question about mpeg compression

[amatuerx]

Hi all im still fairly new to the whole video thing so this is a stupid question (yes ive had fruitless searches, at least in terms i can understand). i have some 30 second clips that are 5 megs of mpeg2 video. what can i use to compress/lower video resolution so that they are more like 1-2meg clips. currently im using tmpgenc to make the clips but i cant find anywhere to lower the quality (yes im aware this is not the job of tmpgenc). any replies would be most helpful.

[sacajaweeda]

Encode it with a lower bitrate.

[teegee420]

Are you sure they're mpeg-2? 30 seconds at 5mb sounds more like VCD mpeg-1.

[amatuerx]

the original is mpeg1 and im trying to make it mpeg2 with a smaller file size. ive tried turning the bitrate down but tmpgenc still says its about the same size file. could someone point me to a utility that is made for doing this sort of thing. thanks for the replies

[teegee420]

Sorry to keep answering your questions with questions, but why do you need to convert to mpeg-2? If you're doing it so that you can author to DVD it's not really necessary.

[amatuerx]

im looking to make them available on the web with a decent file size for download. 5 mb per 30second clip is just unacceptable. i tried lowering the bitrate in tmpgenc and it doesnt seem to make a difference in the filesize. is there another a better format for doing this. i know of wmv but im not sure it is widely supported yet. if it is let me know cause i know how to convert to wmv already. thanks again for your help

[Solarjetman]

mpeg 2 is not the best format for an open download. Since the codec is not free, not all computers will have the ability to play it. Most will, but I personally don't use it for distribution.

Have you tried lowing the audio quality as well?

[teegee420]

mpeg 2 is not the best format for an open download. Since the codec is not free, not all computers will have the ability to play it. Most will, but I personally don't use it for distribution.

Have you tried lowing the audio quality as well?

Agreed. I would go with WMV. Windows Media Encoder is good for the conversion. Your other options are DivX or XviD. Thos will require one to download the respective codecs if they don't have them already.

[amatuerx]

so wmv is my best choice for this and is widely supported now? im just worried that a lot of the surfers these are aimed at are not in the US and more than likely have older computers (hence aiming for the older mpeg1 format at first). are there any other choices besides the ones listed here that are more widely supported or are those about it. thanks for not calling me a moron. i realize these are fairly remedial questions in this field

[amatuerx]

also can linux/unix machines play wmv? and is tmpgenc what i should use to lower the quality of the video or is there a better utility to do that. also is mpeg1 only in cbr format?

[sacajaweeda]

I'd stick with mpeg1 if you're worried about compatibility with older pcs.

[amatuerx]

ok mpeg1 it is. now what is an acceptable size for a 30 second clip? is ~1mb to small/too big? also what tools do i use to decrease the video quality/bitrate. tmpgenc only lets you do cbr. if someone would point me to an article on this it would be greatly appreciated.

[sacajaweeda]

You can do VBR with TMPGEnc. If you hold your mouse pointer over where it says bitrate in the settings tab and right click on it you can select the unlock option and change it to whatever you want. Same for the rest of the 'locked' settings in there. Somebody prolly posted a jpeg of what I'm talking about somewhere around here but I'm too lazy and uninspired at the moment to go hunt it up.



Ok maybe I'm not THAT lazy

[amatuerx]

thank you thank you thank you sacajaweeda. i owe you a smoke and a pancake