Video Converting help please

4 replies
I have a customer who supplied me with some video he wants on his site. I am having a horrible time with it.

It is in .vob format and I have movavi converter. I can get the video looking great in flv format, but the file ends up being like 103 mb, so it doesn't buffer worth a crap.

If I produce it as a .mov or .wmv its like 7mb and works fine...but looks like ass. I need a happy medium, but can't find anywhere some good settings.

I have a flv player for the site, but am not opposed to using viddler/youtube. I just want what he gave me to look good AND have a good buffer speed so people can watch it without it stopping...starting...stopping etc.

I by far am not a video expert, so I am struggling, but I want to learn this. Can someone point me in the right direction as to where I can find a good resource for this type of info?

Thanks in advance
keith
#converting #slow as hell #video
  • Profile picture of the author Josh Anderson
    but the file ends up being like 103 mb, so it doesn't buffer worth a crap.
    File size has nothing to do with buffering.

    These are the only thing that have to do with buffering:

    1. The player.
    2. The bit rate of your video
    3. The bit rate of the visitors internet connection

    I can make a 900mb file start playing in as little as 1 second without any buffering issues if I encode it at the right bit rate.

    So the first things to check are:

    1. Does the flv player you are using allow you to modify the buffer time or does it force a set buffer time or does it force the entire video to download before playing?

    2. Are you using vp6 codec to encode your video to flv (you should never use anything else) and are you setting the bit rate low enough that it will buffer quickly and stream smoothly over slower broad band internet connections?

    The most affordable vp6 flv encoder is Flix 8 standard which costs $39 and is sold by the company that owns and created the vp6 codec.

    3. When encoding your video if you want to avoid buffer issues over most broadband connections I recommend encoding at less than 300kbps.

    My own preference is 220kbps for the video stream and 32kbps for the audio. That keeps it below 256kbps which will reach the widest market of various connection speeds. It will also save you in bandwidth.

    Then once you have your video encoded at a reasonable bit rate you will not need to worry so much about the file size because you can set the buffer time in your player low. Check to see if your flv player allows you to set the buffer time. If it does not dump the thing.

    As for the results of your encoding using your other formats... that is because you have the bit rate set way to low or are using a really crummy encoder.
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    • Profile picture of the author Keith Boisvert
      Thanks!

      I am using the movavi converter, and I don't see any way to adjust the buffer speed, so I will go ahead and get the flix 8 program if it makes things easier.

      As for a player,what do you recommend. Right now I am just using some format I downloaded from longtail video player. Again, not many options, so a recommendation would help if you can.

      Appreciate the help. There is a decent learning curve here, but well worth it if I can produce a nice end result.

      Keith
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  • Profile picture of the author Ross Dalangin
    Keith, Josh is an expert on videos..look at his sig

    Ross
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  • Profile picture of the author Josh Anderson
    As for a player,what do you recommend. Right now I am just using some format I downloaded from longtail video player. Again, not many options, so a recommendation would help if you can.
    I of course recommend my own players. Specifically Transparent Player as one of the best on the net for optimized streaming of flv videos. You can set the buffer time to anything you want with it.

    However, there should be a buffer setting you can change in the long tail player.

    Also you may want to check how well flix standard handles vob format. Maybe download the demo first and run a test.
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