Need opinions/suggestions on how to distribute a short film

[sybariten]

OK,
so i've probably re-started my "activity" on this forum (and introduced myself) ten times or so... dont know why, the activity here seems so cool and i wanna take part of it, but things come in between.

Anyhow. I hope this question isnt too similar to others in this thread, so you'll just ignore it and roll your eyes!

What i have is a short film, that is, a "short-film" in its true sense, not a "short feature film". I want to distribute this now over various networks, for instance bittorrent and the trading scene, etc. So i'm thinking a bit about file formats and such. I'm not asking you to give exact recomendations like those from the warez scene or so, but let me start with my first issue: I have transfered the 2 minute film to my computer with this wonderful little tool called WinDV. So, now i have an AVI file, coded with the DV codec i presume?
Now, is there a simple tool that can cut of, say, 5 seconds at the end of this file and write back to the same format, without recompression? I guess this can be done to mpeg-1 rather simply, but now i'm unsure. I'd rather not use Premiere or something big for this.

Second question. Lets say that this avi clip has the perfect length and all. What would the "tool of the trade" in order to compress it? Can a program like TMpgEnc jjust take my DV file and compress it to mpeg-1 ? Or is it commercial, and perhaps there are no free tools that can compress like this ?

I hope you understand my questions.
I should know all this. (Considering my ongoing education)

peace

[bugster]

So you have two minutes of DV-avi, captured with WinDV. Did you capture it as type-2 DV, as more tools seem to be happy with this. If not, no fear, there is a free DV type converter in the tools section. Once you have it in DV type-2, download and install the free Panasonic DV codec. This will then allow you to open the avi file in virualdub in oder to edit it (cut, splice etc).

As it is so short, using TmpGenc to convert it to mpeg-1 at VCD quality or maybe even slightly higher bitrate would be a reasonable way to compress it for distribution. Other options include encoding to wmv using windows media encoder or windows moviemaker (both free), or encoding it to divx using virtualdub or other tools (still free).

hope this helps.

[mats.hogberg]

Make a copy protected commercial DVD. Soon enough, it will flood all P2P networks, and people will DL it like crazy!

/Mats

[bugster]

Make a copy protected commercial DVD. Soon enough, it will flood all P2P networks, and people will DL it like crazy!

/Mats

[sybariten]

So you have two minutes of DV-avi, captured with WinDV. Did you capture it as type-2 DV, as more tools seem to be happy with this.

In fact, i did. Dont know the technical difference, but i "heard" somewhere that the type-2 should be somewhat more versatile so i chose that.

If not, no fear, there is a free DV type converter in the tools section. Once you have it in DV type-2, download and install the free Panasonic DV codec. This will then allow you to open the avi file in virualdub in oder to edit it (cut, splice etc).

Ok but will this be a totally lossless process with no generation change ?

As for the target format, i guess i will go for mpeg1 or mpeg4 in some version, but most probably mpeg1. I suppose wmv in fact is mpeg4, by the way ?

Question slightly out of topic : is virtualdub ever used by people making mpeg-1 clips, and what codecs are if so used "under the hood" ?

Thanks for your help!

[mats.hogberg]

is virtualdub ever used by people making mpeg-1 clips

No. VirtualDub is generally geared towards outputing avi in various flavors (which depends on codecs installed in your system). mpegs are encoded by letting VirtauDub frameserve to an mpeg encoder (like TMPGEnc - free, and one of the very best, for mpeg1).

/Mats

[thecoalman]

I'd go with WMV, it provides gret quality at a low compression and will be easily playable by 90% of the people who download it (unfortunatley)... MPEG 4 is great for distribution over the web too but most are not going to have the correct codec installed.

Here's an example clip of what you can expect. 2mins and 40sec 8mb http://www.nepadigital.com/40lbhead/video/bar.wmv Ignore the audio glitches they are from the source.

[jimmalenko]

I'd suggest that if using a MPEG-4 codec, most people are going to know that they'll need a codec, and use GSpot or similar to ascertain which one they need (hint: put the codec used in the filename ). Either that or they'll post here or doom9 and someone will tell them how to find out what codec they need. MPEG-4 (and in particular, DivX or XviD) has the great advantage IMO over MPEG-1/2 of comparable video quality with much, much smaller file sizes.

FWIW, virtualdub can be used in conjunction with YMPEG to output in MPEG, but notice the word can. I certainly wouldn't recommend it and would do as mats says - either frameserve to your favorite encoder or load your source directly into an MPEG encoder and go from there, but just wanted to point out that it can be done

[sybariten]

This is for supplying to a job application i'm gonna do, as an example of previous work. Therefore, i will go for an SVCD i think. Theres a good chance they have a DVD player (standalone or software) in that office. They might have divx routines too, but i think theres a bigger chance of DVDplayer.

It was nice to get the facts straight that in most cases, no one does mpegs with virtualdub. i have to look into the frameserving area, as it'd allow me to use virutaldub in conjunction with tmpegenc, and they both look like cool tools.

I'd go with WMV, it provides gret quality at a low compression and will be easily playable by 90% of the people who download it (unfortunatley)... MPEG 4 is great for distribution over the web too but most are not going to have the correct codec installed.

i hear ya, but with mpeg4 you practically mean divx or xvid then? And, you speak of wmv as an alternative to mpeg4 here, i thought wmv in fact was an mpeg4 method ?

Make a copy protected commercial DVD. Soon enough, it will flood all P2P networks, and people will DL it like crazy!

skitbra idé hörrudu 8)

this is by the way a short feature, i dont know if people here generally have experience of distributing things like that, but if so would you bother with colour bars and similar EBU reccomendations/rules ? I know that when sending for broatcast on tv, you have to follow certain rules about the "packaging" but in this case it'd only be to look more professional.

peace

Edit: oh, and if people are interested i could give you some links to download the file. (perhaps its possible to make an svcd ISO in some way, that people can virtually mount ?)
BTW my philosphy is that i never worry much about filesizes, as long as thre is a CD nearby to store things. This is two minutes so .....

[thecoalman]

Is it:

I want to distribute this now over various networks, for instance bittorrent and the trading scene, etc. So i'm thinking a bit about file formats and such.

Or

This is for supplying to a job application i'm gonna do, as an example of previous work. Therefore, i will go for an SVCD i think. Theres a good chance they have a DVD player (standalone or software) in that office. .....

Either one SVCD is a horrible choice..... It's not very DVD player friendly. If your going to pu it on CD then go with VCD, DVD then just make it DVD compliant. There's no magic bullet for multiple distibutions.

[adam]

Not all DVD players play SVCD, and I'd say there is a greater chance they will have a pc than a svcd compatible dvd player.

Do what I do for these types of things. Make a Mini-DVD. Essentially it is a compliant DVD, meaning you can use any menu's and other features you want, but it is burnt on cd media so it is playable on any computer.

Include media player classic on the disk and make an autorun.inf script. Include an mpeg2 decoder and an AC3 decoder on the disk and set media player classic to use those.

The result is that you can stick the disk into ANY computer running windows and it will autoplay regardless of what they do or don't have installed on their system.

Since its only two mins long, you could easily fit it all on one of those business sized cdrs. These are great for distributing little sample things like this.

As for distributing it via the internet, just make a disk image of your minidvd. Again, if its just 2 mins it won't be all that large no matter what format you choose to distribute it in.

[mats.hogberg]

Visst vare en bra idé? Du får den gratis!
But - why not do it as DVD while you're at it? At 1/2 D1 resolution, the size will be less/same as SVCD, and better player compatibility.

/Mats