Best FLV Settings

[Nozmo]

I am new to this forum. Currently I'm using PE 4 and recording some videos with a Kodak Zi8. Determining the best setting for rendering is quite a challenge, but there is a wealth of info available here. When it comes to creating an FLV file, is there a detailed recommendation for the best settings - similar to what there is for the You Tube upload using a .mov file.

I am recording videos in either 720 or 1080, but can only use a size of less than 500 on our website. When I try to create on just with video clips the FLV file is very choppy - moves very slowly.

Thanks,

[Steve Grisetti]

Hi, Nozmo. Welcome to Muvipix!

As for playback issues, I'd venture to guess that it's not the FLV settings your using at all. It's the source video.

Video from those pocket HD camcorders often uses proprietary codecs to create their video -- and that can give you all kinds of funny results when you import this video into Premiere Elements. It could well be that the best solution is converting this video to a more standard video format, one that Premiere Elements handles more easily.

[Nozmo]

BTW, this is a great website - I found it through the Adobe Forum.

The file from the Kodak comes in as a .mov file. I plan on getting a canon hv40, but I wanted to work with this first to see if I could figure things out.

I am confused about the FLV presets - You can choose from 256 to 800. I'm not really sure what this is. But I did notice that the largest frame size is 640 x 480.

If I have a video that is either 1080 or 720, should I change the frame size to correspond to this or use the smaller size, for example 640 x 480?

[Steve Grisetti]

Remember that there are dozen of possible codecs within the MOV package. Video from still cameras is usually compressed to save file space -- so to get the best performance out of this file in Premiere Elements, you'll need to convert it first to a DV-AVI.

I believe the free converter Prism will do this conversion for you. Quicktime Pro from Apple will also work. Here's where to get the programs and what specs to use for the conversion.
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/415317?tstart=0

As for FLV file size, remember that FLVs are primarily used for playback on the web, so they tend to be 640x480 or less. So, if your goal is to output an FLV, when you do the conversion listed above, you'll want to rez down your MOVs to one of the standard DV-AVI sizes I listed in the link.

[SteveG]

I think Prism is not a free program.

[Steve Grisetti]

Sure it is! If you get it from the link I've posted.

[Barb O]

from the original post

If I have a video that is either 1080 or 720 ...

Steve Grisetti

I agree that there is a free option for Prism, but I wonder if its limitation to Full Screen will be relevant here because of the original reference to 1080 or 720 video?

[Paul LS]

Prism is free but it is time limited. Apparently after the trial period it restricts the number of export formats, that said I have found no difference in its functionality and I have been using it for ages. There is also a version that you can purchase.

[Steve Grisetti]

I was not aware of this, Paul! Thanks for the tip.

I seem to still be able to export to DV-AVI with my year old free version though. Do you know what the limitations are and when they take effect?

[SteveG]

It seems to be a bit confusing. If you go to the product page for Prism is says Purchase Prism online here. But on this page:
http://www.nch.com.au/software/list.html
it shows each of their software as either Buy/Download or just Download. It shows Prism as just Download.

[Paul LS]

Sorry, it is VideoPad that restricts the export formats:

The basic version of VideoPad has all the features of VideoPad Pro but after 14 days trial the range of export formats will be limited to .avi, .wmv, .asf and DVD.

For Prism:

The latest version of Prism has been tested and will convert to AVI, WMV, ASF and Prism Plus will also convert to MPG, 3GP, MP4, MOV and FLV.

[Steve Grisetti]

Very nice! Thanks, Paul. It looks like Prism can still be my weapon of choice.