Quote - I'd like to posit a related question, if I may. What codecs do you prefer for HD quality animation renders? What's a good render rate for that particular method of compression @ 640x480?

 

I would still use XVID. There are some better codecs around, but most of them aren't free. 

If you ask for the bitrate to use, that would depend on how much change is in the scene and how much loss of quality you are willing to accept. Always use a two pass compression, if your codec allows this. 

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