Video Codecs

[rogerg (Roger)]

Hi all,

I'm trying a timelapse.

I have VirtualDub installed, and all my appropriate images loaded. I want to choose the compression which I believe is the Codec? (I'm very knowledgeable about video stuff), but the list in VirtualDub only has the basics:

Uncompressed
Cinepak
FullMotionVideo
Intel IYUV
Microsoft RLE
Microsoft Video 1

So... I searched on IIS and found this thread which recommended K-Lite. I downloaded K-Lite and installled it (that was a bit of a trial, but I got there), but I still don't see any extras in the compression dialog (Video -> Compression) in VirtualDub.

Any pointers???

Thanks!

[joe_smith]

I'm not sure I understand your question, but Uncompressed, Cinepak, FullMotionVideo, Intel IYUV, Microsoft RLE, Microsoft Video 1 are the Codec's. You set the compression you want by selecting a codec, and then clicking on the configure button in the select video compession window, to set the compression rate.

[mswhin63 (Malcolm)]

Codecs being the way to get the most quality versus the less data used. But there are sacrifices. In most cases it is processor consumption, so a small net-book may not handle the processor requirements of some of the codecs an so on.

So far I have found H.264 as a good codec, it is primarily used in the early days for mobile video communication mostly due to data compression, and it quality is quite good, although I have primarily used it on my Windows 7 64bit laptop which doesn't hiccup much at all.

[rogerg (Roger)]

Hmm, I am confused. I thought installing more Codec's would add to that list available, I thought those ones I listed I remember from the late 1990's when I last did video stuff, and so must be a poor choice now? I presumed I' would need to use something different for it to be compatible with video sharing sites. I'll do more reading to see if I can get a better understanding.

Thanks,
Roger.

[telemarker (Keith)]

Sounds like the codecs weren't installed. Those you listed are just the base Windows installed codecs. Its better to use uncompressed or the Huffy codec and leave the compression til the final export. If you want to export to MP4/H264 and can't install the codecs then used Avidemux (its free). This has the codecs built into the program and lets you export even when you don't have the compressor side of the codec (ie machines at work ). See how you go. I've moved over to the mac side of video work these days so my knowledge Win things is a bit dated.

[rogerg (Roger)]

Thanks Keith.

I've left the video as uncompressed in VirtualDub, and saved it. Then I've taken it in to Sony Vegas Movie Studio, edited it and saved as MP4 there... this seems to have worked. I am not sure now if I can just uninstall the codec pack I installed last night, but suspect I can, seems maybe Vegas Studio is all self contained.

[cjmarsh81]

I believe the codecs in the K-Lite pack are only for playing back encoded video. They normally charge for the encoder.

[rogerg (Roger)]

Originally Posted by cjmarsh81

I believe the codecs in the K-Lite pack are only for playing back encoded video. They normally charge for the encoder.

Ahh, makes sense, I never considered the terminology "decoder"

[mswhin63 (Malcolm)]

Some of the encoders are freely available. I know Huffy is!