Hi:

I've been using Pinnacle Systems editing software for a few years and am looking to move up to the next level or 2. Reading many of the postings it looks like QuickTime is the web format of choice by many and Pinnacle does not do this. I have the Canon GL2 and am using tripod on most video.

My main objective is to get betting looking output on the short clips I'm posting on my website. Right now on my 17" Dell flat panel monitor I notice the MeidaPlayer format is not clear sometimes and looks to fade in and out. The same clip on the Pinnacle Editing preview window and when burning to DVD looks crystal clear.

Would anyone have suggestions on pc editing sofware? Would outputing to Quicktime format on the web be any clearer without fading?

Thanks!

Steve Urban

The main problem you're going to run up against when exporting for the Web is that you must balance quality against size. As for the quality of the three main streaming formats (Windows Media, RealMedia, and QuickTime), I'd say they are all roughly the same at similar bit rates.

Given the compression that must be applied to video to create a downloading or streaming file for the Internet you are just not going to get the same crystal clear quality as your original video, or even a DVD of your project.