Exported Movie File is always WAY TOO BIG. please help!

Ferret Lady

Ferret Lady

Well-known member
Hi there. I've been using final cut express for about a year but i'm self taught (online tutorials and such) so i'm still sorta a newb.. but here's my problem.

when i finish editing, and i export my file using the basic 'export quicktime movie' option, i end up with HUGE files. example, i have this music video i did which is just under 4 minutes long. after exporting it, it's a whopping 780 MB's!!!!! this can't be normal. but i've always had this problem. i then use visualhub or squeeze to compress the file down to under 100mb's so i can put it on youtube. you can imagine the end result here. it's totally pixelated looking crap. i've seen better youtube videos filmed on a cell phone. i feel like my canon xh a1 and expensive film editing software is just going to waste. sure, the 800mb file looks beautiful, but i can't use that for internet distribution. i know i have to lose quality to upload stuff on youtube anyways, and that they compress it even further, but 800mb's for a 4 minute video just can't be right. does anyone have any idea why this is happening?

i have also tried exporting using 'quicktime conversion'. i didnt mess around with the setting too much, just put it on Broadband - Medium. that compressed file looks like crap. so ya. i would love some help and advice here, as the band i filmed is really looking forward to getting this stuff on youtube. i did compress it down to about 300Mbs for facebook which produced an okay mpg file, but still.:Drogar-BlackEye(DBG
 
scratchpatchfilms said:
Hi there. I've been using final cut express for about a year but i'm self taught (online tutorials and such) so i'm still sorta a newb.. but here's my problem.

when i finish editing, and i export my file using the basic 'export quicktime movie' option, i end up with HUGE files. example, i have this music video i did which is just under 4 minutes long. after exporting it, it's a whopping 780 MB's!!!!! this can't be normal. but i've always had this problem. i then use visualhub or squeeze to compress the file down to under 100mb's so i can put it on youtube. you can imagine the end result here. it's totally pixelated looking crap. i've seen better youtube videos filmed on a cell phone. i feel like my canon xh a1 and expensive film editing software is just going to waste. sure, the 800mb file looks beautiful, but i can't use that for internet distribution. i know i have to lose quality to upload stuff on youtube anyways, and that they compress it even further, but 800mb's for a 4 minute video just can't be right. does anyone have any idea why this is happening?

i have also tried exporting using 'quicktime conversion'. i didnt mess around with the setting too much, just put it on Broadband - Medium. that compressed file looks like crap. so ya. i would love some help and advice here, as the band i filmed is really looking forward to getting this stuff on youtube. i did compress it down to about 300Mbs for facebook which produced an okay mpg file, but still.:Drogar-BlackEye(DBG
Click to expand...
You're exporting it as an uncompressed QT movie. You need to export it as H.264.
 
Blaine said:
You're exporting it as an uncompressed QT movie. You need to export it as H.264.
Click to expand...
thanks for the reply Blaine. i figured that was the case, but can you be a little more specific on how to export it as h.264? i know i've seen that as an option when using quicktime conversion for exporting, so i assume that's something i need to be using... but.. there's sooo many different options there. would u be so kind as to give a little more detail? it will be much appreciated.
 
also is it true that my video which is under 4 minutes should be only about 16 mb's when done properly? i've heard it should be 3-4mb's per minute of video.
 
File - Export - QT Conversion

Change the format pulldown to BROADBAND HIGH

If you need to adjust for 16:9 then hit the OPTIONS button and change the size... I like 420x270

CaptM
 
I'm not that familiar with FCE but it should export about the same as FCP.

goto Export>Using QuickTime Conversion>Quick Time Movie

Check your options, it should be H.264 as a default. You can then go in and tweak it to your needs.

EDIT: thanks, Cap'n, you beat me to the punch.
 
ya i don't have compressor unfortunately...

so i used h.264 quicktime conversion and got my file down to like 187 MB. so that's great, thank you!

i still have problem with youtube tho. I have compress it yet again using visual hub to get it under 100MB so i can upload there. after compression, it actually looks fine, just small. but when uploaded to youtube, it turns to ****. anyone know any tricks to getting high quality results on youtube?
 
It's not hard to get a >4 minute video down to size, especially since it displays fairly small in YouTube.

The biggest way I save on file size is knocking the frame size down and playing with the data rate to get the best compromise of file size and quality.

From FCE, do the File->Export->Using Quicktime Conversion...

From that dialog box click on Options button next to the Format pulldown menu (I do all mine as QuickTime Movies). This opens the Movie Settings dialog where you can do all the tweaking you need. The settings I'll list are the ones that I use for exporting to the web. I host them on my own website and not YouTube but it should be fairly universal.

Click on the Settings button in the video section. This is where you can specify which codec to use and the settings to go with it. At the top make sure the Compression Type is set to H.264. Here's the rest that I use.

Frame Rate: Current
Key Frames: Auto
Frame Reordering: On
Quality Slider Bar: Don't worry about it, it'll be grayed out in a second
Encoding: If you've got the time and want the best quality do a multi-pass. I hate waiting and can't see a huge difference so I run a single-pass. It's up to you though.
Data Rate: This is where you can really save on file size. Remember though, your data rate is dependent on the frame size you choose later. Bigger frame needs a higher data rate to keep the quality up. Smaller frame size can get away with less and still keep the quality up. I normally export my 16:9 widescreen vids at 480x270 and 4:3 standards at 480x360. Because I knock the physical size down I can get away with roughly 600 kbits/sec restriction and have decent quality. Click OK once you're happy with your settings.

Next, click on the Size... button. This is where you can define the physical dimensions of your video. On the Dimensions pulldown menu you are given choices for standard formats or the ability to customize. I select custom and enter the size I want. There's no need to Preserve Aspect the custom sizes I use are already the proper ratio. I also do a De-Interlace from here on my DVX footage when it's going to the web. Once you're happy with the size click OK.

One last thing to play with is the Sound Settings. This is another place where I cut corners to keep the file size down. Under Sound Settings here's what I use:

Format: AAC
Channels: Stereo (L R) (Although this depends on how your audio tracks are setup.)
Rate: 44.1 kHz
Quality: Normal
Target Bit Rate: This will depend on what my sound track is like. Most of my stuff is voice so I use 96kbps. If you have music, sound FX, etc. I'd run it out at 128 kbps. That does it for sound.

I leave the Prepare For Internet Streaming on Fast Start, and that should be it for the settings. Click Save and let it chew.

Be aware though that these are settings I use for a movie embedded on my website. The quality works fine for me 99% of the time. You may need to tweak you data rate restriction to get the quality you're looking for. Another issue to keep in mind is YouTube recompresses everything you upload, so you may need up your initial export quality so it doesn't look like hell once YouTube is done with it.

Hope this was helpful. Cheers.
 
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