[Dean Steinmann]

Why don’t you offer the service of developing a website that will allow the video to be seen online by anyone whom you wish to have access? Instead of producing expensive and environmentally unfriendly discs, the file can be viewed online. Simple to do. And fast.

The videos can be compressed into flv’s (Flash files). All the viewer needs is the Flash plugin and a highspeed connection.

Any fine print that the legal department needs to have on screen can be displayed beside the video screen in Flash or HTML.

We do this all the time and our clients love it.

Dean

[Dean Steinmann]

This is relatively easy to accomplish. Try one before you do them all. Once you have the settings where you want them, do the batch.

Having not seen the files, I’m not sure if they need to be deinterlaced or not. My guess is that this was already done in the initial compression, so don’t bother doing it again

If you want to reduce the files sizes by 30%, reduce the audio and video data rates each by 30%. To retain some of the vibrancy of the image, make sure that you play with the gamma, contrast and saturation in the “adjust” tab.

I would use two pass vbr as well.

Just do a short, 10 second (set in and out point in the “Begin/End” tab) sample using different settings until you are satisfied that the image quality to data rate ratio is where you want it. Once you have reached a satisfactory level, do the batch.

A question you may want to ask is if you really need to have these at 720 by 486. Reducing the dimensions by 20% will go a long way in masking the reduction in quality of this second compression. If the files are are being delivered on a CD, perhaps they can be imbedded in a screen at 480 by 360 with supporting text and graphics around it. The client may like the “new improved” look, and will pay for the upgrade as well.

Another question is why Quicktime? If you compress this in Flash (flv using Squeeze or Compression Master) your viewership will have a much higher rate of playback due to the fact that the Flash 7 plugin required for playback is on 95% of computers. This will mean that part of the interface will have to be developed in Flash as well.

Some examples:
https://www.plastifab.com/Consumer/video.html
https://www.backplusonline.com/eurosteam_help/home.htm
https://www.waymarkgroup.ca/
https://www.fluidsealingproducts.com/high/index2.htm
https://www.barbarathorson.ca/
https://www.cashadvance.com

Hope this helps.

Dean

[Dean Steinmann]

I always price by the hour in these cases. How much time do you spend doing the setup, how long does your computer take to do the compression, do you have to upload the files to a server? How long does that take? Do you need to test it once it is on the server? Your expertise has value and you should charge for it.

We charge the regular hourly rate for the machine and man, and when the computer is chewing on a longer compression that does not require your attention, we charge about 60% of the hourly rate.

Faster machines can compress faster so you can then charge less. As long as you can honestly keep your billable hours to a maximum.

Good Luck Michael.

[Dean Steinmann]

Thanks Don, I appreciate your help and your kind comments on our website. We are just completing our new site. Should be up mid January. The one that is there now is 4 years old. Feel free to call me anytime. I be happy to chat.

Not too cold now, a chinook is blowing through.

Regards,
Dean

[Dean Steinmann]

By the way, I have not added any markers to the timeline and I still get the “cut” at the top of the fcp exports. While I can delete that track in the QT file as you have suggested, I will have to do this for every export.

Thanks,

Dean

[Dean Steinmann]

Thanks Don, that did the trick.

Dean