Mmm yeah the problem is that multiple PC players now support mp4, but it may not be setup as defaul for those players to open .mp4 files when clicked on. And for watching mp4 in a browser, qt is still the main option.
I believe Quicktime, Real Player, Nero, VLC, and probably some others can play .mp4. Its possible to get wmp to play it but only with some fiddling around/downloading additional directshow filters. These problems mean that .mp4 canot take us to the promised land just now. It shows the potential, that many different apps can potentially play .mp4, but we arent quite there yet. Using .mov instead of .mp4 will indeed make it easier for some people. But its no good for people with alternative ways to play mpeg4, because most of those want .mp4 files not mpeg4 wrapped in a mov. I was hoping the PSP would help but it uses a different .mp4 type than is created by the likes of quicktime, so it makes things more complicated not less :( As for your lack of .mp4 stats, I guess it could either be that your weblog software needs to be told what filetypes to pay special attemption to, or it could be something to do with MIME type for mpeg4 not being set on your server. Fun, fun, fun, not. Steve of Elbows --- In [email protected], "Bill Streeter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Yeah this is an issue for me. I was posting only in Quicktime, using > MP4 compression. But I was getting complaints of people not being > able to see my stuff. Or there were people who were reluctant to > install QT on their PC's. I don't have any way to make a WMV because > I'm using a Mac, and besides I *HATE* WMV's for a lot of reasons. So > I started posting in straight MP4 format. I thought it would be a > good cross platforum compromise but it seems that I've gotten more > complaints about not being able to view my stuff than before. And > I've discovered that WMP doesn't play MP4's out of the box, which I > mistakenly thought when I decided to make the switch. So I'm > thinking of going back to just MOV files for two reasons. One is > believe it or not I think I get fewer complaints with the Quicktime > wrapper, and the other is I have been experimenting with 3vx and > like what I see, and as near as I can tell that only works inside > the QT wrapper (well I guess there is a version for WMV but you > already know what I think about that.) > > A couple of other random thoughts... When I switched to MP4 iTunes > had no problems with it. It handled them fine and showed up in the > directory no problem. But another downside of MP4... My web server > stats don't show that MP4's are being downloaded. I'm not sure why > this is. I know they are. Actually it shows them as a general > percentage of downloads, but they aren't included in the numbers for > individual file downloads. The MOVs are there but no MP4s... > weirdness. > > Bill Streeter > LO-FI SAINT LOUIS > www.lofistl.com > > > --- In [email protected], "Steve Watkins" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > > > > I just wish it were simply a case of Apple being snobbish. Its a > mix > > of business, technical and legal issues which cause these problems. > > > > For example Microsoft havent done a version of windows media player > > for OS X recently, its an older version that doesnt work so great. > As > > microsoft control the wmv format, I doubt theres much that can > > legitimately be done about that situation unless microsoft wants to > > play ball. > > > > Apple dont dominate the home computer market, but Itunes has given > > them a way to get quicktime stuff onto a lot of PCs. HP computers > that > > I bought for work recently came with itunes preinstalled (I think). > > > > The PC version of Quicktime 7 may not be quite right yet, but at > least > > they bothered to release the new version for windows. > > > > I sympathise with problems trying to encode files of a suitable > > size/quality compromise. Filesize has nothing to do with the mov > > format per-se, but rather whatever settings you are using. The > easiest > > way for Apple to make this stuff work better for users is to > improve > > the range of default compression profiles, and make it alla bit > > clearer. Can I ask about your current compression methods like > > Sorenson.... Do you have to set a lot of different settings, or at > > least bitrate, or do you just pick an appropriate encoding profile > and > > press go? > > > > .mp4 is still my best hope for the future. I believe it works with > > itunes, and PC support for this file format is improving. Im not > > saying its the best choice right now, but if nothing goes wrong > then > > it can be a good bridge for this stuff in the future. > > > > Steve of Elbows > > --- In [email protected], Deirdre Straughan > > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > > Not having a Mac, I don't have good free tools available for > QuickTime > > > editing - I even paid for QuickTime Pro, and did not find it > > particularly > > > transparent or powerful, nor is the compression good - 12 mb for > a > > 90 second > > > file! Nearly 5 for a 30-second file with no audio. Maybe I'm > doing > > something > > > wrong, but I don't have time to wrestle with it. > > > > > > Ergo, I use WMV or Flash (I have Sorenson Squeeze for "free" > because > > I also > > > use it for our corporate website). And there are lots of people > like > > me in > > > their inability to use QuickTime. If Apple wants to encourage > video > > > "podcasting" or whatever they want to call it, they will have to > be less > > > snobbish about formats. Although Mac owners are a large > percentage of > > > current videobloggers, they are not a large percentage of the > general > > > computer-using public, many of whom (we hope) will eventually > start > > > videoblogging. > > > > > > In further testing, Andreas' hypothesis seems to be borne out: I > added a > > > couple more MOVs to my RSS feed, and those show up in iTunes, but > > nothing > > > else does. > > > > > > FWIW, I am rebranding my site as [countries] > > > beginningwithi.com<http://beginningwithi.com>- a choice to be > > > explained in my upcoming newsletter, but probably obvious > > > to anyone who's been following and/or visits my site, however > briefly. > > > > > > -- > > > best regards, > > > Deirdré Straughan > > > > > > www.straughan.com <http://www.straughan.com> (personal) > > > www.tvblob.com <http://www.tvblob.com> (work) > > > > > > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get Bzzzy! (real tools to help you find a job). 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