Guidelines for choosing among video codecs for output?

[ambushed]

I desperately need help in choosing which video codec to use for rendering an edited video file (avi, mpeg2, wmv, etc.). I'm using PowerDirector to edit a variety of video files, and when it comes to deciding which codec to use to render the edited file, I have the following options: (these are for avi file output):

- Cinepak Codec by Radius
- Intel 4:2:0 Video V2.50
- Intel Indeo(R) Video R3.2
- Intel Indeo Video 4.5
- Intel IYUV codec
- Intel RLE
- Microsoft Video 1
- Microsoft H.263 Video Codec
- Microsoft H.261 Video Codec
- Indeo video 5.10
- XviD MPEG-4 Codec
- No Compression

How on earth am I supposed to know how to choose? What are the costs and benefits of each? On what grounds, exactly, am I supposed to choose between them?

Can anyone please provide guidelines on how to choose among them, ideally covering all of them?


Thanks!

[anonymez]

welcome to the forum

what you wish to do with the output?

[ambushed]

It will vary. Most of the time I will just leave the edited output files on my hard drive; occasionally I might upload them to a news server. In a very few cases, I will want to encode them to MPEG2 for output to DVD, but I'm pretty sure I already know how to do that, and for this question I'm primarily interested in output to AVI file/containers. I don't anticipate posting them to places such as YouTube or Google or other web locations, and if I do, PowerDirector already allows me to do that hassle-free.

Don't worry about re-editing the files, since PowerDirector seems to be able to handle any input structure/format/container. This question is about how to choose between output codecs.

I will want to maintain good-to-very good image quality (but certainly not extremely good) while at the same time moderating the file sizes. I don't want to unduly waste disk space nor do I want to upload unduly large files to news.

But I would like guidance on most or all of them.

Can anyone please provide guidelines on how to choose among them, ideally covering all of them, or at least the best of them? And provide sub-detailed guidance on how to choose the settings for each codec? That's a tall order, I imagine, but I'm lost without it.


Thanks again!

[anonymez]

all the codecs listed in your post, other than xvid, are registered by default in xp. and none, other than xvid, provide any decent compression. go with xvid. as for settings, search the forum or google, they have been covered thoroughly

[jack3216]

Codecs

Like ambush i will be converting my files into DVD using NERO VISION EXPRESS. I use ARCSOFT VIDEO IMPRESSION2 and i would like advice which is the best codec to use
Cinepac codec by Radius
INTEL INDEO(R) VIDEO R 3.2
INDEO VIDEO 4.5
INDEO 5.10
MICROSOFT WINDOWS MEDIA VIDEO9
Your expert opinion would be valued