Question about flash videos on a website
08-27-2008, 10:35 PM
#13
Typical Buck
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location:
Posts: 675
RE: Question about flash videos on a website
Just a simple solution might be to use a wmv. player and change the file to a wmv.file, I have used that on my site with no problems.........the only drawback is the load time before the clip plays. But the upside is the picture quality is excellent.
08-28-2008, 07:25 AM
#14
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location:
Posts: 32
RE: Question about flash videos on a website
Sorry, Blake. I had to step out yesterday afternoon for a small family emergency.
I see you got it working and it looks good to me. You emailed me about file size concerns for your flash video. I agree your file is too large, 5:00/65mb is a 13mb per minute average. I try to get my high quality Flash files down to 7-9mb per file. My demo on my video samples page is 6:00/20mb, just for an example.
Just like any other program, the export settings in the program you use to export your video in a Flash format is what dictates your file size. There should be some custom settings you could tweak to reduce the file size but as you know, when you start trying to get to that magic number (7-9mb per minute in my opinion is the happy medium between manageable downloads and quality video), you start to see the video degrade in quality. I'm not sure which program you are using to make the conversion, but I use Free Video Manager. There are hundreds of free programs to do this conversion but I like this one, you might give it a try.
Without question Flash is the best way to show your videos online. Smaller file size is just one of the benefits, the other big one being 95% of computers already have a Flash player installed and if they don't it's a really small program and quick download to get it, plus the player will actually give a link to download the program if it is missing on the visitors machine. Add the endless options like playlists, custom players and interactive possibilities such as links to DVDs you want to sell and so forth and you can see why Windows Media Player is not getting the use it has seen in the past.
I see you got it working and it looks good to me. You emailed me about file size concerns for your flash video. I agree your file is too large, 5:00/65mb is a 13mb per minute average. I try to get my high quality Flash files down to 7-9mb per file. My demo on my video samples page is 6:00/20mb, just for an example.
Just like any other program, the export settings in the program you use to export your video in a Flash format is what dictates your file size. There should be some custom settings you could tweak to reduce the file size but as you know, when you start trying to get to that magic number (7-9mb per minute in my opinion is the happy medium between manageable downloads and quality video), you start to see the video degrade in quality. I'm not sure which program you are using to make the conversion, but I use Free Video Manager. There are hundreds of free programs to do this conversion but I like this one, you might give it a try.
Without question Flash is the best way to show your videos online. Smaller file size is just one of the benefits, the other big one being 95% of computers already have a Flash player installed and if they don't it's a really small program and quick download to get it, plus the player will actually give a link to download the program if it is missing on the visitors machine. Add the endless options like playlists, custom players and interactive possibilities such as links to DVDs you want to sell and so forth and you can see why Windows Media Player is not getting the use it has seen in the past.
09-02-2008, 09:48 AM
#16
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location:
Posts: 32
RE: Question about flash videos on a website
It depends on where I'm using the end video but in most cases 512Kb/s is my minimum setting and I have encoded up to 2Mb/s on shorter videos. Export different versions, all the same player size mind you, but with different bitrates and see what settings it takes to getto that 7-9mb per minute sweet spot for overall file size.
What software are you using for the conversion?
What software are you using for the conversion?
09-02-2008, 04:59 PM
#17
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Illinois
Posts: 1,704
RE: Question about flash videos on a website
The FreeVideoManager you recommended.
I'm back to wanting to throw my computer again. I've uploaded another flash file and copied and pasted the same code from the other video we worked on last week. Only difference is I substituted the flv files. The new one is in the same folder as the player and the other file. I'm beginning to think this flash crap isn't worth the hassle.
I'm back to wanting to throw my computer again. I've uploaded another flash file and copied and pasted the same code from the other video we worked on last week. Only difference is I substituted the flv files. The new one is in the same folder as the player and the other file. I'm beginning to think this flash crap isn't worth the hassle.
