Quality Equivalents between .mov, .wmv, and .rv
 

Hello all,

I would imagine this is a common question,
but I do not know exactly how to ask it. (I am using Final Cut Pro 4.5)

Here is goes:
I have a .wmv file that I exported at 256 kbps, with one-pass, constant bit rate (CBR).

Now I need to export the same project with the equivalent to this 256 kbps quality with a .mov (quicktime) AND .rv (real player) file.

Does anyone know the settings that I would use to accomplish this?

Thanks,
Kris

wmv and real(.rm, not .rv) tend to have similar quality, so try matching the bitrates... unless you are using h.264, you'll find that qt has inferior codecs for both audio and video, so you'll probably have to increase the total bitrate by at least ~20%, but that's just a swag on my part... outside of h.264, the best case qt internet video codec is sorenson 3 pro, with two-pass encoding... which looks exactly like two-pass flash 7.

you should always use two pass encoding, it can be done for free with wmv cbr files... but maybe not with your mac, unless you pay for that special mac wmv encoding software that was released earlier this year... if you have access to a pc, do your wmv encoding there, with the free windows media encoder from microsoft.

without two-pass encoding, you might be pushing it to get a 320x240 frame size with decent quality... if the content allows it, try cutting back on the frame rate when doing the internet video encoding, it'll increase the picture quality quite a bit.

Rick,
I have the same version of FCP. It comes with the Compressor package for free. That gives you access to many of the advanced features built-in to QuickTime and all it's compressors. In FCP, Export using Compressor. You will find that it comes with many suitable presets and a nicce way to create your own custom ones. You can duplicate the settings you want exactly and because it uses the advanced QuickTime features, the video is improved over the normal QuickTime Pro output.

I can't access my edit suite right now courtesy of Wilma...check out some similar questions asked previously here.