I agree with bob -- I mean , Zhark - mplayer is probably your best bet for a viewer.
However, if you want to really control the output do this:
1- save the animation sequence as a sequence of png files.
2- use VirtualDub (Windows only) to make an avi with the avi codec of your choice, e.g. xvid or (lossless) huffyuv.
[if you want to encode on linux have a look at Avidemux (http://fixounet.free.fr/avidemux/). I haven't tried it, but it says it can import bmp files]
I could get more detailed, but it's a bit off topic. Feel free to e-mail me if you have more questions.