Best compression to use when exporting as a quicktime?

[Mylenium]

[gizmo1990] “From my experiments sorenson seems to be ok but its quality is quite inferior to divx, which is what I usually use for my avi’s.”

Not true. Sorenson 3 softens the image a little, but since it isn’t based on blocks, it’s actually better than DivX in many situations (e.g. like embedding it in multimedia apps and scaling it ;o) ). The trick is to give it enough room to breathe (liberla limit or no limit on data rate)and – just like with DivX – to not do the final compression from AE. Render out a uncompressed or only mildly compressed version from AE and then use Quicktime Pro or dedicated compression tools such as Cleaner or Squeeze to create the Sorenson output.

[gizmo1990] “Also I thought quicktime could be encoded using divx but it doesn’t show up in the list of compressors? Is this correct?”

AE will only allow you to use true Quicktime component CoDecs (*.qtx). DivX is a Windows Media component contained in a DLL and will not be accessible from AE for QT. I’d be wary to use it if you want to show your DivX stuff to someone with a Mac. Though there is a DivX for Mac and tools such as VLC can decode it as well, there are still compatibility problems.

Mylenium

[Pour Myl

[Aharon Rabinowitz]

I use Sorenson Squeeze on anything I compress, and it does a great job. You can even specify a target file size, and squeeze will do whatever it has to to fit it into that file size.

Haven’t used Cleaner in years, but I hear it’s excellent too.

If your doing any kind of work where you post to the web (for your website or for client approval) then you absolutely need to use dedicated compression software.

—————————————-
Aharon Rabinowitz
aharon(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
http://www.allbetsareoff.com
—————————————-
Creative Cow Master Series DVD
particleIllusion Fusion Volume 1
available @ http://www.pIllusionFusion.com