HD encoding for web

[Patroller]

Hello, I really need some help/advice . Im trying to export a 4.5 minute video I have made in FCP to the web at HD 720 or 1080. I would like it to be in H.264 ,but any format will do. If I export from FCP to compressor and chose 1080i output it looks good, but the file is 660 meg.
I want to make it smaller but keep the quality. I have tried using a trial version of sorenson squeeze and its down to 190 meg which is acceptable but I would like to do this with compressor or FCP.
So far the best results I have gotten is to export from FCP as 1080iHD and then drag it into imovie and export at H.264 codec but my output is too small and its not as clear as it can be.
I know its all about settings . The clips were captured at 1080 60i
Any help is appreciated including books or tutorials. Thanks

 

[ppc_michael]

What bitrate are you using with the H.264 compression? Try something around 2000 kbps. But you should expect a good quality 4.5 minute video to be around at least 100MB.

 

[Patroller]

Thaks Micheal. I will check that. What I cant understand is why I cant render this codec out of FCP or compressor. I have to use iMovie to get anything that will even play. When I change my render setting in FCP under the option window it wont let me render it there. All I get is "codec error"

 

[ppc_michael]

Thaks Micheal. I will check that. What I cant understand is why I cant render this codec out of FCP or compressor. I have to use iMovie to get anything that will even play. When I change my render setting in FCP under the option window it wont let me render it there. All I get is "codec error"

In Final Cut Pro, try using Export > Using Quicktime Conversion and rendering to H.264 that way. I think it's a bug, because I can't render H.264 in FCP either, unless I use that Quicktime conversion option.