Important Digital Video Formatting

If you are searching for a file to meet your needs, take a look at this breakdown of the most common formats.

.mov: This is a Quicktime Movie file, done through Apple. These files have a great picture, but they are very big--not good for emailing.

.wmv: This is a Microsoft format; it stands for Windows Media Video. These files are highly compressed, so they are quite small. This means they can be emailed and will take up less space. The quality, however, is not too great (the more compressed a video file, the less resolution you have).

.avi: This is a file format that originated with Microsoft and is essentially uncompressed video. Therefore, these files are huge--too big for a finished video--and better used in the beginning stages of production.

.flv: Flash video is a very popular format. Not only is it small, but it also has a great picture. In addition,.flv is compatible with almost any computer. These two factors mean.flv is the most common video format online. (You Tube converts all files to.flv.)

MPEG2: This is the file that a DVD player will read. It is not compressed at all and thus far too large to put online. Most video editing software is incompatible with MPEG2, so you need to convert the file first. (However, some new video cameras will now shoot in MPEG2 for instant transfer to a DVD player.)

MPEG4: This format converts files to a smaller size but with a decent resolution (not as good as Quicktime but better than Windows Media).