Georgina Smith asking for help re downloading dvd

[Georgina Smith]

Hi folks I am doing my best to get to grips with all this on-line technology , can foks tell me when they download DVD's what format you watch it in? and if your watching it on your pc/ applemac does it matter if I ma making films in PAL or NTSC? and how should I save them , ie mpeg, wmv. mov etc? and what bwith this DIVx ?
I have a sony DCR 120 that I am using and imovie ( I use an applemac) but obviously I want you folks to see what I am recording . Any (constructive help ) is gratefully appreciated as I am getting very confused here! !confused!

[joe king]

DVDs are in vob format aren't they? 4-8GB size?


various formats=more opportunity.
I would think wmv compresses the most.

more help



I've seen a site actually use mp4 format, mainly because of the mac and quality issues. I personally don't like that format - mp4.

If you get the 3g formats for mobile phones etc, you could open a different niche.

Are you doing all this yourself Georgina?

Warning, I am not an expert.

[Georgina Smith]

Hi Joe,
yes I am doing all myself ( cant aford to pay anyone !rolleyes! thanks for the advice and link. any mor offers of help gratefully received
BTW I did get an email from you, did you receive it? also any chance of a link to my site on your squidoo page?
many thanks again for your help xxx

[joe king]

Was the 'email' through ukadultproducers?

[Twingo]

[quote]I personally don't like that format - mp4[/quote]

MP4 is an excellent and more upto date format. The only issues with it is that it can only support H264 video and AAC audio, but for web downloads i dont think that would cause any problems.

As for which format you should save in, then have a look at other sites and see what format they offer, from my personal experience its normally in this order WMV/MOV/MP4/DivX/MPEG. Im not sure how compatible WMV is with the standard apple OS though as ive never used one. Its also normal for sites to offer at least 2 different formats, with 2-3 different bitrates (low/medium/high) per format.

So for instance....

Movie 1 WMV Format 500Kbits
Movie 1 WMV Format 1000Kbits
Movie 1 WMV Format 2000Kbits
Movie 1 MOV Format 500Kbits
Movie 1 MOV Format 1000Kbits
Movie 1 MOV Format 2000Kbits

The bitrate generally defines the quality of the video, but as the bitrate increases so does the size of the final file. So take this in mind as it will count towards your bandwidth bill for your hosting, so for example

Movie 1 WMV Format 500Kbits 30mins = Approx 225MB file size
Movie 1 WMV Format 2000Kbits 30mins = Approx 450MB file size

Whatever format you do, make sure you de-interlace your files. If you dont they will look horrible no matter what else you do.

[Twingo]

Edit as i made a mistake -

Movie 1 WMV Format 2000Kbits 30mins = Approx 900MB file size

[rgb]

Thought you were right the first time, Twingo

((2000x10exp3)x60x30)/8 = 450exp6

or have I made the same mistake as you

[Twingo]

[quote]Thought you were right the first time, Twingo[/quote]

Actually i totally F'd it up both times, as for some reason i based my calculations on a 1hour movie and not 30mins like i wrote..So one final time

Movie 1 WMV Format 500Kbits 30mins = Approx 112MB file size
Movie 1 WMV Format 1000Kbits 30mins = Approx 224MB file size
Movie 1 WMV Format 2000Kbits 30mins = Approx 450MB file size

The reason the second calculation i did was right the first time, was because i still used 60mins, but based it off 1000Kbits.......lol....should post when im more awake in future.

[Georgina Smith]

thanks for all this folks, if you dont mind in a while I shall put some links up as a trial