Matrox Parhelia or P-series card) and a RAID array hard drive, you shouldn't have too much trouble getting higher framerates+good resolution (using maybe DV or a highres mjpeg codec). If you have a fast processor PC with a high quality video card (eg. Please correct me if i'm wrong, but i believe most of the issues with high resolution/good framerate playback are hardware based not software (as mentioned by superficial). If it can't be done then it can't be done, I'll get over it one day :'-(

When focussing the attention on an ident or animation I don't need random access - but I'd still like to do it within Resolume if I can. mjpeg and others are fine for general video mash-ups, but take finely-rendered computer animation such as logos and idents with smooth gradients and razor sharp edges and do the comparisons - mpeg2 is far better than all of them. The mpeg2 thing is about getting premium quality at a reasonable decode speed and filesize. Having slagged off Cinepak mercilessly I'm wondering if it might be perfect for animated masks and mono/duotone stuff as others have said. I'm coming to the conclusion that mjpeg is the general purpose codec of choice. Quicktime (various codecs) - won't play in Resolume Cinepak/Midivid - shite quality, very fast playback, big files. Xvid (keyframable divx) won't play in Resolume. PIC wavelet - shite quality, slow playback, tiny files. DVD compatible, no keyframe/frame, can't get Resolume to play it smoothly. mpeg2 (TMPGEnc encoded) - excellent quality, fast playback, midsize files.

HuffYUV - perfect quality, very slow playback, xtra-massive files. On2 VP4/6 - ok quality, slow playback, small files. MS wmv - good quality, fast playback, midsize files. PICmjpeg - very good quality, very fast playback, midsize files. Indeo511 - good quality, fast playback, large files. Native cam format, very limited settings. DV - good quality, very fast playback, huge files. Here's a very basic summary, relevant at any resolution:

I've been doing heaps of tests with all sorts of codecs at full PAL. Long rambling post approaching! might be useful thoughīasically I'm getting obsessive about having the highest quality video possible, whilst still being able to use the lovely Resolume system I've had enough of 320x240.

Download virtualdub mpeg2