Thanks for your comment Larry. As I state in the blog post, first I’m a quasi-expert. Go to Jan Ozer’s site if you want more detailed analysis to satisfy the internal pixel peeper. 🙂 Second, these are just my real world specs. If they don’t work for you, that’s cool. That’s why I also offered what Vimeo specifically suggests. I think between what I do in my real-world client situations and what Vimeo suggests, a person can feel comfortable with that range of options. But I know for a fact that none of my clients or THEIR audiences are having any issues with the specs I’m uploading.

Yes, I used a high data rate since the files will be viewed locally, and storage is cheap. The files, hopefully, will be saved by the families for many years. If they are converted to new formats, and viewed on future devices, I figured more is better. But certainly no guarantee of compatibility in the future.

Thanks for the kind words. For what you’re doing, this seems totally fine. I assume if you’re using that high a data rate you’re giving them a full 1080p file?

As usual, your post is very useful. For many of my projects, I don’t need to stream my videos on the web. My goal is to share them with families and businesses that have commissioned my personal history productions. I shoot and edit in ProRes 422, so I want to make sure the high quality flows through to the final files. I also want my clients to be able to play the files on a Mac, PC, TV’s etc. So, I use the following Compressor setting:

The “container” is Mpeg-4 (mp4), the codec is H.264 main profile and a 10,000 kbps bit rate.
Audio is at 44.1, 128 kbps.

The resulting files are very large, but I give them to clients on 16GB USB 3.0 drives. VLC plays the files with no problem.

The question, then: Is is an all-around acceptable compression setting for my use? Given my audience, is there a hidden flaw in these settings?

Thanks,

Jim

I’ll hook you up.