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Video Player Issues. I need your help!

by SeanyG
6 replies
Hey,

Thanks for reading this post!

I am streaming videos from Amazon S3 for a membership site I will be setting up soon.

The only problem is that the videos aren't displaying properly. The videos themselves are only 620 x 470 pixels. But the video player (JWplayer) I am using shows the video in a much bigger video window.

http://www.startupfreedom.com/member...ntcreation.mov

You can see the actual video here:

http://startupfreedom.s3.amazonaws.c...ntcreation.mov

The problem with this is that the background for the video player is white and so are my videos. So there is a lot of white and there is no definitive outline for my videos.

I would like the area that isn't actually video (anything wider than the blue bar going across the top) to be black.

How can I do this? Should I change video players? Am I doing something wrong?

Your help is appreciated!

~Sean
#issues #player #video
  • Profile picture of the author Marty S
    I would not change the background color. Having a black border there is only going to hilite your real problem here, which is recording using incorrect (narrow/small) dimensions.

    The player is fine too. I think you are over stressing here for very debatable benefits (black border). Next time, just record in a wide screen dimension for a more professional finished product.
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    • Profile picture of the author SeanyG
      Thanks for the advice. I will record future videos with the proper dimensions!

      One question, if the player fills in the narrow space by default with white, why not just change it to black?

      I don't understand how the black will highlight the problem?

      I think you're right about over stressing over debatable benefits!
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      • Profile picture of the author superlever
        The player will work. It's just configuration.

        A couple of notes:

        1) You can use CSS (or even an old school table) to put a border around the video to avoid the white on white.
        2) You shouldn't be using S3 to host your videos. I know so many people do it, but it's just flat our wrong. Anywhere outside of the US will have lots of problems with the video stuttering.

        You should be using Cloudfront in combination with s3 to ensure that your videos are pushed our around the world to stream locally. It's super easy to set up, and totally worth it. You can even make it streaming.

        Amazon CloudFront

        Jay Stockwell
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        • Profile picture of the author Scott Lundergan
          Hi Sean,

          I looked at your file in Media Info and it says you created the file at 700 X 526.

          I create border edges quite often when I get client videos with white backgrounds.

          What you can do is trick the JW Player and add borders to the player by using the generator at Setup Wizard | LongTail Video | Home of the JW Player

          Here is what yours looks like with black border edges when I did it.
          http://www.webvideomarketing.com/wp-...09/jwedges.jpg

          In your case, you would put the dimensions at 710 width X 536 height (add 30 pixels for height and 10 pixels for width is the equation when using the player style in the screenshot)

          Under "Embed Parameters", you would put the file path to the jw player you are using. I would recommend the style you see in the screenshot to be able to make the equation work.

          Under "File", you would add the file path to your video.

          Under stretching, you would put "none"

          Then the other standard settings such as buffer time and autoplay.

          Then you'll have the code with an even black bar around all the edges.

          As a side note, I would not recommend using mov to play your files and would recommend switching to mp4 or flv.

          Hope that helps,

          Scott
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          • Profile picture of the author SeanyG
            Thanks for the detailed reply Scott!

            I'm just going through your steps now.

            Why are .mp4 and .flv better than .mov?


            Originally Posted by Scott Lundergan View Post

            Hi Sean,

            I looked at your file in Media Info and it says you created the file at 700 X 526.

            I create border edges quite often when I get client videos with white backgrounds.

            What you can do is trick the JW Player and add borders to the player by using the generator at Setup Wizard | LongTail Video | Home of the JW Player

            Here is what yours looks like with black border edges when I did it.
            http://www.webvideomarketing.com/wp-...09/jwedges.jpg

            In your case, you would put the dimensions at 710 width X 536 height (add 30 pixels for height and 10 pixels for width is the equation when using the player style in the screenshot)

            Under "Embed Parameters", you would put the file path to the jw player you are using. I would recommend the style you see in the screenshot to be able to make the equation work.

            Under "File", you would add the file path to your video.

            Under stretching, you would put "none"

            Then the other standard settings such as buffer time and autoplay.

            Then you'll have the code with an even black bar around all the edges.

            As a side note, I would not recommend using mov to play your files and would recommend switching to mp4 or flv.

            Hope that helps,

            Scott
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        • Profile picture of the author jbsmith
          I don't get it - the price for Cloudfront seems less expensive than for S3 alone?

          Do you have to get an S3 account and Cloudfront to host videos?

          Thanks,
          Jeff

          Originally Posted by superlever View Post

          The player will work. It's just configuration.

          A couple of notes:

          1) You can use CSS (or even an old school table) to put a border around the video to avoid the white on white.
          2) You shouldn't be using S3 to host your videos. I know so many people do it, but it's just flat our wrong. Anywhere outside of the US will have lots of problems with the video stuttering.

          You should be using Cloudfront in combination with s3 to ensure that your videos are pushed our around the world to stream locally. It's super easy to set up, and totally worth it. You can even make it streaming.

          Amazon CloudFront

          Jay Stockwell
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