Streaming production

x264Encoder vs the Apple Codec

If you're looking for the highest quality H.264 output, and encode on the Apple platform, you should try the x264Encoder encoder, which you can download here. This article contains comparison images and downloadable files to accompany my comparison review for Digital Content Producer (like to come).

Critical Issues for Enterprise Streaming Producers

I gave a talk at StreamingMedia East in New York City earlier this month to a group of business executives assembled by California-based webcasting solution provider MediaPlatform. I was told that the execs were interested in "future directions of online video," so I put together a talk entitled "In Your Chair, I'd Be Asking Myself ..." The talk covered three main questions, Is my video competitive?, Am I reaching all my target viewers?, and Am I investing wisely? Click above to read the article.

Distributing your video

VP8 vs. H.264 vs x264 Comparisons

As part of my First Looks review of VP8 and WebM for StreamingMedia.com, ran a bunch of VP8 and H.264 comparisons, initially using the MainConcept H.264 codec, since that's the codec included with Sorenson Squeeze, which I used to produce the VP8 files. Then, I added some comparison files produced using the x264 codec, encoding via the QuickTime-based x264Encoder version 1.2.13 (dated 6/27/2010). 

You can read the StreamingMedia article here. In this article, I present the frame comparisons that were too big to fit in the StreamingMedia article, plus present URLs for the streaming files that I created and compared. 

New Survey Report about the Apple iPad and HTML5

new chart 1.jpgFifty-seven percent of organizations that deliver video online are supporting the iPad, or will be by the end of 2010. That's one of the many compelling findings in a new survey-based report from StreamingMedia.com called Supporting the iPad and HTML5—Timing, Motivation, Costs, and Scope, which provides details the plans of 1,147 survey respondents regarding support for the iPad, the HTML5 video tag, and a variety of mobile devices. The report also provides implementation data like content and monetization plans, development budgets, and feature sets, enabling report buyers to make better-informed decisions about the timing, scope, and costs of their own iPad and HTML5-related implementations. Further, the report breaks down all responses by demographic category: organization type, annual revenue, target market, and size of video library.

 

online are supporting the iPad, or will be by the end of 2010. That's one of the many compelling findings in a new survey-based report from StreamingMedia.com called Supporting the iPad and HTML5—Timing, Motivation, Costs, and Scope, which provides details the plans of 1,147 survey respondents regarding support for the iPad, the HTML5 video tag, and a variety of mobile devices. The report also provides implementation data like content and monetization plans, development budgets, and feature sets, enabling report buyers to make better-informed decisions about the timing, scope, and costs of their own iPad and HTML5-related implementations. Further, the report breaks down all responses by demographic category: organization type, annual revenue, target market, and size of video library.

 

Choosing production tools

New Performance Features in Adobe Premiere Pro CS5

Here's a screencam-based tutorial detailing and demonstrating the new performance related enhancements to Premiere Pro CS5 and identifying the relevant hardware requirements. Click the link to view the main article and the video.

Better buy 64-bit systems from here on out

I got an interesting e-mail from Adobe today, which I've pasted in its entirety below. The key message is this:

"Adobe today confirmed that ... Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 and Adobe After Effects CS4 are the last versions to support 32-bit operating systems. Future versions will be native 64-bit applications which will run only on 64-bit operating systems."

This has some interesting implications about future hardware investments and provides a preview of what CS5 will bring. You can read the full release (and my short analysis) in the complete article.

Recent Blogs

MPEG-LA Announces No royalties on Free Internet Videos - Ever

This is a story I've been following for awhile. By way of background, MPEG-LA represents the H.264 patent holders and is charged with administering all licenses and collecting all royalties, which are paid by companies who build H.264 encoders, pl...

Interesting Newsletter on Video White Papers

I haven't followed the video white paper market at all, but according to a newsletter from Accela Communications, usage is booming. Here's a blurb. "The rate of adoption for video white papers is definitely increasing, as evidenced in this collecti...

VP8 vs. H.264 - Quality, Encoding time, Playback CPU

StreamingMedia just published my H.264 vs. VP8 comparison - the first to consider both encoding speed (VP8 is slow, but not that slow) and CPU playback (VP8 takes lots more than H.264 on some platforms, but there's a big glimmer of hope). Check ...

Which MPEG-2 Compressor Plug-in is Best?

I'm writing a story for Digital Content Producer on producing MPEG-2 video from HD source in Final Cut Pro/Compressor. Which plug-ins are best? - I'm trying to get Cinema Craft in, but they're not responding to my emails. - I've got a trial version o...

VP6 Encoding Parameters of the Technology Laggards

OK, being somewhat of a jerk here with the headline, but I've been pretty public in my thoughts that it's time to transition from VP6 to H.264. Still, if you're not ready for that move, perhaps you might want to rethink your current VP6 encoding para...

Encoding your video

The Five Key Myths About HTML5

I was preparing for a webinar last week and scanned 46 websites to see how many used HTML5 as the primary playback option for video. This was a mix of media sites (14), business to consumer sites (22) and business to business sites (10). The answer was 1 - Wikipedia - with YouTube offering HTML5 as an alternative to Flash. Even Apple - the sugar doesn't melt in my mouth, we believe in open standards -- poster child for HTML5, uses the QuickTime plug-in for displaying video on Apple.com.

That got me thinking; why would any site where video was mission critical use HTML5 today, or even in the near term? There’s no standardized way to protect their content, no streaming server that can efficiently dole the content out to multiple viewers on different browsers and no scheme for adaptive streaming. There isn’t even full support for all advertising servers.

Looking at it from the other direction, the installed base of HTML5 compatible browsers is only around 40-50%, depending upon who you ask, and you need to produce using at least two, perhaps three codecs to service those browsers. That made me realize that HTML5 is a FUD and media driven fiction that won't be widely relevant for at least three or four years, and then only if the relevant parties make some hard decisions that they've as of yet shied away from.

So here are my five key myths about HTML5.

Creating Flash-Compatible MOV files with Compressor

fast start.jpgYou've got an H.264-based MOV file that you want to use for Flash production, but it won't load into Flash or Flash Catalyst. Can you simply change the extension from MOV to F4V? If you're encoding the file, should you choose None, Fast Start or Fast Start - Compressed Header when producing for progressive download. Click over to the main articles for the answers to these question and more.

Video tutorials

Case Study - Producing Video Case Studies

kathryn.jpgFirewall vendor WatchGuard Technologies uses video aggressively in their marketing efforts, and produces some of the most focused and highest quality case studies that I've seen, though the presentation of these videos on their web site could definitely be improved. In this "peer review" video, I review their case study of the Burlington Public Library, which you can watch here on YouTube.

I detail what the producers of the video did right production-wise, and what went wrong on their web site. Click the link above to view the video; I hope you find it useful.

Color and Brightness Correction in Final Cut Pro

Of all the skills necessary to successfully edit video, one of the most important is brightness and color correction. To understand how to adjust brightness and color optimally, you have to know how to read a waveform monitor.

In this tutorial, first we'll learn how to enter Final Cut Pro's color correction mode and read the waveform monitor. Then we'll learn how to diagnose and correct a range of brightness and color related problems Using Final cut Pro's Color Corrector effect. Click over to the main article to view the tutorial.