Compressing High Quality Mpg Video Using TMPGEnc

This tutorial should aid people who want to compress video for the internet that is high quality, have a relatively low file-size (therefore accessible to all speeds of internet connection), as well as viewable by everyone, without the requirement of certain codec’s.

The raw files this tutorial is tested with are exported from Adobe Premiere 6.5, with some of the techniques in this article explaining workarounds to get things working how they should. I assume that most raw AVI files should be compatible with TMPGEnc and if not, may work with the technique explained below for the Premiere files.

Files to download – Currently in Testing

TMPGEnc settings (6kb) (.mcf) – Right click and save this to your computer. These settings can be edited/fine tuned to you personal preferences using a text editor like notepad.

Preparation

  1. Download and install TMPGEnc.
  2. Export a clip or movie that you want to compress to a smaller size. It is preferable to export this file with no compression, or as little as possible, to attain the best possible results.

Tutorial

TMPGEnc

  1. Open up TMPGEnc.exe
  2. In order to make sure things work, no matter what the circumstance, click Option > Environmental setting…
  3. Click the VFAPI Plug-in Tab and make sure the DirectShow Multimedia File Reader has the highest Priority. This bypasses any problems TMPGEnc has with Adobe Premiere Files.
  4. If DirectShow is not at the top, right click on it and select Higher Priority, until it is at the highest on the list.
  5. Once completed, close the current window
  6. Search for your recently exported video by clicking the Browse button, for the Video Source input.
  7. Once you have found the recently exported file, click Open. See image below for an example.
  8. Click Load and find the Settings you downloaded earlier. Open these. This sets everything up for you, making things as easy as possible.
  9. Select a place to save your compressed file by selecting Browse.
  10. You can also see the main settings for your compression in the Status Bar. They should, unless you have modified them, be: MPEG-1 480×360 25fps VBR 1600kbps, Layer-1 32000Hz 128kbps.
  11. Save your file by clicking the big Save button at the top left of the program window.
  12. Wait while the software analyses your video file and then continues to compress it. It is preferable to let your computer do this without performing any other functions, so take this chance to have a cup of tea.

All should have been a success, and you can now compress your videos for the internet, maintaining great quality!