What is best settings for export to web?

Apple Final Cut Pro Legacy

What is best settings for export to web?

Posted by Jacqueline Nauman on October 28, 2011 at 7:42 pm

I am trying to get the best display for a webpage. I have a video that is about 3 minutes. The sequence is 720×480, 29.97fps and compressor is DV/DVCPRO. At full size obviously it is too big for instant web playback (about 1GB). I have tried exporting straight from FCP in smaller frame sizes as Mp4s at 15fps and H.264 compression but the picture looks very crappy. I’ve used FCP, MPEG Streamclip, Compressor and Quicktime Pro to see if any one is better than the other but so far no go. I can spend all day experimenting with sizes and quality, but it would be so much appreciated if someone would save me some time and give me some specs that would work for my purposes. I need the video to play almost immediately without the long wait to download and that will be viewable from MAC, PC, iPad, etc. Flash is no good since that doesn’t work on ipad/iphone. Anyone have some guidance for me? I’m an old time editor and not used to all the electronic media choices for media!

Thanks!
Jacquie

MAC: 2 x 2.8 Quad Core Intel Xeon
Memory: 2GB 800 MHZ DDR2 FB-DIMM
OS: Mac OS X 10.6.6

Final Cut Pro 7.03

Jacqueline Nauman replied 14 years, 6 months ago 4 Members · 5 Replies
5 Replies

Ryan Holmes
October 28, 2011 at 8:18 pm

mp4 using the h.264 codec will give you the best results. To output a 30MB file, a rough guide using Quicktime 7’s export option may look something like this:

File Format: mp4
Video Format: h.264
Data Rate: 1000kbits/sec
Image Size: 640×480
Frame Rate: 29.97
Keyframe: Every 30 frames
Video Options: Baseline, Best Quality
Audio Format: AAC-LC
Data Rate: 128kbps
Channels: Stereo
Output Sample Rate: 44.100kHz
Encoding Quality: Best

If you “enable streaming” then it will ensure the file will start playing as soon as the device has downloaded enough of a buffer. If it’s not enabled, it’ll wait to play until the entire file has downloaded.

Ryan
Neal Broffman
October 28, 2011 at 8:23 pm

Tons of options, you are correct. If you are in a hurry and want the easiest answer without all the experimentation how about just getting a Vimeo account. Upload your video there and then use the embed code on your page. They have all the specs you need to get the highest quality out of your video and the videos play on iPhone and iPad.

Neal Broffman
One Production Place, Atlanta, GA
http://www.oneproductionplace.com
Latest project:
Series of profiles for the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships For New Americans.
https://vimeo.com/channels/pdsoros
Ryan Holmes
October 28, 2011 at 8:28 pm

Neal reminded me – check out Vimeo’s compression page. It’ll walk you through pretty much any app and how to compress video for Vimeo (but it applies to YouTube or wherever).

https://vimeo.com/help/compression

Ryan
Alan Okey
October 28, 2011 at 10:21 pm

Does your video contain inteaced or progressive footage?
Jacqueline Nauman
October 29, 2011 at 3:51 pm

Thanks. It’s interlaced. I hadn’t had the Fast Start checked off on my outputs and that’s made a big difference. I had been staying away from using YouTube because sometimes I do rough cuts to copyrighted music and was unable to show clients on the web because they’d always mute it. Not purchasing rights for music that is not permanent, ya know? I thought that Vimeo was the same way, but apparently not cuz I tested a spot and it works, so thanks for that. Until I get my website up, at least I have a place to play my work!

Jacquie

MAC: 2 x 2.8 Quad Core Intel Xeon
Memory: 2GB 800 MHZ DDR2 FB-DIMM
OS: Mac OS X 10.6.6

Final Cut Pro 7.03

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