Can I fit a 20minute video into a 15MB file?

[brian_reilly]

I must be able to do it. I mean, quality is not an issue here, I just have to get it done!

I mean, I'm talking as low as 12fps. A screen size 160x120 or even lower. Using the lowest quality settings of whatever program I need. And it can be put into any kind of video format. So guys, help me out here. How can I do this?

EDIT:: The original file is a 66MB .avi

[tgpo]

Try the 3ivx codec, it'll compress great amounts, but still be watchable. The MPEG-4 compresser with Quicktime 6 should work as well. Quicktime Pro would be the best for this operation. That way you can quickly try all the codecs and settings you like until you find what you're looking for.

[brian_reilly]

hmmm...I don't have Quicktime pro. Any other free apps that can do this?

And thanks a lot for your help, by the way.

[galactica]

Anything is possible, its just if the quality is acceptable for you.

since were talking a 66meg .avi going to be 4.4x reduction in quality.

find the origional k/sec of the film, then divide by 4.4 and then reencode to that k/sec for vide.

you could downscale the k/sec of the audio if that helps you squeeze it to your 15 meg requirement.

[tgpo]

Free.....hmmmmmm...

Will iMovie open it?? If it will or you can get it to somehow then you should be able to export using those codecs. But it all depends on if you can get iMovie to import it. You said it's a .avi file right?? Is it divx?? If so use the program called Divx Doctor to create a .mov file and iMovie may accept the file a little more readily.

[galactica]

http://www.divx.com/divx/mac/

Divx pro has free trial, it would work

http://3ivx.com/download/macos.html
heres 3ivx's app

ffmpegx in theory, though never use it for divx, only mpeg conversions.

best of luck

[tgpo]

ffmpegx in theory, though never use it for divx, only mpeg conversions.

Isn't ffmpegX not a product you have to pay for??

[dcsos]

If you can go 320 or 352 x 240 in frame size its possible in MPEG-1

If you did this, the recipient would be aable to play the file on MAC or PC

A bitrate of 800KB per frame would be lowest acceptable for this frame size and some programs make MPEG-1 at 15FPS to save Megabytes.

Still at 720 or 640 x480 you could go down to 1000kb/fram and get a smaller filesize than you'd expect

MPEG-1 ain't half bad..and everyone can play it back out of the box

MAC 7.5 and higher
WIN Win95 vers 1

[galactica]

ffmpegx in theory, though never use it for divx, only mpeg conversions.

Isn't ffmpegX not a product you have to pay for??

If so, somehow or another I have never been promted for a registration number or anything related to a purchase of the program.


EDIT: Just went to major's site. I have not updated in a while, and it looks like the newer versions of ffmpegx are "Register: Do you like ffmpegX and want to support its development? Please register."

ill be wiring some money to him shortly. But it does say

Development of ffmpegX takes countless hours which could be spent in funnier activities. Registering allows you to support this effort and avoid that I quit the project. You can try the program for free to see if you like it and if it brings you added value in operating dozens of Unix tools without need of typing any command line. The trial version is fully functional excepted for the "Autocrop" feature, and is not time-limited.

So For this user, the trial version will work fully except for the auto crop feature.

[brian_reilly]

Yeah, I'm actually hoping to go MPG1. That was my original plan, but a conversion with TMPGENC on a PC, using 700KB per frame at 160x120 video, with the "lowest quality" setting and it managed to turn my high-quality 66MB .avi file into a low-quality 219MB .mpg file.


Well, thanks for your help guys! I'm gonna be trying a bunch of these out!

EDIT:: I've actually been using FFMPEGX for a while now. I probably have a really old version. I was never asked to register it.

[galactica]

just out of curiosity
1. why do you want to go to such a small size?
2. what is your ultimate goal in converting this file? VCD?

[brian_reilly]

Well, my answeres are kinda've intertwined. See, I need to put the file up for download on my website. The quality isn't a concern, as long as it's bearable, I just need to keep it small enough so that 56k users will be able to download it.

[galactica]

then id do one of two things

1. reencode using the divx or 3ivx codex so that you stay within the same file type
2. chop it into pieces and host it in sections, or use some sort of compression sofware to see if you cant pack it in a .zip or something that will compress it.

[tgpo]

2. chop it into pieces and host it in sections, or use some sort of compression sofware to see if you cant pack it in a .zip or something that will compress it.

Stuffit or the newest craze bittorrent

[galactica]

the .torrent would work nicely!
especailly if you are planning on having it distributed to many users.

Essentially you make a 50-500k file that you would host on your site. This file is then linked to your 66meg .avi

As long as you use a valid .torrent tracker, people who download this file will then beable to get the file from you. The more that download it, the faster it is for others. It works by spreading the downloading over those who are currently downloading the file so that they are actually uploading portions of the data in addtion to you the host.

it lowers your bandwidth and makes it faster for others to download.

find more about this at http://bitconjurer.org/BitTorrent/

[tgpo]

The quality isn't a concern, as long as it's bearable, I just need to keep it small enough so that 56k users will be able to download it.

