How Does One Create A Smaller AVI File?

[weiphoto]

I've been trying to reduce the size of my AVI file of slideshows created by PTE. I use Microsoft MPEG-4 VKI Codec V3. It almost doesn't matter if I use my regular Jpeg files (about 1-3 megabytes) or resized files (about 70-80 Kilobytes), the AVI files are about the same size. When I CREATE a PTE file, of course, the file size goes down 90% when using the resized files.

1. Why doesn't a reduction in jpeg size through "resizer" reduce the AVI file?

2. How can I achieve a reduction in AVI size, as I'm trying to place the slideshow on YouTube/Vimeo?

3. Do I have to resize to the YouTube/Vimeo screen sized (in pixels) to achieve a substantial reduction in the AVI file?

Thanks in advance. You forum members have been gracious in taking the time to answer my (and others') questions.

Wei Photo

[fh1805]

When you create a PTE file, you save a single copy of each image plus the instructions that tell PTE what to do with that image; in terms of its on-screen duration, its transition effect, etc. So an image that is going to stay on screen for, let's say, 4 seconds is going to take up 70-80KB for the image and a handful of bytes for the instructions.

When you create an AVI file, every single frame of the video stream has to be pre-built. So, if your video stream system requires 50 frames per second then you will have 50 copies of that image for each of the four seconds that it appears on the screen; i.e. 200 copies of a 70-80KB file = 1400-1600KB of data!

It isn't the pixel size that is the driving force behind the AVI file size, it's the number of copies of the image that have to be stored. If you want to achieve a significant reduction in the AVI size, keep the sequence length as short as you possibly can - for example: build a 15 second sequence rather than a 60 second sequence !

regards,

Peter

[Ken Cox]

also see

http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index....amp;#entry42914

and

http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=4976

ken