My First Video - but loads too slow :( | Warrior Forum - The #1 Digital Marketing Forum & Marketplace

15 years ago

Can you show us the video.. ie a link to see whats happening..

18 minutes is not particularly long so its a bit strange.

Thanks

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Josh Anderson

15 years ago

1. Is there a buffer setting on the player you are using?

If not render it as an flv and get a professional player with a buffer setting. With my own players I can optimize my videos and then set the buffer setting to as little as 1 second. My videos play instantly.

2. Make sure you are rendering it at an optimized bit rate. That can effect load time over slower connections.

It really pays to understand these two concepts. If you have a player that can control buffer time setting and if you can encode your videos an an optimized bit rate you don't need any fancy host at all...

I can make any video load and play in as little as 1 second if it is encoded and optimized correctly and I set the buffer time on my player to 1 second.... I can even pull this off with a video that is long like more than an hour..

It does not matter how long a video is. Length has no impact at all on how fast I can get a video to play. Its all about the encoding, the player you are using, and the buffer setting you have set if the player you are using has one.

Btw... camtasia 3 players are garbage to begin with. Never use them. Ever.

Always render your video as a full uncompressed AVI then encode it to flv with a professional encoder like Flix 8 Standard and then emebd them with a professional video player.

Thanks
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Marty S 15 years ago

Originally Posted by Josh Anderson

If not render it as an flv and get a professional player with a buffer setting.

If you feel you must host it yourself, then Josh is right here, FLV works best with many players.

The max length of videos I use is 20 mins, but I do prefer closer to 10 minutes so I will split up longer ones now. Still that should not affect your buffering. If you are planning to do more of these videos, then I would certainly consider a video host like Screencast or WebVideoZone.
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Kevin Riley

15 years ago

Originally Posted by Josh Anderson

Always render your video as a full uncompressed AVI then encode it to flv with a professional encoder like Flix 8 Standard and then emebd them with a professional video player.

If for some quircky reason you want to host it yourself (not recommended).

Otherwise, host it on Amazon S3 and distribute it with their new Cloudfront system. It's cheap as borscht and fast as lightning. I have a video that's exactly the same length as yours, and 853x480 pixels (a monster) and it loads in under 1 sec:

Click here to see the video. Sorry nothing for sale there now.

Thanks
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Josh Anderson

15 years ago

Originally Posted by Kevin Riley

If for some quircky reason you want to host it yourself (not recommended).

Otherwise, host it on Amazon S3 and distribute it with their new Cloudfront system. It's cheap as borscht and fast as lightning. I have a video that's exactly the same length as yours, and 853x480 pixels (a monster) and it loads in under 1 sec:

1. Loading time has very little to do with your hosting account. The two main things that effect load and play time when using progressive video players are the buffer setting and the bit rate of the video.

There are other factors that come into play when you are delivering significant amounts of video views (server resources and uplink) but very few warriors do significant volume and if they did they could switch file paths to a CDN hosted file on the fly.

2. Amazon S3 is one of the most expensive hosting solutions on the internet. The only people it seems cheap to are people who have very low volume.

As a price saving option it makes sense for people serving less than 60gb of video a month but anyone doing more than that should consider self hosting up to about 2 terabyte a month...

Then above 2 terabyte to save more money and tap into a better network:

SimpleCDN - Pure Delivery is much cheaper if you really need unlimited scalable resources.

A couple great options for self hosting are Web Hosting: Dedicated & Shared Website Hosting Solutions - Aplus.net and Web Hosting by PowWeb - One Plan, One Price

Also powweb accounts provide colocation and load balancing as well as a $3 a month upgrade to connect your distribution to the Akamai network.

I just want to reiterate again... the two main things that effect how fast a video loads are buffer time and bit rate. If your buffer time is set low and your bit rate you encoded your video at is less than your visitors internet connection then your video can be made to load instantly...

Even if you are self hosting :-)

So the OP is going to continue pulling his hair out even if he hosts his large bit rate long buffer video on S3.

The only way he will accomplish what he is seeking which is a FAST LOADING video is to read and apply exactly what I have shared about encoding in my posts in this thread.

If the OP wants a solution... encoding bit rate and buffer settings are the simple answer to this one. Yet so few people understand the importance of these very basic optimization concepts which is why this same issue (video loading slow) comes up in discussions over and over again.

