Part 2: Understanding the Optimal project settings profile

Now that we have identified the video clip with better attributes and since there are no more elements we intend to add to our project, we can now proceed to the Share Step and start creating a video file.

Click Create Video File and select MPEG Optimizer to open the MPEG Optimizer dialog box.

One of the tasks of the MPEG Optimizer is to suggest the Optimal project settings profile that is compatible to the video clip with the most recommended attributes, which in our case is Video B.

The Optimal project settings profile specifies the video and audio attributes that we will have once the project is saved as a movie. To view a breakdown of Optimal project settings profile, click Show detail.

As we have mentioned earlier, the Optimal project settings profile is the highest possible MPEG settings for the movie we will create, taking all the video clips' properties and limitations into consideration.

Since MPEG Optimizer recommends using the video and audio settings of Video B, you can see that it is represented as Original in the MPEG Optimizer dialog box. This means that this particular segment need not be rendered.

Segments that need to be re-encoded, on the other hand, are represented as the red areas in the Timeline segment layout. This means that these segments, such as Video A and Video C, do not carry the attributes specified in the Optimal project settings profile.

By looking at the Timeline segment layout, you can estimate how much time rendering your movie will need. The idea, therefore, is to use video clips with the same MPEG attributes when possible to reduce rendering time of your movie.