Best Video Compression Suites?

[J8son]

I'm looking to put a large number of hi-res videos I've done online as part of my demo reel I can direct people to when applying for jobs in production studios, films, etc.

However, I have tried Autodesk Cleaner and the results are not great.

I am wondering if there have been new compression suites developed that give extremely high quality video (which I would need for an FX reel) but super lower file sizes.

Apple trailers are a good example of this. The quality is just insane yet most trailers are under 10mbs.

Also, I want to avoid 3rd party codecs like DivX. Reason being that the worst thing you can do when trying to sell a demo reel is tell someone they have to go install software before they can see your stuff. It's as good as if they never even came to your site.

Thanks!

[anonymez]

Also, I want to avoid 3rd party codecs like DivX

Then you're probably after WMV, take a look at Windows Media Encoder. Otherwise I would have suggested x264.

[olyteddy]

You might also look at some of the Flash stuff. go to http://dynamic.abc.go.com/streaming/landing and watch some of the streaming FLVs of their shows. Here's a map from LOST.

[celtic_druid]

Apple trailers use AVC for video and aac for audio. x264 is faster and gives better quality than Apple's encoder. Just that you can't use it to its full potential if you want QT compatibility since Apple's decoder is also sub par. Also for QT compatibility you need to stick with LC aac for audio and if you want 5.1, then I think you need to use mov as a container since Apple never got mp4 working properly. Just be careful of the channel order since it is different in mov.

Flash means VP6 for video and mp3 for audio, which is ok and about the most compatible streaming format (for compatibility you really need to stick with Sorenson Spark video though which is crappy).

WMV means WMV9/VC-1, which is ok, but still not as good as AVC. Lower decoding overheads though.

[Spotmen Inc]

Flash video is probably your best bet for quality and compatability.

[J8son]

FYI. I tried a program called Sorenson Squeeze.

This is an absolutely AMAZING app. Highly recommend for everyone. Reduces a 2gig uncompressed video file down to 13mb with EXCELLENT quality!