Thanks
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Johnadab Banned 15 years ago

Thanks for the hosting options, but I am happy with my own server.
I have a dedicated server -it runs fine and I will monitor the bandwidth.

Anyway - back to my problem.

Should I just play with that my_vid_config.xml file ?

Or should I re-produce it in AVI format ?

What about using Flowplayer ?

Here is that xml file.

My video is called "part3"

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<main>
<config>
<hasPipVideo type="Boolean">0</hasPipVideo>
<hasPipOverlay type="Boolean">0</hasPipOverlay>
<hasToc type="Boolean">0</hasToc>
<hasAudio type="Boolean">1</hasAudio>
<mainVidIsFlv type="Boolean">0</mainVidIsFlv>
<skinTheme>glass</skinTheme>
<autoStart type="Boolean">1</autoStart>
<backgroundColor>FFFFFF</backgroundColor>
<showLoadingMov type="Boolean">1</showLoadingMov>
<scaleLoadingMov type="Boolean">1</scaleLoadingMov>
<loadingMovPercentToLoad type="Number">50</loadingMovPercentToLoad>
<loadingMovMinDuration type="Number">3</loadingMovMinDuration>
<controllerColor type="Number">0xC0C0C0</controllerColor>
<showAbout type="Boolean">1</showAbout>
<aboutBoxText></aboutBoxText>
<timeDisplayFormat>MM:SS</timeDisplayFormat>
<showDuration type="Boolean">1</showDuration>
<showElapsedTime type="Boolean">1</showElapsedTime>
<timeDisplayFont>Arial</timeDisplayFont>
<timeDisplayFontColor type="Number">0x000000</timeDisplayFontColor>
<okLabel>OK</okLabel>
<localSecurityWarningTitle>Important</localSecurityWarningTitle>
<localSecurityWarning>This action is not allowed by the default Flash Player security settings when the content is played from a hard drive or CD. Once the content is moved to a web server, it should function as expected, and you should not see this message.

For other distribution methods, or to understand how the Flash Player security settings affect this content, please see the "Flash Player Security" topic in the Camtasia Studio help file.

</localSecurityWarning>
<includeScoreInEmail type="Boolean">0</includeScoreInEmail>
<endAction>JumpToURL</endAction>

<endActionParam>http://www.heavyhoster.com/</endActionParam>
<controlsWidth type="Number">640</controlsWidth>
<controlsHeight type="Number">420</controlsHeight>
<video1>
<width type="Number">640</width>
<height type="Number">420</height>
</video1>
<pip>
<width type="Number">0</width>
<height type="Number">0</height>
</pip>
<toc>
<x type="Number">0</x>
<y type="Number">0</y>
<width type="Number">0</width>
<height type="Number">0</height>

<backgroundColor type="Number"></backgroundColor>

<alternatingRowColors>

<array>

<colors type="Number"></colors>
<colors type="Number"></colors>
</array>
</alternatingRowColors>
<rowDepthColors>

<array>

<colors type="Number"></colors>

<colors type="Number"></colors>

</array>
</rowDepthColors>
<rowRollOverColor type="Number">0xA4A4A4</rowRollOverColor>

<rowSelectedColor type="Number">0xC0C0C0</rowSelectedColor>

<rowIndentation>10</rowIndentation>

<borderStyle>solid</borderStyle>

<textColor type="Number">0x000000</textColor>

<fontFamily>_sans</fontFamily>

<fontSize type="Number">12</fontSize>
<fontWeight>none</fontWeight>

<textAlign>left</textAlign>

<textDecoration>none</textDecoration>

<textIndent type="Number">0</textIndent>
<textRollOverColor type="Number">0x000000</textRollOverColor>

<textSelectedColor type="Number">0x000000</textSelectedColor>

<useRollOver type="Boolean">0</useRollOver>

<collapsible type="Boolean">0</collapsible>

</toc>
</config>
<playlist>
<array>
<fileset>
<video1>
<duration type="Number">1074.20</duration>
<uri>part3.swf</uri>
<frameRate type="Number">14</frameRate>
<keyframeRate type="Number">0</keyframeRate>
<blendingMode>Normal</blendingMode>
<isFlv type="Boolean">0</isFlv>
</video1>
<pip>
<duration type="Number">0.00</duration>
<frameRate type="Number">0</frameRate>
<keyframeRate type="Number">30</keyframeRate>
<uri>part3_PIP.flv</uri>
</pip>
<hasPipVideo type="Boolean">0</hasPipVideo>
<hotspotInfo>

