Basics of Video Compression [Video]

[This is an excerpt from a recent PowerUP webinar: Video Compression: Comparing Sorenson Squeeze, Adobe Media Encoder and Apple Compressor which you can download from our store. You can also access all our webinars by becoming a subscriber.]

Based on my email, video compression confuses a lot of folks; especially because it seems counter-intuitive. For example, in video compression, the size of the source file doesn’t matter. Nor, for that matter, does the frame rate of the source. Weird, but true.

Recently, I created a webinar to illustrate how difference compression software works. But, at the beginning of the event, I presented a short slide show explaining the basics of video compression, what determines file size and image quality, what artifacts look like and how to avoid them. This is an excerpt of that longer webinar – an illustrated slide show that explains the basics of video compression.


The Basics of Video Compression

TRT: 12:14 — MPEG-4 HD movie

NOTE: This video may not play inside FireFox, please use a different browser.

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6 Responses to Basics of Video Compression [Video]

  1. […] Jordan share’s this useful introduction to the basics of compression in this snippet from one of his PowerUp! webinars.  In another article Larry talks about […]

  2. […] Basics of Video Compression (from the inimitable Larry Jordan) […]

  3. Bandit ArtCompression 101 | Bandit Art says:

    […] Basics of Video Compression (from the inimitable Larry Jordan) […]

  4. Hi again Larry, just watched your video compression tutorial. I upload to Vimeo for use on my Website without problem until now when the quality has diminished? I understand what you mean by giving them best quality so they have some to ‘throw away’ My last upload, as I say is poor and has artifacts. If I increase my bitrate to loose the artifacts will that not be reversed when Vimeo re-compress it to below 5000 kbps ?

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