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Recommended Codecs
Heya, can anyone recommend to me, as a complete codec novice, some codecs that would work well and wouldn’t break the bank?
Preferably free ones.
Here’s what I would use them for:
Youtube-quality videos (so I don’t need the best, most professional stuff) that still look nice (as minimal artifacting and pixelation as possible).
Ideally, the codecs would also prevent a loss in audio quality as well.
I am not going to export my final project from after effects (Premiere Pro instead), but I do plan on exporting various elements as I go along, which is why I ask.
An Artist interested in the past, stuck in the present.
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12 Replies
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From Premiere you can export h264 and .flv and .f4v, excellent formats for YouTube.
You can also download the free Divx codec.Tudor “Ted” Jelescu
Senior VFX Artist -
A good method, regardless of which codec you use, is to choose a small part of your video and compress that part to see what it looks like. Ideally this will be a section with some camera movement and/or dissolves, as these are elements that can reveal flaws in specific codec settings. Then you can try multiple codecs and settings, and compare. I like to export, say, 30 seconds of a video, compare them side-by-side, then take the final file filesize and do the math to figure out the approximate size of the final video. Once I’ve settled on the settings, I apply it to the entire video.
Note that it isn’t just the codec that makes a difference, but the quality slider for the codec, whether you assign target bitrates, how you compress audio, the frame size and frame rate. These are all things you can play with — but be sure to keep a record of what you’re changing with each one!
One more note: YouTube compresses on its own. If you want youtube or vimeo-specific settings, I suggest you do some searching around. I know Vimeo has a page with suggested compression settings for uploading videos.
Ben Unguren
Motion Graphics & Editing
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Interesting. Thank you both for your responses. I have heard the h246 codec isn’t the best. But if all I’m going for is youtube quality, I suppose it won’t be too detrimental to my film.
An Artist interested in the past, stuck in the present.
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There’s no way of answering questions about “best” codecs without first getting into the details of what _exactly_ you are doing with the output. What settings you use for output are nearly always dictated by delivery specifications—e.g., your client will tell you what they want, the video sharing website will have published specifications, the device that you’re intending to use for playback will only accept certain kinds of video.
See these FAQ entries:
FAQ: What is the best format for rendering and exporting from After Effects?
FAQ: What are the best export settings for Premiere Pro?
FAQ: How do I export a movie for YouTube…?———————————————————————————————————
Todd Kopriva, Adobe Systems Incorporated
Technical Support for professional video software
After Effects Help & Support
Premiere Pro Help & Support
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Fair enough. Is there a way I could grab the h246 codec for free for AE?
An Artist interested in the past, stuck in the present.
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> Is there a way I could grab the h246 codec for free for AE?
H.264 is an output option in After Effects. You don’t need to get anything else.
Follow the third link that I provided above about YouTube export.
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Todd Kopriva, Adobe Systems Incorporated
Technical Support for professional video software
After Effects Help & Support
Premiere Pro Help & Support
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Hey Todd, I have After Effects CS5 and when I click on the ‘lossless’ option and scroll down my very pitiful list of options, h246 is not listed among them.
An Artist interested in the past, stuck in the present.
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If you’re clicking the triangle next to the word “Lossless”, you’re just choosing from a set of output module templates. You need to choose a format in the Output Module Settings dialog box.
It seems that you aren’t familiar with how to choose export settings. Start here to read about the methods for rendering and exporting from After Effects.
It seems that you’ve just jumped into the middle trying to use After Effects; that seldom works out very well. I recommend that you take a step back and work your way through the basic learning materials for After Effects.
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Todd Kopriva, Adobe Systems Incorporated
Technical Support for professional video software
After Effects Help & Support
Premiere Pro Help & Support
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hey Todd,
you are correct, I am new to AE, but yes, I had completely forgotten about the Output Module.An Artist interested in the past, stuck in the present.
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h264 is a great delivery code. The key is to figure out the best settings for your footage. I have discovered that setting keyframes for every frame gives the best result for clips with a lot of movement and fx.
Tudor “Ted” Jelescu
Senior VFX Artist
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