Best type of video files to post on iWeb pages?

Question

Level 2

360 points

Best type of video files to post on iWeb pages?

I am a teacher and I am posting Screencasts that I record of my lessons each day on my website created by iWeb '09. I have been exporting them as either .mov files or .mp4 files (both H.264) and playing them in a Flash "wrapper". I have been using a Flash "wrapper" thinking that more people have the ability to play flash than quicktime. However, what I have noticed on an old Mac Mini that my daughter has is that the H.264 files played within the wrapper tend to hesitate while playing. If I just "drop" the file in an iWeb page, it seems to play without the hesitation (on the old Mac Mini). (By the way...these files are mostly around 50-70 mb in size.) The problem is that most of my students have PC's and it seems that every year there are at least a few that have problems playing the quicktime files (which is why I went the way of the wrapper). Anyone have any advice on the best video for all?

Aluminum MacBook 2.4GHz (2 Gig RAM), iMac G5 20 2.0 Ghz (1.5 Gig RAM), Mac OS X (10.6.1)

Posted on Nov 5, 2009 7:17 PM

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Answer 1

Roddy

Level 6

17,265 points

Nov 5, 2009 9:42 PM in response to Terry Daniels

You can convert them to SWF....

http://roddymckay.com/VisualMedia/ConvertQuickTimetoFlash.html

"I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link."

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Answer 2

Terry Daniels Author

Level 2

360 points

Nov 6, 2009 9:05 AM in response to Roddy

Thanks for the reply. However, I have tried this before and that adds an extra step to my process...which I am trying to streamline. Also, when there is video in the lesson, there seems to be some serious degradation to that part of the lesson.

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Answer 3

Nov 6, 2009 9:17 AM in response to Terry Daniels

Export the file from your editing application as h.264, change the extension to .flv to convert it to a Flash video format which is supported for playback on computers with Flash Player 9+

You can use something like the JW Player from http://LongTailVideo.com to play an h.264 file in a Flash player.

Keep in mind the bitrate of the exported video which is the 'speed limit' of progressive download file. Higher bitrate requires a faster internet connection and computer processor to download and playback in realtime. A lower bitrate will download faster and will be more likely to playback in realtime. H.264 is a processor-intensive format so users with older computers that have slower processors will have a harder time playing back the file in realtime if even at all.

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Answer 4

Terry Daniels Author

Level 2

360 points

Nov 6, 2009 9:38 AM in response to  Certified

Thanks for the reply. I have been using the Longtail "wrapper" and have been doing as you suggested for some time. Older computers are having trouble playing the files without the video hesitating, etc... I guess there is no perfect solution. I suppose I could load up both a flash "wrapper" version and a quicktime version on each page. That just adds time to the process that I am trying to streamline.

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Answer 5

Nov 6, 2009 9:54 AM in response to Terry Daniels

Please open one of your .mov or .mp4 files in QuickTime Player and then open the Movie Inspector window to report what it says about it.
H.264 is CPU sensitive and older machines may have some trouble with "dropped frames" during playback.
Using Flash isn't always the best solution and H.264 in it makes it even more CPU intensive.
The older MPEG-4 video codec in a QuickTime wrapper would work with nearly any machine made after 2002 and QuickTime 5, or higher, installed.

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Answer 6

Terry Daniels Author

Level 2

360 points

Nov 6, 2009 11:15 AM in response to QuickTimeKirk

QuicktimeKirk...what you are saying is exactly what is happening. I am attempting to play H.264 files (.mov, .mp4, .mv4, etc...) within a flash wrapper. I have also converted these files to .swf as I mentioned in an earlier post...wasn't totally happy with those results.

Could you explain a little more about this and how I can accomplish this?
"The older MPEG-4 video codec in a QuickTime wrapper would work with nearly any machine made after 2002 and QuickTime 5, or higher, installed."
Will an iPhone or iTouch play these files?

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Answer 7

Nov 6, 2009 11:24 AM in response to Terry Daniels

Terry Daniels wrote:
Will an iPhone or iTouch play these files?

Have you looked at the video playback requirements on the specifications page? You will find your answer there.

The older MPEG-4 video codec would work with QuickTime 5, or higher, installed.

In obvious terms this means that a computer (PC) that does not have Quicktime player installed will not play the MPEG-4 file.

If you wanted to go that route you could encode a WMV file for PC users and a MPEG-4 file for Mac users then use a server side script to determine the users' browser and display the appropriate file. This method is beyond the scope of novice iWeb design, however.

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Answer 8

Terry Daniels Author

Level 2

360 points

Nov 6, 2009 12:23 PM in response to  Certified

I really would like to put just one type of file on my website. I barely have enough time the way that things are to record, edit and post the screencasts that I am. Converting the file and posting again is not something I am interested in. I suppose what I need to do is to put a link to Quicktime and recommend that anyone not able to play these H.264 files to download and install it...thanks for the recommendation though.

Anyone know some suggested minimum PC requirements for playing an H.264 .m4v file (so I could post these on my website) and a minimum Quicktime version to play these on?

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Answer 9

Nov 6, 2009 12:27 PM in response to Terry Daniels

You still haven't posted any information about your source files (Movie Inspector window).
There are many methods and different codecs that could help you display them for a broader audience via QuickTime.

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Answer 10

Nov 6, 2009 12:42 PM in response to Terry Daniels

Terry Daniels wrote:
Converting the file and posting again is not something I am interested in.

You wouldn't have to. There's a nice little app called Automator that does what the name implies - it automates the process. Might be worth checking out.

You should not ask and/or expect your visitors to download additional software in order to view your content. Instead they will most likely look somewhere else for the content.

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Answer 11

Terry Daniels Author

Level 2

360 points

Nov 6, 2009 12:42 PM in response to QuickTimeKirk

Ooops...sorry about that. Just so you know, I am using Camtasia for Mac to create my screencasts. It does all of the exporting for me. The latest export that I did, which used to iPhone and Web setting (.m4v) gave me this...

H.264, 480x360
AAC, 2 channels, 44100 Hz
FPS 30
Data Rate 899.23 kbit/s

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Answer 12

Nov 6, 2009 12:59 PM in response to Terry Daniels

I doubt you need "stereo" sound so that part of the file could be reduced via export. Since it is probably "voice" you could also reduce the frequency in half (half again the file size).
The .m4v file extension isn't really needed as it defaults to the iTunes app for local playback.
Does your Camtasia software offer other file creation options? Can you choose other audio/video codecs?

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Answer 13

Terry Daniels Author

Level 2

360 points

Nov 6, 2009 1:08 PM in response to QuickTimeKirk

The .m4v is just the latest that I've tried. Most of the time I exported to .mp4 and those stats looked like this...

H.264, 640x480
AAC, 2 channels, 44100 Hz
FPS 30
Data Rate 430.78 kbit/s

Yes, Camtasia gives other file creation options and other codecs. I tried the .m4v option because I would like the students who have iPhones and iTouchs to be able to watch them on these devices as well.

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Answer 14

Nov 6, 2009 1:17 PM in response to Terry Daniels

Wow.
Do you see the obvious difference between the two?
50% bigger display size at half of the data rate. A major difference. And they still probably fall into the iPhone/iTouch specifications.

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Answer 15

Terry Daniels Author

Level 2

360 points

Nov 6, 2009 1:22 PM in response to QuickTimeKirk

The .mp4 export wasn't working on the iPhone or iTouch, that is why I tried the .m4v. Not sure why it wasn't working. Do you think I should stick with the H.264 .mp4 export? (Assuming I can get it to work on the iPhone).

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