Help with compressing video!!
I'm throwing together my first website, built with iWeb, and it's coming together nicely. The main purpose of the site is to show Grandma and Grandpa back in England what their little 15 month grandson is up to. As part of the site I'm trying to post video - which I have done successfully. However, I keep getting the message whenever I carry a video over to iWeb that the file is really big which basically could make it slow going for those accessing the site. I'm paraphrasing, but you get the idea!
The thing is, the file I'm playing with is only 30 seconds long! But apparently 26MB!!!! I've tried reading the various online manuals for iWeb, iMovie and Quicktime and I think I'm following the directions correctly when I try to compress the file size down but it just doesn't seem to be working????
Would some Mac genius on this forum be so kind as to provide me, a total Mac novice, with idiot proof directions as to how to compress a video in iMovie down to a manageable size (10MB or less if possible) so that I can transfer it to iWeb without getting that annoying size message! I don't want to bring the computer of anyone viewing the site to a grinding halt either because of the video file size!!
Thanks and happy Thanksgiving all!!!
The thing is, the file I'm playing with is only 30 seconds long! But apparently 26MB!!!! I've tried reading the various online manuals for iWeb, iMovie and Quicktime and I think I'm following the directions correctly when I try to compress the file size down but it just doesn't seem to be working????
Would some Mac genius on this forum be so kind as to provide me, a total Mac novice, with idiot proof directions as to how to compress a video in iMovie down to a manageable size (10MB or less if possible) so that I can transfer it to iWeb without getting that annoying size message! I don't want to bring the computer of anyone viewing the site to a grinding halt either because of the video file size!!
Thanks and happy Thanksgiving all!!!
Comments
Open your movie in QuickTime Player and play with the Export options. It includes some preset options in a popup menu, some of which are for for you need.
I really appreciate you replying but I honestly need a little more explicite instruction than that, i.e. step by step, what to check, what not to check, etc.
I'm a real novice on the Mac and all it's sw programs and although I did what you suggested already, it doesn't seem to be compressing a 30 second clip sufficiently - does it seem right to you that a 30 second clip taken with the Mac's own camera would be 26MB?
I have no frame of reference so this might be right? But then if that's the case wouldn't you see that 'your file is too big' warning with EVERY video clip you tried to put online?
However, I keep getting the message whenever I carry a video over to iWeb that the file is really big which basically could make it slow going for those accessing the site. I'm paraphrasing, but you get the idea!
I don't want to bring the computer of anyone viewing the site to a grinding halt either because of the video file size!!
It wouldn't affect the computer, it would just take longer to load the movie.
The thing is, the file I'm playing with is only 30 seconds long! But apparently 26MB!!!! I've tried reading the various online manuals for iWeb, iMovie and Quicktime and I think I'm following the directions correctly when I try to compress the file size down but it just doesn't seem to be working????
Would some Mac genius on this forum be so kind as to provide me, a total Mac novice, with idiot proof directions as to how to compress a video in iMovie down to a manageable size (10MB or less if possible) so that I can transfer it to iWeb without getting that annoying size message!
If you have it in imovie, go to file menu > export. Then choose the quicktime tab. Choose expert settings and hit share.
In the export tab choose movie to quicktime movie and click options. Click settings under video and choose mpeg-4 video. Set the data rate to automatic and put the slider to high. Leave frame rate at current and keyframes at the setting it was at. Click ok.
Enable sound by selecting the check box. Click settings and choose AAC for the format. Stereo and 44.1kHz is good. Choose the target bitrate as 128k. Click ok.
Check the box for internet streaming and leave it on fast start. Hit ok. Then save the file.
This should create a file that is about 9MB for 30 seconds of video. If it comes out larger, you can reduce the size of the movie from the DVD size to 320x240. To do this, just hit the size button below the video settings button and enter a custom size. You can also reduce your video quality slider to medium.
I really appreciate you replying but I honestly need a little more explicite instruction than that, i.e. step by step, what to check, what not to check, etc.
I'm a real novice on the Mac and all it's sw programs and although I did what you suggested already, it doesn't seem to be compressing a 30 second clip sufficiently - does it seem right to you that a 30 second clip taken with the Mac's own camera would be 26MB?
I have no frame of reference so this might be right? But then if that's the case wouldn't you see that 'your file is too big' warning with EVERY video clip you tried to put online?
Although there are tons of settings you can tweak, you don't need to. It really is as simple as I had written before - go File>Export, and in the resulting window give your movie a name. There are 2 popup menus at the bottom. Make sure the first is "Movie to Quicktime Movie" which is obviously the one you want. The second popup lists presets - choose the one that best suits who is going to watch your movie; probably one of the broadband ones (high medium or low). You can do these options direct from iMovie export too.
Do you have Quicktime Pro? You need that to export from Quicktime Player.