Client wants video on website - what format do we use?

This will be my first website with video content so this is all new to me. My client has video files in mostly .mov format (said he could also do .avi) but not sure if I should require browsers to use Quicktime or is Windows Media Player more popular? I was going to suggest the latter, but I can't find a way to convert his files to .wmv to use with WMP. Can someone suggest which streaming file formats work best for the web (quality + download time) and give some suggestions on (free) conversion software?

Thanks,
Beverly

 

mystikmedia has some good software thats easy to use. it converts stuff to wmv I think. I edited something the other day and it took just a few minutes.

 

Windows Media Player is the most popular and would be on most any Windows desktop. Therefore, for the best quality / file size ratio, you should go with WMV. DivX would be a good choice for the same (quality/file size), but it would require the visitor to have the DivX codec installed, which would be much less likely for the casual user.

Thanks much for the recommendation, Johann. As noted, Blaze Media Pro includes an easy to use WMV converter feature that would work well for you if that's what you need. It also includes editing, burning, etc. all-in-one.

Good luck!

 

There's always Flash. Using the Flash Video Encoder (Included with Flash 8 Pro) then you can convert video files into Flash, and include a Controller. Seems to work well and apparently something like 97% of internet users have the flash player installed.

Also, I'm not sure about WMV on the Mac. I have a Mac, and I have Windows Media Player on the Mac, but I havn't tried playing a WMV through a browser. If you do use WMV I would suggest adding a link to download the file directly.

The Mac userbase isn't huge, but it doesn't mean you should cut them out

 

Thanks for your help. I downloaded the BlazeMP software and tried it on an .avi file. It converted it to .wmv but every few seconds, these black speckles appear. Is this loss of quality normal? I also tried converting an .mov file but it didn't seem to like the file type. Does it not convert .mov files? If not, do you know of a software that does?

Thanks,
Beverly

 

Regarding the AVI, what codec is the source file using? If you do not know, use this tool: www.headbands.com/gspot/. As for MOV, you need to have either the QuickTime player or QuickTime alternative installed in order to convert MOV files (because of the licensing from Apple).

 

I have Quicktime Player installed - is there a way to convert the .mov files to .wmv with that? If so, pls advise how.

What is codec?

 

I will follow-up with you on this by PM to explain codec and such...

 

I used to have a video download site, therefore I can advise you on this.

If the Video is relatively low quality, use Real-Media, its filesize, is by far the lowest.

I wouldn't use .mov or .wmv as not all internet users have that.
What about .MPG?

 

go to my site http://www.helloworld.com/vmail

and get a video email account. This technology is state of the art. You can send video emails without downloads, attachments, installs, ect. And you can copy/paste the code into your site for steaming video. If you have a video already, just upload it and they will transcode it for you automatically. Plays back on windows media , or real player, or flash. The system checks the user's bandwith, and which players they already have installed and streams it to them. They also have a live broadcast tool that you can password protect, or even do a PPV event. Nice stuff.

 

MPEG is too big. Any Windows user has WMV support...many, many more times the number of people who would have RealPlayer, or even want to install it.

 

Personalyl, I HATE real player. I dont even have it installed. I hate sites with video, that, for some reason only have it in that format.

 

Me too. I feel the same way.

 

If you want everyone to be able to whatch the video RM is your thing.

Search for something called real alternative, it lets you view RM files in windows media player, real sweet.

If you want most people to be able to see it (not all), i'd use a good compressed .wmv in a .zip file.

 

Sure. I use Real Alternative because I won't install Real Player and every once in a long while I have to view a RM, but most people would not have either installed. That's why RM is not a good option. Since everyone using Windows would have WMV support and it produces small file sizes, that is why I recommended it.

 

Both File Types have their advantages.

 

what about a converted video into flash?
Looks nice and you don`t need any plugins or special formats!

 

Flash is a good option. It does actually require a plugin, but a lot more people have it than Real Player or Real Alternative. WMV would still be the better option (since it works for anyone running Windows), but Flash would be a good second option.

 

You can convert video to flash? Is that in your software too?

 

not really, but you can import some formats, depends on the version.