Simplest way to share video?

[delongboy]

I am a newbie here and I'm basically just looking for a way to convert the video into something I can share with the family where I can send them a file and it will just play with media player or quicktime.
I have done some looking around on the board here and I have downloaded hdvsplit and was able to move the video to my pc. I tried using ffdshow also but when I try to open the video decoder configuration nothing ever opens. not sure if I need that or if it is just to view when ripping from tape. I was able to watch my video with vlc but I didn't want everybody I share with to have to download it. I've tried converting with vlc to avi and that didn't work. I've tried changing the extension to mpg and it will open with media player and others but it only plays the audio.

Is there an easy way to do what I want, or have I just missed a step somewhere?
Thanks

[Lunchbox]

Do you mean share it in a way through web streaming? Or share it using DVD, HD DVD or BluRay?

[delongboy]

I mean making a file that I can email and they can play with media player or what ever they use.

[Lunchbox]

The easiest and free way to do is to use Windows Media Encoder. free to download.

[delongboy]

when I try to use Windows Media Encoder I think I have a codec problem. I have installed ffdshow and set it in plugins for wme but I'm still getting invalid file type. Are there simple instructions for this somewhere? I am very new to this.

[Mats]

Try render to WMV - should work

[Lunchbox]

Yeah, to render WMV, you need to have some sort of tool to create. I can do it in Premiere, Procoder or Windows Media Encoder.

[delongboy]

I would like to do it in Windows Media Encoder but I am getting an error. It says one or more codecs required for this were not found. I have installed ffdshow and have it set in the plugins. What am I missing here?