compressing for podcast

egproductions

egproductions

Veteran
I need to compress some videos for podcast distribution. I have this link but I'm still not sure on some things. It says the max resolution is 640x480 and a 2.5mbps bitrate. Can ipods really play back at this resolution and bitrate or does it lower the quality when it plays? the native screen resolution is 320x240 so a 640x480 would downrez right? It's better to just give is the 320x240 so you can sharpen the video based on the resolution no?

If my video is 16:9 (360x180) will it stretch or will it automatically letter box?

The videos are all DV widescreen @ 24fps . I'm thinking to give it at either 320x180 or 640x360 (or 640x480 letterboxed). I'll probably make the bitrate between 700 and 1200 kbps.
 
egproductions said:
I need to compress some videos for podcast distribution. I have this link but I'm still not sure on some things. It says the max resolution is 640x480 and a 2.5mbps bitrate. Can ipods really play back at this resolution and bitrate or does it lower the quality when it plays? the native screen resolution is 320x240 so a 640x480 would downrez right? It's better to just give is the 320x240 so you can sharpen the video based on the resolution no?

If my video is 16:9 (360x180) will it stretch or will it automatically letter box?

The videos are all DV widescreen @ 24fps . I'm thinking to give it at either 320x180 or 640x360 (or 640x480 letterboxed). I'll probably make the bitrate between 700 and 1200 kbps.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure iPods allow you to play higher resolution files, provided they're encoded with the same specs (this has a limit of course... I doubt they do 720p), ie, you use the same bitrate on a 640x480 video that you would on a 320...

Also, 360x180 is 2:1, not 16:9. (320x180 is what you want!) Given the iPod's resolution, I really wouldn't bother with anything more than maybe 480x272 for 16x9 material.
 
egproductions said:
Can ipods really play back at this resolution and bitrate or does it lower the quality when it plays? the native screen resolution is 320x240 so a 640x480 would downrez right? It's better to just give is the 320x240 so you can sharpen the video based on the resolution no?
Click to expand...

The only reason you'd want to encode the video larger than 320 x 240 would be either because it's letterboxed and you still want it to look good when people use the double tap zoom function to make it fill the screen, or, if you anticipate the user plugging the iPod into a TV with the video output accessory.

egproductions said:
If my video is 16:9 (360x180) will it stretch or will it automatically letter box?
Click to expand...

The iPod never stretches, I don't think.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top