Traditionally, what you want to export from your timeline in your actual video editing program is
*not* what you want your online distro version to be. What you should aim to export is the biggest, most raw, lossless version you can possibly export. This generally means exporting in
HuffyUV, the most widely used (and equally awesome) lossless codec in our hobby.
Once you've got this huge file exported, you're going to take it into ANOTHER program. When it comes to video, it's best to go with the school of thought that individual programs are good for doing simple, individual things (because they usually are). Your editing program is good for the editing, while your encoding program is good for the encoding.
I can't suggest
Tsunami MPEG Encoder enough. It's the best consumer-level program you can dream of, and MPEG-1 encodes are free forever (MPEG-2 encodes are free for 30 days). You'll have much more control over what you do with your encode (bitrates, cropping, etc.), and it'll definitely show in the final product.
If you want some general suggestions on bitrates to aim for in an MPEG-1 encode for online distribution, feel free to ask. I'd suggest looking around the program, yourself, for a bit and learning what all the options do.
This guide may be of some help, but it's rather specific to the rest of the guides...
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