Help with Video for the WEB

dtudela wrote on 1/2/2010, 10:03 AM

I am using Vegas 8c, bld. 260. I rendered a few small clips, approx. 55 seconds each as mpeg 4 files and used a FREEWARE software (MetaDatamover) to move the metadata to the beginning of the file. By the way, I did search this forum before posting and came up with this workflow. It is my understanding that these files should play on a Website. Admittedly, this is my first attempt at preparing files for a website. I then emailed these files (approx. 4MB each) to a client who attempted to put them on his website, but reported they do not work. Have I missed a step in preparing the files?

Making this work is important to me since this is a client that I will be working with a lot in the future. Thanks for your help!!!
--Darrell

Comments

amendegw wrote on 1/2/2010, 11:36 AM

"...but reported they do not work."Did the client give you any symptoms? Did the file not stream (i.e. progressively download?) Did the file simply not play? Was the playback quality poor?

Could you post a copy of your video to the web so one of us could take a look at it?

...Jerry

enespacio wrote on 1/2/2010, 12:16 PM

I use Metadatamover, but I also use Mp4FastStart. What web player is he using? Not all of them recognize mp4s. Many of them require you to convert the file to .flv. The JW and Easyflv player do recognize mp4s.

dtudela wrote on 1/2/2010, 12:59 PM

Thanks gentlemen for the reply. I will contact my client and try to get as much information as possible. I haven't been able to reach him today--may be Monday before I can get the answers. Now for the EMBARRASSING part--I do not know how to post a sample video to the WEB. Would you be kind enough to explain the procedure and where to post it?

Although to date, I use Vegas primarily as a hobby, I see evidence that it may become much more. The client I am working with is a "hunting outfitter" that I will be filming some of his clients' hunts. If it helps I am providing his URL: http://eaglelakesportingcamps.com/

Check the link for "OMM Outfitters" to see one of the videos. Click on the "Moose" tab and then "Moose Video" (enjoy the video). You may be able to see at a glance what my problem is.

I have a video ready to post as soon as I figure out the process. Thanks.
--Darrell

amendegw wrote on 1/2/2010, 1:58 PM

Darrell,

The link on your webpage gave me enough info to download your video clip. I peaked on the webpage an see that your client was playing the existing video as a flash/shockwave object. I would suggest using a video player such as JWPlayer. See: http://www.longtailvideo.com

Also, it didn't look like "MetaDatamover" modified your mp4 to properly stream the clip (i.e. I needed to download the whole thing in order to play it). I'm not familiar with this tool, so I used "mp4FastStart" (Google it) to properly modify the file for streaming.

So... here's what I came up with: http://www.jazzythedog.com/testing/moose.htm

And here's the quick-and-dirty html that plays the video (your web developer should be able to modify it and insert it into his own website).

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<head id="Head1" runat="server">

    Moose Test



    <script src="js/swfobject.js" type="text/javascript"></script>



</head>

<body>

    <div style="width: 1024px; height: 1250px; margin: 0 auto; background-color: Gray;

        text-align: center;">

        <br />

        <h2 style="color: #00FFFF;">

            JWPlayer Test [/title]

        <div id='mediaspace'>

            <a href="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer">Get the Flash Player</a> to

            see this video.

        </div>



        <script type='text/javascript'>

            var so = new SWFObject('player.swf', 'ply', '640', '495', '9', '#ffffff');

            so.addParam('allowfullscreen', 'true');

            so.addParam('allowscriptaccess', 'always');

            so.addParam('wmode', 'opaque');

            //so.addVariable('image', 'Images/moose.jpg');

            so.addVariable('file', 'Videos/jimsmoose.mp4&autostart=true');

            so.addVariable('stretching', 'uniform');

            so.write('mediaspace')

                    

        </script>



    </div>

    </body>

</html>

There's a bug in this forum's code block posting code. You will notice the "title" tag and the closing "h2" tag did not get converted properly. Any web developer worth his salt should be able to find and fix these easily.

Good Luck!
...Jerry

dtudela wrote on 1/2/2010, 4:05 PM

Thanks everyone. Your input was extremely helpful.
--Darrell

BudWzr wrote on 1/2/2010, 6:01 PM

You can't play a SWF here. It needs to call a player.

There's a sticky up there with all the details.