Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

With this book learn video compression techniques for all areas of video production including the Web, DVDs, and mobile devices.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Preface (p. xi)
• Chapter 1 Understanding Video and Audio (p. 1)
• Elements of Video (p. 2)
• Frames and Fields (p. 3)
• Benefits of Interlacing (p. 4)
• Problems Caused by Interlacing (p. 4)
• Progressive Scan Video (p. 6)
• Resolutions (p. 7)
• Aspect Ratio (p. 9)
• Analog vs. Digital (p. 12)
• How Compression Works (p. 13)
• Lossless and Lossy Compression (p. 15)
• Spatial (DCT) and Wavelet Compression (p. 16)
• Quantization (p. 17)
• Interframe and Intraframe Compression (p. 18)
• Audio Compression (p. 19)
• Evaluating Video for Compression (p. 20)
• How Was the Video Shot? (p. 21)
• How Was It Edited? (p. 21)
• Who Is the Intended Audience? (p. 22)
• Conclusion (p. 23)
• Chapter 2 The Language of Compression (p. 25)
• Players (p. 26)
• QuickTime Player (p. 27)
• Windows Media Player (p. 31)
• Adobe Flash Player (p. 32)
• RealPlayer (p. 34)
• Other Video Players (p. 36)
• Wrappers (p. 38)
• Codecs (p. 39)
• Descriptions of the Commonly Used Codecs (p. 40)
• A Time and a Place for Everything (p. 43)
• Delivery Codecs (p. 44)
• Authoring Codecs (p. 45)
• Legacy Codecs (p. 45)
• Compression Parameters (p. 47)
• Data Rates (p. 48)
• VBR and CBR (p. 48)
• Frame Rates (p. 49)
• Frame Types (p. 49)
• Aspect Ratios (p. 51)
• Square and Nonsquare Pixels (p. 53)
• Resolution (p. 53)
• Online Delivery: Streaming vs. Download (p. 54)
• Conclusion (p. 56)
• Chapter 3 Best Practices (p. 57)
• What Are Your Compression Needs? (p. 58)
• Long-Form or Short-Form Content? (p. 58)
• What Is Your Final Delivery Target? (p. 58)
• How Is Your Content Delivered to You? (p. 58)
• How Much Content Are You Compressing? (p. 59)
• Is Compression All You're Doing? (p. 60)
• Quality or Timeliness? (p. 60)
• Are You a Content Owner or a Cog? (p. 60)
• How Knowledgeable Is Your Client? (p. 60)
• Equipment and Workflows for Different Scenarios (p. 61)
• Encoding as an Editor (p. 61)
• Encoding as a Compressionist (p. 64)
• Automating the Encoding Process (p. 65)
• Enterprise Systems: The Big Leagues (p. 66)
• Essential Encoding Equipment (p. 67)
• Hardware (p. 67)
• Software (p. 70)
• Productivity Tips (p. 75)
• Minimizing Quality Loss Without Overdoing It (p. 75)
• Stay Organized (p. 76)
• File-Naming Conventions (p. 77)
• Experimenting Can Be a Good Thing (p. 78)
• Make Your Own Recipe Book (p. 79)
• Mezzanine, or In-Between, Files (p. 79)
• Archiving and Transcoding (p. 80)
• Conclusion (p. 80)
• Chapter 4 Preprocessing (p. 81)
• Deinterlacing Video (p. 82)
• Blend (p. 83)
• Weave (p. 83)
• Area-based (p. 83)
• Motion Blur (p. 83)
• Discard (p. 83)
• Bob (p. 84)
• Progressive Scan (p. 84)
• Motion Compensation (p. 84)
• Telecine and Inverse Telecine (p. 85)
• Cropping (p. 86)
• Scaling (p. 87)
• Image Aspect Ratio Correction (p. 89)
• Pixel Aspect Ratio Correction (p. 89)
• Noise Reduction (p. 90)
• Luma Adjustments (p. 92)
• Gamma Correction (p. 93)
• Brightness and Contrast (p. 94)
• Chroma Adjustment (p. 94)
• Saturation (p. 94)
• Hue (p. 94)
• Audio Preprocessing (p. 95)
• Adjusting Volume (p. 95)
• Noise Reduction (p. 96)
• Conclusion (p. 96)
• Interview with a Compressionist: John Howell (p. 97)
• Chapter 5 Compression Tools (p. 101)
• Adobe Media Encoder (p. 102)
• What Does It Look Like? (p. 103)
• How Does It Work? (p. 105)
• What Makes It Special? (p. 108)
• What Should You Watch Out For? (p. 108)
• What Should You Remember? (p. 108)
• QuickTime Pro (p. 109)
• What Does It Look Like? (p. 110)
• How Does It Work? (p. 112)
• What Makes It Special? (p. 117)
