FCP & Compression

lstrieb

Member
I am trying to convert an FCP project into quicktime to post it on the web. The thing is, I have done it before but can't remember how. I managed to get a quicktime file of a 10 minute movie down to under 100 MB to post on youtube and myspace(without sacrificing too much quality), however, I can't seem to do it with a 4 minute video. Please help. While I know how to edit with FCP, all of my experience involved just putting the finished project out to tape, so when it comes to compression formats, I'm a complete idiot. I'm working on FCP 3 and the only quicktime compression formats are Animation, BMP, Cinepak, Component Video, DV-NTSC, DV-PAL, DVCPRO-PAL, Graphics, H.261, H.263, Motion JPEG A, Motion JPEG B, Photo-JPEG, Planar RGB, Sorenson Video, Sorenson Video 3, TGA, TIFF, and Video. (Yes, I know my system is antiquated!) I need the file to be hihg quality and under 100MB....HELP! Thanks:confused:
 

Necktie Boy

Well-known member
You should be able to get that file around 35mb or less. I would try Sorenson first to see if you like the quality. To keep the file small, use 320 x 240. I use FCP4 and the QT outputs are limited.
 

bottom_feeder

Well-known member
First thing you need to do is update your Quicktime Player to the latest version. You may have to pay for the Pro version again since it looks like you are a couple of versions back. I think it's about $30.
That will get you the h.264 codec and a slew of others. That will enable you to make the compression scale you want. It will give you new options in your export dialog.
Also look at using the export to compressor option. That will open the compressor application will even more options and some nice presets.
 

Alaska cameradude

Well-known member
Take a look at this article

http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/youtube_compressor_gary.html

(oops sorry looks like bluffton beat me to it)

It looks to me that if you are looking at posting your video on YouTube, Photo JPEG may be the codec to use. I don't know if you have Compressor or not, but if you don't you can recreate a lot of this in your export options from FCP as you say you have the Photo JPEG codec. It looks to me that he is saying that YouTube/Myspace video is compressed AGAIN after you send it to them, and that using an intraframe based codec (like PhotoJPEG) is a better idea than using almost any interframe codec, because of this recompression. Also he says you can usually get video of up to five minutes or a little longer using the Photo JPEG codec so it should work for you.
 

Necktie Boy

Well-known member
Just check the boards to see if FCP3 and QT7 play nicely. I have read that there are some problems with QT7 and early versions of FCP. I have to check and see.
 

JacobA

Well-known member
I did some testing with youtube and compression several months ago and here's what I eventually concluded. I can post the detailed description of how I made these conclusions if you guys want.

My Conclusion:

Download MPEG Streamclip (for free!) from http://www.squared5.com/
and use that program to encode with these settings:

MPEG4 with h.264 compression, somewhere between 50 and 100 percent quality (choose the lowest that you personally accept for the project), and 192kbps audio. Choose 480x240 if your video is widescreen and 320x240 if it is standard 3:4.

FYI...
1 minute clip with 50% quality and these settings is 4.9 mb.
1 minute clip with 100% quality and these settings is 47.7 mb.

The one minute clip with 50% quality and those settings is available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMLVpJfsTnc
 

bottom_feeder

Well-known member
QT 7 plays nicely with FCP 3. I know because that is what I have.
From that you can export direclty from FCP to h.264 directly.
 

lstrieb

Member
Wow! Thank you for all of the replies. I ended up using Sorenson 3 (not great but I was in a hurry). Off to check all the links and info you guys gave me for future reference. Thanks again.
 
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