I did do a search before posting this. I couldn't find this exact question.

Which format does one use and when? PD does give a small hint under the description on the produce tab.

For a 15 min or so movie PD creates the AVI in 30 min but at twice the size of the MPEG4 = too big for youtube without using tricks to batch upload. The MPEG4 is compressed but takes 4 hours to produce not counting uploading. I tend to do that production at night or when at work.

With the studying up I've done it appears:

AVI= little compession, large file and better video qualty.
MPEG= high compression, small file, lower video quality probably due to data loss caused by compression.
WMV = (Windows/Microsoft) compession used, video quality comparable to MPEG
MOV = QuickTime (Apple), forerunner of MPEG-4? = similar video quality?

I've also read that AVI doesn't dictate how the video should be encoded meaning the method of storage varies.

My computer is a Pent 4 2.6GHz with 2G RAM running XP Home. Slow I know but that's what I have to work with.

How about some heavies weighing in on this one. Teach me something.

Thanks