Compressing videos
 

Any recommendations on progs that compress videos?? I have a few videos that come in at 300MB or more and that's just of no use to anyone here, obviously

If you are running Windows XP, you can use Windows Movie Maker. It comes bundled with the operating system for free.

We can probably use them. If they are home videos, you can upload them to One Click Home Videos

We are also planning a similar site exclusively for webcam videos later this year.

Thanks,

Thanks Alex ..... yes I am looking at Windows Movie Maker right now but, well, I can't see where the compression option would be. I've looked all over the toolbar and the pull down menus on the left but haven't a clue where that is at. Wanna help out an ignoramus even more by pointing me further in the right direction? Thanks again.

I think compressing a video is the same as converting the file format like from .avi to .wmv. .wmv Usually has the most compression (Small file size, worst quality) and avi has the least compression(Big file size, best quality). After you import your vid to moviemaker, add it to the timeline and select save to my comp, then choose a place to save and then you will see movie settings. You can use the Best quality for playback on my comp which save the file as a .wmv format or you can select Show more choices for other options to save the file as in different sizes.

It's too basic to compare .WMV to .AVI so simply because each can have different compression levels depending on what codec(s) are used. Sometimes a .WMV file will look better than an .AVI file depending on how it was processed.

Uncompressed .AVI files can be very high quality but the file sizes are huge. .AVI files can also be compressed with codecs like DivX to make smaller file sizes. Windows Movie Maker lets you choose options for what size file to output, but will only output .WMV files.

Thanks,

I was wrong to say that. Compressing is NOT the same as converting. You can do either compress or convert or both. Just not with moviemaker. And like you said it automatically converts the file to .wmv. I was describing basic because I was refering to windows moviemaker. Sorry if I confused anyone.

I don't know about yours, but my moviemaker also has one option to save the file as a (DV-AVI (NTSC)) format but the file is huge. I think I posted one here that I made that was over 11 MB and only played for three seconds. :eek:

There are so many options it's enough to drive you crazy.

Hi Intruder102. Here's the procedure I follow re: using WMM.

1) import the vid into WMM
2) save it as a project
3) drag it to the video bar at the bottom and then use that to split it into chunks to save. I usually create 2:50 minute clips. To do this just use your mouse to drag the end of the clip back to 2:50.
4) go to menue and select save movie file; save to my computer; and then choose a name
5) select 'best fit to file size' and for OCC I use 11 megs. This should keep the quality fairly high
6) after the first clip is saved, go back to the main screen.
7) open your project again (which will be of the full clip)
8) cut the first 2:50 off the beginning of the clip and then save the project again.

repeat until the whole vid is cut and posted on OCC for us to enjoy. ;)

Thanks for all the help guys .... will get on that ASAP :D