Video

A few years ago, producing a short movie meant going to film school, raising a lot of money, buying expensive equipment and looking for distribution via film festivals. Basically, it was out of reach for most people.

Today, with the right talent and desire, we can all have a shot at being filmmakers for a fraction of the cost. A whole new creative world has opened up, thanks to the advent of several new consumer technologies: high-quality and low-priced digital video, powerful desktop PCs, inexpensive and easy-to-use video editing software and a new distribution channel on the Web.

And as broadband DSL and cable modem access increases, so will the audience for digital video on the Web. In addition to the Internet, numerous new devices and appliances will be available to distribute your work. Already short videos are being seen in such diverse places as on airplanes, in hotel lobbies, on handhelds and through interactive TV.

To produce and showcase digital video involves several key steps:

a. Shoot video footage (use an analog or digital video camera)

b. Capture (input video onto a Mac or PC hard drive)

c. Edit (use consumer-level software video editing tool)

d. Compress/Encode (use a video editing or dedicated video compression tool)

e. Distribute (to Web, CD, DVD, etc.)

Streaming

There are two main types of streaming: progressive streaming (on demand) and real-time streaming (live or in real-time). Progressive streaming takes a compressed video file and downloads it to your hard drive via HTTP over the Internet. Real-time streaming is usually broadcast to your browser directly from a server. Real-time streaming uses RTSP (real time streaming protocol) so you'll need access to a special video streaming server.

Progressive Streaming

Progressive streaming is the easiest route for beginners as it requires no special server, such as a streaming server. A standard Web server can be used to upload a compressed video file. Quality is generally better using progressive streaming than with real-time. And once you decide to play the video online, the whole file begins to download to your hard drive. Progressive users also can't jump ahead to other sections of the video.

Depending on the format of the video (such as Real), some progressive files may require the entire video to be downloaded before playing it. This creates one of those annoying "hurry up and wait" scenarios. Thankfully, QuickTime supports a 'fast start' feature which automatically kick-starts your video player as it downloads. In an age of instant gratification, this is a great feature and QuickTime is the only major video architecture that supports it for now. For that feature alone, QuickTime is much better suited for progressive streaming than RealVideo 8 or Windows Media 7.

In general, progressive streaming works best for videos under three minutes, such as movie trailers, and the shorts you see on sites such as Apple Quicktime TV, iFilm, Atom Films, and on home video sites such as Share Your World.

Realtime Streaming

Unlike progressive streaming, real-time streaming requires a special streaming server. This can be a QuickTime Streaming Server (RTSP), a Real Networks Server or a Windows Media Server.

Video streamed for real-time plays automatically. You don't need to download the entire video before playing. You can jump to any location in the video clip. And the clip always resides on the server. Video encoded for real-time streaming generally tries to keep pace with the user's connection speed in order to minimize interruptions and stalling. There's nothing you can do about general Net congestion, but the streaming server at least tries to compensate by maintaining a constant connection.

Real-time streaming is best suited for longer videos -- such as live event broadcasts, presentations, training videos and lectures -- where users can skip ahead to other parts of the clip and don't have to download a huge video file. It also offers good protection for your content as users can't download it to their hard drives and redistribute your work. Unfortunately, the video quality isn't as good with real-time as with progressive. But getting quality video on the Web is all about trade-offs.

Video Encoding

What is video encoding and why is it important?

First of all, digital video files are HUGE. Roughly five minutes of uncompressed video will consume nearly one gigabyte of space on your hard drive, and no one -­ not even your adoring mother -- is going to download or stream a video that large. So compression helps you optimize the video while retaining the highest quality possible for distribution on the Web.

Before compressing/encoding video for the Web, you need to consider the following settings and criteria:

  1. What Video Format/Architecture (QuickTime, Real, Windows Media)?
  2. What Data Rate?
  3. What Frame Rate?
  4. What Window Size?
  5. Streaming Method: Progressive or Real-time?

The file compression process begins when you take your edited video clip and encode to a particular video format -- e.g., QuickTime, Windows Media, or Real Media -- and compress the file size to output to either CD, DVD, or the Web. Encoding for the Web is the trickiest part as there are far more variables to deal with, such as constrained bandwidth, which results in jerky, annoying videos on the Web.

In order to encode a steady sample, it's important to have a well-shot video source. This is why you don't see many MTV-style videos on the web -- the transitions are too fast, rapid camera movement doesn't compress well, and you're likely to have jerky, delayed images, even when compressed at a low frame rate.

