How to Encode movie for old Win98 PC users??

[rbbnet]

I need help determining which codec and format to encode a file so that even old Win98 users can view it. I made a movie/slideshow with Photo Story out of pics taken at the kid's baseball game. It was of course put in the Windows .WMV format that only Media Player 9 can handle. MediaPlayer 9 can't be installed on Win 98 machines unless they run 98SE or ME. I've already ran the .WMV through TMPGenc and created an MPG and an MPG2. But of course Win98 users are still without the codecs. I need the rip this file to another format/codec but still keep the files size similar to the original file size. Dang shame all of the families don't own a DVD player that can handle to SVCD I've already encoded.

[Gazorgan]

MPEG1 should be compatable with 98 if the users have WMP 6.4 installed. They have to have some media player installed or they are S.O.L.

There are a number of standalone players with the codec built in you could use via autorun.

[mats.hogberg]

How about a regular DivX? I'm pretty sure you'll never find a format that can be played on every W98 or better system, while still keep it the same size as your WMV file, and not requiring installation of some codec. The DivX codecs and DivX player can be provided on the same CD as the DivX AVI, and I think they work with any 32 bit Windows.

/Mats

[EricB]

I would use mpeg1 which plays on just about everything. Standard VCD frame size works well and adjust the bitrate to get the files around the same size. WMV is most likely a more efficient compressor so you may need to accept lower quality or live with a larger file size.

[rbbnet]

First off, thanks for all the replies. I had already thought of the DivX, but heck, I don't even know how to encode to DivX. Funny someone can rip a DVD to VOB files then encode it to S/VCD but not know what program and configs are used to go to DivX. I've even gone form DivX to MPEG1/2 but never the other way around. I have planned on including MediaPlayer 9 for all OSes but this would leave the Win98 users out in the cold. Ok, here's what I have to work with. I have the original file created in the .WMV format and I also have the MPEG2 file I made for SVCD. I ripped the original to MPEG1 but the end user said the codecs were not installed. Upon attempting to allow MediaPlayer X try to download the codecs, they got an error "Can't find codecs?". They were using Win ME. I'm gonna try to resolve the issue before Wed eve as I'd like to mass produce the final product Wed for distribution Thursday at the ball game. The kids' parents were in awe over the original file they viewed yesterday during practice. Same for the still pics I plan on putting on the disc. I was simply hoping to make it pratically idiot proof, but I have a lot of idiots to work around.
Thanks Again,
RB

[SaSi]

Encoding to DivX (v.5.0 or higher) is actually one of the simplest tasks. Open an AVI file with VirtualDUB, select the video compressor, configure the DivX codec for the constant quality or constant bitrate you want and save the file.

Version 5.03 has a few more options, like multipass and stuff, making things interesting, I would say, rather than complicated.

Furthermore, DivX is one of the best choices for small size-high quality. and since everybody is downloading video clips from the net one time or another, most people have encountered DivX and have downloaded the codecs. If you use Mpeg1 or 2, you are bound to end-up with 3-4 times the file size for any given quality of video.