hi there-

(i asked this question before as part of a thread on a different topic, but the responses weren't quite what i was looking for, so i'm re-posting here as its own thread)

i want to make a fairly simple video out of some 4-megapixel still images and some 320 x 240 video clips (at 15 fps) that i took with my canon s400.

here are my (related) questions:

1. what's the best project settings (and "render as" settings) to use if i want the output to be playable on my laptop computer (say at 640 x 480 resolution)? i want to maximize quality and am less concerned about rendering time or file size.

2. what's the best project settings (and "render as" settings) to use if i want to output this to a VCD?

3. what's the best project settings (and "render as" settings) to use if i want to output this to DV tape?

and

4. do i have to make these project settings before i put stuff on the timeline, or can i change them just before i render?

thanks much!

tu