Best Way To Put Video On A Website?

[Phil]

Hi,

A client has sent me a rather large .avi vid which he wants put on his website. Currrently, it's about 300mb. This is a little out of my range of expertise but I wanted to at least come back with some suggestions.

I guess my main thought is to put it on YouTube - that way it doesn't take up the client's bandwidth - but it does, potentially, take people off site.

What sort of technologies should I be considering if this vid was to be hosted on the client's site. And is .avi the best format for this?

How about compression? What's the best way to reduce this file in size?

Thanks,
Phil

[spearce000]

Google Video will accept a larger video file than YouTube, so that might be the best solution. You can embed the code in your client's web page, so the visitor isn't taken off site.

If your client wants to host the video himself, then Flash is the best way to go. There are lots of software packages around that can convert avi to flash -- some are listed here Flash avi free software by swftoavi.com and others . An embedded flash file will eat up bandwidth, though.

[spearce000]

Duplicate post deleted - why does it keep doing this?

[Phil]

Originally Posted by spearce000

Google Video will accept a larger video file than YouTube, so that might be the best solution. You can embed the code in your client's web page, so the visitor isn't taken off site.

If your client wants to host the video himself, then Flash is the best way to go. There are lots of software packages around that can convert avi to flash -- some are listed here Flash avi free software by swftoavi.com and others . An embedded flash file will eat up bandwidth, though.

Thanks for your reply.

Actually, I have a copy of Flash in my new CS4 collection - so maybe I can do it in that. Athough I am very rusty with Flash - know of any good tutorials where I could try that option out?

I hadn't thought of Google Video, thanks for the heads up on that option.

Phil

[digileaf]

Hi Phil

Consider yourself lucky! With an AVI file you have lots of options available to you. I always recommend that people start with an AVI because that is pretty much uncompressed and you can convert it to flash, windows media or any other format.

I would recommend Flash because 98% of the world's computers have the Flash Player, it also gets good quality output too. In CS3 you would need to use Flash Video Encoder (I presume it's the same in CS4). Personally, I use the FlixPro encoder which has the same engine - but the Pro version is a bit pricey. There are many other cheap or free tools that are available on the web, for quick conversions. They tend to have quite fixed parameters, so you may not get much of a chance to experiment or have much control on the quality of output for your selected speed. But trial and error is the key.

My real recommendation would be to put it on to your client's site, I think it looks nicer. There is just a short piece of code that you need to put in the html page, if your client's site is a standard html site. If the site is CMS based (e.g. Joomla etc) then there are all sorts of great plugins - but I'll assume a standard html page. Plus, of course you would need to upload the converted video file.

Typically, if you start with a 300mb AVI file you'll probably get it down to anout 3 - 5 mb when it is compressed for streaming. So you don't have to worry about bandwidth issues on your client's site.

I notice you are based in the UK. So am I. I'm in Watford, so please feel free to PM me with your contact details and we could have a proper chat. When I know more about what you are trying to achieve and what resources you have, I can give you some more targetted advice.

Regards

Kate

[Phil]

Originally Posted by digileaf

Hi Phil

Consider yourself lucky! With an AVI file you have lots of options available to you. I always recommend that people start with an AVI because that is pretty much uncompressed and you can convert it to flash, windows media or any other format.

I would recommend Flash because 98% of the world's computers have the Flash Player, it also gets good quality output too. In CS3 you would need to use Flash Video Encoder (I presume it's the same in CS4). Personally, I use the FlixPro encoder which has the same engine - but the Pro version is a bit pricey. There are many other cheap or free tools that are available on the web, for quick conversions. They tend to have quite fixed parameters, so you may not get much of a chance to experiment or have much control on the quality of output for your selected speed. But trial and error is the key.

My real recommendation would be to put it on to your client's site, I think it looks nicer. There is just a short piece of code that you need to put in the html page, if your client's site is a standard html site. If the site is CMS based (e.g. Joomla etc) then there are all sorts of great plugins - but I'll assume a standard html page. Plus, of course you would need to upload the converted video file.

Typically, if you start with a 300mb AVI file you'll probably get it down to anout 3 - 5 mb when it is compressed for streaming. So you don't have to worry about bandwidth issues on your client's site.

I notice you are based in the UK. So am I. I'm in Watford, so please feel free to PM me with your contact details and we could have a proper chat. When I know more about what you are trying to achieve and what resources you have, I can give you some more targetted advice.

Regards

Kate

Hi Kate,

thank you for your very helpful reply.

