Having completed the final edit of your documentary, you will need to export it in a suitable format for uploading to FourDocs. If you are using Adobe Premiere, then you will be exporting your film as a QuickTime movie, using the MPEG-4 codec. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you.
Once you've saved your film, open a new folder on the desktop, call it something like Exports. This is where you are going to save all your trial exports to, as you will probably need to experiment a bit to get the best possible quality.
To start the compression process, choose Export Timeline from the menu bar. File>Export Timeline>Movie
Name your movie Test1.mov and place it in the Exports folder on your desktop, then select the Settings button.
Make sure file type is set to QuickTime, and that both the export video and export sound boxes are ticked. Then click the Next button on the right hand side of this dialogue box.
Choose MPEG-4 Video as the compressor type. Set frame rate to 25 and key frames to automatic, and set the data rate to 3000 kbits/sec (ie 3mega bits per second). Then move down to compressor quality. This is where you will fine-tune your films compression. Set it to High for your first test.
Your Films should be 720 pixels wide and 576 pixels high. To do this you need to use the default DV size, so don’t make any changes to the size during the export. The size of your film should already be set from when you set-up your project.
If your film is 4:3 aspect ratio, then your finished compression will play at 720 by 576 pixels and the aspect ratio should look about right (It is actually slightly squashed as 720 by 576 is actually 5:4 aspect ratio).
However, if your film is 16:9 aspect ratio, then the finished compression still needs to be 720 by 576 pixels (ie 5:4 aspect ratio), so what you need to do is letterbox your 16:9 film so that effectively your film is 4:3 with bars around the 16:9 image. YOU CANNOT CURRENTLY UPLOAD AN ANAMORPHIC (i.e. TRUE) 16:9 FILM TO FOURDOCS
When you are happy with your video settings select Next again.
Set the rate to 48.000kHz, format to 16 bit-stereo, and the compressor to 32 bit-Integer. Once you have selected these settings, click OK in the top right of this dialogue box.
Once again ensure that you have placed the file in the correct folder on your desktop, and then select Save.
Once this is complete, check the quality of your movie by watching the compressed video file using QuickTime player. To do this just double click the file that you just created. If the quality of the video is poor, you should repeat the whole process from the beginning, checking your settings carefully. If the problem persists consult your software help menu and manual for troubleshooting. Soon there will be extra help available in the moderated Clinic area of FourDocs for specific technical questions. Don’t forget that the aspect ratio will not look right in the compressed files that you create – this is normal. The aspect ratio is corrected by FourDocs to either 16:9 or 4:3, depending on how you shot and edited your film, but you must tell us whether your film is 16:9 or 4:3.
Once you are happy with the compressed video, check the file size of the movie, if it is not about 80mb for a 4 minute film; you may have done something wrong. In this case try again checking your settings carefully as you go. Video compression is all about a compromise between making a small size file and getting a high quality video.
At FourDocs, we want a high quality video, which is why we ask you to set the compressor quality setting to best, and a high data-rate (3000 kbits per second). This should ensure excellent quality output from Adobe Premiere.
