Is Quicktime my best option?

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Level 4

2,521 points

Is Quicktime my best option?

I just got a new Logitech C910 webcam for my mac mini setup.

This is a very nice camera, with autofocus, stereo mics, and mac support.

Plugged it in and it worked right off with no issues.

Used it with Photo Booth, Facetime, and Quicktime. All worked fine (except I couldn't get the background effects to work in photo booth, but no big deal).

I bought the camera to do some live recording (singing/guitar playing) and upload video to youtube, email, etc.

I am using a 36" flatscreen tv as the monitor. Looks great.

I'm able to record using quicktime, and have adjusted the mic input volume (in system preferences) to get the souind about right.

The picture is awesome (it's recording in 720p).

My problem is the movies are so darn big.

A 4 minute song is about 200 MB, way too big for upload.

Even saving at 480p, the file is 98 MB: way to big to upload or email.

What is the best way to get the movies uploaded to youtube, or attached to an email?

Am I using the wrong software to record?

Is there a way to record at lower resolution so the files are not so big?

I can't find any instructions in quicktime to save the movies in a smaller format.

I know that quicktime offers the option to upload to youtube, but the files so big, I didn't even want to try.

What am I missing?

I'm using the basic version of quicktime that came with the mini (I'm running latest version of Lion).

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

thanks

Mac mini, Mac OS X (10.7.2)

Posted on Feb 3, 2012 1:59 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

QuickTimeKirk

Level 10

125,935 points

Feb 3, 2012 4:09 PM in response to John61254

Lion has QuickTime 10.1 as its "free" capture tool for your camera. QuickTime Player Pro ($30 for version 7.6.6) is another option.

Use the Movie Inspector window to tell us more about your file. 200 MB's for a four minute 720 (HD) file seems reasonable to me.

There are many ways to reduce the file size via "Export". Cut the audio track to "mono" (half as large) or cut the video data rate (reduces file size but quality suffers).

Forget about trying to attach your videos to email. All servers have limits on attachments and to make them small enough to fit would end up with a postage stamp sized video.

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Answer 2

John61254 Author

Level 4

2,521 points

Feb 3, 2012 4:35 PM in response to QuickTimeKirk

Thanks for replying.

I am fairly tech savvy when it comes to computers, but am relatively new to using my Mac for recording/uploading video, so I appreciate all the advice I can get.

One question I have: is there a way to reduce the size of the files when I initially record them?

Quicktime seems pretty easy to use, but it doesn't offer a lot of choice (or information) regarding relative file sizes for different upload/recording options.

One of the options I see is "upload to itunes". What will this do? How could I use this option to share the video?

I know I can upload to youtube to share, but I don't really want to share my videos with the world (yet), but am more interested in letting a couple of my acquaintances take a look at them first.

What would be my best way to accomplish this?

I suppose I can place them in a dropbox folder and share with my buddies, but at 200MB a pop, I may need to upgrade from my free dropbox space!

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Answer 3

Feb 3, 2012 4:56 PM in response to John61254

Video capture is device native. To reduce the file size requires an export.

iChat can send any size file (limited by common sense and network connection).

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Answer 4

EZ Jim

Level 7

22,590 points

Feb 3, 2012 6:06 PM in response to John61254

QuickTimeKirk (regards Kirk!) is the expert I trust for QT issues, so I commend his suggestions to you.

As Kirk explains, making the video recordings smaller will result in lower quality.

With your webcam connected, launch QuickTime Player. You can then use the QuickTime Player "File > New Movie Recording" menu command to open a movie recording window. When you have that window open, the image below shows how to aaccess QTX Player's Preferences to let you choose among available video recording quality / sizes:

Each of the three quality settings will give different file sizes (and quality) for the same recording.

Message was edited by: EZ Jim

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