Picking a Video Format for Web Clips

[RSLancastr]

What video format (.avi, .wmv, .mp4, etc) is best for making brief (up to 2-minutes long) videos available on a web site(not streaming)? I of course want to minimize the file size, maximize the image and sound quality, and maximize the number of people who can view it.

What image size (in pixels) is the smallest I can get away with, while still making it useful? What about bitrate, etc?

I know there are probably no single answers to these questions, but some general thoughts and opinions would be greatly appreciated.

If it matters, this is for the StopSylviaBrowne web site, and the clips will mostly be of her appearances on television.

[xenxabar]

DivX codec is high quality with good compression and works on PC and Mac platforms (sorry don't know about Linux options there). As for image size, that really depends upon your content. Are there lots of quick cuts or action? Or is it mostly static images with voiceover? If you can afford it, 320X240 is a good minimum size.

[rjh01]

I think you said it. There is no one right answer. Some people have got dial ups. They will want a small file. Other people have high speed broadband. They will want quality above all else. Most people are between these extremes. So give a choice of file size and format

If you want examples look at movie previews.

[Smike]

If it matters, this is for the StopSylviaBrowne web site, and the clips will mostly be of her appearances on television.

In this case, the sound quality is probably more important than crystal-clear video.

[RSLancastr]

So give a choice of file size and format

If you want examples look at movie previews.It's one of the approaches I'm considering, but I don't know if I want to come up with something that complex (three different formats, each in three different sizes, etc). It would be the most comprehensive approach, though.

In this case, the sound quality is probably more important than crystal-clear video.Agreed.

[rjh01]

If you want it simple do not bother with the picture at all. Just have it as a MP3 format with no picture. Then people can concentrate on what she says rather than her looks. You can then add in your comments. That way you can have a two minutes worth of Sylvia Browne with five minutes worth of comments from you.

Then there will be no problem with copyright. You are copying her work for the purpose of comment and review.

[RSLancastr]

If you want it simple do not bother with the picture at all. Just have it as a MP3 format with no picture. Then people can concentrate on what she says rather than her looks. You can then add in your comments. That way you can have a two minutes worth of Sylvia Browne with five minutes worth of comments from you.I understand your point, but I think that removing the video will remove some of the credibility as well. Also, the looks on the faces of these poor people she is "reading" speaks volumes.

Then there will be no problem with copyright. You are copying her work for the purpose of comment and review.That is what I am doing, whether there is video or not. Do you feel the lack of video would somehow make this more evident?

[rjh01]

What I was thinking, instead of having video of Sylvia Browne and text by you, you could have the sound of both you and Sylvia Browne. Then maybe people could download to their iPods.

You mention 'removing the video will remove some of the credibility as well'. Whose credibility do you mean here? Hers or yours? Cannot prove anything but maybe it could be hers. I mean people watch her and believe her. So something may happen if you could only hear her. Maybe you could do some experiments along those lines.

Not sure what my point was about copyright.

[Atrin]

After reading a bit more about what you're trying to do (had an idea before, but not as clear a picture), it seems to me that the most important thing should be that any clips you include be viewable by the maximum number of people. You're trying to get the word out, not worry about the perfection of the picture. For that reason, I'd stay away from stuff like Divx. Yeah, the quality's lovely, but a lot of folks haven't the faintest idea how to find or install the codecs, so they won't bother.

I'd go with something that's part of the Window Media Player package. Probably WMV, since there a ton of AVI codecs, and most of the older, common ones tend to run large, and wmv can be reduced until the file's pretty small, but still reasonably clear (I recently downloaded a South Park ep, and it was very viewable, and I think about 35 megs and 320x240 aspect ratio).

I don't know if Mac could view that as a default (you'd have to ask a Mac user), but I think just about any Windows platform could without needing to do anything additional.

[RSLancastr]

What I was thinking, instead of having video of Sylvia Browne and text by you, you could have the sound of both you and Sylvia Browne. Then maybe people could download to their iPods.An interesting thought.

You mention 'removing the video will remove some of the credibility as well'. Whose credibility do you mean here? Hers or yours?Mine.

I think that it would be much more difficult for someone to edit a video clip than it would an audio clip. So by removing the video portion of it, I am leaving more room for the thought that I have somehow edited the clip to make her look bad.

I want to show the clip in its entirety, and let the visitor to the site make up their own minds about it. The video is more information, which will help them to come to that decision.

For that reason, I'd stay away from stuff like Divx. Yeah, the quality's lovely, but a lot of folks haven't the faintest idea how to find or install the codecs, so they won't bother.I'm glad you said that, as I had never even heard of the format!

I'd go with something that's part of the Window Media Player package.That's what I'm leaning towards, wth possibly another format thrown in for the Mac crowd (AVI?).

[zizzybaluba]

DivX codec is high quality with good compression and works on PC and Mac platforms (sorry don't know about Linux options there).

FYI, yes, DivX works on Linux.

[lister]

To reach the most people I'd seriously look at Flash video. (H.263 codec)

Flash 6 is installed on about 98% of browsers if I remember rightly.

YouTube and Google use it for a reason. (And it doesn't have to be streaming AFAIK)