AVI Compression and Quality

[Guest]

Hi All

I am trying to put together a demo for a trade-show which will consist of a
movie (WMF) produced by WMM. The movie will play continuously using Windows
Media Player in full screen mode.

I am using a freeware tool called CamStudio which allows me to capture
screen activity (region or full screen) and save it to an AVI file. I am
doing this in 'logical sections' so I have multiple AVI files. In WMM I
insert each AVI clip I as well as some still images with a graphic and some
text to create my storyboard/movie.

Seems a simple requirement but I am having serious quality problems. When I
view the AVI files in CamStudio's internal viewer the resolution/quality
matches what I originally saw on the screen during the capture process.
Similarly when I view the AVI in Windows Media Player the resolution/quality
once again matches the original screen contents.

When I view the imported AVI clip in WMM the quality is disgusting it is the
same even when I create the movie to hard disk (with highest quality
selected).

I have a 3.0GHz Intel with 2GB RAM, 256MB nVidia GEForce 6600GT graphics
adapter and a 250GB dedicated 'scratch drive'.

In CamStudio I am selecting quality of 100% and have tried the following
compression codecs (Iam unable to set no compression).

Cinepak Codec by Radius
Intel Indeo® Video 4.5
Intel IYUV codec
Microsoft Video 1

Any ideas to my small dilemma would be most welcome.

 

[Guest]

Hi All

I just noticed something else which I did not pick up on before which may
help.

When I add an AVI file to the collection in WMM and play it in the internal
player it appears as to be expected i.e. almost the same as the original
screen I recorded. The same clip when dragged into the storyboard and played
the same way looks really bad so I can only assume that something is
occurring when and AVI is being added to the storyboard.

P.S. Creating a movie does not improve as I thought is might just be a
viewing issue.

 

[PapaJohn]

the quality of the project when viewed on the timeline is a rough draft
320x240 at 15fps.... enough to edit by, but not the quality aligned with the
source files or your intended saved movie.

saving the movie as a DV-AVI file will give you the quality comparable to
the files on a digital DV camcorder. If you need higher quality than that,
you would need to use a custom profile. See my Saving Movies > Custom WMV
Profiles page. If you're going to be playing it directly from the computer
at the show, the custom profile is probably your best choice.

 

[Guest]

PapaJohn thanks for your prompt reply and helpful information
(www.papjohn.org).

Problem resolved. I downloaded your sample profiles and hey presto it is now
looking as good as I would expect it to look.

Well done on an informative web site that is very easy to navigate with much
useful information. I will be referring back to your website in the future
to learn more.

 

[PapaJohn]

That was quick... and should impress those at the trade show, whatever
you're showing them. Good luck with it.
--
website references are to www.papajohn.org

PapaJohn

PapaJohn thanks for your prompt reply and helpful information
(www.papjohn.org).

Problem resolved. I downloaded your sample profiles and hey presto it is
now
looking as good as I would expect it to look.

Well done on an informative web site that is very easy to navigate with
much
useful information. I will be referring back to your website in the
future
to learn more.