Movie File Format Recommendation

[jujubee]

Does anyone have a recommendation for a movie format to send a client?

I've tried a bunch of things: Xvid AVI, Flash Embedded Projector, etc.

Apparently, the client's client can't download anything (codecs for instance) and just has the basics: supposedly Windows Media Player.

[EricCamper]

Recently I have just been using wmv files. I had a company do some voiceover and scripting for me and they send me the file in HD and 480p and moth files were wmv and they looked great. File size for the 3 minute 480p one was just under 9 megs. Not too bad. i found that with xvid, divx, etc...They always called and said...What's a codec?

[sea2stars]

Yeah.. I'll second the wmv suggestion, if they're PC based; I got tired of playing tech support for clients and staff.

[egz]

I use wmv almost exclusively, since most clients are able to play them without plugins. And they do look great with the wm9 codec. Wmv is the basis for the VC1 coded used in BluRay and HD DVD (R.I.P.), and it can create some amazing looking files at pretty tiny sizes.

[jujubee]

Yeah I'm just going to use .wmv from now on except for web streams and hope they're not on an Apple.

Thanks guys.

I'm interested in what type of compression you are using in Encoder however - I just took a 720x480 24.976FPS video that lasted 20 seconds down to 6MB. I still think that's huge for only 20 seconds. Something doesn't seem right.

[jujubee]

And another question - Windows Media Encoder seems to take my images and applies a different brighter gamma within the preview window itself.

Does that only happen to me???

[dcullipher]

This happens on all codecs. I think it has to do with the the way each one compresses color. FLVs brighten the gamma, MP4 darkens and so on. It's a lot of fun. This has been my experience thus far.

The tool I use is Sorenson Squeeze which offers color adjustments while it is compressing. Other tools may have the same option.

[jujubee]

Ah ok. I've compressed on other apps and never saw this happen before.

[egz]

I'm interested in what type of compression you are using in Encoder however - I just took a 720x480 24.976FPS video that lasted 20 seconds down to 6MB. I still think that's huge for only 20 seconds. Something doesn't seem right.

Your bitrate sounds pretty high. For that resolution try lowering it to about 1 mbit per sec or so. That should put 20 seconds at about 2.5MB, and the quality should still be good. And if it doesn't look good, try increasing the bitrate or play with VBR and 2 pass encoding.

I usually encode from After Effects or Premiere Pro.