Gepetto wrote:If you want low bitrates because of compatibility - which, I assume, means you're not too picky about quality, why don't you just upload your videos to YeTubeth?
From what I gathered, it's more about trying to get the best balance of filesize vs. quality while maintaining absolute compatibility. Anyone using new versions of Windows Media Player while be capable of playing VC-1, but they probably won't be using RealPlayer due to bad history and are likely too lazy to figure out how to install the necessary playback software for H.264 (although if you're absolutely pressed on the H.264 thing you could always make it compatible with Quicktime, which people have to have if they use the iTunes Store - it won't be encoded as efficiently, and QT's decoder sucks, but it is an option for those with top-end comps).
Unfortunately I don't know anything about VC-1 encoding solutions. I'm sure there's probably something on it over at the doom9 forums, though. I do seem to remember that someone over there came out with some WMV tools a little while ago, but I don't know if it's for general muxing operations or for encoding also.