Just a bit of info about adaptive streaming, it's gaining a lot of momentum. At work we use the Move player (which ABC uses to stream full episodes, / www.movenetworks.com). Each video gets "simulcoded" to multiple profiles which each have different video/audio bitrates and display sizes, all the way from postage stamp 32kbps to HD 2000+kbps. We then hacked things to make it appear that the video is playing in our own branded player so it's a seamless UEX. Then the users' bandwidth and CPU power is dectected on-the-fly to play a certain profile.
Adobe also offers Adaptive Streaming which I don't have experience using. But here's a writeup on newteevee: http://newteevee.com/2009/06/10/the-lowdown-on-apples-http-adaptive-bitrate-streaming/ But I think it'll be a while before this tech is offered for consumer video hosting solutions. For now, I agree uploading multiple files would be the best way. -Lauren Lauren Galanter www.laurengalanter.com www.linkedin.com/in/laureng 610-761-4435 On Thu, Aug 13, 2009 at 3:54 PM, Rupert Howe <rup...@twittervlog.tv> wrote: > > > No, the Vimeo/Blip files are not low bandwidth. > They would take a long time to watch on a narrowband or mobile > connection, even 3G. > And they require Flash player. > > You need to offer alternative versions. It's a drag, but it's > necessary. To be accessible for narrowband, your video will have poor > quality images, and/or very small resolution. There's no point in > only catering to the lowest common denominator - you might as well > offer those *as well as* high quality files. Set the high quality > files as default, and offer the small files as a clickable option > below the player. I don't have experience of the single file type > your guidelines talk about, which shrinks for slower connections and > plays at higher quality for larger connections. As far as I know, a > big file is a big file. > > You can make pretty much any format as a small size file - just lower > the resolution, framerate, bitrate. 3gp is a common format for small > video files, but I understand it's basically just an mpeg4 file. I > always used to get really small file sizes from wmv Windows files. > > If you're having problems with high quality Vimeo files stuttering > (are they HD? - if so, that's probably why) use Blip. You can upload > a great looking iPod quality H264 MP4 file to Blip, which will play in > their Flash player instead of the lower quality flv file they > automatically generate. If you're still getting stuttering on your > connection, export another version with lower bitrate. > > Ryanne gives great advice about compression settings on: > http://freevlog.org > > We don't hear much about accessibility here any more, but we should. > There are a *lot* of people without broadband. And even some of those > with 'broadband' don't have fast enough connections to watch streaming > video properly. I know someone in South Africa - in Johannesburg, the > capital - who says that it's impossible to stream YouTube there. You > have to wait ages to let them buffer - even using the internet > connection in his architectural company's offices in downtown > Jo'burg. If that's true for a relatively rich country like South > Africa, imagine the situation in the rest of the world. > > Rupert > http://twittervlog.tv > > > On 13-Aug-09, at 6:59 PM, Irene Duma wrote: > > > Hello all, > > I am finishing up some videos for a site that has stringent > > accessibility guidelines. Since this is a Gov. fund, they want us not > > to ignore the low-bandwidth users. The Video specs require that we > > provide low bandwidth versions. > > > > I was hoping to just upload to a Vimeo or Blip and embed the code. > > Would these Flash files be considered "multi-bitrate streaming video > > files?" As per the requirement below > > > > "Video files prepared for delivery in a high-bandwidth environment > > also have a low-bandwidth version, or are multi-bitrate streaming > > video files. " > > > > The client preferred the look of the Vimeo videos, but we are finding > > that they stutter a lot on one of our machines. This looks to be a > > problem as I see this topic coming up a lot in their forums. > > > > Any advice on how to make sure one can do this using videos embedded > > from a Video hostinig company? I haven't created multiple versions > > of videos in a while, and would really rather not. > > > > BTW. The complete tech specs for accessibility are here. It's a > > Canadian Heritage fund that gives out nice chunks of money to groups > > who are eligible > > http://www.pch.gc.ca/pgm/pcce-ccop/publctn/techguide-eng.cfm#jmp- > > lan5_4 > > > > Cheers, > > Irene > > > > Irene Duma > > Strange Duck Media > > ...a good egg > > > > ir...@strangeduck.com <irene%40strangeduck.com> > > T 709-738-2242 > > C 709-699-8205 > > www.strangeduck.com > > web and digital design for your > > business marketing needs > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]