Compressing a video?

[scblade27]

I have a canon 630 that I take several pictures with and some videos. I like to post the pics and videos online for friends and family to see. The problem I have is the video files are always way to huge to effectively post on photobucket. Does anyone know a free way to compress the video files in size/quality so i can post some of this stuff?

Thanks for your help.

 

[vshearer]

See if you can get it to a MPEG4 format.

 

[konasdad]

Try Youtube.com

 

[scblade27]

youtube is ok, the problem is it takes like 2 hours to upload the file using a cable modem. Is there a way they allow you to make the file smaller?

 

[CompuDude]

I use QuickTime, which is the best for cross-platform compatibility (macs and PCs both). You'll need QuickTime Pro, however, which is not the free version. (It's only $30 to buy, however.)

Divx is also a decent choice, but not as many people have the codecs installed, compared to QuickTime.

 

[Tigerman]

DivX, Xvid, TMPEGenc is differnt options. As far as quick time its a program that many experienced computer users stay far away from, myself included..
Another option lies within your CD/DVD writing software as it can write SVCD or VCD discs and you can use that to have the files compressed and copy them out of the ISO or disc you write..

 

[TEERLKAY]

Failry basic but free

gives you a few different output options with different compression ratios

 

[mkutyna]

Agreed about staying away from Quicktime. It's definitely one of those plugins that consumes too many system resources for what it provides and is pretty invasive. Thankfully, there's only been a few web sites that I've gone to that have had embedded quicktime movies so I haven't missed out on hardly any content by not having it installed.

 

[CompuDude]

BS on the quicktime "warnings". It's fine. And half the world owns an iPod, which usually means you already have iTunes and QuickTime installed anyway.

I've been a computer consultant for over 20 years, so I'm not exactly new at this.

I'd stay away from Windows Movie Maker unless you ONLY want people running Windows to be able to view your videos, or you are a sufficiently advanced user to know how to change the default settings to make it more compatible.

QuickTime is the most cross-platform compatible option out of the chute, followed by Divx.

 

[HenrikBP]

I'm with CompuDude. Quicktime is fine. Of course I've been working professionally with digital video for only 15 years ... not sure if that makes me experienced enough

Henrik