LenBradshaw — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 17:48:34 +0000

I think Megan is on the right track here. I've used different video streaming formats and have had the best results when converting raw footage to FLV format. I use a program called SWISHVIDEO2. Do a search on it. Not only will it do the converstion for you, but you can scale the size down, crop it, etc. In addition, it will add the associated SWF (Flash file) controls that allow your users to pause, playback, etc. It isn't free but the price is well within the reach of most people.

technostick — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 20:47:23 +0000

I meant the various settings in saving the movie. For example, iMovie, the program I use, can save in many formats, such as .mov, .mp4, etc.

Should I upload the video file directly to the website server as I have done?

Megan — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 16:43:25 +0000

Ooh, thanks for mentioning Audacity! I used to do a lot of sound editing in my old job and we were using Adobe Audition (total overkill for what we were doing). I don't usually do any sound editing anymore but if I ever do it will be great to know that there is an open alternative

FrankR — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 14:23:58 +0000

Megan;213885 wrote: Can you do other forms of audio and video processing in there too? ...

I have thus far only worked with the basics to create tutorials of what I am doing on the computer. I am not sure yet about all that Camtasia Studio can do. It's not Final Cut Pro or Pro Tools|HD by any means, but still very capable. I am using Audacity, a open source program, to do audio mixing.

Frank

Megan — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 14:07:47 +0000

Frank - I have used Camtasia before but we used it for recording what was happening on the screen. It's great for doing online tutorials and things like that. Can you do other forms of audio and video processing in there too? I remember it published a nice final video in different formats with a nice player and everything.

That's a good point about the YouTube ToS.

FrankR — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 22:17:42 +0000

Carefully pay attention to the YouTube terms of service before you do that.

I have been trying a product called Camtasia Studio from TechSmith. The $300 price tag is reasonable considering the features it has. I am currently working with the 30 day trial and will measure the results that videos make to my conversion ratios before committing to purchasing the product. It has been fun to work with so far.

I hope this helps.

Frank

Megan — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 17:10:41 +0000

The format and settings where? On your server or at YouTube? Or in Flash? If it's with Flash convert it to FLV video first. Do a google search for a converter that will do that. I know I had one last year that worked well, and I think it was free too.

technostick — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 16:27:51 +0000

In fact I have the same problem. I do not have any relevant bandwidth restrictions, but all the formats and their settings (.mov, .mpg) which I have tried lead to a "missing plug-in" alert. Could you please suggest a format?

Megan — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 15:28:14 +0000

You know what, the easiest thing to do with video would be to put it in YouTube and then copy their code over to your sever. Then you don't have to worry about hosting the file and bandwidth costs and all that.

Otherwise you can plug your video into Flash yourself. I think it accepts some formats directly, but it's best to convert your video to Flash Video Format first. You can google to find a tool that will conver to .flv. I also think that flash has a player included in one of their templates... or you could probably find one on the web.