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Compressing Your Movie for Web Upload

Exporting

Note: If you have already saved a self-contained QuickTime movie file of your film (for use in burning a DVD) skip down to "Compressing Your Film".

Icon 1. Launch your project in FINAL CUT PRO. At the top of the screen click FILE -> EXPORT -> QUICKTIME MOVIE.
Save
2. A Save dialogue box will pop up.

  • Save As: "Your Name FILM 250 QT.mov"
  • Click on your HDV Drive on the left hand side column so that your movie will be saved there.
  • Settings: Current Settings
  • Include: Audio and Video
  • Markers: None
  • Deselect "Recompress All Frames"
  • Select "Make Movie Self-Contained"
  • Click "Save"

A 5-minute film generally takes about 3 minutes to export as a QuickTime movie.

3. When the export is complete, quit Final Cut Pro and find your new QuickTime movie file on your HDV Drive.

Compressing Your Film

The settings used here will produce a QuickTime file with 1280x720 frame size, H264 codec, 30fps and 5000kbps data rate. This will work well for uploading to many video websites.

Icon 4. Launch COMPRESSOR which is located in the dock at the bottom the screen.

5. Near the top left of the Compressor window, there will be a large downward pointing arrow. Drag your QuickTime movie file into this box.

Compressor

Below the box is a "Settings" window full of individual folders. Click on the "Custom" folder and open the Student folder. Within this folder are three different settings: AC3 for audio, MPEG-2 for video, and H.264 for posting on the web.

Drag the H.264 setting up to where you placed your QuickTIme Movie.

6. Click "Submit" just below where you dragged your settings. A box will appear. Type in your name and click "Submit".

Icon 7. Your file is compressing now. To see its progress, click on the BATCH MONITOR icon located above where you dragged your settings.

Batch Monitor
The BATCH MONITOR application will open. Click on "This Computer" in the left column to view the progress of your compression. Your compression will be the highest listed job in the list. Click on the arrow next to your name to see the details of your compression. A 5-minute film may take about 20 minutes to compress.

8. When the compression is complete, Quit Batch Monitor and Quit Compressor, without saving the project. Within your HDV Drive, you now have an H.264 file of your film that is ready to upload to a video website. Rename the file "YourNameH264.mov" and copy to a memory stick or burn on a CD.


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