Posts Tagged ‘video’
A Postage Stamp
This is something that has been bugging me more and more these days. It really came to a head when I was trying to view a sample video from a fairly major effects plugin provider. Unfortunately, the embedded video was so teensy, it wasn’t big enough to get any real impression of what the effect plugin was really doing. Yes, I could click the “fullscreen” button, but on my 28″ monitor, it looked like an 8 bit video game. And this is a company who should know better.
The fact is, the trend towards larger monitors has been with us for some time. The old 320X240 typical standard for embedded video is scarcely larger than a postage stamp at the resolution of a large monitor. There is no reason for video less than 640X480 in the case of a 4X3 example, or at the very minimum, 640X360 for a widescreen video. This is the bare minimum in my humble opinion. Another thing I can’t stress enough, is that you can always, and you should, upload higher resolution video clips, and then let your player, or Youtube, scale them down as needed.
Yes, I know there are some out there still using a 12 inch monitor at 640X480 total resolution, but no good ever came from catering to the least common denominator!
This problem has driven me nearly crazy until I found the solution, and I’ll bet it’s done the same to many of you out there. You’ve just created a MP4 file with Sony Vegas, Premier Pro, or some other NLE, and it won’t play until the file downloads completely. Arggg! Why is it that other MP4 files will stream, and mine won’t?!?!
As it turns out, for some mind bending reason, a number of video editing apps do not output the correct Mp4 file header to allow the video to begin playing once the first few seconds have been buffered. I cannot fathom why this is. It’s certainly not the case with WMV (Windows Media) or MOV (Quicktime) files. In fact, Vegas has a checkbox for both file types that correctly encodes the file for streaming.
I finally ran across this great little app called “MP4 Faststart”, and it actually corrects the problem. It simply processes the file, and updates the header to allow a progressive download as the video plays. Amazingly, it’s free. Well actually, it’s donationware, and I think you’ll find it’s worthy of a few bucks to the developer, as it will save much head banging.
A great article I just ran across on Boingboing, about the Real Networks DVD case. If you aren’t aware of this blog with the funny name, you should be. They produce some great content. This is such a well written article on the subject of the RealDVD application. In short, RealDVD would have allowed you to extract the contents of a DVD you already paid for, legally, and put the contents on your computer, or your iPod. Unfortunately, they lost the court case. Now, only criminals will have this privilege.
When RealNetworks Settled on DVD Copying, We All Lost – Boing Boing.
Adobe Flash
The iPad reminded me of the strange confusion around Adobe Flash. Many were surprised that the iPad will not support flash. I can’t say that I was surprised at all. As many readers might know, the iPhone does not support flash. There actually only a few smartphones that do support flash, and only do so to a limited extent. Apple in particular, has a ax to grind with Adobe, as the flash player seems to occasionally cause system crashes in OSX. Apple feels this is a problem with Adobe’s code.
There is however some confusion about a couple of important aspects of Flash. What first comes to mind is the eye candy websites that use flash to animate all sorts of buttons and effects. Some elegantly so, and others to a ridiculous extent. Flash (and Shockwave) has been used to create many animated presentations, and applications and games as well. There is however an almost completely separate function supported by flash player, and that is video playback.
Originally, the flash player was designed to play a particular video file format known as FLV. This is a video file format specific to the Flash player. For years, this has been the method of choice for delivering video on the web. Youtube, and many similar sites, used this method for years. It of course required that you have Adobe Flash player installed on your computer. Most of you out there know all too well the prompt from your web browser, asking that you install the Flash Plugin.
There were many competitors over the years for alternate methods of online video delivery. Windows Media, Apple Quicktime, Real Media, and so on. A refreshingly new trend has however been afoot these past years, and that is the MP4 file format. Also known as Mpeg4, this actually represents a bit of a convergence. An odd thing indeed, when so many incompatible file formats and applications plague all things computerized these days. Not only does Apple support Mp4, it’s actually the chosen video format of the iPhone, and iPod touch. This was no doubt a factor that influenced the move towards mp4 video delivery that Youtube now embraces.
Where does Flash come in? As it turns out, as of version 9, Adobe flash player supports playback of mp4 files via a web page. The great thing about this is no additional plug-in is required to play the video. That is, if you have flash player installed, and of course that your device supports flash. While I do have some background in web development, I’m hardly a programmer. I wonder why that mp4 video playback via the flash player can’t be supported alone, and simply disable all of the other Flash functionality? Seems to me, this just throws the baby out with the bathwater.
DVD extraction software
This actually seems to be a rather decent DVD ripper. And for a while, it’s actually free! Please note that we don’t encourage theft of copyrighted material. I do however feel that I have a right to grab video from a DVD I already own, and put it on my iPhone. It does indeed do just this.
Free WinX DVD Ripper Platinum (for a limited time so hurry)! | Freebies | dotTech [.org].
Pansonic P2 Cards
Many in the industry agree that the AG-HPX170 is an outstanding camera. I noticed a local vendor has a rebate program that had me entertaining the thought of this cam once again. After all, tapeless capture is definitely the future. Perhaps however, this is not yet so for me.
A 32GB P2 card currently goes for around $600 or so. This is about 20 times some of the other flash media. Not a fair comparison perhaps, as these card are radically faster in transfer speed, more durable, can me written to more times, and so on. $600 is pocket change in the film and television industry. It’s still a pretty good chunk for the event video business.
I’d really love to hear if anyone is using these cams for event video coverage. It occurs to me that you’d either (ideally) own a number of P2 cards, or constantly be dumping video to hard drives. You’ll then probably want to back that drive up to some other media just to be safe, as you’ll have to soon wipe those P2 cards with your next event. As for myself, I still kinda like the idea that I can shelve the tapes until I’m ready for them.
If you’re familiar with this camera, you might also know of Sony’s EX1. A pretty attractive camera in a similar price ballpark. It however can use Expresscard drives. While they don’t have the specs of P2 cards, they can certainly be pretty fast. This and at about 1/6th of the price too. Hard to overlook for a budget shooter.
Very interesting timeline of Sony product innovations. Some would probably be suprised how long ago some of these devices date back to.
A timeline of Sony products.
