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straw poll – encoders/codecs
I just loaded CS4 onto my laptop and was switching on ‘enable legacy encoders’ in QuickTime so that I could see the one I usually use, Sorenson 3. I have got used to using this when I want a small rough and ready file to put up on the net for client approval. Then I stopped to think – why? I’ve got so used to doing this that I don’t question any more whether or not it’s the best option. So I was just wondering what others do when rendering. I’m guessing everyone uses Animation at 100 for lossless top-of-the-heap-quality, but what about the other occasions? Say you need to show something to a client pretty quickly and you need a balance between quality and size, what do you reach for then? Is there a list somewhere on the pros and cons of the choices in both of those drop down menus; the ‘Format’ menu and the ‘QuickTime’ menu? I’ve never used most of them or even know when I should use them.
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5 Replies
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Compression is one of those dark arts where everyone has their own tricks. I would say your best bet is just to test, test, test.
Most of the time, I render to Animation and use Compressor to take care of the web conversion. If I need it quickly, I render at half res (or quarter if working in HD), and again, use Compressor (usually H264, otherwise MP4).
By using the two step method, you really don’t lose any time since AE would still have to compress those frames after rendering them anyway. I just really don’t trust AE to handle compression.
CS3, FCS2
[Note: Using Particular, 3-D Stroke, and now Form do not instantly make your designs “teh awesome.”] -
As Paul stated, I don’t trust AE for compression as well. I render out lossless and then compress in other software. I work in short form (2:30 or less generally) and it depends on the footage and how they want to view it.
If stuff is going to FTP for viewing I use compressor and H.264 encode everything.
If stuff needs to be emailed I use visualhub and make .mp4’s.
My 2 cents
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Ditto on not using AE for compressing, except with the Flip4mac plugin for WMVs. After rendering to Anim, I use Compressor for MPEG-2, and QT Pro for H.264/MP4. For now, anyway.
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Ditto ditto, me three. Render out to Animation codec (choose half resolution in render settings if needed). From there your options are pretty broad for how best to compress, but Quicktime Pro ($29.95) compresses quite nicely and quickly. Using this to create h.264 versions is a handy option. If you have flash video encoder installed, it will even do FLVs. I have compared the resulting quality and render times of various compression apps, and QT Pro is in the top three.
Brendan Coots
Splitvision Digital
http://www.splitvisiondigital.com -
This site helped me a lot. It shows comparisons of various codecs:
https://codecs.onerivermedia.com/
Color Grading presets for After Effects, Premiere, etc., plus free presets and more.
LITTLE BLACK BIRD – PROFESSIONAL VISUAL EFFECTS
https://www.littleblackbird.com
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