July, 2013

• 1 July

  Commentary: Standards Are Meaningless (Until They Mean Something)

  Two early experiences shaped my view on standards and industry coalitions. Since I’ve been so publicly down on WebM, HTML5, and DASH, I thought I would share them. The first experience was in the mid-1990s. I was running a small company that sold PC fax boards that allowed computers to send faxes to fax machines, which was a desired functionality …

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• 1 July

  Jan Ozer to Instruct Poynter Webinar on Multiple Screen Delivery

  I’ll be teaching a webinar for the Poynter News University on Thurday, July 18 at 2:00 PM EST. The title is How to Make Video Play Across Multiple Screens, and that describes the content. The course is entry level by design, so won’t get bogged down in technical details. Here’s the description from the sign-up page. Video engages viewers, expands …

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June, 2013

• 26 June

  Adobe Premiere Pro CC Visual QuickStart Guide now Shipping

  During the first few months of 2013, I had to privilege to write the Adobe Premiere Pro CC Visual QuickStart Guide (VQS) with Shawn Lam, who penned three of the fifteen chapters. I’ve always liked the VQS format, which features quick hit, detailed answers, rather than the start to finish tutorials provided by the Classroom in a Book series. This …

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• 18 June

  Download Handout – Choosing an Enterprise Encoder

  Here’s the description; click below to download the handout. This session will discuss factors to consider when choosing an enterprise video encoding system from the likes of ATEME, Envivio, MainConcept, Thomson, AmberFin, Elemental and others. Factors include performance, output quality, quality control options, format support, expansion options, programmability, and other variables.

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• 14 June

  Multiple Screen Delivery book in iBookstore for $19.99

  Just a quick note to let you know that Producing Streaming Video for Multiple Screen Delivery is now available in the iBookstore for $19.99, a savings of $20 over the paper book version. Ever since I saw iBooks Author, I’ve wanted to convert a book over to the rich format, where pictures are in full color and scalable to full …

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• 13 June

  Consumer Brands Flock to YouTube (67%!)

  Sam Walton would have liked YouTube. The site provides viewers with a range of file options in a well-featured player that offers comments, ratings, likes and captions. Companies who post videos can create their own channels and a host of viewing statistics, plus gazillions of eyeballs. In addition to that, of course, it’s free. I’m guessing that Sam would have …

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• 10 June

  New Review of Multiple Screen Delivery – “This is a Wonderful Book”

  Doug Dixon is an independent technology consultant, contributing editor to Interent Video Magazine, and contributor to Conde Nast Traveler Magazine who makes his work available on his Manifest Technology website. He’s written multiple technologically-oriented books, so he knows technology and how hard it is to write a book on fast changing technologies. He’s one of several technology writers that I …

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• 8 June

  DVD vs. Online Training Delivery — Online is Cheaper

  Continuing education vendor Suncam charged $50 for DVDs, and offered the same video for free via streaming. Which cost more? The DVDs, even after the $50. SunCam is a Florida company and consulting client that provides continuing education courses and related certification tests in a range of disciplines, including engineering, construction, surveying, project management and others. Some courses are taught …

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• 5 June

  Microsoft Releases Smooth Streaming Plugin for Flash

  This is a bit old news (March 2013), but I was doing some research for an article on Windows Azure Media Services, and noticed that Microsoft released the Smooth Streaming Plugin for OSMF 2.0 (Adobe’s Open Source Media Framework for adding features to the Flash Player). As stated in the release notes, Using Smooth Streaming OSMF plugin, you can add …

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• 1 June

  What’s Happening with Flash, DASH and HLS

  Which technology will you use in 2015 to reach multiple screens, DASH or HLS? While DASH gets the most attention, HLS is my front-runner, and Flash will still dominate desktops. Flash has been one of the foundational technologies for streaming media since the VP6 replaced SV3 as the primary codec in 2005. However, when the first iPad was released without …

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