Im new to this, so advice please

[Scruffnz]

Hiyas all, just taken the plunge and got a vid camera.

What do I need or is recommended for newbies to use the video I have taken and get it onto a cd rom or make avail for d/l on the net?

I got the Sony cam, firewire hookup, computer and a rw cdrom drive.

Cheers
Dave

[shiny#3]

Welcome Scruffnz

I guess you are already able to import your movies from cam into
your PC

for making Cdroms that can be played in a standalone DVD player
I suggest that you use The Tmpeg encoder.

for internet purposes you have to decide if you want to
use streamingtechnologies (online playing) or if you just want
to make your movies just available for download.

Streaming:
my suggestions would be Windows Media Encoder
to create wma files (for highest compatibility with probably
most users) or Quicktime Pro (this would also serve the
Mac users).

Download: I suggest either the Divx 5.05 Pro codec Or Xvid
or Microsoft Mpeg 4 V2 ( the last one is already implemented
in most Windows systems.)

There is a comercial solution , that I prefer to use, and that is
The Pinnacle Studio 8 or higher.

this software can do all of this (except the Quicktime format
*.mov and has a wonderful
editing software also. ( scene detection cutting,background music, titeling, voice over
comentary features along with very much digital effects).

good luck!

[AmateurVids]

Where can I get Microsoft Mpeg 4 V2 encoder from?

[shiny#3]

the codecs you absolutly need (or you might be messing up your system) this codec packs provide you also with many other codecs

you can also download the microsoft codecs as "stand alone" codecs here:

http://www.divx-digest.tv/software/codec/mpg4vki.zip

just to make sure that you don´t get in trouble using codec packs!!

good luck!

[AmateurVids]

Great thanks alot shiny#3

What do you mean by getting into trouble using codec packs?

Thanks again

[AmateurVids]

Oops I forgot to ask, isn't that the codec to play the files, not encode them using that compression method?

[shiny#3]

since there are many codecs out there codec packs tend to cover almost all usual codecs , so they tend to be very big.

an unexperieced user might think " I install all of the codec pack,
then I will be able to play all kind of formats."

but then he is left behind with a system that plays movies incorrectly or out of sync or only audio or only video
or none at all.

this is the time when they returmn to the forum with
"help black screen , no audio or so on.
and someone has to tell them to get rid of all codecs they installed
and only to install the codecs they really need.

by the way if you have trouble in installing the MS codecs

on this site is a three step explanation on how to install

http://www.divx-digest.com/software/mpeg4codec.html

[shiny#3]

I use the MS codecs in virtual dub and they act fine.
the ones in the nimo codec pack will surley work!!

[AmateurVids]

Thanks alot for the great info, it really helps

Sorry to be a pain just a couple more questions

I too am using virtual dub at the moment as I want to use the logo feature to add to the movies, however after re-encoding the mpeg it's 3 times the size and if I drop the compression to 50% or so, it's not much smaller but the movie is terrible quality!

This movie is for web production and I was hoping people could come to the site and click on the movie, download and begin watching, instead of going fishing for the correct codecs. Streaming isn't really an option cause I will quickly go broke with badwidth fees.

Can you give me any advice on the best way to approach this.

Thanks again for all the excellent information and help, I really appreciate it

[shiny#3]

the most spread codec is of course the microsoft mpeg4 v2 codec
that comes with many operating systems. and there is no need for fishing codecs.
but the Divx codec is also spread widly nowadays and is often sold with new computers in the software pack.

but to answer your question.

you have to choose a reasonable bitrate in the microsoft codec
since its default bitrate is twothousand something.

you also have to compress the audio with it to a reasonable
size, i guess mp3 is the best choice to do so.

lets get started:

load your movie with virtual dub.
in the video drop down menue choose full processing mode
then choose compression and select the MS mpeg4 3688 v2
by doubleclicking on it
hit the now appearing configure button.
in the keyframes window set it to a value between 4 and 8
(i guess you will only put short movies on the internet and
to maintain a nicley scrollable movie you should have a keyframe
every 4 seconds if you have a movie of 90 min of length
use the value of 8)

set the smoothness crispness slider to 50

the bitrate slider should also be decreased since the default value is much to high. average highband internet videos have
a setting of 512 kbit/sec but since you produce dowlloadable movies set it to a value between 700 and 800
this is the value that will have the biggest effect on your moviesize
play with it on several attempts to check what matches
your quality requirements best.

then hit the ok button in both windows.

open the audio drop down menue.
set it to full processing mode.
hit the conversion in the audio drop down menue
choose 44100hz hit the ok button.
hit the compression menue in audio drop down
choose an mpeg layer 3 codec
choose a bitrate (128 kbits= almost cd quality 112 kbits is still close 96 kbits is average but still a good quality for internet files)
64 kbits is used for speech where the music is not so important)
hit the ok button.

hit the option dropdown menue
enable the sync to audio.

then save this file under a new name.

check if you are content with the result

good luck

[AmateurVids]

Only problem is I can't see the MS mpeg4 3688 v2 option in the compression menu?

[AmateurVids]

I installed the ones you told me to above but they are called:
Microsoft MPEG-4 VKI Codec V1
Microsoft MPEG-4 VKI Codec V2
Microsoft MPEG-4 VKI Codec V3

Is the 2nd one the one you mean?

Thanks for the great instructions by the way

[AmateurVids]

Edited: Sorry

[Scruffnz]

Wow thanks guys, plenty of food for thought so to speak

I will no doubt be back for more advice, but I am trying out the Dr Divx, and looking at that Dub one.

cheers