How to Export a YouTube Video Under 100 MB on a PC

Yes, YouTubians, there is hope.
You too can make a fool of yourself on YouTube - the MySpace of internet video. But exporting your masterpiece in the optimal settings can be as torturous as enduring a weekend with rabid in-laws. Mac users seem to have it easy with the plethora of options offered by Quicktime Pro and Final Cut. For even the most run-of the-mill Jobsonian Fellini, it’s cake to export a 640 x 480 MPEG-4 video with MP3 audio that falls way below the 100 MB mark. Although I don’t like to admit it, I’m a PC user. We don’t have this luxury without dropping 30 bucks on Quicktime Pro.

So, after many torturous nights chained to my computer for hours with a bottle of Jack glued to my left hand and a pair of eyes that would put the color “fire engine red” to shame, I discovered a nifty little trick for the PC User. You can do this in almost any NLE:

1. Export your movie as an .AVI in the highest quality setting.
2. Open Windows Movie Maker and drop the .AVI into the timeline.
3. Choose Publish to “This Computer.”
4. Pick a filename and click “Next.”
5. Choose “Best quality for playback on my computer.”
6. Click “Publish.”

You now have a video that for some magical reason is 17-20 times smaller in file size than the original .AVI, yet retains about 95% of its quality. Don’t ask me how; I’ve tried professional DivX codecs, and all it really takes is lame old Windows Movie Maker. To read more about YouTube, click here.