Video File Formats...?
Film has retained its format for well over a hundred years…
But... analog and digital file formats…
Well…That’s a whole different story!
First…!
What is a Video File Format...?
In computer programmer lingo a file format is:
“The arrangement of digital data in a file that corresponds to specific byte positions and data elements length”.
Got it!!… Okay… :)
Let’s get even simpler... We’ll break this down a bit more...
FILE:
A file on your computer is a collection of data or information that has a specific name and location.
FORMAT:
A format is a specific, pre-established arrangement or organization of data encoded into a computer file.
The data in a file is stored (encoded) in a format that is established by whatever software application created the file...
And needs to be read by the same or a similar software program that can interpret that format and present the data to the user on the...
- Computer monitor,
- TV screen,
- Viewfinder, etc.
The action of preparing (encoding) a file on your computer for reading and writing according to this pre-established arrangement or organization of data.
So a File Format is...
"A digital (computer) language that is recognized by the computer’s operating system and is used to, organize, store, read and/or write digital files encoded in that format”.
For instance... although an image may look exactly the same when displayed in two different file formats...
One file may be 100k in size and another may be 1 MB.
The difference in file size is caused by how the data is formatted and saved.
The particular file format used...
Through its process of encoding... determines the way and how much of the image data is...
Saved and stored and...
How it will be...
- Read,
- Transmitted and
- Replayed.
Divisions of Media Files And Formats...
When producing and editing videos you will, at sometime or another, work with material from four major divisions of media.
There are specific file formats that are associated with each one...
AUDIO (examples: WAV, MP3, WMA, AIFF, etc.)
VIDEO (examples: AVI, MOV, WMV, MPG, etc.)
IMAGES (examples: JPEG, TIFF, RAW, GIF, etc.)
DOCUMENTS (examples: ASCII, PDF, HTML, DOC etc.)
The Two Categories of Video File Formats...
There are several types of video file formats and they fall under two very general categories...
A container or wrapper format is a type of file format that is used to store, identify and interleave different types of data.
Container formats don't specify what CODEC the container format uses...
But rather it defines how the video, audio and other data are stored within the container.
Examples of common container formats are...
- AVI,
- QUICKTIME (MOV), and
- WMV etc.
Compression Formats (CODECs)...
By removing the redundant elements (compression) with a special software program (a CODEC)...
The file is made much smaller which makes it easier the store, move, transmit or be replayed.
Examples of common compression formats are...
- MPEG,
- MPEG-4,
- DV, and
- Ogg etc.
The Problem with Media Files...
One of the big problems when working with media files in video editing is that the file size of the finished project can be...
HUGE...!
Or any other type of storage media that you use.
Transmitting a large file is difficult to do on a network and...
Streaming it over the Internet is nearly impossible even with a high-speed broadband connection.
How do you make these files into a smaller size so you can efficiently...
- Edit,
- Save,
- Store,
- Transmit and
- Play them back...
The answer is in the type of file formats that you use.
What Should You Know About Video File Formats...?
Well...As much as you can... !!!
Working in digital video editing means that you will be working with huge video files all the time. You will need to know the best way to compress them and how particular video file formats effects the sound and picture quality of your video.
- Editing,
- Saving,
- Storing,
- Transmitting and
- Playing back your videos...
a BREEZE...!!
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