Best export settings for video to be used on the web

I edited an 11-minute sequence in FCP 4.5 and now need to export it for use on the web. My client asked for a Real Media version --- but wasn't able to provide any other specs for formatting. I suspect she needs something that's Windows-friendly to upload to her organization's server and stream from there. But that's all I know.
So... what's the best I can provide them using the QuickTime Conversion export function?
any and all suggestions are appreciated.

QuickTime is Great, If the client's IT dept. will allow QT on their machines some won't allow the downloads.



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Dean

"When I see you floating down the gutter I'll give you a bottle of wine."
Captain Beefheart, Trout Mask Replica.

IMO - real player is just a huge pain in the ass!

id suggest one of the following 3 formats:

WMV
Sorenson 3
FLV (flash)

in my experience they are the best for quality/filesize/compatibility

you'll need to purchase a third party product to properly produce the first two -
[www.flip4mac.com]
[www.sorensonmedia.com]

and the third CAN be done within FCP but youll need to go to macromedia.com and download the free flash video exporter if you want variable bitrate compression.

if you do a search of this forum for "copression for web", youll see that myself and grafix joe have covered the details extensively...

and keep in mind, unless your client has a dedicated media streaming server, (and if they didnt ask for a specific format, they probably dont) ANY video will simply be a progressive dlownload. NOT TRUELY "streamed".

it would probably help if you asked the client, who their audience is and what the intent of the video is... that can help you narrow down the delivery options.

Read this.

[www.kenstone.net]

Matt Murray
Lineside Productions
Wellington, FL
[www.edgesportfishing.com]
Florida Sailfish videos, pictures and more
My World Video Productions

I use "Cleaner" and produce real media or real player clips for the web all the time. 11 minutes is going to be huge and you'll have to play with the different settings to get what you need, but thats the program I use when a request comes in for that format.

Good luck!

kevin

Thanks for the suggestions.
All of you have confirmed what I suspected -- meeting the client's "simple" request wasn't going to be easy. Isn't that always the way??

its very simple - you just need them to clarify their situation and goals