If you are in my classes, its important that you are able to post an animation clip, demo reel, or visual effects clip online so we can review it. What many people experience, once they try to upload the video to Vimeo (which is what we feel is the best so far – no ads, better picture and sound), they realize that there is a limit to how much you can upload (500 mb a week – which is plenty, but some people reach that limit), or they are unsatisfied with the way Vimeo is compressing their video – the quality becomes poor. Blacks get washed out and the colors become dull.
Use this compression setting to create videos that are small, and that look great once Vimeo is done compressing it. You will be doing 1) In After Effects, exporting your file as an Animation, and 2) Using Adobe Media Encoder, render the final file as an H.264 file.
Thanks Brendon for sharing your numbers and process, its pretty easy and the results are great. Be sure to check out Brendon’s Reel when ya’ll get a chance.
Step 1: In After Effects or Premiere
1. Make Movie (contrl + m) > keep the avi setting (PC) and click save.
2. In Render Que > Drop down menu > choose Quicktime
3. In options > choose Animation
4. Render
Your final file will be big, but it will look pristine, all the darks will not be washed out (like when black areas becomes gray, this is not cool – some contrast is lost), and the colors will be vibrant. This type of compression is used a lot in broadcast. Once this is done, make note of how many MB’s this file is.
Step 2: In Adobe Media Encoder
1. Click Add > Choose your file
2. Click Settings > Change format to H.264
3. Choose your size (HD 720 if you roam the AiLV campus)
4. Click Start Que
Look at the file size once this is done rendering and compare how small this size is to the previous render using the Animation compression. This new file will be lean, but will look just as good. Now you are ready to upload to Vimeo.