• What Should You Watch Out For? (p. 117)
• What Should You Remember? (p. 118)
• Compressor (p. 119)
• What Does It Look Like? (p. 120)
• How Does It Work? (p. 121)
• What Makes It Special? (p. 125)
• What Should You Watch Out For? (p. 126)
• What Should You Remember? (p. 126)
• Microsoft Expression Encoder (p. 127)
• What Does It Look Like? (p. 128)
• How Does It Work? (p. 129)
• What Makes It Special? (p. 133)
• What Should You Watch Out For? (p. 133)
• What Should You Remember? (p. 133)
• Squeeze Compression Suite (p. 133)
• What Does It Look Like? (p. 136)
• How Does It Work? (p. 137)
• What Makes It Special? (p. 142)
• What Should You Watch Out For? (p. 143)
• What Should You Remember? (p. 143)
• Episode Pro (p. 144)
• What Does It Look Like? (p. 144)
• How Does It Work? (p. 146)
• What Makes It Special? (p. 149)
• What Should You Watch Out For? (p. 150)
• What Should You Remember? (p. 150)
• Higher- and Lower-End Options (p. 150)
• Less-Expensive Solutions (p. 151)
• A Note About Enterprise Solutions (p. 153)
• Conclusion (p. 155)
• Interview with a Compressionist: Nico Puertollano157
• Chapter 6 Compressing for DVDs (p. 161)
• What's a DVD? (p. 162)
• Producing SD DVDs (p. 162)
• SD Media (p. 162)
• SD Codecs (p. 165)
• What the Heck Is a VOB? (p. 166)
• What's a Blu-Ray Disc? (p. 167)
• Producing Blu-ray Discs (p. 169)
• Blu-ray Overview (p. 171)
• Recording Blu-ray Discs (p. 172)
• DVD Workflows (p. 173)
• That Whole Bit Budget Thing (p. 175)
• Recipes for Producing SD DVDs (p. 178)
• Compression and DVD Studio Pro Markers (p. 178)
• Rendering a DVD-Compatible File in Compressor (p. 180)
• Creating an SD DVD in DVD Studio Pro (p. 186)
• Recipes for Producing Blu-ray Discs (p. 191)
• Working in Premiere Pro (p. 192)
• Managing the Handoff (p. 192)
• Producing an MPEG-2 Blu-ray-Compatible File in Adobe Media Encoder (p. 193)
• Producing an H.264 Blu-ray-Compatible File in the Adobe Media Encoder (p. 196)
• Creating a Blu-ray DVD in Encore (p. 198)
• Conclusion (p. 201)
• Interview with a Compressionist: Ben Waggoner (p. 203)
• Chapter 7 Compressing for the Web (p. 209)
• The Early Days of Web Video (p. 210)
• Modern Web Video (p. 211)
• The Rise of Short-Form Video (p. 211)
• More Broadband Penetration (p. 212)
• Better Tools (p. 213)
• Audience and Creator Are the Same Thing (p. 214)
• Everybody Is a Star (p. 215)
• Citizen Journalism (p. 215)
• Traditional Media Catches On (p. 216)
• Modern Web Tools and Formats (p. 217)
• Recipes for Compressing Video for the Web (p. 218)
• Encoding for YouTube from Episode Pro (p. 219)
• Streaming Windows Media from Compressor (p. 226)
• Progressive Download Flash Video (p. 235)
• Conclusion (p. 237)
• Interview with a Compressionist: Jim Rohner (p. 239)
• Chapter 8 Compressing for Mobile (p. 243)
• How Little Video Became Big (p. 244)
• Live Streaming to Mobile Devices (p. 245)
• Download and (Maybe) Sync (p. 246)
• Mobile Devices and Their Formats of Choice (p. 249)
• Cell Phones (p. 249)
• Smart Phones and Pocket PCs (p. 252)
• Apple iPhone (p. 253)
• Media Players (p. 254)
• Recipes for Compressing Video for Mobile (p. 259)
• 3GP Files for Those Non-Smart Phones (p. 259)
• Adding Chapter Markers to a Video Podcast (p. 268)
• Conclusion (p. 274)
• Interview with a Compressionist: Ryanne Hodson (p. 275)
• Chapter 9 Compressing for Set-Top Boxes (p. 279)
• More Than Just Cable (p. 280)
• Digital TV (p. 280)
• IPTV (p. 282)
• IP-Based STBs (p. 284)
• Apple TV (p. 284)
• Xbox 360 (p. 286)
• Vudu (p. 288)
• Recipes for Compressing Video for STBs (p. 289)
• Ripping a DVD with HandBrake (p. 290)
• Standard-Definition Video for Xbox (p. 296)
• Conclusion (p. 299)
• Interview with a Compressionist: Andy Beach (p. 301)
• Index (p. 305)