Demo Reel help

[BloodRobot]

Hey all. I'm wondering if anyone knows anything about compression or video format for demo reels. I use After Effects to make my reel, but I can't find the best compression to keep the filesize down. I also want to make the damn thing play while it loads, or "stream', if thats the right term. Quicktime seems to be the best at keeping quality high and size down, and I've seen alot of artists use that. Basically, I want to know how to get the file to play WHILE its loading instead of waiting for the whole thing to load and having to stare at that blue "Q" for a minute.

[benclark]

I used Quicktime H.264 for my reel and it worked really nicely. I tested a whole bunch of formats and that was the best trade off for quality vs file size

Output your reel from After Effects as uncompressed Quicktime then run it through QTPro with everything set to high quality and you should be fine

There is a ton of info online on settings for streaming video but I didnt bother with them.I just uploaded to Vimeo and used that as the streaming version. Its quick and easy to embed, plus anyone who is genuinely interested in your work will download a higher res version anyway. If you render from AfterEffects at 1280×720 then you can have a streaming HD video on vimeo

[nfollmer]

I usually export from Premiere via uncompressed avi (huge file) then run the video through SUPER encoder (free, great program) usually use .WMV or .MPG... Never tried quicktime, but maybe I will next time I need to make a vid.

[RETOX9K]

try megui, its a powerful, FREE, encoder that allows you to use all the latest file formats and codecs for compression... I've crunched 100mb files down to under 5 megs and retained respectable quality...

if you dont find megui to your liking find an encoder you like, but for size and quality make sure to encode using h.264 (video) and m4a (audio) and place them in a MKV shell...

for accessibility, i suggest trying something more basic though... get out there, look around a bit... hopefully I helped a little! PM if you need any more help.

[BloodRobot]

hey guys...
Thanks all! Mr. Ben Clark: perfect! Vimeo is just what I needed! Trying not to sound like an ad for the site, I did sign up as a premium member for 60 bucks (cant put a real price on the difference on an employer watching your reel or moving on to the next applicant!), but worth it! I embedded the HD video on my site, now I just gotta remake my demo in HD and i will be happy happy! Thanks man!