BEENYWEENIES
Active member
Re: WMV vs. QT vs. the rest....
If you are planning to use the video within a swf file, you DEFINITELY want to encode it in the flv format. There are numerous advantages, not the least of which is that, if imported correctly, flash won't try to recompress (i.e. double compress) your footage, which may be why you had poor quality when you did it before. If you just "import" the FLV into Flash, you are losing some of the true streaming capabilities because the flash player will try to load the entire swf file, including your movie, before it plays. The best method is to "link" to the FLV file by adding the premade media controller to your stage and telling that controller where the flv file lives on your server. The server has to recognize the .flv MIME type, something you may have to ask your host to set up like I did. This method allows the rest of your flash project, i.e. the interface, to load immediately, while waiting to stream the video until the first chunk of it is loaded. I've done this and it worked great, you can see it here:
http://www.brokenoctober.com/media_video_sept.asp
Granted the image quality is a bit booty on my example, but that's only because it's a long video with a lot of motion and the band needed it to be accessable by dial up users. I hit the trifecta of harsh web video requirements!!
By the way, future versions of the Flash video spec will allow for alpha channels, so you can key your video over live, interactive flash animation!!! Holy poo.
As for non-flash streaming, I swear by Quicktime, I've used all the popular formats and here's my take:
Real Player - Wide distribution and user base, but quicktime's user base is identical (QT has 59.2% user saturation while Real has 58.9%) I have found that encoding for quicktime is easier, has more options, and can be repurposed far better than real. Try importing your real encoded video into most apps and you'll see what I mean. QT streams easily, while getting "true" streaming behavior with Real Player requires the use of an expensive, special server setup.
WMP - Good user base (but still less than both Real AND QT at 50.8% if you can believe that!), good codec implementation and WMV9 supports true HD playback. The WMV9 codec is quite powerful, and is a good choice for high end video. In fact, I think some broadcasters are sending their digital TV signals in WM9!!
Quicktime - similar user base (no winners here) but very wide industry adoption as "the standard," something Real Player will never be able to claim. Many options for streaming, live webcasting, hidef, uncompressed, sorenson compression etc. The list goes on. When it comes to compression for the web, I have found that quicktime files hold quality better at lower bitrates, and that generally they stream in faster with fewer pauses and hiccups.
All just my 2cents...
If you are planning to use the video within a swf file, you DEFINITELY want to encode it in the flv format. There are numerous advantages, not the least of which is that, if imported correctly, flash won't try to recompress (i.e. double compress) your footage, which may be why you had poor quality when you did it before. If you just "import" the FLV into Flash, you are losing some of the true streaming capabilities because the flash player will try to load the entire swf file, including your movie, before it plays. The best method is to "link" to the FLV file by adding the premade media controller to your stage and telling that controller where the flv file lives on your server. The server has to recognize the .flv MIME type, something you may have to ask your host to set up like I did. This method allows the rest of your flash project, i.e. the interface, to load immediately, while waiting to stream the video until the first chunk of it is loaded. I've done this and it worked great, you can see it here:
http://www.brokenoctober.com/media_video_sept.asp
Granted the image quality is a bit booty on my example, but that's only because it's a long video with a lot of motion and the band needed it to be accessable by dial up users. I hit the trifecta of harsh web video requirements!!
By the way, future versions of the Flash video spec will allow for alpha channels, so you can key your video over live, interactive flash animation!!! Holy poo.
As for non-flash streaming, I swear by Quicktime, I've used all the popular formats and here's my take:
Real Player - Wide distribution and user base, but quicktime's user base is identical (QT has 59.2% user saturation while Real has 58.9%) I have found that encoding for quicktime is easier, has more options, and can be repurposed far better than real. Try importing your real encoded video into most apps and you'll see what I mean. QT streams easily, while getting "true" streaming behavior with Real Player requires the use of an expensive, special server setup.
WMP - Good user base (but still less than both Real AND QT at 50.8% if you can believe that!), good codec implementation and WMV9 supports true HD playback. The WMV9 codec is quite powerful, and is a good choice for high end video. In fact, I think some broadcasters are sending their digital TV signals in WM9!!
Quicktime - similar user base (no winners here) but very wide industry adoption as "the standard," something Real Player will never be able to claim. Many options for streaming, live webcasting, hidef, uncompressed, sorenson compression etc. The list goes on. When it comes to compression for the web, I have found that quicktime files hold quality better at lower bitrates, and that generally they stream in faster with fewer pauses and hiccups.
All just my 2cents...
