Best way to FLV

[Brad Jenkins]

this thread is a little over my head, but i would like to know this.
I think I’ll use on2 flix to convert to flash. So in FCP should I export my 4 min video using Quicktime movie @ current settings ( dv ntsc 48) , or Quictime conversion to h.264 ( should i keep the same dimensions ? and what other settings are best?) , or export using compressor ? I really dont know what I should be starting with when converting to flash using on2 flix. Is it best to start with the highest quality quicktime video? Should i change the dimenstions, and if so do I do that when converting to flash or before. What is best to end up with, a .flv or .swf or whatever the 3rd one is .f4l or something like that 🙂

[David Roth weiss]

[Brad Jenkins] “So in FCP should I export my 4 min video using Quicktime movie @ current settings ( dv ntsc 48) , or Quictime conversion to h.264 ( should i keep the same dimensions ? and what other settings are best?) , or export using compressor ? I really dont know what I should be starting with when converting to flash using on2 flix. Is it best to start with the highest quality quicktime video?”

Brad,

Sorry that your post above got hijacked and went off-topic to become all about h.264. That kind of thing happens here way too often.

In any case, in answer to you questions above, whenever exporting from the timeline to encode in another app, always export a QT Movie using current settings. That creates a file that pixel for pixel identical to your timeline, which is always your best bet. Scale and/or crop in Flix Pro to whatever requirements you need for the web.

Hope this helps…

David

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles

POST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™

A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, and Indie Film & Documentary forums.

[Brad Jenkins]

YOUR THE MAN, THANK YOU

[Ian Smith]

Taking the QTime file, then converting using On2, where do I really ramp up the quality to the highest? From what I am gathering people are saying make the bitrate higher? I generally put it at 700, rather than the default 448. Is that what I should be doing, or can/should I be going even higher?
At 700, my video footage is still lacking the quality needed, and shown in the QTime.

Here are most of my settings:
File: 512K Broadband High Vid (VP6-E FLV)
Video>Video Encoder Settings: Maximum bitrate – 700
VP6: Quality – Best

I also do my cropping within the Video>Video filter tab – 627 X 470 (thereby mathematically maintaining same proportions I believe.)

Is there a way to get better quality while still using On2, converting to an FLV?

[Ian Smith]

I’ll happily respond to my last post… : )
Just so the answer is out there, I did exactly as I gathered from other peoples very helpful posts… Thank you again everyone!

I did simply increase the bitrate to what I considered extreme, and it raised the quality up to where I can’t even tell a difference between the QTime and the FLV.

Generally, I’ll finish with an FLV, pushed out at a bitrate of 700, and dimensions of 300 X 225. For that size of video, usually it is pretty clean and has great quality. Usually file size of around 7MB for the one to 2 minute videos.

BUT…

With the latest video I am pushing out must be larger,… 500 X 375, one minute, 30 sec video.
If I raise the bitrate to 1500, that is as low as I can go while still maintaining the crisp and clean quality (as the QTime file), as if straight off the Final Cut timeline!
Naturally, the only drawback as we all know is the increased file size. BUT, even then the file size is increased to 18MB, which honestly still isn’t that bad. If the client wants that much quality, they just have to take the extra load time with it. This was my happy medium for this client.

Once again, thank you everyone for your input. Newly professionals like myself are forever greatful!