Optimizing WAV Files

Requires one of the later versions of Windows Media Player

(6.4 is the current version, 10/99)

Images and wav files can be pretty large and take a while to download for the great unwashed majority of us without cable modems.

Part of the "Art" of creating here is to make neat stuff in small packages without losing quality in the media presentation. One of the best compliments given around here is "How did you do such a great presentation in such a small post?"

The two culprits are images and wavs. Midi's are kinda excluded, cause midi optimizers aren't very common.

It's really easy to reduce both in size.

Let's do wav files.

Open that 200kb wav file (File/Open) and select File/Save As and you'll get this dialogue box. See that Change button for Format at the bottom of the box. Click that little puppy and you get the real toolbox to shrivel that file up as small as you like. SaveAs

Just click on the drop down arrow for Format and select MPEG Layer-3 and then drop down the arrow for Attributes and choose one of the smaller KB settings. The smallest reduction would be MPEG Layer-3 8 kBit/s, 8,000 Hz, which I start with, and increase it, if it's too distorted. Mainly, only music will really require a higher attribute level to avoid distortion.

As my wife from my previous life used to say, the only ones who say "Size doesn't matter" are guys who drive Corvettes...or their girl friends. <g>