Help! Video Streaming best practices?

by emptyo
5 replies
Hi,

I've got a membership site that has 15 video-based tutorials. The site is Wordpress/S2 Member. I've just launched the 3.0 version of my training, which I did in 720p. Videos were saved (optimized) in Final Cut Pro X, then cut in half with Handbrake. I'm hosting with Amazon S3 and streaming with Cloudfront right into JW Player on the site.

My problem is, the videos are still hitching and having buffering issues for a lot of folks. I can't seem to squash that bug. The files themselves are NOT that huge. Less than 75mb in most cases.

I've gotta be missing something...can anyone recommend an alternative hosting solution (I can't use Vimeo b/c of their ToS) where I can stream from? I don't mind paying if I have to.

Thanks.
#practices #streaming #video
  • Profile picture of the author Brandon Tanner
    A ~75mb video file is kinda pushing it for someone on a slower connection (ie low-end DSL). How long is each video? If they're not too long, then my guess is that you could further compress them without affecting the quality too much (try lowering the bitrate and/or framerate).

    Also, to properly stream MP4 files, the metadata needs to be at the front of the file (in Handbrake, this is accomplished by choosing the "web optimized" option). Otherwise, it will just "buffer" until the entire video is loaded.

    And are you using the 'HTML5' version of JWPlayer? In my opinion, you will get the best cross-browser performance if you use all three HTML5 video formats (mp4, webm, ogv), along with Flash fallback.
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    • Profile picture of the author emptyo
      Hey Brandon, I've chosen web-optimized, and am using all three at the moment. The longest video is 27 minutes, I think. I haven't played with bitrate yet, but I'm going to do some experimenting with Handbrake and see what I can come up with. Thanks!
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      Podcast Producer/Speaker/Social Media Trainer http://www.itsaboutsocial.com
      Any tips or help, greatly appreciated! | What can I do for you? I have public speaking, video producing, podcasting, web design and development, branding and identity, and mlm experience.

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      • Profile picture of the author Brandon Tanner
        Yeah, try experimenting with a lower bitrate. Also, for low-motion videos (ie screen capture, talking head, etc), I've found that you can get away with using a pretty low framerate as well (15fps). Some folks will have trouble viewing a 30fps video (especially at 720p) if their RAM and/or graphics card is lacking... even if they're on a high-speed internet connection.
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  • Profile picture of the author emptyo
    There's a chance I didn't click "web optimized" the first time around. I'm going to resave and try that.
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    Podcast Producer/Speaker/Social Media Trainer http://www.itsaboutsocial.com
    Any tips or help, greatly appreciated! | What can I do for you? I have public speaking, video producing, podcasting, web design and development, branding and identity, and mlm experience.

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  • Profile picture of the author emptyo
    Ok, so here's where I ended up:

    I've resaved: 1280 X 720 p, avg. Bitrate of 800, AAC @ 128, Reference frames set to "4", web optimized ON, and it took a 548mb file to 98mb, but it appears to stream like a CHAMP now. I've put it out for one chapter and asked my users to check it out. If all is well, I'll resave all of them and be done with this!
    Signature

    Podcast Producer/Speaker/Social Media Trainer http://www.itsaboutsocial.com
    Any tips or help, greatly appreciated! | What can I do for you? I have public speaking, video producing, podcasting, web design and development, branding and identity, and mlm experience.

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