Configuring Movie Settings for Windows Media Video
On Windows, it is possible to export in Windows Media Video format.
How to configure video and sound settings for Windows Media Video
- In the Video section, select the desired Variable Bit Rate Quality for your video. A higher setting will ensure a better image quality. A lower setting will create a smaller video file.
- Using the Sound checkbox, select whether or not you want your movie file to have sound.
- Using the Profile drop-down menu, select the preferred compression settings for your movie's soundtrack. Each profile has a combination of audio sample rate, sample size and channel mode, which cover the following options:
- Sample rate: Available sample rates are 8000 Hz, 16000 Hz, 22050 Hz and 44100 Hz. The default setting is 22050 Hz. It is best to export your audio at a rate that matches the rate of your original sound files. For example, if your file has an audio sample rate of 48000 Hz and you choose a sample rate of 22050 Hz, the sound will play at the same speed, but higher frequencies will be missing, making it sound muffled. For reference, the standard sound quality is 44000 kHz for films, and 48000 kHz for DVD. Lower rates are liable to impact the quality of your movie's audio track negatively, but they can be useful if disk space or download speed is critical.
- Sample size: Also known as Bit Depth, this determines the amount of precision used to record each wavelength in the audio track. The standard size is 16-bit. If you choose 8-bit, the amount of disk space the audio track of your movie file requires is halved, but the audio quality will be significantly lower.
- Channel mode: Stereo sound has a separate audio track for the left and the right speakers, allowing to make the origin of each sound realistically match the origin of their corresponding action. If you choose Mono, the audio track in the exported movie file may use less disk space, but both the left and right channels will be merged into a single track.
NOTE Exporting in 8-bit audio requires Apple QuickTime to be installed.