Make Movies with Digital Still Cameras

Continued...

Got a digicam? You've got everything you need to make movies.

By Aimee Baldridge Posted September 15, 2006

Name	Description	Pros	Cons
MPEG-1	Reduces storage size both by compressing each frame and by discarding information repeated in successive frames (interframe compression).	Broad compatibility. Good image quality.	Interframe compression can cause artifacts in rapidly changing scenes.
MPEG-4	Sophisticated format open to many variations in implementation. Also uses interframe compression.	Combines good image quality with small file sizes. Broad and increasing acceptance and compatibility.	Flexible implementation means that video quality varies among devices that use the format. Interframe compression artifacts.
MPEG EX, VX, HQX	Proprietary Sony versions of MPEG-1.	Good image quality.	Interframe compression artifacts. Less software compatibility than plain MPEG-1.
Motion JPEG	Composed of series of JPEG files. Uses intraframe compression only (each frame is compressed independently).	High-quality images without interframe compression artifacts. Several compression levels, usually selectable by user.	Very large file sizes at highest resolution and quality limit clip lengths.
DivX	Very similar to(and based on) MPEG-4.	Emphasizes file size over quality, but with good results. Compatible with many playback devices.	Interframe compression artifacts.