possible to export without needing Xvid?

Jasta85 · Post by **Jasta85** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 7:20 pm

ok, i have read the forums and seen some similar topics to this but no specific answer to my question. Basically, is there a way to export an amv from adobe primiere pro 2.0 so that it is less than 100 mb and therefore can be uploaded to amv org without doing further work on it?

i just got 2.0, this is actually my first adobe program and im really excited, however whenever i try exporting the file size is huge. i have read the guides and i know that normally you use Xvid to turn it into a smaller file, however, that seems to be a rather time consuming process so before i try that i was wondering if there was an alternate method, perhapse some way to export smaller size videos from adobe primiere pro so it wouldnt be neccessary to use Xvid

thanks ahead of time

Krisqo · Post by **Krisqo** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 7:48 pm

You should export from Premiere using a lossless codec like Huffyuv or Lagarith and then compress it in VDubMod for one.

Using xvid is a little time consuming, but produces excellent compression in the end. So I think the little extra time would be worth it. In fact, it only takes ten minutes to set up and then you really don't have to do it again, only to change the FPS and time settings depending on your video.

Kariudo · Post by **Kariudo** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 7:51 pm

although you do have the option to compress your video when you export from premiere pro...pro is notorious for sucking at it. Many times premiere pro messes up a lagarith or huffyuv export (so your only safe option is uncompressed...unless they managed to fix it in pro 2.0)

You're going to have to compress your video somewhere (there is no possible way you could get an amv of "normal" length of about 4 minutes to be under 100MB uncompressed,) and doing the final encode is probably the fastest step in the whole process (unless you're working with a 23 minute mep like Jaddziadax.)

If you want to retain the high video quality that you worked on for hours, you'll want to either do your final encode in VirtualDubMod using xvid, or in meGUI or command prompt with x.264. In either case, there is a guide for doing that encode (xvid is in Read <a href=http://www.a-m-v.org/guides/avtech31/>ErMaC & AbsoluteDestiny's Friendly AMV Guides</a>...and I assume that the tips on using x.264's CLI or using meGUI will be covered in the next revision of Read <a href=http://www.a-m-v.org/guides/avtech31/>ErMaC & AbsoluteDestiny's Friendly AMV Guides</a>. I also assume that you ripped every episode from dvd, put it through dvd2avi/dgindex, spent a while on the avisynth script, etc...)

one last tip to save space, don't forget to compress your audio after you export!

Minion · Post by **Minion** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 8:00 pm

short answer: yes, but doing it the slightly longer way often proves to be worth it

Jasta85 · Post by **Jasta85** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 12:14 am

ok, thanks for the replies, now i got another question heh, what is the best file type of export to make for an amv, there are several options and i dont really know the differences between them

also the footage i am using right now is 16:9 so that was the dimensioned i picked when i started the amv but in order to use Xvid it says your amv must be in 4:3 dimensions, but if i change my amv to 4:3 wont the aspect ratio be off and the quality suffer?

CrackTheSky · Post by **CrackTheSky** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 3:44 am

Jasta85 wrote:ok, thanks for the replies, now i got another question heh, what is the best file type of export to make for an amv, there are several options and i dont really know the differences between them

Export your video from Premiere uncompressed, and then use VirtualDubMod to compress it with XviD.

Jasta85 wrote:also the footage i am using right now is 16:9 so that was the dimensioned i picked when i started the amv but in order to use Xvid it says your amv must be in 4:3 dimensions, but if i change my amv to 4:3 wont the aspect ratio be off and the quality suffer?

I think that's covered here, although I think you're going to have to do some letterboxing to compensate :/ But I'm not sure, as I've never worked with 16:9 footage.

Willen · Post by **Willen** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 8:59 am

Jasta85 wrote:also the footage i am using right now is 16:9 so that was the dimensioned i picked when i started the amv but in order to use Xvid it says your amv must be in 4:3 dimensions,

My Body Language video is 16:9 (from a 4:3 original source, cropped) and DivX5 compatible XviD. I've never heard of XviD requiring 4:3 video to be used.