</hotspotInfo>
<quizInfo>

</quizInfo>

</fileset>
</array>

</playlist>
<tocInfo>

</tocInfo>
</main>
Thanks.
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Marty S

15 years ago

Originally Posted by Josh Anderson

The only way he will accomplish what he is seeking which is a FAST LOADING video is to read and apply exactly what I have shared about encoding in my posts in this thread.

I never have these problems, and I rarely host my own videos. I guess I just prefer a simpler life such as:

1 - Create the video.
2 - Upload to free (or other) site using rec specs.
3 - Embed wherever I need to.
4 - On to next project!

Thanks
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Johnadab

Banned 15 years ago

As Josh said,
This has nothing to do with hosting it is more to do with
the settings of the production.

I DID read Josh's posts again - thanks for the info
but there are several specifics missing.

eg:
Quote:
If not render it as an flv and get a professional player with a buffer setting. With my own players I can optimize my videos and then set the buffer setting to as little as 1 second. My videos play instantly.

I have asked about which player to use - someone suggested flowplay - not sure if that will
do the trick so I asked again.

Anyone use it ? can I set buffer and bit rate on it ?

and:

Quote:
If you follow my advice and use a player that allows you to set the buffer time you will have a video that can play instantly if you want. I could literally make your video play without stopping in 1 second ;-)

All you need to do is encode the video at a bit rate that is low enough to be lower than the bandwidth available to your target market.
My own rule of thumb is 220kbps video and 32kbps audio...
------------------------------------------------------

So - the above looks like good advice but I am using Camtasia 3 and I don't know where I set this bit rate for the video and audio.

It seems that Josh has recommended that I save to AVI (option 1)
and not option 2 - Flash (SWF/FLV) Macromedia Flash output

But then he also says:
So the only two things that stand in your way are you need to adjust your bit rate that you encode your flv at so that it is optimized... between 220kbps and 350kbps to fit your tastes, and to use a player that allows you to set the buffer time to a fast as you want it.

Well if I am saving to AVI then how do ı get it to encode it to flv ?
Guess I have to use another bit of software ?

If someone can help me fill in the missing blanks to this puzzle I would really appreciate it

Thanks.

Thanks
1 reply

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Josh Anderson

15 years ago

Originally Posted by Johnadab

As Josh said,
This has nothing to do with hosting it is more to do with
the settings of the production.

I DID read Josh's posts again - thanks for the info
but there are several specifics missing.

eg:
Quote:
If not render it as an flv and get a professional player with a buffer setting. With my own players I can optimize my videos and then set the buffer setting to as little as 1 second. My videos play instantly.

I have asked about which player to use -

You can use ANY player that has a buffer control setting. If you ask me what the best player that supports flv and h.264 mp4 playback is to use is I will recommend my Transparent Player but the key is just finding one that offers a buffer setting.

So - the above looks like good advice but I am using Camtasia 3 and I don't know where I set this bit rate for the video and audio.

It seems that Josh has recommended that I save to AVI (option 1)
and not option 2 - Flash (SWF/FLV) Macromedia Flash output

But then he also says:
So the only two things that stand in your way are you need to adjust your bit rate that you encode your flv at so that it is optimized... between 220kbps and 350kbps to fit your tastes, and to use a player that allows you to set the buffer time to a fast as you want it.

Well if I am saving to AVI then how do ı get it to encode it to flv ?
Guess I have to use another bit of software ?

If someone can help me fill in the missing blanks to this puzzle I would really appreciate it

Thanks.

Simply render it as an AVI at the best settings. Then encode it to an flv using Flix 8 standard or pro at the bit rates I suggested. Its really that simple.

Don't mess with encoding using camtasia 3 and don't use the camtasia 3 players. Camtasia 3 sucks for these things. There are people who will disagree with me on this... but that is why you are having all these problems.

The solution is render as AVI at the highest quality so you have a nice master file and then encode using Flix 8 using the same frame rate as the original master video, set the audio bit rate to 32kbps mono and set the video bit rate to a low bit rate (I prefer 220kbps) preferably one that keeps your total bit rate (audio and video compbined) under 256kbps.

