I need some help with compressing.

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I need some help with compressing.

Postby Angeteen » Sun Sep 24, 2006 7:47 pm

I've recently made a new AMV, exported the entire video, and the resulting file size is around 151 MB for roughly 4 1/2 minutes. The resolution for the original was 640x480 which I reduced to 320x240. Surprisingly the file size remained the same. Since I am using some .VOB files off of a DVD disc as well as some MPEGs, I figurued the problem was the format of the file I was using, so I ended up placing the exported video on the timeline, scaled down the resolution, tried again, and same scenario. I have tried recording the video as an MPEG-2 and a using a variable bitrate in an attempt to lower the file size, however the best I got, was 114 MB. Does anyone have any advice on how I can get around this unusual file size problem? Do I have to compress the files I'm working with, or do I have to use a different program, or what?
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Postby Kayley. » Sun Sep 24, 2006 8:05 pm

I've tried using this.

I've gotten a 1.02GB file down to 118MB, so if you have an AMV that already starts out with a small filesze like 151MB, it should work fine. =)[/url]
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Postby Angeteen » Sun Sep 24, 2006 10:49 pm

Okay, this is going to sound a little silly, but I accidentally stumbled across a solution after posting this. When checking over things the bit rate for the video happened to pop into my mind as one of the possible solutions. I scaled that back a little, gave it a go, and what do you know, problem fixed. Well...sorta. The video is now degraded, and isn't as good, so I'm still experimenting. As for what you posted, yeah, I'll give it a looksee and see what information I can find.
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Postby reddragon_syndicate » Mon Sep 25, 2006 12:43 am

Your editor handles .Vob files? Lol congrats only a handfull out there. That link of Kayley's is one that you should definitely be checking out. Not just that page.. but the whole guide. In the guide Virtualddub Mod is used to export clips (or the whole thing X.X) in a lossless codec (suggested by most people are Huffy or Lagarith). Those clips are imported into the editor. Once your done editing you'll export the entire thing in another lossless codec (the clips will be large in file size and the final video will be even larger). Finally virtual dub mod is brought in again to clean,filter,resize,crop and so on a so forth. Using the Link Kayley posted I worked a video a little over 2 GB down to 54 MB. I also looked at this page. That page will help you learn about cleaning the footage which will greatly improve the compressibility. Making sure the audio your using is compressed is also a key. All in all you should really take a look at the EADFAG. Sorry I may have read your post wrong... but what container are you using (.avi,.mpeg,.mpeg2 or something else)? and what codec are you using to compress your video (.XviD , .DivX, or something else)?

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Postby reddragon_syndicate » Mon Sep 25, 2006 12:43 am

Your editor handles .Vob files? Lol congrats only a handfull out there. That link of Kayley's is one that you should definitely be checking out. Not just that page.. but the whole guide. In the guide Virtualddub Mod is used to export clips (or the whole thing X.X) in a lossless codec (suggested by most people are Huffy or Lagarith). Those clips are imported into the editor. Once your done editing you'll export the entire thing in another lossless codec (the clips will be large in file size and the final video will be even larger). Finally virtual dub mod is brought in again to clean,filter,resize,crop and so on a so forth. Using the Link Kayley posted I worked a video a little over 2 GB down to 54 MB. I also looked at this page. That page will help you learn about cleaning the footage which will greatly improve the compressibility. Making sure the audio your using is compressed is also a key. All in all you should really take a look at the EADFAG. Sorry I may have read your post wrong... but what container are you using (.avi,.mpeg,.mpeg2 or something else)? and what codec are you using to compress your video (.XviD , .DivX, or something else)?

Take Care
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Postby AnicentEditor » Mon Sep 25, 2006 9:23 am

Once you have edited your project, the general process is as follows:

1) Export using a lossless codec (HuffYUV; Lag) or uncompressed RGB
-This file will/should be HUGE (5-9+ Gigabytes)
-Don't attempt to just "play" this file unless you have a very fast comptuer

2) Crop, clean, sharpen et al. the file in VirtualDub using Avisynth Filters

3) Do the first pass of a two-pass Xvid (or Divx) compression encoding -
-Video only
-Use "Fast Recompress" setting

4) Add uncompressed audio and compress it using VirtualDub
-At the same time do a second final) Xvid/Divx pass.
-Use "Normal Processing" setting for both video and audio

This should get your file size down to whatever target bitrate/file size you specify using the Xvid codec with minimal loss of visual quality depending on your original exported project file.

