Now What?
Yes, there are a lot of screens that pop up when configuring Windows Media Encoder for the first time. But the process is actually very orderly. Microsoft does a reasonably good job of giving you information about what the choices mean. After choosing between live input or pre-digitized file, you must designate the source of the input file and whether you will use a single or multiple bit rate stream. For a standard Web server, I choose a single rate stream. Next comes a target bandwidth speed, a audio and video codec, and designating an output filename.

Of all of these steps, choosing a codec is probably the most difficult. The beginner can go with the default Microsoft codecs. But if you want to tweak, the codec configuration screen is the best place to do it. While the built-in help information covers the application well, it is pretty quiet on the codecs themselves. This is where a Web site like Terran's Codec Central can be invaluable in understanding how to get the most FOR your particular Windows Media clip.

Once your configuration is set, a summary screen appears. Click the play button (forward arrow) and compression begins. A preview window is available if you want to watch your footage as it compresses. You will find the "Preview" option under the "View" pulldown menu.