How large should the music file be?

LeperDoctor · Post by **LeperDoctor** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 2:15 pm

How big is the ideal size for an audio clip (song) to be used for an AMV? I read some FAQs that mentioned the audio was usually what made compression so difficult- audio takes up a lot of room, so compressing it makes the file so much smaller, and easier for everyone. I even found a FAQ on how to mess with the audio, but I'm a little confused as to how big the final product should be.

I have an MP3 song that's 3.78 MB, and I was wondering if that was a good size.

Also, because I've been unable to find out from the FAQs [so far], what is the ideal size of a completed AMV? Thanks.

Orwell · Post by **Orwell** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 2:50 pm

1mb=1 minute.

There is no ideal size. Use LAME to compress your final audio to mp3.

LeperDoctor · Post by **LeperDoctor** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 2:53 pm

Orwell wrote:1mb=1 minute.

There is no ideal size. Use LAME to compress your final audio to mp3.

The song is 4 minutes long and 3.78 MB, so I guess I'm doing good. But it's already in mp3 format, so I guess I don't need to compress is after all. Thanks

Scintilla · Post by **Scintilla** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 4:56 pm

LeperDoctor wrote:The song is 4 minutes long and 3.78 MB, so I guess I'm doing good. But it's already in mp3 format, so I guess I don't need to compress is after all. Thanks

Actually, this will only work if your finished video is going to be <i>exactly</i> the same length as your MP3 file -- and you would have to be very careful to mux it in without recompressing.

Normally, what you want to do is use uncompressed source audio ripped straight from the CD or DVD, because video editors can handle it better than compressed audio. Also, if you then add blank space before or after the audio, or add more onto the beginning or end for a credits sequence or a bumper, you can export uncompressed from your editor and still retain perfect fidelity from the source.
And THEN, after your editing's all done, you would compress the audio for distribution.

More on that from the link in my sig.