Jasta85 wrote:but if i change my amv to 4:3 wont the aspect ratio be off and the quality suffer?

Yes on both counts. Changing a 16:9 video to 4:3 without cropping would throw the aspect ratio of the video WAY off. Circles would become ovals, squares would become rectangles, and some rectangles would become squares.

Not to mention that the quality would suffer since your horizontal resolution would drop due to the loss of that many pixels. For example, full resolution square pixel 16:9 NTSC footage should be 848 x 480 as suggested by EADFAG. Changing the video to 4:3 would entail resizing or cropping the image to 640 x 480 using square pixels. According to my math, that's a 25% drop in horizontal pixel resolution.

Admittedly, DVD resolution is 720 x 480 for both standard 4:3 and anamorphic 16:9 footage. So, for DVD sources we are already losing 15% of the horizontal pixels assuming that the original animation was produced at 848 x 480 resolution. Human vision is less perceptible of the loss of horizontal resolution which is why anamorphic techniques work very well. But lose too much and the eye may pick it out when the video is resized to its proper aspect ratio. Curved and diagonal lines may become too "jagged" after the necessary horizontal "stretch".

The one thing that you do want to keep in mind when encoding your video is to try and stay with mod16 resolutions for the best results. Since XviD and DivX typically use 16 x 16 macroblocks for encoding, keeping your resolutions to a multiple of 16 is recommended. Examples include: 640 x 480, 512 x 384, and 320 x 240 for 4:3 AR material. For 16:9 material, 848 x 480, 768 x 432, 720 x 400 (not exactly 16:9, but mod16), 704 x 400 (same as the previous), 640 x 352 (again, not 16:9 but mod16) are acceptable. Encoding with mod8 or mod4 resolutions (like 704 x 396 or 640 x 360)is possible, but wasteful. Why? Well, you could read The Unofficial XviD FAQ's section on the subject, or bug Zero1 about it.

Jasta85 · Post by **Jasta85** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 12:39 pm

ah, thanks a bunch, the part that made me think it needed to be 4:3 was this part in the Xvid guide

3) The video is resized to multiples of 16. Your video should be resized to a resolution that fits the source aspect ratio (usually 4:3). It must be resized to multiples of 16 in order to be fully compatible - 320x240, 512x384, 640x480 are example of 4:3 resolutions that are multiples of 16.

it says multiples of 16, so now that i reread that then 16:9 will work just as well as 4:3 (which would be the equivalent of 16:12)?

Jasta85 · Post by **Jasta85** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 1:06 pm

sorry, forgot to add something but no edit button

when i asked how i should export the file i meant when you first create a project you get a bunch of options: Adobe HD-SDI, Adobe HDV, DV-NTSC, DV-PAL and several others, and under each is a number of options

i was wondering which makes for the best quality export that can be used with Xvid

Gepetto · Post by **Gepetto** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 4:32 pm

Jasta85 wrote:3) The video is resized to multiples of 16. Your video should be resized to a resolution that fits the source aspect ratio (usually 4:3). It must be resized to multiples of 16 in order to be fully compatible - 320x240, 512x384, 640x480 are example of 4:3 resolutions that are multiples of 16.

it says multiples of 16, so now that i reread that then 16:9 will work just as well as 4:3 (which would be the equivalent of 16:12)?

That's not it. The unidimensional values (like 320 and 240 in the irst example) have to be multiples of 16 (thus, we have 320 = 20 x 16 and 240 = 15 x 16) 16:9 aspect ratios (or any other aspect ratios ) work fine as long as these conditions are met.

Jasta85 wrote:when i asked how i should export the file i meant when you first create a project you get a bunch of options: Adobe HD-SDI, Adobe HDV, DV-NTSC, DV-PAL and several others, and under each is a number of options

i was wondering which makes for the best quality export that can be used with Xvid

I think you're looking for "Microsoft AVI", and "Uncompressed RGB" for the compression tab.