I didn't expect to be able to drop the size from 300+ to 3 or 4. So hosting it does sound like a realistic option.

Thank you also for your offer of further help - I am PM-ing you to follow up.

Phil

[Sagar Mehta]

Phil,

Google Video has stopped accepting new uploads so that is not an option anymore.

It'll be a good idea to convert it to a Flash video - it brings down the size considerably. Once that's done, you could probably upload it anywhere you like.

For YouTube, there's a code you can attach at the end of the video to make sure it doesn't display those 'Related Videos' and 'Search' bar inside your video. Can't recall right now but I think it's "&rel=0".

So, if you upload to YouTube and your URL is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NE51DtXqP4

Then, when embedding it using the embed code, you'll have to change the URL like this (note the bolded URL):

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_NE51DtXqP4&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_NE51DtXqP4&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

Hope this help

Regards,
Sagar

[Darren Mothersele]

Originally Posted by Phil

I guess my main thought is to put it on YouTube - that way it doesn't take up the client's bandwidth - but it does, potentially, take people off site.

You could try Hassle free video hosting- Bits on the Run Beta

You get benefits of YouTube (not taking clients bandwidth) but without potentially taking people off site.

[tdjprj]

You can use Youtube if you do not mind host your video on Youtube server and also display their watermarks and links everytime people open the video. If your client prefer to have a more commercial presence and display the video on their own server, it would be better to use a video player locally. Do a search for flash website video software They can usually convert your AVI file into .FLV format first (same as Youtube format, flash streaming), and then allow you to choose a video player skin, and generate the HTML code for you to embed to player to your existing HTML pages. You shouldn't embed AVI file directly inside a web page, as not all browser has AVI plug-in for viewing it, and the size makes it not viewable.

[midasman09]

Yes....convert to Flash and put on your own sites.

Here's a FREE "Flash Converter";

Free Video to Flash Converter: convert video to flv swf flash

Midas Man

[havplenty]

I think the overwhelming consensus is to convert to flash. However, here is where I would do things a bit differently.

This assumes you've got camtasia:

Import file into camtasia and produce video into a flash file. Make sure you produce the video with the html option attached.

Once this is done upload the contents of the output folder to your client's server.

Take the actual url of the uploaded flash video (something like this: http://yourclientsdomian/thevideofolder/thevideo.html) and put it in an iframe. It works a charm and I notice this is how the 'big boys' are doing it these days.

If your client is worried about bandwidth, try hosting the video on Amazon S3. It's dirt cheap and super fast video streaming.

Hope this helps.

Hav

P.S. Whilst youtube is a great option for saving on storage and bandwith, it's notorious for leeching the attention of the visitor.

[warriortx]

I stopped using youtube because I was tired of losing my visitors too.
so i use mp4 and my a free player.

[Coleen.Young]

Hey Phil.

Compressing your video would pose no problems as, I believe, you have the raw avi file and you've got lots of allowance for depreciation in quality when the file is reduced.

Indeed, FlixPro as well as Sorenson Squeeze are the industry leaders when it comes to video compression technology. If you still need help and if you can find a way to send me the raw avi, I can convert it for you (free with a smile ).

As for a video hosting service that won't take your visitors off site, I'd recommend Vimeo.com, which I actually prefer for HD presentations.

[plainwords]

I use Sothink Video Encoder, which converts a wide range of video formats to flash. It has a selection of nice, professional looking players.

Here is a link Sothink Flash Video Encoder - Flash Video Converter, Convert video to Flash/FLV

[kenj]

Youtube has an option when you collect the embedded link to not display other videos at the end of yours. You can also put a border around it. It is a cheap way to get started.

[charlieangles]

It is my opinion, as an experienced webmaster that we should never get to fixed on using a particular piece of software, tool or web based application and when the performance of something new supersedes what you're currently using, you need to make the switch.
This includes were to host the video, what format and codec to use and how best to skin the video with players. Other considerations you need to think about are, is it possible to use cloud based hosting services like Amazon S3 or CloudFront, whether or not you can embed functionality into your video players like embedded Opt In forms, embedded Buy Buttons like Pay Pal and whether the video will auto re-direct after completion.

Video marketing is going to be the next big competitive advantage to those businesses who figure out how to take advantage of this.

All of this is happening because of the fast uptake of broadband and the light speed advances of new web based video solutions.
Web Video Analytics has to be another key determinant when choosing a video platform, think what it was like before the introduction of Google Analytics. Any one using video to promote their business, group or individual needs to be tracking who's watching and from where.