The three main video formats on the Web are RealVideo, Quicktime and Windows Media. When choosing a video architecture and format, you need to evaluate current market trends and also decide which is the best fit for you and your audience.

Currently, RealVideo is the most popular and widespread video format used on the Web. However you must buy the server software to use it; the cost after software purchase is based on connection usage. Windows Media from Microsoft is also widespread. Although Windows runs its own proprietary server protocol (not the standard RTSP), it's free and it runs on the widely available Windows Server Platforms.

QuickTime Streaming Server from Apple, the third major format, is based on RTSP. It's an open standard and available on multi-platform servers from UNIX to NT. As Apache is to Web servers, QuickTime Streaming is to video servers. And the best part is it's free. Many professionals believe QuickTime offers the best quality, as well as the elegant interface that Apple products are famous for.

Video Codecs:

In order to understand video compression, you first need to become familiar with "codecs" and how they work. Codec stands for compression/decompression, and it's the piece of software you use to compress very large files, such as video or audio, into much smaller files that can be sent out to multiple media. Normally, you will choose a codec according to the video format you are using.

For example, Sorenson Video 3 codec from Sorenson Media is compatible with the QuickTime format and is the de facto codec for QuickTime Video compression. Real Video 8 codec runs in conjunction with Real Server. The same compatibility issues apply to audio codecs such as Qdesign Music Pro for QuickTime. Codecs generally come bundled with your video editing software or with compression suites such as Media Cleaner. Every year, new and improved codecs are released to make files even smaller, while encoding faster and producing better quality video.

The following codecs for video compression are all used on the web:

  1. Sorenson Video
  2. RealVideo
  3. Windows Media Video
  4. MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4
  5. H261/H263
  6. On2

What are 'plug-ins'?

Plug-ins are small bits of computer software that let you view a document, interact with an image, listen to music or watch a video. If you do not have the right plug-in on your computer, you will not be able to listen to your favourite song or see animations and video on screen.

Getting plug-ins

They are called plug-ins because they 'plug in' to your browser the first time you download them onto your computer, generally installing automatically. When you go to a site that needs a plug-in your browser will automatically know and ask you whether you want to download the plug-in needed. After that they start themselves whenever they are required - that is, whenever you visit a website designed to be viewed using a particular plug-in. Typically, plug-ins add 'multimedia' functions which enable you to receive information in more powerful ways than the normal text and image - such as animation, sound or video.

Why plug-ins?

You may wonder why plug-ins are needed at all and why the main browser types don't automatically include every type of functionality as standard? The answer is that this would simply not be practical. There are hundreds of plug-ins - with new ones created all the time - and a basic package could never include them all and be up-to-date. Plus, it makes more sense to keep the basic browser as small a possible to make it easier to install and then leave it up to individual users to decide what extra functionality they require.

MPEG-4

Although Windows Media, Quicktime and Real Media are the major players, an open format called MPEG-4 holds great promise and could become the de facto video codec standard in the same way that MP3 has become the dominant format for music on the Web. MPEG-4 has momentum behind for several reasons:

  1. Ubiquity: Streaming video today is mostly viewed on the Web, but the future in streaming video will be far more prolific across multiple devices, appliances, platforms and computers. Streaming Video will be seen in hotel lobbies, supermarkets, airplanes, videophones, TVs and more. MPEG-4 appears to be the codec and standard for future devices to come.
  2. Unified Standard: Today, there are many codecs. The problems that people face is sorting out which codecs to use with which video architectures in the encoding process. The job would be far easier for digital media professionals if people could encode just once for all platforms and devices.
  3. Quality: MPEG-4 appears to be the most efficient encoding standard and will encode at incredibly high-quality over the most constrained bandwidth requirements. From what we have seen, people will be able to have full screen VHS quality video. Sorenson media is developing an ISO-compliant MPEG-4 codec, as is Microsoft for use in Windows Media.

The bottom line is that MPEG-4 will be awesome in quality and will be embedded into many new and exciting devices.

 

QuickTime Movie

Click here to see a QuickTime Movie.

Windows Media Movie

Click here to see a Windows Media Movie.

Real Media Movie

Click here to see a Real Media Movie.

MPEG Movie

Click here to see a MPEG Movie.

AVI Movie

Click here to see an AVI Movie.