Huge video file - how to view

[DocRocks]

Hi

I'm a web designer new to displaying video online. My client wants to play long videos (45 min and >200MB -- yep MB not KB!!) on his website. I received his files in Quicktime format and tried playing them as embedded videos from the hosting server but they failed to start after many tens of minutes on my broadband connection. My (non-profit) client cannot afford a web host that supports streaming so I'm seeking alternatives.

So....is there a more compressed video format or technique that will allow website visitors to see this huge video? Are there options in Quicktime viewer or the Win Media Player that would let the video start after sufficient download has taken place, or is that the same as buffering for a streaming video?

Many thanks for your advice.

[TiGGi]

I would suggest using Windows Media Video format .wmv or even doint it in flash. It will stream video. Also braeak up video into few smaller files!

[DocRocks]

Hi TiGGi,

I thought of Flash but does it require anything special on the server side or do I just upload the file and provide the link to the flash player in my code when my client-side code calls the video file? I don't do Flash - do you know if there is software to convert from mov to swf format that won't bust my very small budget?

I failed to mention that this huge file is one of 6 of similar size so its not feasible to break them up into smaller chunks. Taking the website visitors viewpoint, I would be put off by having to click on dozens of links to view what should be a continuous video.

[TiGGi]

for flash movie you can use flash mx 2004. It will import quicktime movies and you can specify what quality and size you want your movie.
With this you don't need anything special to stream it, here's example:
http://www.regencyhomes.com/mda/MDA_Movie.html

if you dont have flash I can convert movie for you, just zip it and place it on ur server for download.

[suddenly]

I thought of Flash but does it require anything special on the server side or do I just upload the file and provide the link to the flash player in my code when my client-side code calls the video file? I don't do Flash - do you know if there is software to convert from mov to swf format that won't bust my very small budget?

i use that Video to flash converter (http://www.geovid.com/Video_to_Flash_Converter) to convert video to swf or flv. everything depends on what video codecs are installed on your pc. for mov to flash conversion you will need quicktime alternative codec (i've downloaded it for free from geovid site also). so... that's all.
oh, another useful thing. this converter has an option "generate html". it will create a web page with flash file and with pause, stop, play buttons. very convenient. you will not need to write a code yourself

[DocRocks]

Sorry for the late response. I was diverted to anothe project.

Do you know if Flash has a file size limit - mine are 250MB/40 minute clips? Can't find an answer to this in the Adobe site.

[raviganesh91221]

You can import this in flash and when you convert it to flv or swf the file size can also be reduced a lot.

[kommer]

i use that Video to flash converter (http://www.geovid.com/Video_to_Flash_Converter) to convert video to swf or flv. everything depends on what video codecs are installed on your pc. for mov to flash conversion you will need quicktime alternative codec (i've downloaded it for free from geovid site also). so... that's all.
oh, another useful thing. this converter has an option "generate html". it will create a web page with flash file and with pause, stop, play buttons. very convenient. you will not need to write a code yourself


yap, I use it. not bad for such soft and such company. :)

[Deseo]

i too.not bad, actually

[Repoleve]

and has anyone heard about a tool called FlashConv (it converts from video to flash)? i've found it not long ago and it seems to me that it's not bad for such price. you can find it on www.flashconv.com. Has anybody else tried it? what do you think?

[Speedle]

i use that Video to flash converter (http://www.geovid.com/Video_to_Flash_Converter) to convert video to swf or flv. everything depends on what video codecs are installed on your pc. for mov to flash conversion you will need quicktime alternative codec (i've downloaded it for free from geovid site also). so... that's all.
oh, another useful thing. this converter has an option "generate html". it will create a web page with flash file and with pause, stop, play buttons. very convenient. you will not need to write a code yourself

Hi!
I just want suggest to convert huge video files to .swf too! It’s very useful. I know it coz I’m a web designer like you DocRocks.
Anyway I like this prog video to flash converter PRO (http://www.geovid.com/Flash_to_Video_Encoder_PRO)