually spend any time evaluating and playing with these options?

Comments

Spot|DSE wrote on 6/21/2004, 8:41 PM
Haven't evaluated all codecs, but have played with many of them. Quicktime is a wrapper that can contain many codecs indeed. At this point in time, Quicktime sucks for anything except high bandwidth delivery, so it's been a long while since we've done much with it here. There are only a few used for general purposes, many are for specific delivery schemes and therefore aren't used in common situations. Was there a specific need you wanted to deliver for?
rdolishny wrote on 6/21/2004, 8:44 PM
The one really handy quicktime format is "animation" with millions+ colours. That's handy for rendering video with alpha channels embedded. I have not yet found the AVI equivalent to that. It's really handy for my line of work (animation) but I haven't needed to use quicktime for regular video work ever, except for my Apple pals.

- R
Nathan_Shane wrote on 6/21/2004, 8:51 PM
No, there wasn't any specific delivery need. I'm just further educating myself with the tech-head stuff to better determine quality versus real-world practical.
smhontz wrote on 6/21/2004, 9:02 PM
If you really want to learn about all the codecs, pick up a copy of "Compression for Great Digital Video" by Ben Waggoner. He covers 'em all, explains how they work, and what they're best used for. I'm still working my way through the book...

He even mentions Vegas 3.0a in the book as a viable compression tool...
Spot|DSE wrote on 6/21/2004, 9:19 PM
Ben's book is the bible of compression, and well written, not to mention the great examples he gives. Well worth the cost.