Its all a function of bitrate. If you are simply uploading your videos to YouTube or Vimeo, you need bitrates between 3000k to 5000kbps for basic HD viewing. Less than that and the video doesn't look too hot.

More is better, but takes longer to upload. The bitrate essentially determines the final file size. The built in profiles for PD7 tend to create really large files not so great for uploading. All depends what you are doing with the files.

If you are using the WMV output format, you can alter profiles or even create your own to suit your preferences. However, WMV files render fairly slowly compared to MPegII which is the standard for DVD's.

There are tutorials available at the top of the Forum. Win8 64-bit Pro Retail
Intel i7-4770
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ASUS GTX 660 Direct CU II OC 2GB GPU
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Several scratch drives for video, TMP, pagefile.

The first questions of course are what is the input file format and what format are you rendering to?

Thanks for your answers AND questions.

I am saving the videos as wmv files.
What I do is: Create the video from photos and/or other videos or VHS tapes that a customer will give me. I also use their selection of music or pick what I think is best.

The ultimate goal is to get it onto a DVD for the customer to watch on his own DVD Player with their families. I choose the "Streaming Video" choice because that is the only one I see that lets me choose wmv.

Would saving the video to the MPegII format be a better choice to eventually put onto a DVD? I'm retired and just learning this with all the free time that was driving me crazy!



I hope to have a little income producing product since ya can't retire anymore in these financial times. Trying to do this instead of bagging groceries in the local supermarket.

I hope the help keeps coming, my new friends, I want to know all I can about PowerDirector 7

Billy "If You Don't Know Where You're Going - Any Road Will Take You There"

Well, most videos you buy are encoded with Mpeg2. In PowerDirector, the .Mpeg2 encoder has a profile called "DVD HQ" which says will fit an hours worth of standard definition video on to a standard single-layer DVD disc. That should get you started and will work well and produce excellent quality DVD's.

As to your question of why is a 5 minute video creating a 190MB file? That's quite normal. A single-layer DVD can hold more than 4 GB of video (4,000 Megabytes).

Your other option is to not create a file first. Create your production project and burn it straight to DVD disc instead of going through the "Produce" process. This will result in an MPeg2-encoded DVD when you are done.

As you can see, there are lots of ways to get to the end. I would check out the PowerDirector Tutorials that are here:
http://www.youtube.com/cyberlinkchannel Win8 64-bit Pro Retail
Intel i7-4770
16GB DDR3 1600 8-8-8-24
MSI Z87-G45 Motherboard
ASUS GTX 660 Direct CU II OC 2GB GPU
1 TB RAID 1 (mirrored) Drive Array
Several scratch drives for video, TMP, pagefile.

"As to your question of why is a 5 minute video creating a 190MB file? That's quite normal."
============================================

When you say this, it makes me think I might be using the wrong kind of video software. WHY is the file so big and does it have anything to do with the size of the photos or videos I put in the Time Line?

I create a video in Microsoft Movie Maker and it's 34.5MB
I create the SAMEvideo in PowerDirector 7 and it's 190MB

I still don't understand what makes the huge difference? Both were saved as wmv files.....

I'm either not asking this question correctly or the answer is what you've told me above. I have watched all the tutorials on YouTube and none of them seem to address this "problem" of the size of the video file I create.

Sorry to be so dense-
Billy "If You Don't Know Where You're Going - Any Road Will Take You There"

Which profile did you use in Moviemaker and which profile have you selected in PowerDirector? Win8 64-bit Pro Retail
Intel i7-4770
16GB DDR3 1600 8-8-8-24
MSI Z87-G45 Motherboard
ASUS GTX 660 Direct CU II OC 2GB GPU
1 TB RAID 1 (mirrored) Drive Array
Several scratch drives for video, TMP, pagefile.

Profile?

Do you mean type of file?
"If You Don't Know Where You're Going - Any Road Will Take You There"

Profile?

Do you mean type of file?

No, assuming you want a WMV file. You go to [Produce], select a streaming type file, choose WMV, then you have to select a profile from the list. Which profile are you selecting from that list?

Windows Media 9 DVD Quality @ 2000kbps? Win8 64-bit Pro Retail
Intel i7-4770
16GB DDR3 1600 8-8-8-24
MSI Z87-G45 Motherboard
ASUS GTX 660 Direct CU II OC 2GB GPU
1 TB RAID 1 (mirrored) Drive Array
Several scratch drives for video, TMP, pagefile.

Okay - Sorry -

I choose Windows Media Video 9 HD Standard Quality

Audio Stream: 320.0 kps 44.1 kHz
Video Stream: 6000.0 kps 29fps 128x960

Does this help?
"If You Don't Know Where You're Going - Any Road Will Take You There"

Quote:

Audio Stream: 320.0 kps 44.1 kHz
Video Stream: 6000.0 kps 29fps 128x960

Does this help?

Sure. The key here is the 6000kbps bitrate. That is what controls the final file size. Also, you chose a High Definition profile in PowerDirector which is only necessary if you are going to burn High Definition DVD's (many people don't own HD players, yet)

In moviemaker, the data rate for a DVD is only 3000kbps, which is half the rate of the Powerdirector profile you chose and will produce a much smaller file.

So, here's what I suggest. If your final target is a standard DVD, use the Powerdirector WMV profile called "Windows Media 9 DVD Quality (2000Kbps)". That will produce much smaller files than you currently are doing. You can also create your own WMV profile if that doesn't work.

Another option is this. Get a Vimeo.com account. Upload your finished or draft videos there, and it allows people to download the original source file (the actual file you produce right out of PowerDirector), regardless of size. Its a great way to get people really large video files and not have to bother with FTP hosting and that kind of stuff. Win8 64-bit Pro Retail
Intel i7-4770
16GB DDR3 1600 8-8-8-24
MSI Z87-G45 Motherboard
ASUS GTX 660 Direct CU II OC 2GB GPU
1 TB RAID 1 (mirrored) Drive Array
Several scratch drives for video, TMP, pagefile.

Thanks so much!

I learned something more today about bitrates and how they affect size.
Also, I will go to Vimeo.com if that will allow me to send customers the video I'm creating as it goes through stages, in case they want something changed.

You've been a big help -
I'm going to render my 190mb video the way you suggested.
Once again thanks for your patience and your help

Bill
"If You Don't Know Where You're Going - Any Road Will Take You There"

Something else that may or may not help. If your final production is still too big to fit on a normal DVD you could always use a dual layer DVD - as long as your burner can write to dual layer discs of course.

Thanks Spartan, but that was not part of the problem. It was basically trying to get the unfinished video to the customer for comments and any other changes they may want to make while it was still a work in progress.

I rendered it with 2000kbps and it's also become a moot point because I went and joined Vimeo.com where I can upload any sized video (I'm only talking about 100MB here and smaller ones) and then have the customer watch it there.

Thanks again to On The Web for the heads up on Vimeo. It's a strange video site with a lot of bickering and tension about what is commercial and what isn't among other things, but it suits my purposes.
If either of you are members, you can see the videos I was talking about if you put "vanilla ventures" into the search line and all 3 I uploaded should show up. Of course, another thing about the site, is, if you're not a "Vimeo Plus" (paid) member, it could take a long time for your uploaded video to be available to the "public".

Thanks again to both of you, since I'm continuing to use PowerDirector 7, I'm sure I'll be back with more questions.

Bill
"If You Don't Know Where You're Going - Any Road Will Take You There"