Exporting MPEG-1 at 640x480. Is it possible with Compressor?
 

Can anyone tell me if Compressor is capable of rendering MPEG-1 files in sizes other than 320x240? I've tried making a preset with custom sizes, but the geometry menu is greyed out when selecting MPEG-1 as the format. Cleaner can do this, but with its slow rendering times and high price tag, it's not an option for me. Exporting in other formats such as MPEG-4 is also not an option because we need compatibility with all machines on our network, including old Wintel machines.

It should really not be possible since MPEG-1 doesn't really support
such a high resolution (for MPEG-1). Switch to another format.

The problem is not with your format but with your computers.
Your "wintel" machines should get a codec update.

What are you trying to do? Just view movies on those machines
or edit? Depending on what you exactly want to do different
codecs are good to use.

PC's can also work with QuickTime as long as you install it, including
all of the common codecs.

If you need to transfer footage to such machines for futher
processing (editing, color correction or effects etc.) I would use
an uncompressed, lossless compression or if you need to use
a lossy compression use intra frame based ones and not inter
frames (like MPEG-1 & 2).

MPEG-4 quicktime can be used if you install QuickTime 6 on a PC.

Rob,

If I could use another format, for example MPEG-4, most definitely would. The problem is that, for security reasons, this company has strict rules about what software can be installed on corporate computers. Most of the computers are running Windows 2000 and, so I am told, MPEG-4 does not play (or perhaps play back reliably) on these machines. MPEG-1 is the safest way to go to ensure compatibility with all computers in this company, which is several thousand machines.

I realize that 320 x 240 is standard for MPEG-1, and 90% of the time I use those dimensions. But sometimes I get requests from clients wanting higher resolution and they know it is possible because they have received clips from collegues in 640 x 480. The purpose for most of these MPEG files is to show company divisions in other countries TV commercials and other PR related video. The clips are usually sent through email.

I've found a shareware program called FFmpeg, which can encode MPEG-1 in most any resolution. However I find the interface to be a bit overwhelming and the program is a bit buggy.

The problem with a full-screen MPEG-1 is that MPEG-1 is a very processor intensive codec and if they are using antiquated machinery it will have a difficult time playing back correctly. Cleaner does have a preset for full-screen (720x480) MPEG-1 but I can't say as I've ever used it. I use one of the DV-VCD settings that I customized and have it play back at 2X size.
Terran (oops sorry) Discreet also has a hardware/software solution for MPEG-1&2 that was 10X's faster called MPEG SuperCharger. You might be able to find a copy out there for a discount since it was based on Cleaner 5 (now it's XL on Win and 6 on Mac).

No, I have not been able to get Compressor to allow 640x480 MPEG-1. Sorry.

Export to flash if that is installed? Uncompressed AVI might be
another way if size doesn't matter. Otherwise you need to find
out which codecs are installed (for AVI) on those machines.

There is a program to easily see which codecs are installed on a
PC, can't seem to remember what it is called though..... I'll try to
remember!