Best format for video??

[patrick6]

I have a project that will have 5 or 6 , 15 minute long videos.
I need to make video as painless as possible for people loading / viewing the program.
What would be the easiest for people to view without having to download anything?? I was thinking Flash maybe.

Anyone have a favorite program for putting movies in a format they use in
AMS?

[Corey]

Depends on the content. I was using Flash to deploy low frame rate stuff but I've switched back to .avi now. The new training CDs are in .avi format with the Techsmith codec. Techsmith allows you to include their codec on your CD without any licensing restrictions, and their installer is great. A tiny, one step installation. They have an active X control for doing installs via a web browser like Flash does. You can stream techsmith .avis about as good as .swf, but you'll get better video and audio quality with the .avi.

If you are intending your videos for Mac users too or plan to repurpose them for streaming to both PC/Mac then Quicktime is probably the way to go.

Corey Milner
Creative Director, Indigo Rose Software

[rhosk]

I think MPEG-1 is probably the best overall universal format (MO). All of my MPEG-1 videos play on my XP machine as well as a WIN98 FE (and I'm sure everything in between). Whether it's WMP 9 series or the ol' 6.2, the videos play fine on most all platforms.

As far as conversion goes, check out TMPGEnc - free version.

[patrick6]

I use Vegas for video editing so I can put out pretty much any format.
Tried some tests using mpeg1 but it does not seem look as clear / sharp as some other formats I have seen.


Corey, would I need to have a script to check and see if someone has the techsmith codec and if not then install it??
The code is for real video not jsut Camtasia type videos?


Thanks,
Patrick

[rhosk]

What would be the easiest for people to view without having to download anything?? I was thinking Flash maybe.

Well, this was the premise I was going by

[patrick6]

So are you saying maybe if that is what I want then I should live with mpeg1?

It wasn't horrible but just not as clear as I had hoped.

Patrick

[rhosk]

Patrick, what bitrate did you use? If you used standard 1150kbs (VCD) then I could see your dilemma. Maybe try increasing the bitrate a bit. Are you wanting to go full screen with these, or in a standard window?

[patrick6]

I'm not sure about the bitrate to be honest. It was just whatever was the standard output for Vegas.

They do not have to be full screen at all. A 600 x 500 (or so) window inside my AMS project would be fine.

[eric_darling]

For purposes of deploying with AMS, Flash is probably the best trade-off between compatibility, quality and file size. Of course, you'll get an awful lot more mileage out of the quality and file size aspects if you read this thread.

[Corey]

You can just use this code if you like:

http://www.techsmith.com/products/st...sccactivex.asp

Corey Milner
Creative Director, Indigo Rose Software

[rhosk]

You can just use this code if you like:

http://www.techsmith.com/products/st...sccactivex.asp

Neat stuff, thanks Corey. Now, that's quality!

[Corey]

Indeed. Techsmith is awesome.

Corey Milner
Creative Director, Indigo Rose Software

[Intrigued]

Well, here is a comment from a technician from Techsmith:

Two thing can produce large TSCC AVI file size:

1. The type of content. TSCC does not compress real world type of content well at all. Video from a video camera, photography, gradient filled or dithered surfaces.
2. Audio. By default the Camtasia uses PCM (uncompressed), 16.050kHz, 16bit, mono. This adds about 4KB/second to your videos.

I suppose that you could do other things such as set the key frames to be every frame, but I doubt that you did that.

and...

On the topic of the Sorenson software. If someone can ballpark an estimate of what the following would 'size out' to the latest Sorenson Spark Pro codec, that whould be appreciated (Flash specific >> output)

1. MPEG-1
2. 7 fps
3. MP3 audio (highest Camtasia setting for such)

Also, here is a link to see the sample comparisons (specs on the before Sorenson compression is applied?):

http://www.sorenson.com/solutions/sidex/flash.php

Link below to the page for the Flash specific version:

http://www.sorenson.com/solutions/prod/mx_win.php

Sincerely,

[Intrigued]

You can just use this code if you like:

http://www.techsmith.com/products/st...sccactivex.asp

One thing to note on that Corey, SP2 throws up that Security Bar 'thing'. And form my experience folks may very well bulk or not even realize what they need to do to get the ActiveX installed.

SP2, ack!

Sincerely,

[Corey]

The key is to inform them of the dialog prior to it being present. Works fine. For example:

"This training CD contains video files which have been encoded with the Techsmith video codec for maximum playback quality and performance. In order to view these videos you must have the Techsmith codec installed. Please click here to install the Techsmith Codec now."

Or something to that effect. Works fine. You can use the Techsmith installer or the active X web code, your choice. I prefer the installer. If you serve someone a security window without explaining why then they would be correct to avoid your installer. In terms of the Techsmith codec, it's already out there in a big way. Many of the end users will already have it installed. If you wish to add a user friendly metaphor those, "If you can see the video clip above you already have TSCC!" works well.

Corey Milner
Creative Director, Indigo Rose Software