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Video on Web Site

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I have a 5 minute promotional video for a local not-for-profit that is in a
.mpg format – it is 90 meg.

When I load it out to the web-site – and then invoke it, it takes 10 minutes (via cable modem … for regular modem – it would be impossible)to load down to Window Media Player – and then it runs just fine … but the delay is unsatisfactory.

What format do I need to convert it to –
or what do I need to do to Media Player to have it come down in small segments (stream?) … What conversion tool would be best to use?

Thanks a lot for your help …..

Topic

Testing – just checking my own posting

In reply to Video on Web Site

Test – I hope to receive a reply to this
question soon – I would like to work on
the changes over this weekend. Thanks – –

video format

In reply to Video on Web Site

There is a format called divx that reduces the size of a video file by 6.5 to 1.The only catch is that the user must have divx software installed on their computer to view the divx encoded files. The software is freely available on the internet and easy for the viewer to install but the encoding of the mpeg file to divx is a little time consuming and involved.
PaulE54600@msn.com

Does it have to be WinMedia?

In reply to video format

You could always use RealProducer Basic to convert it to a .rm and stream it via RealPlayer…that is, if your server supports it.

Point….

In reply to Does it have to be WinMedia?

In order to stream Real Audio files you would need Real Server.

Real Server however costs $$$, and is purchased on a per client liscence model.

Similiar to NT CAls.

Windows Media Server however is free and is only limited to the amount of CALS you have installed on the server.

.asf , .rm & streaming media

In reply to Video on Web Site

The way you have it set up now is a normal file download. That is, before the clip can be played it must be downloaded first.

The way that this is avoided, is by using streaming media services.

Companies such as Akamai, RealAudio and YahooBroadcast offer such streaming media services. You are able to use their servers to essentially “stream” the broadcast.

Our company, Visual Data (www.vdat.com) uses Akamai on a regular basis. All files are stored on our servers, but are delivered over akamai.

It is possible however to set this up your self.

This would be done using the “Free” Windows
Media Server. This is a downloaded add-on for Nt4 server. For 2K server it is included.

You would need to convert yor mpg file into aasf file. Then using the Media Server, you would point the users thru the media server to that file. Then it would stream.

Streaming “buffers” some of the data into the players memory. Once enough is buffered to play the clip will proceed while the rest of the data will be downloaded behind the scenes.

I warn you, if you choose to serve this yourself. Every connection to play the video from the media server will eat up bandwidth.

When you encode the video, encode it a low speed. Iwould say at 28.8 or 56k. Do not opt for the 150k unless you have a ds3 available to you.

Windows Media Tools is what you would need to convert the file from mpg to asf.

Don’t be cruel

In reply to Video on Web Site

Abbie,

Don’t be cruel. How would you like to be chopped up into small segments?
You will loose your audience quickly requiring multiple downloads.

Streaming video is nice for those with high speed internet access; however, most videostill just doesn’t stream well at 56k. Adding to the problem, much of the Internet world still downloads well under 56k.

There are many programs you can get to stream your video. For a selection of choices try searching for streaming video apps in the CNET downloads.

Streaming video tends to cause another problem when it is the only option for web visitors. They can be confusing to many novice web enthusiasts when they are forced to download new software to run your video. Many will choose not to download your video at all.

If I could only implement one choice, I would compress the MPG file allowing it to download much faster.

It has been my experience, in tutoring persons just getting to know the web, that they tend to master compressed files rather quickly.

If possible have several options available for your visitors. Don?t rule out any options you have to allow convenient choices for your web site visitor.

[Author]

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