December, 2014

• 17 December

  Adobe Revs the Creative Cloud

  A press release entitled Adobe Updates All Pro Video Applications just crossed my desk. Here are the paragraphs relevant to Premiere Pro and the Adobe Media Encoder.  Premiere Pro – The Premiere Pro CC 2014.2 update includes a number of feature enhancements for editors, including support for Arri Open Gate media, the ability to set transitions and still image default …

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• 6 December

  Why Adaptive Streaming is Better than Single Bitrate

  Every once in awhile, a slide comes a long that’s so brilliant that you just have to share it. So it is with the slide below from Will Law’s presentation at the 2013 Velocity Conference entitled Optimizing the Black Box of HTML Video. I’ve always struggled to efficiently (under 30 seconds or less) explain why single bitrate video (SBR) is …

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• 6 December

  Microsoft Dooms HEVC to Obscurity (by including it in Windows 10)

  I’m not one to go negative, but when I saw that Microsoft was including HEVC in Windows 10, scheduled for release in 2015, I just had to laugh. Over two years after Windows 8 shipped, I still use it only when I absolutely have to. The most ardent recommendation I make to friends buying a new Windows computer is to …

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November, 2014

• 21 November

  Replacing Flash: Media Source Extension and Encrypted Media Extensions

  Here’s the session description, you can download all the handouts below. The video is below as well.  The Media Source Extensions (MSE) and Encrypted Media Extensions (EME) are the standardized toolsets that enable browsers to deliver adaptive streaming and digital rights management without plug-ins. This session details what these extensions are, how they’re being supported by the different browser and …

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• 20 November

  Handout for Digital Rights Management Session

  The second session of my afternoon workshop covered closed captioning. Here's the description; click over to the main article to download the handout. For digital rights management, you gain an overview of the technologies available for various targe

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• 19 November

  Handout for Producing and Distributing HEVC

  Here’s the presentation description; click below to download the handout. The presentation video is at the bottom of the page.  This session explores the current status of HEVC, identifying options for encoding live and on-demand HEVC and discussing player options in the streaming and OTT markets. Topics include the comparative quality and usability of HEVC encoders—including encoders from Cisco, Elemental, …

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• 18 November

  Choosing a Cloud Encoder

  Here’s the session description; click below to download the handout. You can watch the actual conference video at the bottom of the page.   This session describes what cloud encoding is and how it works for both live and on-demand applications. Learn the types of applications that work well with cloud encoding and the factors to consider when choosing an …

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• 17 November

  Handout for Multiscreen Delivery Workshop

  Below is the presentation handout for my Encoding for Multiscreen Delivery: H.264, Protocols and Devices, workshop today at Streaming Media West. Here’s the description. Learn how to create a set of video files that will play on all devices, from smartphones to computers and OTT devices. The workshop starts by exploring key concepts like protocol and container formats and technologies …

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• 4 November

  Apple Supports H.265, But So Far Only in FaceTime on an iPhone 6

  H.265 is coming to the Android operating system, as well, but it’s nowhere to be seen on desktop or notebook computers. Since I own an iPhone 6, I should have noticed this earlier, but I just learned that Apple is using H.265 in FaceTime on the new models. Note that the unit’s video playback specs don’t mention H.265, so presumably …

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October, 2014

• 12 October

  Adobe Drops Flash for HTML5

  OK, I’ll be honest, the headline is strictly for grabbing eyeballs. Still, on several videos that I checked, Adobe is using HTML5 for delivery, rather than Flash, going as far as to encode in VP8 for Firefox playback (rather than falling back to Flash and using H.264). Here’s the short backstory. I received an email from Adobe’s PR team to …

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