This will give you the best reach for the widest market for instant streaming using the shortest buffer times.

Thanks
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Johnadab Banned 15 years ago

First of all,
just want to say thanks again for your input.
(esp to Josh)

I am now looking at the save as AVI option and under
the Video Compression, I have several options
Cinepak codec
Intel Indeo
Intel IYUV
Microsoft Video 1
Indeo Video 5.1
Tech Smith Screen capture
DivX
Helix
Full Frames (Uncompressd)

Josh - In your video (Yep I watched it ) you said that
Microsoft Video 1 is fine and to use 100% quality for compression

However in an earlier post you wrote:
"Always render your video as a full uncompressed AVI then encode it to flv with a professional encoder like Flix 8 Standard and then emebd them with a professional video player."

So is it best to select "Full Frames (Uncompressed) in line with your post
or
To go with Microsoft Video 1 is fine and to use 100% quality for compression
- Thanks
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- Johnadab Banned 15 years ago
  
  Thanks to maxp76
  
  Hi Max.
  Don't worry about your English, you gave some great advice.
  
  I edited the xml file and changed the lines that you suggested.
  
  These lines were:
  <loadingMovPercentToLoad type="Number">50</loadingMovPercentToLoad>
  <loadingMovMinDuration type="Number">3</loadingMovMinDuration>
  
  so I changed them to:
  
  <loadingMovPercentToLoad type="Number">5</loadingMovPercentToLoad>
  <loadingMovMinDuration type="Number">1</loadingMovMinDuration>
  
  And now the video seems to start playing much quicker.
  
  I was a bit concerned that it maybe starting to play quicker
  because I had cached it. But I put the video under a different domain
  and then played it, and it started after about 15 seconds.
  
  That was done without any reproduction, just changing those
  variables.
  
  Any thoughts ?
  
  Thanks
  
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seantanmarketing

15 years ago

You can consider to host your video at https://s3.amazonaws.com/

They have high quality storage service and most internet gurus are using it for their videos and audios.

No monthly fee and only pay what you're using.

Thank you.

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maxp76

15 years ago

When you're producing the video, you must produce it in the flash format, and set under the 'flash options' (controls --> loading movie) the minimun percentage of movie to display ( time or % ).
You must try some combinations that work for you!
Also, you can edit the xml and change the <loadingMovPercentToLoad type="Number"> and the <loadingMovMinDuration type="Number"> without the need to re-produce the video!
Hope to help you !

Thanks
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Johnadab

Banned 15 years ago

Just want to thank everyone for their posts.

This is what I am doing:

I am using Camtasia 3 to put together my video

Then I use the production wizard to create the files.

I have the following options:
1) AVI Video
2) Flash (SWF/FLV) Macromedia Flash output
3) WMV Windows Media Streaming Video
4) MOV Quicktime Movie.

Now I choose number 2
Which seems to be what maxp76 is saying.

But Josh - you say:

Quote:
Always render your video as a full uncompressed AVI then encode it to flv with a professional encoder like Flix 8 Standard and then emebd them with a professional video player.

So should I be using option number 1 ?

Thanks
1 reply

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Josh Anderson

15 years ago

Originally Posted by Johnadab

But Josh - you say:

Quote:
Always render your video as a full uncompressed AVI then encode it to flv with a professional encoder like Flix 8 Standard and then embed them with a professional video player.

So should I be using option number 1 ?

Yep.

If you follow my advice and use a player that allows you to set the buffer time you will have a video that can play instantly if you want.

I could literally make your video play without stopping in 1 second ;-)

All you need to do is encode the video at a bit rate that is low enough to be lower than the bandwidth available to your target market.

My own rule of thumb is 220kbps video and 32kbps audio...

But some people like to pump up the video bit rate a little because they are not willing to sacrifice a little quality for higher delivery and response rates like I am ;-)

To prove a point...

The following video (part of my members only training from my Trigger Players package) is set to play after just 3 seconds of loading time and the video stream is 180kbps:

Click here to see example screen capture video

Its self hosted. It looks great. It loads and plays instantly.

Thanks

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rtrotter

15 years ago

You could produce it in Camtasia as an mp4 file and use the no controls option. Then use Flowplayer as the player with a splash image. That way video does not download unless it is streamed when played.

