Adjusting your video settings will have a huge impact on the quality and the size of your web videos. Each video setting has a unique effect on your video. If you understand the impact of the various video settings you'll be able to get higher quality web videos.
Understanding video settings will also help you troubleshoot and problem solve when you're having problems with your videos.
1. Compression Setting
The first key to video compression is using the correct codec. If you're compressing for the web, most likely you'll want to use Flash, which is by far the most popular video setting for the web.
If you are putting videos on the web so people can download and watch them, you should consider a format like Quicktime or Windows Media, which are better for desktop playback on Macs and PCs.
2. Frame Rate
Frame rate is the video setting that controls the speed of playback, in terms of frames per second. For the highest quality compression, use the same frame rate at which your video was shot.
If your video doesn't contain a lot of motion, you can get away with reducing the frame rate. By taking video that was shot at 60 frames per second, and reducing it to 30 or even 15 fps, you can greatly reduce the size of the compressed file.
3. Bit Rate
Bit rate, sometimes called data rate, is measured in bits per second (bps). This video setting controls how large or small the compressed video file will be. For example, and one-second long video, compressed at 500 kbps, will be 500 kb in size.
A video file compressed at a lower bit rate will generally not look as good, but it will load and play more quickly.
4. Frame Size
Video compression software always has a setting to let you control the physical screen size of the compressed video file. Smaller videos will load and play more quickly, but they lack detail. Remember that any video you put on the web could be watched full-screen or even on a large screen TV, so it's generally best to use a larger frame size.
5. Audio Settings
During compression, you can adjust the audio settings just like you can adjust the video settings. MP3 is a good codec to use for Flash videos, and the data rate can be adjusted to decrease the size of your compressed file. If your video has a complex audio track, with music and effects, you'll want to maintain a higher audio bit rate. If you only havea single speaking track you can generally reduce the audio bit rate without compromising the quality of the sound.
6. Interlacing
Interlacing is a technique used to improve the picture quality of a video transmission without consuming any extra bandwidth. However, interlaced video only plays back smoothly on TVs. If you're video will be watched on the computer, you'll want to de-interlace it. Your video compression software should have a setting that lets you do this.
7. Single Pass or Multi Pass
Most video compression software has a setting that lets you choose single- or multi-pass compression. Single-pass compression is the quickest way to compress a video, but the results aren't always the best. Multi-pass compression will take longer, but you'll end up with a higher-quality conmpressed file in the end.
