Video on Web site

[Rick Martin]

I want to add a four minute video to my site, but don't know where to begin. Can anybody outline the very basic options for doing this? I have the video all edited and saved on my hard drive.
Thanks!

[Spike McGuire]

What did you use to edit it?

[Rick Martin]

Sonic My DVD Studio deluxe suite.

[Doctor Eric]

convert it to flash video, scot will jump in on this one I'm sure.

[Stephon]

Just wondering, what's the advantage of a flash movie over another format?

I've always worried that there was potential for frustration with a flash movie, 'cuz the viewer has no playback control.

[Frisbee]

Flash movie makes it so you do not need a special viewer to see the video...if they can see teh flash, they can see your video. No need for plug-in or format
You can still make it available for download in multiple formats.

You can have controls on a flash based player, either custom design or there is a standard console I believe.

[Rick Martin]

I often see two options for downloading web site videos. "WMV" or "MPEG". What are the pros and cons to these two formats and how does "Flash" relate to them?

[Doctor Eric]

The difference between mpeg and wmv is that wmv is proprietary technology, and it looks like crap. You make your video, compress it nicely with sorenson or something, convert it to flv, (flash video) put it in a flash movie, set up the controls, and the end user doesn't have to see any of the strings, just the video, they hit play and it does. It eliminates all that "choose your format and download" bs. Point and click.

[Rick Martin]

I have a one minute video clip saved as an .avi file. I Believe that means it can be opened with Windows Media Player.....right??? I want to attach it to an email (it's pretty darn funny) and send it to some friends, but the file is 96.2MB which I think is too big.....right??? I tried using WinZip to compress it, but that only gets it to 66.4MB which I suppose is still too big....right???? The video clips that people send me attached to emails are under 3MB.....I think. How can I get this one minute video file small enough to send? And...is the option to convert a video file to a Flash file found in a video editing program or in the web design program?

[Doctor Eric]

You have a one minute clip that is 96 megs?!? At this point, it's time to call a spade a spade (not like you've been denying it, really) you're too computer illiterate for online help, you need a techie buddy to come over and help you. I was gonna say some other stuff but that last statement is the important one (and it is stated with due compassion, I assure you). Forget about flash for right now. Get help.

[scot]

Eric's right. You have to trim it down to at most 2MB to email it.

if you have imovie, it makes emailable videos. Otherwise, make a friend.

[le pire]

The doc is definately right.

.wmv looks like CRAP.

If you are going to go with the formats other than flash, the most commonly used are Windows Media, Quicktime and Real Player.

I suggest having your video in all three formats on your site. (a lot of high end websites do this). It's very much an internet standard, and if you're working with a techie, than it's really straight forward and simple to do.

If you have your vid on miniDV it is not difficult to find someone who is tech savvy and set up to put your video in these formats. Just put an ad on craigslist.org and if you're paying $100, you'll get a flurry of responses-- especially by broke college students who are tech majors.

It should take less than an hour to do.



etienne

[Doctor Eric]

Just to clarify the thread for other readers, this is exactly what I was saying you SHOULDN'T do

"I suggest having your video in all three formats on your site. (a lot of high end websites do this). It's very much an internet standard, and if you're working with a techie, than it's really straight forward and simple to do."

"High-End" websites DON'T do this, because it is completely retarded. Two of those three formats are useless, proprietary, and invasive, if you ever see RealMedia, run like hell. Any video player installed on you machine can handle an Mpeg, and 90% of web users have quicktime. The reson I mentioned flash is that it is the only way to seamlessly integrate video onto a website. Something like 98% of all web users have flash, and the plugin works exactly the same in all browsers (I use opera, some quicktime clips run on the page, some want to be downloaded and run in the qt player=not seamless integration). But, you're trying to email something Rick, so don't let any of this info bog you down, just call that techie buddy, I know you have one.

edit:: I forgot to mention the other reason that the method is stupid, windows media player can open a .mov too. Nothing, other than real player, can open a realmedia file. I hate that !@#?ing thing...

[Jim]

I also want to chime in and say STAY AWAY from Real Media.

Quicktime is simply the best.

Windows Media is a distant second in regards to quality (But MAYBE a bit more compatible than Quicktime for those completely retarded Windows users who are new to the web and afraid of plugins.)

Real=Evil

Jim

[le pire]

Let me clarify here:

By high end, I mean that major label bands have their videos on their websites in Quicktime & WMP, and audio tracks in Real & WMP. National, international and regional radio stations do webcasts in WMP & Real Player. Movie Trailers are in Quicktime & WMP. TV webcasts are in Real, WMP, & Quicktime. It defies common sense to say that these formats don't currently dominate the internet.

Simplicity- having your vid put into .mov, .mpeg, .rm is REALLY REALLY simple (even for the computer illiterate) and if you work with a tech person, it will take less than a half an hour to do. Putting this kind of video into an HTML website is equally simple-- it takes minutes.

Consistance- if your website is programmed in HTML and then the video page is in flash, it's a bit of a jarring style change. (Frisbee's old site was HTML & had a flash gallery. Although it was a nice gallery, it was like "one of these things is not like the other." Greg has a fantastic new flash site, by the way.) Call me old fashioned, but I like consistancy. So if you're going to do flash video, then I'd say go for a flash site. You're site could definately use the overhaul-- and I don't say that in a mean critical way. You've got great content, some nice pics & even some nice design ideas. Tie it all together with some strong layout & you'll have a beautiful site. This is a lot of work, and then the question becomes how much work do you want to put into this? Going back to the simplicity point..

Also, yeah Real Player is evil, so is microsoft, and now people are saying Steve Jobs is evil too. Macromedia may be coming soon to an evil neighborhood near you.


etienne