encoding dialup bitrate quicktime - help!

[sdsumike619]

I am required to encode some quicktime clips of a talking head.
The source footage is clean, DV AVI, that is being encoded straight from the timeline in Vegas 5.0
The web guy wants the size to be 320x240, so all I did was change the frame size in the preset 56k setting in Vegas to that size, but the video looks just awwwwwwwwful

Does anyone know some better settings to use than the preset for the 56k bitrate quicktime video encoding in Vegas 5?

Thanks in advance!
mike

[sdsumike619]

and yes, he wants 320x240 for the frame size.. picky i guess.

[celtic_druid]

Encode with x264 or Nero Digital AVC, then use quicktime to remux to .mov. Either will give you better quality than QT's AVC encoder. QT7 is required for playback though.

If you want to avoid QT7 then I guess encoded to SP MPEG-4 using XviD or equiv. Once again you should get better quality than QT's own MPEG-4 encoder.

[sdsumike619]

holy crap none of that made any sense to me!
I'm using Vegas 5 to encode my edited timeline to qt
I wanted to know the best settings for dialup for a low motion video in Vegas's qt encoder...

[sdsumike619]

*wonders* Where's BJ_M when ya need him......

[celtic_druid]

Well what I am saying is to get the best quality quicktime. Don't use quicktime to encode. You can import your your source to quicktime Pro, then use the passthrough feature to create a mov file that is just as compatible as if you had encoded it with quicktime.

So same compatibily, better quality. On the negative side, more work and harder to do.

[sdsumike619]

my source isn't a file, it's the video on the timeline in vegas, with color correction done to it, etc. it's not just an avi or something i can open up in quicktime pro...unless I can frameserve from Vegas to quicktime - where do I find this "pass through" feature in qt pro?

[celtic_druid]

Well you still need to encode first. ie. export to an XviD avi, remux to mp4, then open in quicktime, export to mov and enable passthrough for the video.

You just need to be carefull to stick with SP features only and LC aac since QT doesn't support ASP or he-aac still. If you go with AVC then I think QT7 supports all MP features.