settings to post video's for dummies

Solartje

the Brunswick BUG bit me
Silver Member
Hiya all,

this post is about what programs and settings can be used to reduce file sizes of video's to post them on the internet.
the total time to do the modifications to the movie (4min video), compress it and upload it on a slow computer took me 3minuts. 20seconds to chose the video part i wanted, 10seconds to put the settings, 30seconds to compress it and 2 minuts to upload it on youtube.

Needed:
1 digital picture camera
1 computer (u dont really need a super NASA pc)
1 program (virtual dub)

time: 3 minuts.

ok:

part1:

digital camera: nowadays, i supose everyone has one, but in case u dont. remember that to shoot video's u really dont need a HIGH cost HD DVD video camera to tape yourself.

almost every digital picturing camera has the option to tape movies.
i for example have a samsun s900 with a 1GB memory card i payed last summer around 300$ in promotion. it can take video's in formats of
640x480 320x240 160x128 and i can chose between 30fps and 15fps.
ofcourse 640x480 and 30fps gives the best image quality, and with this quality u can see any movie on your pc or tv (almost every digital camera has the cable to conect it directly to your TV and watch it) and the quality is close to perfect. hard to see its been made by a picture camera.

now most internet sites where u can put your video have a max resolution of 320x240. thats the amount of pixels (small dots containing colours) in the height and wide. normally every camera should get as high as 320x240.

the frame rate. 15fps is MORE then enough to post video's of people playing pool. the difference is hardly noticable.

so conclusion: a digital picture camera with at least 320x240 and 15fps (wich ANY camera has ) is enough, and should start at around 175$.

if u have a 1GB memory card, and u tape yourself at 320x240 you should be able to put on that little card as much as 3:30 to 4 hours of movie's. (your batery will be empty before your card is, trust me!!) so enough to tape a full training session or match. (mine saves the file on the memory card in .AVI wich is a compression format. Example: a 1h15min video took almost 250mb of space. (1GB = 1000 MB)

2/ the pc: if you are reading this post, u should have one. :p

3/ program: virtual dub. search for this program in google. should be easy to find.

now: when the program is open:
1/ chose in the menu : File - Open video file
2/ you should get 2 screens, left: input video, right : output video
3/ with the cursor move the timecursor to where u want and press <___ (this marks the beginning of the video u want to take out)
4/ move the timecursor to the end of the part you want and press __> (this marks the end of the video u want to take out)
5/ in the menu choose: Audio - No audio (who wants to here girls screaming in the background? and it just uses space) (full processing mode should be on, if its not , put it on)
6/ in the menu choose: Video - (full processing mode should be on, if its not , put it on) - compression
7/ u will get a new screen with on the left all the possible compression modes. I suggest to take the last one: Xvid Mpeg-4 codec
8/ once u have those Mpeg-4 press the configure buton and a new screen wil apear.
9/ u will see under Target Quantize a slide barr. move it to around 4.5-5 (the higher u go , the worse the movie will be.) 4.5 should give u a ok'ish quality. if u really want better quality lower it, thats up to you.
10/ press OK on both windows
11/ in the meny choose: File - Save Segmented Avi (meaning we are going to save the part of the 4 hour movie we got in a new file ready to upload) - give it a name - (save as virtual dub avi-IO video segment should be on, if its not choose it) and you are done.

for example, i took one of wei's drill. the movie lasts 4min 20seconds.
and with a compression of 4.5 the file size is 3MB.

a 1hour movie on 320x240 @ 15fps and 4.5 compression should take +- 40MB.
meaning on any cd u can burn on your pc as much as 20hours of pool or on any dvd you can burn around 100hours of pool
or for the real freaks on blue ray disks u can get up to 1200hours of pool on 1 single dvd or for the UBER FREAKS, one Hard disk of 500GB should have enough space for 12.000 hours of pool !!! (more then ull ever shoot in your whole life) :D

you can now put on your own webspace normally everyone who has a conection should have, if u are not sure if u have it, ask the company to give you all the info you need to upload the video on your own webspace.

else, just upload it on www.you-tube.com

(max time limit of movies = 10minuts, and max quality = 320x240)

nowadays, i ALWAYS take my camera with me on any training session, even if its a 8hour training.

ps: try to buy 4 reloadable batery's for the camera and a battery loader.
take the highest mAH u can find. mine are 2700. (the higher the better).
the battery's last around 2 hours of videotaping, and take 1 hour or even less to charge. so when im taping a long training session, 2 batteries are being used, and the other 2 are being reloaded. as the batery's charge faster then they decharge, u will ALWAYS have enoug batery's to tape yourself.

enjoy :)

ps2: Mr wilson, will there ever be the option to upload video's? a 1min video isnt TO long, and it should take with the right settings only 700kb.