The biggest factors which determine final file size are going to be A) your audio and how you compress it and B) how you filter/crop/prepare the footage before you compress it because there is a lot of un-needed data that can be removed from the original uncompressed file via cropping and other methods beforehand.
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Postby Angeteen » Mon Sep 25, 2006 6:47 pm

*scratches head*

Well I read the guide...several times...and most of it made sense. As for the large file size, yeah, tell me about it. Although...as for shrinking the file size down, that I haven't quite figured out. In the guide I read it said that you *don't* want to re-record the file you just made. So tell me...what should I do then? I understand that I need to use Xvid somehow (I've made all the neccessary settings), I'm just not sure in what why. *shrugs* Sorry...I'm the guy who learns by seeing and doing rather than by reading and hearing. Also, as for the container, it's all in MPEG.

Also, for those interested, the program I'm using is called MPEG Video Wizard, and ius made by a company called Womble. The product isn't much; roughly $50 I think. It's a pain in the butt to use avi's without converting them to mpegs, but that's another story.
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Postby Scintilla » Mon Sep 25, 2006 6:54 pm

Angeteen wrote:In the guide I read it said that you *don't* want to re-record the file you just made. So tell me...what should I do then? I understand that I need to use Xvid somehow (I've made all the neccessary settings), I'm just not sure in what why. *shrugs*

When you go to make your <i>second</i> pass in XviD, you don't want to recompress the file you made when you did the <i>first</i> pass; you want to recompress your original (hopefully lossless) file, the same one you used to make the first pass from. That's all that means.
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Postby Angeteen » Tue Sep 26, 2006 2:51 am

As luck would have it I happened to recall that the program I am using can also be used to record things into an .avi outpup. So after choosing .avi as my output, and making sure that xvid was the codec used, I gave it a go. The results; well...the file size went down from 163 to 101. Not only that, but a 4 1/2 minute video somehow went to 17 1/2. Any advice on how I messed up?
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Postby Willen » Tue Sep 26, 2006 6:46 am

Angeteen wrote:As luck would have it I happened to recall that the program I am using can also be used to record things into an .avi outpup. So after choosing .avi as my output, and making sure that xvid was the codec used, I gave it a go. The results; well...the file size went down from 163 to 101. Not only that, but a 4 1/2 minute video somehow went to 17 1/2. Any advice on how I messed up?

You may have specified the wrong frame rate on your output. Or, your program doesn't do a good job outputting AVI with XviD (like most programs).

Try following the directions in the link that Kayley. posted very carefully. Once you have sucessfully done it a few times, it should be easy. And don't forget to compress your audio (link in Scintilla's signature), it can easily shave about 30 to 40 MBs off of the final filesize for a 4 1/2 minute AMV.

I also recommend doing some footage cleanup like reddragon_syndicate and AncientEditor suggest.
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Postby Angeteen » Tue Sep 26, 2006 11:51 am

I think part of my problem is that I can't seem to get a good quality out of my video when I first record it. What I mean is, when I record the video the first time, there is noticable quality deteration just about every frame or so. What this means is the first output I made is already degraded to begin with, so even if I did use Xvid, things would hardly imporve. The default bitrate for the video stands at 4463.2, and when I record at this rate, some scenes stand still for a second or so. I can fix this by lowering the bitrate (2200 will often yield a 75 MB file), the only problem is, that's why I end up with the degradation. What I need is some codec to make a loseless file first; hence why I'm tried using Xvid with the program I've been using.

As a gamble, I simply had the thing put into an uncompressed AVI, but this didn't work out, since the program said the file it was creating has a cap put on the maximum file size (around 3.18 GB).
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Postby Scintilla » Tue Sep 26, 2006 5:28 pm

Angeteen wrote:What I need is some codec to make a loseless file first; hence why I'm tried using Xvid with the program I've been using.

XviD isn't lossless; it's for final distribution copies. Get <a href="http://www.neuron2.net/www.math.berkeley.edu/benrg/huffyuv.html">HuffYUV</a> and use that instead.
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Postby Angeteen » Fri Sep 29, 2006 1:36 pm

Okay, for the last couple of days, I've been busy testing out various codecs. The results; either the file can not go beyond the 3 GB threshold, or it does, but it ends up 18 minutes long. Why is this? Also, the same said 18 minute file, when I load it up as one of the files to edit, it "magically" shrinks down back to the regular 4 1/2 minute file. What is up with the codec/program that I'm using?
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Postby reddragon_syndicate » Fri Sep 29, 2006 3:52 pm

Hmmm just to clarify things... What program are you using? (Virtual Dub / Mod?) and what codecs have you been trying? HuffYUV like Scintilla suggested or something else?
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Postby Angeteen » Fri Sep 29, 2006 7:55 pm

I am using MPEG Video Wizard; the reason for it is because that's where all the editing is done, and to be honest, I don't think I have it in me to redo the entire video. :P

Anyway, the point is, the codec used *must* be used ouside of VirtualDub/MOD. As for the codecs used it's Xvid, DivX 6.2.5, Avid Avi codec 2.0d2, and YMPEG I believe. They all haven't worked out as I would have hoped.
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