Step II: Configuring AVI Properties

Whenever you save a timeline to a media file, by default it will be saved in a 320 x 240 display size (if it is a video file) and no compression will be used for the audio and video in the file. However you can define custom options for saving your timeline in this step of the Wizard.

Video Edit Magic can even decide the best AVI properties for you based on the media files in the timeline and the Video Compressors available on your computer. Video Edit Magic will scan your files in the timeline and automatically select AVI Properties for optimum settings depending on your Auto Select option. By default the AVI Preset is done on the Best Quality.

You can make AVI Presets based on the following:

• Best Quality
• Best Compression
• Most Compatible

Video Dimension

Video Edit Magic gives you the power not only to save your videos in the original dimension but also to any dimension imaginable. You may select to save one of the standard formats or specify custom dimension for some very unusual video dimensions.

• By default your timeline is saved as a 320 x 240 pixel dimension media file.
• To save to a different display dimension, open the Video Dimension list and choose a dimension of your choice.
• To specify custom dimensions for your video, select "Custom" from the Video Dimension list. This will enable you to specify width and height of the video. If you want to alter the aspect ratio of the video then clear "Lock Aspect Ratio" and then specify width and height of the video.
• As with images, it is not a good idea to save video to a display dimension that is higher than the original. For example, if the file imported into your timeline originally had 320 x 240 dimensions, you should not save it to 640 x 480 pixel dimension as it might distort the video. If there are many files in your timeline with varying display dimensions, it is best to stick to the default 320 x 240 pixel dimension unless all the files have original dimensions that are higher.
• Since many of the compressors do not support the odd dimensions, by default the selected dimension is automatically converted to multiple of 4 and it is strictly recommended so that compressor failure may not be there while making movie. To specify automatic conversion of the selected dimension to the multiple of 4 a checkbox is provided.

Video Compressor and its capabilities

Compressing a media file is usually a good idea as you can drastically reduce the files size without really affecting the quality. By default, the video in your timeline is not compressed when you save it to file. To apply a video compressor: Open the Video Compressor dropdown list to see all the compressors that are available to you. Click on a compressor name to select it. Depending upon the compressor you choose, you will be able to select the Frame Rate, Key Frame Rate, Quality and Predicted Frame Frequency of your media file.

Frame Rate

The Frame Rate of a media file is the number of frames that are displayed in one second. Files with a higher frame rate such as 25, 30 to 60 FPS (Frames Per Second) play smoother than files with lower frame rates such as 10 or 15 FPS. However lower frame rate media files are much smaller than higher frame rate ones. 15 FPS is the norm that is usually followed for video created for the Web. You may change the Frame Rate of the media file that you are creating from your timeline, by moving the slider until you get the desired frame rate.

Key Frame Rate

The process of temporal compression involves reducing or eliminating temporal redundancy from an image sequence. Temporal compression is most effective when a sequence contains frames that bear significant similarity to adjacent frames. This is typically true of movies and other video sequences. Reconstructing an individual frame within a sequence that has been temporally compressed requires knowledge of the previous frames. This does not present a problem if your application always plays compressed sequences from the beginning. However, if your application needs to start playing a sequence from a random point or backwards, the decompressor does not have enough information to decompress the frames.

To alleviate this problem, compressors insert key frames in compressed sequences at regular intervals. Key frames define starting points for portions of a temporally compressed sequence. Subsequent frames depend on the previous key frame

The key frame rate indicates the maximum number of frames you will accept between key frames.

Quality

Quality refers to the image quality of the video frames. You can set the quality of the video that you are saving. The default quality of each compressor is different and if you are choosing a video compressor it is best to NOT define the quality using the slider. A quality of 75% is only the Video Edit Magic default and may be too low or too high for a particular compressor.

Audio Compressor

By default, the audio in your timeline is not compressed when you save it to file. To apply a audio compressor:

• Open the Audio Compressor dropdown list to see all the compressors that are available to you.
• Click on a compressor name to select it.