fly through compression

[Jefferson]

Greetings all knowing ones -

I am playing with some fly throughs for the first time in a long, long time. And have the question everyone venturing here for the first, or what feels like the first time, will invariably have to deal with; compression.

Now I have searched the archives and read nearly everything there is so let me get this part out of the way, I want to keep this WAY simple and achieve it all in ArchiCAD. Sort of the Kia vs. BMW version.........no extra software back and forth, etc.

I have been creating my VR Objects from the rendering window, using the sketch rendering engine, setting these up to compress with Cinepak at a high setting, using 256 grays. My clients and I are satisfied with the results. They are no means top shelf but the concept is clearly and tastefully, [IMHO], presented. [note: I am still running 8.1]

Currently this how I am setting up my VR fly-throughs but I have no idea, [I don't have a clue what most of the compression options even mean!], if this is the most efficient, as in fastest with the same or better quality result route to take. Currently I set this up, hit save and go to bed, check the results in the morning, seems as thought there 'ought to be a faster method. My computer is fairly fast and powerful (specs below)......If anyone can anyone add to my knowledge base with my criteria in mind I would truly be appreciative.

[Link]

Hi Jeff

I have found the Sorenson Video compression engine to give the best results, which is a balance of quality and small file size. Attached is a comparison list based on a VR of a basic building. You can see where Sorenson Video sits in the file size list and it's quality was comparable with it's much heavier counterparts.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,
Link.

[Anonymous]

Jefferson, Your point about hit save, go to bed, check results in the morning has me concerned. Remember to render a sequential series of tiff files, 0001,0002,0003,etc. Render once at a large crisp resolution at least 640 x 480...

Then the next day you can import sequence into QuickTime Pro $29.95 and create several different movies. one for DVD, one for web, etc.

Wow! Link, H.263 came in with 697 kb compaired to 3018 kb in Sorenson3!-- hopefully the PC world soon adopts this Apple standard.

For now, in order to maintain compatability Sorenson3 is best.

[Link]

For now, in order to maintain compatability Sorenson3 is best.

Oooooh - I didn't realize there were compatibility issues! Can you explain them in a little more detail please Mark?

Cheers,
Link.

[Anonymous]

Link,

By that I was refering to H.263 - not Sorenson and Sorenson3. I think that Windows Media can currently understand all of the Sorenson versions.

Actually it is H.264 that I am thinking about for compatibility:

See: http://www.apple.com/quicktime/technologies/h264/

[stefan]

Any reasonable PC-user might have Quicktime installed...

I'm more and more convinced of Quicktime. Well, apart from the fact that I have never been able to play a large Quicktime movie fluently from a CD-ROM on a PC with any of the 3D magazines I ever tried. And copying the movie on the hard disk hardly makes a difference.

I must admit that the Mac plays Quicktime more fluently in most cases...

[Anonymous]

With Apple things move too quick. Last time I looked up from my keyboard to the screen, QuickTime 7 was available only for the Mac. Now I see it and the H.264 codec and iTunes 5 are all available to my fellow PC users.

Enjoy! It is the best.

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/win.html

[Jefferson]

sorry for the long response delay, death in the family..........not really back up to speed yet, much work to catch up on first but I wanted to get back to you.

Mark, Stephan, sounds as though you are both indicating that there just isn't any way to go, [any reasonable user has QT installed...], except exporting my work into another program. I find this discouraging. Not because I expect ArchiCAD to be able to "do it all" but because I truly want to keep the time I spend streamlined on this aspect of my production. I tried to be clear about my wishes and it's sounding like it's just that, a wish. [ Unless there is another route you might suggest within ArchiCAD..........] Set it, save it, and go. Time spent moving back and forth between programs is still time spent.

I think I just need to invest some time with a very simplified fly through setup and run different compression modes and compare results. I believe that's how Link arrived at his results. Mine I believe will differ somewhat because of the sketch engine. Perhaps one of you might be able to point me to a directory of some sort that explains the characteristics of the different compression modes and this might help me choose which ones I can cull out.

Thanks again for the replies.....

[stefan]

The biggest problem of all these different codecs is compatibility:

if you export using a certain codec, the user needs to have the same codec installed! And some of these codecs don't exist on the two platforms...

The old codecs are usually supported, yet yield bad results.
Newer ones, such as DivX are often more efficient, but not installed with all users. This is very much a concern when portability is important.

There are options for smaller movies on websites, such as converting them to a Flash-movie (there are more users who have Flash installed) or in a Java-based player (e.g. using Wirefusion).

Video is a complex topic and is best handled in specialised software. The CAD or 3D-software is best to render out uncompressed and on high resolution (e.g. 640x480) and let the conversion software translate this into something portable and efficient.

P.S. Sorry the hear about the loss in your family.

[Anonymous]

Jefferson wrote:
Mark, Stephan, sounds as though you are both indicating that there just isn't any way to go, [any reasonable user has QT installed...], except exporting my work into another program. I find this discouraging. Not because I expect ArchiCAD to be able to "do it all" but because I truly want to keep the time I spend streamlined on this aspect of my production. .

ArchiCAD can't do it all. If it did then there would ba a plug-in called, ArchiPhotoCAD-Shop, ArchiQuicktime, etc.

I also own an expensive and dedicated rendering application, Cinema4D. The same logic applies to C4D. When ever an animation is required, always render it out as sequential tiffs. Keep it archived in a folder, burn it to CD or DVD storage for future use. Then in the year 2008 when a killer compressor becomes available, you can easily call up the original animation data and produce new movies at any size within a few minutes. There really isn't a better way in any program. Consider it as your source video. Loading QuickTime Pro and producing a new compressed movie literally takes 5-10 minutes. Compare that to a 8 hour render/compression that looks like a nightmare. What if the office cleaning person plugs in 3 floor polishers at the same time causing a breaker to trip?, out goes the power during the 8th hour. All work would be lost. With sequential you would only lose the unsaved frames.

Let ArchiCAD render all night, but don't ruin the source images by compressing them at the same time. Try things just once the way Stephan and I suggest, and I am 100% sure you will never look back.

Mark