The new video enabled iPods are getting lots of press and deservedly so. As I wrote in this space last month podcasting video opens up a new world of opportunities for the independent media producer. (In two earlier postings I explored the mechanics of video codecs and compression for the iPod, and I also illustrated the power of iPod friendly close-up shots with a memorable pastrami sandwich.) However, not everybody owns an iPod, and not everybody wants to watch video on a handheld device.
Hence, my praise of the Flash player. Encoding video as a Flash file enables a developer to place video directly into an HTML page. If you’re a filmmaker you can make your independent Sci-Fi epic, hip urban comedy, or social issue documentary project available to anyone with a broadband Internet connection, anywhere in the world. If you’re an educator you can use interactive video to create online learning environments that not only engage your students, but encourage them to use their critical thinking skills and take an active role in learning.
(For more on working with video in Flash, Macromedia offers an excellent overview of the process along with some very nice tutorials on adding Flash video to your HTML pages using Dreamweaver, and customizing the video playback interface. You can also download a free 30 day trial version and decide for yourself if it’s worth using.)
Combining Flash video with ActionScript, the coding language Flash developers use to create interactivity, enables people to design user experiences custom tailored to the specific needs of each project. For example, I recently worked on a large production where after viewing a carefully edited Flash video segment online, the user was automatically directed to a survey about their experience. I’m also currently discussing another project where people would view a Flash-based video presentation in a health care setting — the Flash environment would interface with the facility’s bio informatics system to record and store patient data, and also to page a doctor to enter the room for a personal consultation when the video ends.
I don’t claim that Flash is the perfect answer to every question about online video distribution, but it is a highly flexible and affordable way to get your work to an audience. I list some pros and cons below, but first take a look at two examples so you can get a better idea of what I’m talking about — each opens in a new browser window, and the video may take some time to appear on your screen depending on the bandwidth and processor power you have available. To play the video you need to have the newest Flash player installed on your computer, which you may view as one of the cons if you don’t like to install new software. (It’s also important to check that you have the newest Flash player installed on the browser you’re using to view the video — a friend recently installed the new Flash player on Explorer and not Firefox, and then discovered he couldn’t use Firefox to watch the video until he updated that browser’s Flash player as well.)
- The first clip is an excerpt of Big Luca, a short film I created for DV Filmmaking: From Start to Finish. (If you’re inspired by the composite effects, the book walks you step-by-step through their creation.)
- The second is a clip from Mi Querida America, an ongoing documentary project following a group of immigrant teens as they adjust to life in the United States.
Pros:
Unlike other media players, such as the RealPlayer or Windows Media Player, I can use Flash to display video in a Web page without using an external media player that has a fixed interface. Using Flash I have the option of custom designing my own interface so it integrates perfectly into my layout or I can use one of the preconfigured video playback components that ship with the application. (A few years ago I worked with an art director who asked if we could design an interface that would place a video playback window inside an image of an elephant — I explained that we could but probably wouldn’t want to. Then I came across this very inventive combination of Flash-based video and Polariod-style images, and since then I’m thinking maybe a playback window inside an elephant might not have been such a bad idea.)
The main benefit of the new Flash video codec is how good it looks. The video in my two example links is encoded at 300kbps, which is an unbelievably low bit rate for this level of image quality. (In short, the bit rate is the amount of information required to play one second of digital video. Higher bit rates require greater processor power and can cause computers to hang-up or even freeze. Lower bit rates, such as 300kbps have traditionally looked pixilated or like blocky mosaics.) Another benefit is Flash lets me encode the audio tracks as MP3 files, which also deliver impressive quality at low bit rates. In addition, Flash encoding software integrates with a number of video editing/compression applications, so I can now export to Flash video format directly from Final Cut Pro and QuickTime Pro.
Cons:
Not everybody has the latest version of the Flash player. If a person tried to watch my video clips with an older version, say one they downloaded two years ago, it simply wouldn’t work. (Flash Hacks explains how to check if someone has the Flash Player installed, and how to check which version.) Some people don't have the Flash player at all, and aren’t interest in installing one — you can provide people with a link to download the latest version, but if they don't want to there’s not too much you can do to convince them.
Unlike televisions, DVD players, and iPods that are built to standardized video specifications, computer operating systems and hardware process video in surprisingly different, and often frustrating, ways. Video that plays back easily on one computer may freeze another. Likewise, video that looks great on one computer may look really ugly on another. Although the Flash player is entirely cross-platform, Macs and PCs handle color differently. Sometimes an image might look great on a Mac but show up too dark to watch on a PC. To put it simply, there’s no substitute for checking your work on the same type of equipment your audience is using. To check this video I emailed friends around the country and asked them to watch the clips and report any problems before I made this posting public — one friend who uses an older PC had to wait about 20 seconds before the video showed up, but once it did everything worked nicely.
Lastly, Flash video won’t play on an iPod, so you miss out on part of the coolness factor. Of course, if you’re really motivated, you can encode multiple versions and offer different media formats for different members of your audience (it may take a little more effort, but if it adds to the quality of your project and makes your work accessible to a larger number of viewers it may be worthwhile). Either way, Flash and the iPod aren’t the only ways you can deliver video to a large audience — but I’ll save that for another posting.
Stay tuned.
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Comments (3)
Read More Entries by Ian David Aronson.
Can you explain to me why my type animation works fine on one computer but not on another. In checking my work on various computers, I found that the letters slide on top of each other sometimes, but of course, not always. I'd sure appreciate your help.
mercouri@yahoo.com
Brain dead simple flash encoding, sync with Video iPods...
Along the lines that you are talking about, you might check out vSocial, a free video clip sharing service that recently launched.
On the encoding front, the software, which is completely browser based, can upload files from any of the major formats and automatically convert them to flash. Similarly, with a click those files can be encoded and syndicated to iTunes for viewing in a Video iPod.
Moreover, while the service is very strong on the lowest common denominator features for a great video clip sharing site (i.e., it just works, has all the bells and whistles and is simple and quick), a core part of what makes vSocial unique is in enabling users to actually "do something" with video; namely to tell stories, start conversations and extend blogs.
Three features that you can quickly check out yourself:
1. Share favorite videos via clipmails (a type of formatted email)
2. Create short videos via our "video roll" builder tools
3. Embed BOTH favorite clips and video rolls in a web site
I have written a post that articulates a vision for the space called, "Short attention, short conversations and video clips." Here is the URL: http://thenetworkgarden.blogs.com/weblog/2005/10/vsocial_video_c.html
vSocial is, of course, available at http://www.vsocial.com.
p.s. click the about box to get a quickie example of a video roll. :-)
Cheers,
Mark
Embedded QuickTime Player
OK, so you can't do video-in-an-elephant with it, and you can't use ActionScript, but doesn't the QuickTime Player cover the basics of what you're looking to do?
If you've already encoded your video in iPod format, the easier path is to present that same file within a browser window using an embedded QuickTime Player.
The instructions for embedding a QuickTime video in a web page are definitely out there.
The QuickTime Player is a free download, and I don't expect the installation to be much worse than downloading the latest Flash Player (I haven't tried it on Windows, and it's there already on the Mac). For all I know, the necessary components are installed when you install iTunes on a PC anyway.
If you have invested in a QuickTime workflow ($30 for QuickTime Pro, more for other tools), but haven't bought Flash yet, at least try doing it with QuickTime alone first.