GA Media — Thu, 08 Apr 2004 07:20:56 +0000

Why not encode all of the formats yourself?

OSS VIDEO CONVERTER http://www.onestopsoft.com/video-converter.html

this program does excellent batch files and can convert from avi/mpeg to wmv, rm and mov quite well. I prefer the wmv becuase of the streaming properties on a windows media server box. It can do any web compression from 56K to 1MB and can do it quite easily and fast. It is shareware for a trial but purchase price is really reasonable.

Regards,

Lee

Megan — Mon, 05 Apr 2004 13:15:38 +0000

That's probably the best way - have at least two formats and allow the user to choose. A lot of people probably don't even know which formats they can and cannot view. They may be familiar with just one of them and if they don't see it there they may think they see it at all.

I somewhat agree with Suzanne about the usefullness of the video. It's also going to take a really long time to download for most people. One idea would be to offer a free CD available upon request. Hook it up with a decent interface and add in some other material you would want to save for people who are seriously interested.

tomaine2002 — Sun, 04 Apr 2004 01:43:01 +0000

Maybe you should ask them for all 3. I'm sure they could easily put it in all 3 formats. They probably woudn't even charge you. This way you can try out each format before you decide

Suzanne — Fri, 02 Apr 2004 21:09:41 +0000

Mpeg is the most portable as it allows the user to use whatever they want to view it.

The file size depends on the frame size and the frame rate and the quality (compression) as well as the length of the movie and is generally influenced by your bandwidth limitations.

That said, I cannot imagine a 10-12 video on a retirement home that I would want to view over the web. Why not provide the information in text/html and then provide photos of the areas. The video could be reduced to interviews, or short takes of activities and thus be more viewable, while simultaneously getting the important information in a more accessible format.