How to Compress Video for the Web Without Losing Quality

[CheetinCheeto]

I'm relatively new to digital media. I recently started uploading videos to my page and various other pages. Was wondering how to keep good quality, while keeping under maximum file size allowed (usually 100-200MB). I really don't know much about the differences in compression types. I edit in Avid and After Effects. I have Sorenson Squeeze but have no idea what it really does. I shoot on mini-dv. Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[professor aire]

Depending on just how long the videos you're uploading are I utilize Avid and the Sorenson Squeeze suite and my preferred method of compression is into a Flash video. QuickTime .mov can be more compatible with more systems... If you have the generic version of Sorenson that comes w/ Avid then you can't edit the settings on this compression. If you're struggling w/ the file sizes with these settings and you can't drop to lower presets and maintain the quality you're looking for then you need to upgrade the suite or purchase a different compression program.

For videos under 20 minutes you probably shouldn't have too many problems with the automatic presets in Sorenson... If you have the problems I'd recommend upgrading to a better version of Sorenson. The nice thing about Sorenson compared to other compression programs is it works perfectly with reference .mov files out of Avid, meaning you're sending a full-quality reference file into the compressor... which is good. The only preset I don't recommend is with the .mpg files; I find the presets don't translate well into a burning program.

 

[CheetinCheeto]

Thanks profesor

Thanks profesor

Thanks professor aire. I'm going to play with that program tomorrow.

 

[JayEmm]

If you fancy it, there's a program called SUPER which is a god-like program for video compression. It's also free.