Question: Compressing video for the web?

[davesob]

Hello
I have created a movie in premier as an .avi file, then I compressed it with windows media 9, but I would like it to be smaller and better quality. I have already reduced the frame rate and window size, but the quality is not good enough and the file size is still quite large. I know I have seen good quality small videos on the web, so I think its something that I should be able to do.
Any suggestions?
Is .mov better quality. or some other file type.
Are there better compressors out there.
I have heard about Xvid, but I need to make sure people will not have to download codecs just to see the video.
thanks for the help anybody may have

[Krispy Kritter]

For web distribution stick with WMM and keep it as a wmv file. I havent messed with wmv files much, but with other codecs, the bit rate has a big impact on quality and file size.

[Bodysurf]

I have created a movie in premier as an .avi file, then I compressed it with windows media 9, but I would like it to be smaller and better quality. I have already reduced the frame rate and window size, but the quality is not good enough and the file size is still quite large. I know I have seen good quality small videos on the web, so I think its something that I should be able to do.
Any suggestions?
Is .mov better quality. or some other file type.
Are there better compressors out there.
I have heard about Xvid, but I need to make sure people will not have to download codecs just to see the video.

Unfortunately, in 11/2005, you are stuck. AFAIK, there is nothing more you can do given your above requirements.

[davesob]

Hello
thanks for the response so far. I was just watching a video in a .mov format, and it was twice the length of mine, half the size, and way better quality. I will continue to experiment with different file types and compressors.