I do this on a page of my site with about 10 videos on the page. The page loads in 3-4 seconds.

You can find Flowplayer at Flowplayer - Flash Video Player for the Web
It has a lot of really nice options but just the basic A tag implementation works great.

Rodney

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Johnadab Banned 15 years ago

Yes I agree that I can host it on amazonaws and I will.

I just shoved it onto my server so that I could test it.

The point is I have camtasia 3 and that does not seem to offer
mp4 as on option.

My options are:

I have the following options:
1) AVI Video
2) Flash (SWF/FLV) Macromedia Flash output
3) WMV Windows Media Streaming Video
4) MOV Quicktime Movie.

When I choose option 2, I get the following files:

flashobject.js - 7 kb
my_vid.html - 3 kb
my_vid.swf - 48670 kb
my_vid_config.xml - 7kb
my_vid_controller.swf - 137 kb
my_vid_nofp_bg.gif - 11 kb
my_vid_preload.swf - 13 kb

Should I be editing that config.xls then ?

Now I am going to download Flowplayer - does anyone recommend
using anything else ?

Thanks for helping
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Kevin Riley 15 years ago

Originally Posted by rtrotter

You could produce it in Camtasia as an mp4 file

Rodney

That works in Cam 6, but the old Cam 3 couldn't create MP4. I use 6, and upgraded to it just for the MP4 capability - well worth it.
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Josh Anderson

15 years ago

Dude...

Just read what I posted in my previous posts... in their entirety... but you can actually skip the parts about hosting because all I was explaining is that hosting has NOTHING to do with the slow loading issue you are experiencing.

I explained exactly how to solve your issue.

1. Bit rate (the bit rate you encode your web video at must be optimized)
2. Buffer time (once your bit rate is optimized you can set your buffer time to be very short).

So the only two things that stand in your way are you need to adjust your bit rate that you encode your flv at so that it is optimized... between 220kbps and 350kbps to fit your tastes, and to use a player that allows you to set the buffer time to a fast as you want it.

Thanks
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ppc4profit

15 years ago

Originally Posted by Josh Anderson

Dude...

Just read what I posted in my previous posts... in their entirety... but you can actually skip the parts about hosting because all I was explaining is that hosting has NOTHING to do with the slow loading issue you are experiencing.

I explained exactly how to solve your issue.

1. Bit rate (the bit rate you encode your web video at must be optimized)
2. Buffer time (once your bit rate is optimized you can set your buffer time to be very short).

So the only two things that stand in your way are you need to adjust your bit rate that you encode your flv at so that it is optimized... between 220kbps and 350kbps to fit your tastes, and to use a player that allows you to set the buffer time to a fast as you want it.

Josh,

I understood what you said and I can see that it is a central part of the ops issues... so I have quoted your comments to repeat the knowledge sharing - perhaps the op will comment on your input as well this time around.

Thanks

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Josh Anderson

15 years ago

Josh - In your video (Yep I watched it ) you said that
Microsoft Video 1 is fine and to use 100% quality for compression

However in an earlier post you wrote:
"Always render your video as a full uncompressed AVI then encode it to flv with a professional encoder like Flix 8 Standard and then emebd them with a professional video player."

So is it best to select "Full Frames (Uncompressed) in line with your post

My video was just a sample to make a point about how fast you can load a video when you optimize the bit rate... I was using camstudio to capture... you can ignore the MS video 1 thing I talk about... that is just for people who do not have other codec options.

You can render your avi using the techsmith codec if you want compression but if you want an uncompressed master file go with uncompressed full frames.

You might test doing two master files and encoding each with flix to see what final results you like best.

I was a bit concerned that it maybe starting to play quicker
because I had cached it. But I put the video under a different domain
and then played it, and it started after about 15 seconds.

That was done without any reproduction, just changing those
variables.

Any thoughts ?

Again you need to know the bit rate of any video file to know how well it will load for your target market.

For example a significant portion of the rural US broadband market is on a 256kbps internet connection. That's pretty slow.

If your video is encoded at higher than 256kbps, and if you don't force the entire video to load before play, people watching on that slow of a connection will have buffer play issues where video play is interrupted.

