Technical difficulties
I've managed to edit the Cane for Life video clip using some downloaded software called Avid Free DV (my budget unfortunately limiting me to free online options). It took a while to figure out - I've never done anything like this before. However, having started with a 78mb .avi file, I can't seem to save the edited version at anything less than 1gb, whatever file format I save as.
This is stupidly huge - cutting it into smaller clips won't make a difference; there must be something wrong with the save process which means it's not being compressed properly. The original .avi file is about 8 minutes long, and before I can put it online I need to trim less than a minute off the beginning and end (any other editing is windowdressing). Can anybody help?
You are probably trying to save the file as an uncompressed AVI, which would, as you have discovered, be huge.
ReplyDeleteTry using a compression codec, such as DivX or XviD. DivX is my favorite, but the Pro codec costs US$20. If you are feeling criminal today you can search for a key generator rather than paying. Alternatively, you can use the free XviD download.
After you install the codec of your choice, you should be able to select it as an encoder when saving your video file. According to the Avid website, the online application help should help you figure out how to do this.
If you're using Windows, I recomend VirtualDub, an open-source (free) application that can do a lot. You can download it here
ReplyDeletehttp://downloads.sourceforge.net/virtualdub/VirtualDub-1.6.19.zip
Extract the zip into a directory and run VirtualDub.exe. You don't need any codecs (Divx, etc) if you just want to trim your video.
Open your video using the File Menu. Under the Video menu select "Direct Stream Copy" - so you won't be uncompressing. Move the slider at the bottom and use Edit .. "Set Selection Start" and "Set Selection End" at the section you want. Then use the File menu to save your trimmed file using "Save as AVI".
Hope this helps. Email me at jack.sprat.i.am@gmail.com if you get lost but it's actually easier than it sounds.
Thanks a lot for the suggestions, guys :) I've downloaded the codec and will have a look at the Avid website to see how encoding works.
ReplyDeleteJack - Thanks again, this looked like it would be the easiest option for me by far, but the .exe file isn't running - says it's not a valid Win32 application? back to the drawing board... :)
Why not just use the excellent (and free) Windows Video Encoder from Microsoft to encode the edited AVI to wmv format. It can be got from
ReplyDeletehttp://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=5691BA02-E496-465A-BBA9-B2F1182CDF24&displaylang=en
Or use the Windows Movie maker software supplied with Windows XP machines?
Free download here : http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/updates/moviemaker2.mspx
I look forward to meeting with you again on a shoot
Aegean
As others have pointed out, you need a codec. I suggest Xvid - it offers good quality and is used by many people (obviously, the viewers need the same codec to watch the video!).
ReplyDeletehttp://www.xvidmovies.com/codec/
I use Virtualdub to encode videos. It's free and can be downloaded at:
http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/virtualdub/VirtualDub-1.6.19.zip?download
Click on Virtualdub.exe to laucn the program. Load your video with "file", "open" orders from the menu. Then go to the "video" menu and select "full processing mode" and "compression". In the "compression" window, you should see the Xvid codec now that you have installed it. Select it.
Optionally, you can "configure" the codec. The "target bitrate" decides the quality and size of your video. The higer it is, the higer the quality. The lower, the smaller the size.
It looks a bit complicated at first, but it is rather easy to get into, actually. Virtualdub is a good program, and it's free. If you want to continue to work with videos, I suggest you take a look at it.
And naturally, I'm looking forward to your caning video!
Hmm, I just downloaded VirtualDub and it runs fine from here. I take it you unzipped the whole thing and kept the two subfolders?
ReplyDeleteWhat computer setup are you using? Windows version?
As a Linux user, I would prefer it if people didn't encode videos in a closed Microsoft format (WMV) :-)
ReplyDelete