High Quality video question

[Sheeba]

Sorry wasn't sure where to put this^^.

I am working on making a video atm, but have tested out a couple frames that have been recorded as various files, Divx, Mpeg, Avi, etc. (you name it I can probably record it as that). However I notice I am still losing the quality that my fraps had. I have heard people using compression tolls to retain the quality. Any ideas on inexpensive tools? And should the fraps be compressed before or after running it through the editing software?

[Stromgarde]

Use Virtualdub with xvid codec and tweak the quality settings until you achieve desired results.

[Sheeba]

Is that before or after the editing?

[Sheeba]

ah just found out that virtualdub is not windows xp or higher compatible..

[darkhero168]

you sure? i recall using it on win XP.. can't check for you now though i'm on a mac...

[Shuemue]

http://virtualdub.sourceforge.net/

[Sheeba]

Yeah I got it thanks^^.

Still need to know if this is a pre-edit thing or post-edit.

[Snowknight26]

Still need to know if this is a pre-edit thing or post-edit.

What?

VirtualDub is mainly used for video conversion, cropping, filtering, joining, etc. Nothing major like Adobe Premier.

Basically, open the videos made by fraps in VirtualDub, set the video to Full processing mode, Ctrl+P, choose XviD, click Configure, click Target Quantalizer, 1000kbps or more, done, done, set the audio to full processing mode, compression, choose LAME mp3 if you have it, 128kbps or higher, done, F7 to save, viola.


If you you're recording it at full resolution (which is pretty dumb because your FPS will drop to 0), use x264 instead of XviD.

[Sheeba]

Eh, I didn't notice any difference between when I used Fast compress and the full compression. Actually the vid came out worse quality on the full compression.

I think I am beyond help, the quality is great in fraps, great after compression, great in the editing clip window, and complete crap after the editing program creates it into a file...

[Lordwafik]

Nothing ever looks how it is in fraps, unless you plan on shipping out HD DVDs

[Izzy]

do all editing uncompressed, load final uncompressed copy into virtual dub, apply filters and compression to desired quality.

Thats it.

[Imperial]

Edit and render a full version using a codec like WMV9 at 720x(xxx) or higher, make sure fps is set to something like 24 - 25.

You should get a huge file and sick quality.

Use DivX converter http://www.divx.com to turn it into avi file and you'll lose some of the crisp resolution but also knock a chunk off the file size.