This gets worse the higher the bit rate of the video is and the slower the connection speed of the visitor is.

We have all seen this before... this is what causes a video to stop playing in the middle and buffer and resume and stop playing and buffer and resume etc.

Well by applying what I am trying to teach you about optimization you can completely eliminate that issue.

That is why I recommend you encode using Flix and the vp6 codec at a video bit rate of no more than 220kbps and audio bit rate of no more than 32kbps mono so that together you have a total of 252kbps which is less than the average bit rate of slow broadband connections in the US which are mostly 256kbps.

When optimize your video and then combine it with a player that lets you very specifically set the buffer time (I actually set mine at no more than 3 seconds and many times use a 1 second bit rate) you can make your video play instantly to almost all your visitors and again this has nothing to do with the hosting you are using.

By using strategies like this you can increase consumption and response rates and at the same time you will significantly reduce your bandwidth consumption and thus your hosting costs...

But by far the most important aspect is that this is one way that anyone can boost response and consumption of any video.

I just got done teaching this to a client that was having huge problems with his video not loading... he was out of his mind and using a video that was 1900+kbps. Almost no one could watch it without waiting for minutes for it to load.

As soon as he optimized it using these tips his video loaded and played in seconds without any issues.

Also I want to reiterate that you have all the answers you need in this thread to solve your issue. Seriously... you don't need to ask another question. You just need to apply what you have been taught here.

Thanks
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Johnadab

Banned 15 years ago

OK - thank you again.

Nice explanation and example.

At the moment - I don't want to buy anymore software,
so I am seeing what I can do with Camtasia 3

What I am trying now
(hopefully you won't explode if I mis-understood something)

I went with the option 2 this time

Flash (SWF/FLV)

Set the output for FLV as it offers more settings.

Set the compression to VP6
Set the bit max to 205 ( I assume that they mean 205 k )
Set the quality to 100%
Set the frames at 20
Set the audio at MP3 compression at 48kbps mono (there was no 32k)
Left the key frame rate at 5
so 205 + 48 = 253 ( just less than 256 )

When it is finsihed rendering, I will change the xml file
so that I can change the buffer to start after 1 second.
and I will look at using the flowpayer that I downloaded.

Let me see what tools I have on my pc:

Flash to Video Encoder
Riva FLV Encoder
Riva FLV Player
Xilisoft FLV Player
YouTube Video Converter
Movie Maker
x-video-converter

Are some of these useful for what I am doing ?
I downloaded them last year.

Thanks
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Josh Anderson

15 years ago

1. If you render an flv in camtasia with those settings (except you might go with 22kbps if there is no 32 and double check that you are encoding mono and not stereo) you should be good to go...

.... as long as when you are working with the embed settings or editing the code, as you were discussing earlier with the other respondent, you are able to set your buffer time to whatever you want to make it load as fast as you want then you are going to achieve your goal. I recommend as fast a buffer time as you feel comfortable with. I like 3 seconds myself.

2. The reason I make the recommendations I do is because other options will provide you with poorer quality results. The software you listed uses inferior codecs that produce poorer quality image at lower bit rates.

You never want to encode flv video for professional use with any of those tools. What you want is to use the VP6 codec for best compression and best image quality.

That is why I recommend flix is because it is owned by On2 which is the company that owns the vp6 codec which is the industry standard for flv compression and image quality.

If you are not willing to spend $39 to get flix 8 standard then just stick with the camtasia 3 render since it lets you set your bit rate which will help you achieve your goal.

Don't use any of those other apps you listed. Camtasia 3 will do a better job than any of them.

Now... I think we have flogged this horse long enough. Just render that video, lower that buffer time, and upload it to the web

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ExRat 15 years ago

Hi Josh,

I don't want to thank you on every post, so I just thanked on the one above and added this to say thanks. There's some great info here, and some of us are lurking and learning.
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Roger Davis
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Johnadab

Banned 15 years ago

OK

Thanks for your help

I got my video running.
It definitely runs better with the flowplayer.

I still want to have the website to put together and part two and three.

But at least it is working.

BTW it seems to take about an hour to process the video
Is that normal ?

Thanks
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Josh Anderson

15 years ago

Originally Posted by ExRat

Hi Josh,

I don't want to thank you on every post, so I just thanked on the one above and added this to say thanks. There's some great info here, and some of us are lurking and learning.