ps3: Really take your camera to every training: 1/ its REALLY helpfull to understand why u missed certain shots, its the best and cheapest and 24/7 free coach u can find and who knows u might run a 100 pack in straight pool, and knowing u will always have in on tape is worth every penny. u might even become the next John schmidt and earn some money back from the video's to pay for your camera :D

ps3 here is the link to the video (it was my first dry :p its ALL about image quality, NOT about the drill results :p)
drill was made on 320x240 @15fps @Xvid Mpeg-4 codec @4.44 Target Quantize
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfyCAg9N2-o aint to bad for 4min, 3mb file :D

PS4 SLOW MOTIONS AND SPEED UPS:

to adjust a movie to make it in for example a slow motion.
(Do this after step 10 from above (right before u compress it))

10bis/ Choose in the menu : Video - Frame Rate - Source Rate Adjustement

if your video was made in 30fps (the higher frames the better the slow motion will be), change it to for example 5fps to get a slow motion, or 90fps to get a FAST movie. (Colin :) this is for you so you can make some powerbreak slowmo's)
 
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Hi Solartje... actually, I'm very interested in this and am glad you posted it. I have a video I am trying to upload onto youtube, but since I've never done it before I'm having problems.

I have a Sony Cybershot digital camera, and I really have no idea how to use it. My movie was shot in 640x480 and 30fps. It lasted just under 10 minutes and was 101mb. Seeing youtube's 100mb limit, I actually successfully chopped the video into 3 parts, figuring this would solve the space problem. It didn't - I guess once the pixel size is too fine, it just won't take the video.

So... I can take the video again, but does anyone have a Sony Cybershot who can instruct me how to minimize the pixel count as well as bring down the frame rate? Or, better yet, can someone recommend a program where I can put in my original video, and I can output a lesser quality (and much smaller) video?

Thanks!

- Steve
 
resizing a video:

you can do all with the program steve.

here is how you do it:

1/ open the file in the program virtual dub
2/ go in the menu to: video - filter - add - choose resize
3/ a new window will open - chose the new wide and height. (for you tube its 320x240) press ok,
(ps u can add so many filters to change you video, u can even crop it like a image, just press after u have add the resize filter - cropping)
4/ go in the menu to: compression - Xvid mpeg-4
5/ save as avi

and done

reducing fps/ frame rate

1/ open the file in the program virtual dub
2/ go in the menu to: video - frame rate - frame rate conversion -> decimate by x (by 2 = 30fps will become 15, by 3 = 30fps will become 10, or chose your own decimate)
3/ go in the menu to: compression - Xvid mpeg-4
4/ save as avi

your 101mb file should be closer too 15mb :) saves u alot of time to upload too, and for others to download it.

download it here for free. YES, this program is totally free !!

there u go. many more questions feel free to ask.
u can put the settings in your digital camera, but u can just use the program to do it, and keep the high quality on your computer and use the program to upload it in the right settings.
but you should have a manuel where you should find how to adjust your settings on your digital camera.

just play around with the ADD FILTER options and u can do ANTYTHING u want.

here is colins break video that has been changed and its really EASY. u can rotate, crop it, add fixed picture, change colours, brithness, contrast, u can do pritty much EVERYTHING u can do with images, blur, sharpen, grayscale, what EVER. :)

Colin's break in slow motion´BEFORE

Colin's break in slow motion´AFTER
 
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camera

What's a reasonably priced camera to get to do this?

Do you use a tripod?

Thanks for the info. I may have another Christmas present to get myself.
 
Actually ...

I was in Radio Shack shopping for Xmas, and they had some digital cameras on display, and it has been awhile since I checked in on them, and I was amazed How Compact they are getting, and the price for them has dropped considerably since first coming out. They all had the screen on the back too.
Some were in the $120-160 price range, I believe for 4-5 mg size.

BTW, they have a little racetrack with 2 remote cars on it for $9.95 that would make some little guy (or girl) very happy.
 
i dont use a tripod. :)

i used for my last video a 2.00m high plastic coke botle who serves as publicity and put it on there, or on any high shelve thats not to close and use some beer filts for it :) solly MCgiver loves the poormans way :D
 
Hi Solartje, I'm interested as well, thanks for posting the information. I have a Sony Cyber Shot, older model. It only takes 15 sec videos or 1 min if you hold down the button. Time for a newer camera, a Cannon S3 IS will be my christmas present to myself this year. It's a great camera and I'm really interested in shooting some videos not to mention an exceptional point and shoot camera. Should keep me intertained for years. Thanks again

Rod
 
Bump, as it seems still alot of people dont know how to edit video's and dont know where to search...
 
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