Cheap & easy fan videos for Windows, using Ulead VideoStudio
Converting the uncompressed file for the web . . .
H.264 and Sorensen Quicktime files
MPEG Streamclip will make excellent Quicktime files.
- For the "Compression" setting, choose either the H.264 codec, or Sorensen 3. (Both of these video types can open in Quicktime 7 or VLC Player.)
- Sorensen 3 is an older codec, slightly less sharp and detailed, but it will play on slower computers and also in Quicktime 6.
- The H.264 codec is more cutting-edge and requires a faster computer (though most computers that are no more than a few years old should handle it fine). It produces excellent quality, and is predicted to be a major video format in the future.
My Mac tutorial has a very detailed page on exporting video using MPEG Streamclip. (Link opens to new window.) Some differences, again: I cannot get XviD to show up in the Windows version of MPEG Streamclip. 3ivX (another derivative of DivX) works instead, but the quality is so-so. It is recommended to stick with H.264 and Sorensen with this app. Also, ignore any frame size recommendations on the Mac tutorial page. You are going to stick with keeping the original frame size you set when you exported your video out of VideoStudio.
Take note of the paragraph on aforementioned tutorial, called "Crop or not?" If you have ever wished you could get rid of the black bars at the top and bottom of your video (letterboxing), you will be happy to learn that it is possible to do with MPEG Streamclip!
One caveat about MPEG Streamclip: Sometimes, the videos it makes have a thin white (or occasionally green) line at the bottom or side of the video. It doesn't show up all the time, and usually only can be seen when viewed in VLC Player, at fullscreen. (The video looks fine with Quicktime or Quicktime Alternative.) It isn't a major issue for me, especially considering all the other strengths of MPEG Streamclip. It is up to you to decide whether it bothers you or not.
DivX and XviD files
I am sure there are many very nice Windows apps which will make great DivX or XviD files. I found an easy and uncomplicated converter, eRightSoft's SUPER. It is free! It also has a small caveat—the audio seems to "drift" just the teensiest bit. You'll only notice it when people are speaking dialog.
Setting up SUPER is rather easy, even though there are a lot of boxes to check. Just follow along with these instructions, step-by-step, and it's no problem!
- Drag your uncompressed file (AVI works best) to the designated area. Then choose "AVI" as output container (see illustration above). Choose either XviD or DivX as codec. If asked to choose a particular flavor of DivX or XviD, try DivX, which plays on all players. For output audio—MP3 is good.
- In the "Video" section, tick the box that says "No Change" (purple arrow above). You already saved your uncompressed video with the desired frame dimensions when you exported it out of VideoStudio.
- For "Aspect" choose either 16:9 or 4:3 (circled in aqua). The Frames/Sec (frames per second, circled in green) should be either 25 or 29.97 (see previous page for an explanation of frame rates).
- The bitrate (circled in orange) determines the definition or detail of the video. The higher the bitrate, the larger the file size and the more detailed the picture. Most fan videos should be between 600 - 2500 KBs. 600-900 KBs would be for lower-resolution dial-up, and 1000-2500 might be for broadband. (It all really depends on many factors—do some experimenting to see what results you get.) You can go higher than 2500 KBs, but the file size starts to get pretty large.
- Audio sampling frequencies should be either 48000 or 44100 (circled in red). Audio bitrate (circled in blue) can be anywhere between 112 to 256 (higher is better). Many MP3s have a bitrate of 128 or 160, so that's not a bad place to start. It just depends on how particular you are about audio.
Windows Media (WMV) files:
There is a way to fine-tune VideoStudio in order to get it to create high quality WMV files. But the process is very picky. I may write a tutorial about it later. Using VideoStudio's presets for WMV are not good enough, unfortunately.
However, RiverPast's VideoCleaner does a pretty good job in converting your uncompressed final video into a high quality WMV file. (I should mention that Microsoft makes a free encoder, but I can't get it to work well and it is glacially slow.)
Setup in VideoCleaner is straightforward. Use Windows Media 9, keep the audio at DVD quality, with a bitrate of anything between 112-256. Keep the frame size the same as the original. If you wish, you can size the video down. Consult this tutorial page—at the bottom are some custom aspect ratio dimensions. (Link opens in new window.)
Picture quality in VideoCleaner can be tricky. I find that a quality setting of 80-something up to 92-93 will make a file size of between 10-16 MB per minute of video. Anything above 94 or so seems to make the file size skyrocket. Experiment with the settings to find just the right combination for you.
RealMedia (RM) files:
Real has its own free encoder, which is woefully inadequate. But another free encoder (ALO Video Encoder) makes pretty decent RM files (if you use the right setting—80% or 90% Quality VBR). Even though ALO claims to be able to encode DivX, MPEG and WMV files, they don't do a good job with those—they do not keep the proper aspect ratio. (They'll change the original video's dimensions so it looks distorted. Not by a lot, but enough. ALO Video Encoder does NOT get the Aspect Ratio Diva seal of approval for WMV, AVI or MPEG files!) But, for Real Media, it does okay. Make sure that you keep the frame dimensions the same as original for best results.
A word about WMV vs. DivX vs. Quicktime video files:
There seems to be a trend among some computer users to just want to only use Windows Media Player, no matter what. Sometimes, when presented with a non-WMV file (either DivX or Quicktime), these users will exclaim, "It won't work! It's broken!" What they often really mean is, "It won't automatically play in Windows Media Player!"
Most of these people simply need to understand that no, not every video on the Internet is going to be in WMV format. And that yes, at some point they will be expected to install new codecs or players on their computers, if they don't want to miss out.
Do not feel obligated to always make WMV versions of your videos, just because some of your viewers are unaware that they ought to install programs like the extremely versatile VLC Player (which will play almost anything). Inform them that they can install an XviD or DivX codec, which will allow them to still use Windows Media Player to play DivX/XviD encoded files. If they are reticent to install Quicktime, tell them that it comes as a standalone version (no iTunes bundled in), and that there is also a viable substitute available, Quicktime Alternative. There really is no reason for these people to continue to be unable to play non-WMV files, once they have been informed of their choices and of all the alternatives open to them.
Broadband vs. Dial-up file sizes:
I'll repeat what I say on my Mac tutorial pages—everyone is going to have a different idea about what file size is "too big" for a fan video. Now that more and more people are using broadband, the need to make super-small file sizes isn't as desperate. Most fans will wait a few moments (and with broadband, it often is just a few moments) to download an especially high quality video.
It's something you're going to have to decide for yourself, but looking around, I find that it's not outside of reason to have your very high-res, high quality files be 15 MBs or above for every minute of footage. That means that your average three-minute fan video will be 45+ MBs in size. I'm seeing those sizes (and larger) all the time these days.
"Dial-up" standards for files might be anywhere between 3-7 MB per minute of video footage. The rule of thumb I'm trying to adhere to is no more than 20-25 MBs for a full-length fan video, tops. 15 or even 10 MBs total file size is better, but not always possible without sacrificing too much picture and sound clarity.
Last page: A completed fan video made in Ulead VideoStudio! >>