Relative File Sizes for .AVI, .MOV and .WMV?
 

I've been doing some rendering of a 17 minute clip in Vegas 8 and just want a little bit of reality check on the file sizes and rendering times. Quality is set to highest. Computer is a P4 3.0 w/ 2 gig of RAM.

.AVI renders in about 15 mins with a file size of 3.5 gig.

.MOV renders in one hour with a file size of 43 gig. (The .MOV has some choppy movements and generally doesn't look as smooth as the .AVI.)

.WMV renders in two hours and don't know the file size yet (since it's rendering as I type this).

Do these results seem in line? I wasn't expecting the .MOV to be 11 times the size of the .AVI.

Have you tried to encode it with flash or quicktime?

Depends on a codec and compression ratio. All these file types are just containers and can hold video in different formats and compression rates.

Hi Peter, Michael answered while I was writing this, but I'll leave mine as it is to reinforce his response:

For lack of a better term, AVI and MOV are just 'wrappers'. What's more important is the codec you are using inside those. Your AVI size sounds normal, it's probably set to encoding with the DV codec.

Your MOV, however, is probably encoding to the Animation codec (or some other uncompressed format). It's most likely stuttering along because your PC is being pushed to process those large files.

WMV is actually a very compressed delivery codec (it's competition is Flash, MP4, etc and is not comparable to AVI or MOV) and is typically used for the internet.

For what purpose are you rendering your video?

Thanks very much for the info.. My .MOV settings are definitely off.

BTW, the .WMV is .281 Gig and .RM is only .044 Gig.

As for use, I'm doing this for a friend. He wants to play the files on his computer, a DVD and high compressed versions to post onto the internet (probably MySpace.) I've never used MySpace, so I'm not sure if they have their own compression utilities.

As said before, .avi and .mov are containers that can contain anything from uncompressed over DV to mpeg4. The encoder used inside the container is what matters, and of course the settings (bitrate, type of GOP etc...)

wmv and rm are both mpeg4-type codecs, suitable for high compression rates and internet distribution - but so is quicktime h.264. The exact file size always depends on the bitrate, while the optimal bitrate depends on the resolution/quality needs...

Encoding to the right codec with the right resolution, right settings etc. can prove to be a scientific field of its own...