You're certainly welcome... this is an issue that anyone who publishes video online has to deal with whether they realize it or not.

Originally Posted by Johnadab

OK

Thanks for your help

I got my video running.
It definitely runs better with the flowplayer.

I still want to have the website to put together and part two and three.

But at least it is working.

BTW it seems to take about an hour to process the video
Is that normal ?

Yep. That's normal.

The player is not making your video "run better." Its all about the buffer setting and bit rate. So if the player you use has a buffer setting and if you optimize your video correctly...

I think I heard that said somewhere before ;-)

Thanks
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Bev Clement

15 years ago

Exrat directed me to this thread, thanks to you for that.

Josh thanks for some great advice, you have answered a pile of questions I had. I need to work through the answers now.

I bought your player (think I did) but is it still available, because we are working with a client who wants to put video on their site with instant start and no buffering.

Also, we wanted to know how a person could get their video to below 64KB, need to read through your answers

Thanks again Josh

Bev

Thanks
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Josh Anderson

15 years ago

Originally Posted by Bev Clement

Exrat directed me to this thread, thanks to you for that.

Josh thanks for some great advice, you have answered a pile of questions I had. I need to work through the answers now.

I bought your player (think I did) but is it still available, because we are working with a client who wants to put video on their site with instant start and no buffering.

Also, we wanted to know how a person could get their video to below 64KB, need to read through your answers

Thanks again Josh

Bev

Hey Bev,

1. If you did purchase one of my players, either Transparent Player or Trigger Players you can go to the site and click the members login link and retrieve your password.

2. If you have a client who needs a player you can either refer them directly to us via the affiliate program or inside the members area for my players you will also find wholesale buy links for current users who are developers and need to acquire an additional license for their client to use the player on their site.

3. When you are dealing with really low video bit rates it gets a little challenging. For example my walk on video at www.TotalWebVideo.com is actually 72kbps total including the audio. The video stream is only 40kbps! and the audio stream is 32 kbps.

You will almost never be able to get away with those low numbers with traditional videos. The reason it works on that video is because of the relative small dimensions of the video and also that the effect itself plays visual tricks with the brain so that the brain fills in some of the missing details. That video is actually very poor image quality, which always happens with extreme low bit rates like that, but the way it is used creates detail illusion that lets me pull it off.

Generally when I encode videos like that and I am shooting for really low bit rates I do not go under 90kbps and usually keep it in the hundreds.

The rule of thumb is generally that if you are going to the extreme with low bit rate encoding that you should only do it when there is not a lot of detail and movement and when you are using very small dimensions. This will let you get away with more.

One way to reduce dimensions is to take advantage of cropping that is available in professional encoding software solutions like flix, sorenson, and flash pro video encoder etc. in addition to reducing the dimensions of your final encoded video.

Thanks
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ExRat

15 years ago

Hi Josh,

The reason it works on that video is because of the relative small dimensions of the video and also that the effect itself plays visual tricks with the brain so that the brain fills in some of the missing details.

I hope you don't mind me asking (tell me to mind my own business, if it's a trade secret) but does that 'visual trick' involve interlacing?

Thanks

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Roger Davis

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Josh Anderson

15 years ago

You want to deinterlace your video when you are publishing online. Progressive, non interlaced video is the best, especially when dealing with live motion video with a lot of movement.. otherwise you see jaggies and wierd lines when the talent is moving around in the video.

If you have ever seen horizontal lines or stripey looking edges when a person moves in a video? That is because it was interlaced. This is a common mistake people make when encoding video for the web... they forget to dinterlace it. Of course this only matters if your original video was interlaced to begin with.

The illusion that I am referring to more has to do with the small dimensions of the video and the way it appears on my design with both the plain white areas and the headline behind.

By combining those elements I am able to sacrifice more of the video quality taking it down to the extreme low bit rate and get away with it because the visitors eyes are tricked into not focusing on the small details as much.

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Bev Clement

15 years ago

Josh, thanks for the detailed reply. Now I need to work through everything, as the questions were relevant for 2 different offline clients who want to come online.

Also it seems you have given me the answer to another question about a service I need to consider offering. I will in the next week work through it, and I will contact you to take a look if you don't mind.

Bev

Thanks

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My First Video - but loads too slow :(

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