How large a file is one minute of 480p video?

[adpz]

I know there are more variables, but can someone provide a back-of-the-envelope way to calculate video format sizes?

I searched GS and the whole net, but cannot find the answer . . .

[Rick Sanchez]

It all depends what codec you are using, bit rate, frame rate, color mode and compression or no compression.

640 x480

Here is a calculator you can use.

Video bitrate calculator | web.forret.com

[mikevarela]

Let me google that for you

[adpz]

Thanks guys. I tried to google it (and bing it, and ask it) but I didn't ask the correct question:()

thanks adpz

[adpz]

I am normally on the audio side of GS answering questions about "the best compressor for hip-hop" so I'll give myself a mulligan:what are the "best" codecs? I see there are many different codecs. But what is likely to give the best balance between file size and quality/artifacts? And what ratio of compression is generally achieved? Any opinions . . .

I am looking to produce a video that will play on the web, but I don't want it to look terrible, or even just okay. I'd like it to look good.

[Bill@AudioVision]

There are a number of video file converters available that can take a high rez mpeg or avi file and down convert it for use on the web. H.264 is a popular codec. Remember, Quicktime is a wrapper for video that can a wide choice of video and audio compressions, H.264 is just one of them. Find a friend who has serious Flash programming chops... they'll be able to help fine tune bit rate and streaming parameters. Web video can look great, I watch Netflix on 52" DLP TV and it's pretty amazing.

[mikevarela]

It all depends on usage....

What's the best for running in Pro Tools?? Well that should be a frame-accurate codec like DV, Motion Jpeg A, Pro Res or DNxHD - The former are SD, the latter HD.

However, what's the best for the web, arguably(?) it's h.264. It's what apple and google use, it's highly efficient and looks fantastic.

You can edit in PT using h.264 and it'll work fine for general use, but it's a cpu hog and in most cases, isn't frame accurate. For most post applications, we choose the previous list, though picture editors love using h.264 becuase of the filesize's.

In the end it's up to you.

For me, I'd edit in an HD codec like Pro Res, then bounce the final and transcode to H.264 or FLV (flash) for posting on the web. You can use quicktime pro to transcode

oh, and general sizes are hard to come by because you can change bit rates from constant to variable.

[tom_lowe]

Actually ProRes and Avid DNxHD are perfectly happy with SD too. There are even ProRes SD presets in FCP.

[davenutz]

Originally Posted by tom_lowe

Actually ProRes and Avid DNxHD are perfectly happy with SD too. There are even ProRes SD presets in FCP.

DNxHD doesnt have a standard-def codec component. However, there are AVID SD compressed codecs (and not all of them are license-free.)


See the following link: Avid | DNxHD Codec - Beauty Without Bandwidth

and a direct link to the DNxHD Whitepaper: http://www.avid.com/static/resources...ents/DNxHD.pdf

[georgia]

1 minute of 480 SD video h.264 640x480 = 165 MB
1 minute of ProRes 422 NTSC 720x480 = 245 MB
1 minute of 480 SD video uncompressed 640x480 29.97 = 900 MB
1 minute of NTSC uncompressed 8-bit 720x480 = 1.42 gig
1 minute of NTSC uncompressed 10-bit 720x480 = 1.76 gig


hope this helps

cheers
geo