problems with U-Lead

In attempting to create Quicktime files from HDV captures for export and upload, file sizes become monstrous --i.e., over 500+ mb for a 10-second clip. Changing codecs doesn't seem to help. Has anyone else had this experience? What's causing this?

This is normal with HDV. 10 sec clips are between 300-500, depending on movement, colors, etc. You can drop quality to 95%... but I usually don't go lower than that. Some people say 90... not this guy :-P

Using a different editing program, file sizes this big tend to correspond to clips of about 20-30 seconds, not 10. I suspect something strange is going on when files are converted in U-Lead to the .mov format, which is not native to this program, as it is in others.

I don't believe that should be the issues, since the .mov with the chosen codec is the way that it is encoded... not dependent on the encoding software. I might be totally wrong, but if that were the case what you are saying then it wouldn't make sense to have a standard, all codecs would behave differently on all systems/softwares etc.

I have Ulead MSP7 (for SD) and I know it sets the mjpeg codec by default to 100% and doesn´t have the option to change that. The difference between 99% and 100% quality is more or less double the file size. Use Quicktime Pro or MPEG Streamclip which allow to set quality level according to your likings. 95% is good for stock.