I used on one of my videos the H.263 at 12fps and got over 3min under 5mb. It looked okay at best. The MPEG-4 codec looks great, as does the 3ivx codec. I'd suggest trying them first.

[dcsos]

I'm going to suggest you put it on the timeline in FCP and output MPEG1
(can't you do that with TOAST installed as the mpeg engine to FCP?AVID DV on MAC OS 10 should do this at a slighly higher bit rate (1000minimum?))

Because My MPEG-1 files at 240x180 can get 15 minutes less than 15 megabytes..what went wrong?

I would also suggst CINEPAK QUICK TIME at MEDIUM QUAL.
320 x240 or 352x240 at 15FPS and 750K/b/sec LIMIT
for internet as it can even be played with LINUX, as well as PC or MAC

Windows users cannot play MPEG-4 made on a mac easily unless they have QT 6 or higher
and I spose you could promt users to install DIVX or XVID befor they downloaded another kind of MPEG-4

[brian_reilly]

Using 3ivx D4, I was able to convert it using Quicktime Format MPEG4 Compression.

The results? 160x120 video, 12fps, 3.905 KBytes/sec, Low Quality. Gave me a 17MB file.

So I messed with the audio a little. Took it from 44KHz Stereo to 22KHz Mono. Ended up with a 10MB file.

Thanks a lot guys! I got the file smaller than I expected, and it is still very watchable (only a little pixelated with thin sound)! The people in the PC forum were nowhere near as helpful (they basically told me it couldn't be done). So Windows users will need Quicktime, and what else to view it?

[tgpo]

So Windows users will need Quicktime, and what else to view it?

As long as they have the 3ivx codec installed then anything that handles .mov files should play it.

[galactica]

if you want to give me the link ill view it on my PC and tell you what is needed to view it.

you can pm the link to me if you dont want lots of people downloading it.

[dcsos]

A 3ivx file will be the BEST possible quality at that SIZE!

I also volunteer to see how easy it is to play on a Classic Mac (9.1 350MHZ) or ModernPC (Win2k 2.0GHZ) if you send or post the link

[brian_reilly]

Thanks guys. It might be a day or two before I actually upload the file (my 56k modem doesn't like big uploads, it thinks the server isn't responding and kills the connection), but I'll definitely post the link once it's up. Just gotta get to a DSL connection!

EDIT:: Just curious, but is there any way to do that same conversion on a PC? Not that I want to, but since I'm downloading the files on a PC, it'd save me a lot of time and blank CDs.

[dcsos]

a 66 MB AVI can be brought into any one of
ELEVEN different applications installed on MY PC to make MPEG-1
or are you going 3ivx?

I would use VEGAS VIDEO 4.0 first (it uses Main Concept MPEG-encoder
and incorporating any codec on your system is possible to output
MPEG-4 in the .AVI wrapper as 3ivx file
you see MPEG-4 is all called .AVI on a PC (with the exception of QUICKTIMES MPEG-4, this is a .mp4 on windows)

bARRING vegas I WOULD USE PREMIERE 6.5

AND FAILING premoere THE tmpg ENCODER THAT GAVE YOU TROUBLE ABOVE MIGHT BE MY third choice


finally: A SMALL FREEWARE application ON WINDOWS THAT MAKES dIVX AND 3IVX FROM avi INPUT IS vidomi www.vidomi.com
Its really quick and easy

[galactica]

Thanks GALACTICA, you really know your stuff!!
Great to see!

Only cause you said this to me once will I allow this PC answer to stay in the mac forum.

hahaha, just kidding. Im glad to see there are other ways of doing this, and on a PC (I just got a PC and am learning all the video tools on it now)

[dcsos]

If it gets any heavier, I would support a movement of the thread to the other forum

but what's preventing the poster from putting the AVI file on the timeline in a MAC-BASED non-linear editor like FCP, capable of rendering to one of the reccomended MPEG-4 codecs..
This''l produce stellar results, and unlik with some freeware, you just save the project and scale it back till it still retains the quality but suits your download purpose..
Older versions of CLEANER (4,0r 5) are also a recommended choice

[galactica]

but what's preventing the poster from putting the AVI file on the timeline in a MAC-BASED non-linear editor like FCP, capable of rendering to one of the reccomended MPEG-4 codecs..

probably the cost of FCP. but then again, lots of people seem to have this $999 dollar software

[dcsos]

Then use the bundled version of Premiere that came with some hardware you bought..or spring a few bucks for premiere 6.0 or less even ADOBE PREMIERE 4.2 will take the 3ivx codec and allow you to select it as an output codec...

after all this is an AVI file,
We're not talking about the ability to edit MPEG-2 ..cause re-rendering that might be problematical without the $$$ apps

[brian_reilly]

What's stopping me is that I have no way to transfer some of the files from a PC to my Mac. While I was connected with my 56k modem to the internet for about 50 hours to download the one file, I can't get the rest off the PC that has a DSL connection.