Post the wedding vidoe online

[Leprechuan]

Greetings everyone,

I have a problem and need some help.
I got the Firewire to work and was able to upload my trip to New York from June, however, my wedding video clocks in at just under 11 minutes and is about 129 megs, too large for Youtube. When I attempted to post the video, the error message was that the file was too large.
The wedding video is saved as a WMV file, I need a way to convert the file to a smaller format so I can upload it.
I am unfamiliar with video formats, I am wondering if an mpeg4 file would be smaller?

If anyone knows of a freeware program that will let me convert the WMV file to something smaller it would be greatly appreciated.


Peace,

Daredevil Leprechuan/Michael

[funhouse69]

When you create a video there should be ways to save it with various levels of compression. You mentioned using Movie Maker there is an option to send the clip as an e-mail attachment this would set the compression level to very high. keep in mind that when you do this the quality will suffer tremendously.

If you go in to Tools / Options of Movie Maker you will see an option in there for Max e-mail size. You can play around with this to get it to the size you want.

Another option would be to use this site / service http://www.pando.com They allow you to send out LARGE files like videos to people. While it isn't as cool as You Tube it will get the job done.

I don't know of any free programs to convert videos. Maybe if you download Quicktime you can do it through there but it might require the full / paid version.

[Leprechuan]

I found a conversion software, "4U AVI MPEG Converter".
It cost me $40. with a CD of the software to be shipped.
With this, I was able upload the wedding video, although it took most of the night.
Either the file was too large, or the quality of the finished product didn't look good at all.
But, it's online.


http://www.youtube.com/DaredevilLeprechuan

It's now 7:53 am, and I'm finally going to bed.

Talk about a long night.


Peace,

DL

[Nick]

Edit the video first.

Like Bush speeches, most wedding videos I've seen are too long and could benefit from editing.

[DonLandis]

Saw your wedding video. It appears to be cut short as it stops at 6:43 and is not the end of the ceremony. Also, there was what appeared to be some velocity edits at certain places. Not sure if you intended it that way but it didn't look right.

YouTube allows you up to 10 minutes. They do their own encoding from your uploaded format. Therefore you want to use the highest quality codec you can for a reasonable upload speed.


AVS Forum Party (http://www.youtube.com/user/DonLandis)


This is one I shot in HD but edited it to WMV 400 kbps. As I recall it was a 30 meg file size for 10 minutes. There is a Part 1, Part 2 and 3. I believe all three could be cut down to a 5 minute piece if not for the personal documentary part. People get left out and get disappointed. This uploaded from my laptop using Verizon Broadband in about 30 minutes. As Nick said edit the video first. The 10 minute YouTube cast was about a 2.5 hour event. But I would disagree with Nick in the fact that a Wedding is for personal use only. I don't do many weddings but when I do, the Bride and Mother of the Bride usually insist on have a near real time video so they can relive the moment. My daughter's service was a full Mass lasting over an hour. The wedding video was edited to 60 minutes! The reception lasted 3 hours and we cut it down to 45 minutes!

[Leprechuan]

My deepest thanks to everyone for your collective help.
I went back to original file and saved it as an alternate WMV file with setting at WMV for broadband at 1700kbs using the 4 U AVI MPEG Converter software I downloaded last night.

Right now, all 10:55 are uploaded.
Youtube will let you put up 10:59 of a file up.
Ellen, my wife, tried to watch, but she started to cry, it just reminded her what a special day it was.

My main problem is that using Windows Movie Maker is that I have to change the setting from 640 x 480 to 1024 x 768. I'm legally blind and have trouble working in a small environment like that. I know I will reedit the video at a later point.

Now I want to rest, it's been a busy three days.


Peace,

DL

[DonLandis]

I'm wondering if an upload to YouTube at 1700 kbps is too high as not getting the benefit of that quality in the final YouTube playback. I'm sure that is why your upload took so long. As I said, I rendered to 400kbps which is a bit high for webcasts in overall compatibility but since this is for YouTube using another codec, it's hard to tell without some tests. Too bad there aren't some real techies here who do a bunch of YouTube. I'm sure they know the optimum output.

[Chris Blount]

But I would disagree with Nick in the fact that a Wedding is for personal use only. I don't do many weddings but when I do, the Bride and Mother of the Bride usually insist on have a near real time video so they can relive the moment. My daughter's service was a full Mass lasting over an hour. The wedding video was edited to 60 minutes! The reception lasted 3 hours and we cut it down to 45 minutes!I agree. Most of what I tape at weddings end up in the final version of the video. I will, however, do some in camera editing on location. If I tape something that I know won't work or is a bad shot, I take it out on the spot which helps during post.