HTML5 is a specification. It 'approves' a number of different codecs and
formats that can be used for the web. Some are open source, some are not.
If you are looking for web-based options then it is a good place to look.
HTML5 is 'supposed' to replace flash.
HTML5 also only guarantees general compatibility for HTML5 compliant
browsers. Apple and MS have a tendency to implement other, non-spec
formats.

The only web-compliant IMAGE format is GIF.
There are several VIDEO formats that can be used.

For web compliant video you will want to use one of the following formats.
MP4 video/mp4
WebM video/webm
Ogg video/ogg

These are containers. Webm is intended to be used with opensource codecs
such as the VP8 or VP9 codecs that Google is pushing. Here is a very basic
process for getting your videos to play on modern browers using FFMPEG.


FFMPEG will usually choose sane defaults when you specify a container name
. Download the latest version of ffmpeg for your distro and try the
following command for one of your flash files.

ffmpeg -i flash-file.swf new-file.webm


This will transcode your flash video to a webm video using the defaults in
ffmpeg. Note that it may look like total trash, a proper ffmpeg command
would be a bit more complex.
In the directory where new-file.webm is located, create video-test.html
file and place the following valid HTML5 inside.

>------cut here ---------<
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>

<video width="400" controls>
  <source src="new-file.webm" type="video/webm">
  Your browser does not support HTML5 video.
</video>


</body>
</html>
>------cut here ---------<

Now open the video-test.html file in Firefox. At this point, browsers which
respect the opensource web standards will embed the video in the above
webpage. This is a bit hackish but it *should* do the trick to show a basic
test for open source media codecs.



On Mon, Jul 16, 2018 at 11:12 AM, Keith Lofstrom <[email protected]> wrote:

> On Sun, Jul 15, 2018 at 11:22:45PM -0700, Russell Senior wrote:
> > In browser, I think you want HTML5.  There may well be tools to do the
> > conversion.
>
> From what I've read, "HTML5" is a container specification
> for a bunch of different, incompatible, and proprietary
> video codecs.  I may be misinformed.  The web does that.
>
> Is there a specific codec that is open source and
> compatible with all modern browsers?  Are there open
> source tools that can convert image folders or old
> flash animations into the new codec format?  I would
> LOVE to learn about them, and teach them to others.
>
> The last time I looked, the conversion process looked
> like a perpetual employment machine for code morlocks
> and a royalty stream for the patent trolls.  I'm sure
> I don't know for sure.
>
> WHICH *SPECIFIC* CODEC?  WHAT *SPECIFIC* LINUX TOOLS?
> WHAT AM I MISSING?
>
> I ask because I /know/ I am ignorant, and frightened of
> a paywalled Orwellian memory-hole future.  Specific
> tools and examples and guidance will change me from
> a worrywart to an advocate.  Does anyone have actual
> experience with this?
>
> This may be my hallway-track mission at OSCON.
>
> Keith
>
> --
> Keith Lofstrom          [email protected]
> _______________________________________________
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>
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