Founder, Wes Moore's HD Video Blog

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Motionbox Users Make the Move to iPlayerHD

On July 13, Motionbox, a mostly free video sharing platform, announced the sale of the company to Snapfish, a mostly free photo sharing platform. It seems Snapfish looks to integrate Motionbox's video technology into its platform and extend video sharing services to its millions of subscribers. While Snapfish subscribers might celebrate the new services this acquistion brings, Motionbox users are hardly celebrating.

Turns out Snapfish does not intend to offer all of Motionbox's features including, and especially, the ability to embed videos. This has caused widespread grief and anger among the many Motionbox subscribers whose videos, on August 10, will be disabled and left out in the cold. It has also caused a widespread exodus from Motionbox as subscribers seek alternatives.

Many Motionbox subscribers used the service to deliver important video content for their businesses, schools and churches. Some paid a subscription for their relationship with Motionbox. They are all looking for an alternative and many have found iPlayerHD.

We've been busy helping them download their source and optimized video files as well as assisting them with the upload to iPlayerHD. iPlayerHD offers something they did not get with Motionbox - live support - and plenty of it. In the end, they will all land on their feet and for those who chose iPlayerHD, they will sleep well knowing that their videos are in good hands and out of the cold.

iPlayerHD is a profitable, debt-free company that delivers an excellent product at a fair price. We welcome our new subscribers with open arms and we're glad to have them with us. Welcome aboard!

posted by Wes Moore at 6:43 PM 0 Comments

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Encoding Video for the Web: Handbrake Tutorial

For about a year, I’ve been promoting QuickTime Player Pro as the best and easiest to use encoding tool for the Web. At $29.95, QTPP is a good tool. However, it is limited in that it does not accept all video formats into its encoder. Another tool has come along, one that is rapidly growing in popularity, not only because it is free, but because it simply has it all. Going forward, it is the tool that I will now recommend. I’m talking about Handbrake.

Handbrake is a free, no strings attached, video encoder. It will encode almost every video format (I don’t know of a video type that it won’t encode) and every DVD into an MP4 format you can display on the Web or your handheld device.

Handbrake uses the H264 codec and the encoding process it uses delivers a stunning end result that matches any encoder on the market.

You’ll first need to download this PC and MAC compatible tool. You’ll find it at http://handbrake.fr/

We've created a Handbrake tutorial with lots of screenshots. Get it here.

posted by Wes Moore at 8:26 AM 0 Comments

Monday, April 26, 2010

Is the Video on Your Website Being Pirated?

This may come as a shock to many who read this: If the video on your website is delivered via progressive download, it can be saved as a digital file. By digital file, I mean exactly that - the same file you created. Yup. Anyone watching your progressively downloaded video can save the source file - all he or she needs is the right software tool, a tool that can easily be found on the web - for free!

I'm not going to provide recommendations on which tool is best to do the job. That's not the point of this entry. But I will explain why it can be done and how to prevent it.

It's probably helpful that you know that most of the video you watch on the web is delivered via progressive download. That's the kind of video that can easily be saved. YouTube is the best example. 100% progressive download. While the video is viewed, the video file is downloaded to the cache of the machine viewing the video where it remains until the cache is deleted. Here's an interesting fact: Go back to a website and watch a video previously viewed and chances are good the video is playing from the cache and not from the site. In fact, after the first viewing, videos downloaded to the cache play from the cache every time they are viewed - that is until the cache is deleted.

It seems many don't care if their videos are pirated. In fact, it's really not pirated video unless the copyright owner doesn't want their video assets copied and saved. But what if you do want to protect your videos (or at least some videos) from being pirated? Is there an alternative to progressive download?

Fortunately the answer is yes. You won't find it offered by many online video platforms, but you will find it at iPlayerHD. The alternative is "streaming video". While we all use "streaming video" when referring to video we watch on the web, the more accurate meaning of streaming video is video delivered in a manner not at all similar to progressive download. True streaming video does not download to the cache of the machine playing the video. Because it does not download, it cannot be saved. That's great news for anyone who wants to protect their digital assets. Note that anything on any computer monitor can be screened captured and there's nothing we can do about that. But a screen capture is low quality and is nothing like the digital file.

As is the case with most things in life, there is a downside to using streaming video as a delivery method. Unlike progressive download, which uses the familiar HTTP protocol, streaming video uses Adobe's RTMP protocol. The hazard there is that some larger businesses and government organizations have firewalls that prevent RTMP sources to penetrate their firewalls. In the case of a firewall, the video will never play and the screen will remain black and empty. So if you must use streaming to protect your video assets, be sure of your audience and the associated risks.

iPlayerHD is one of the few online video platforms that offers both progressive download and the streaming alternative. At iPlayerHD, every video you embed can be uniquely created as a progressive download or a streaming video. It's your choice.

That's just one more reason to try iPlayerHD free for 30 days. No credit card is required and you'll receive plenty of one-on-one personal support.

posted by Wes Moore at 3:04 PM 0 Comments

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Using YouTube - Part Two

In my November 9 Blog entry, I talked about the usefulness of YouTube when promoting our businesses. Success on the Web is about traffic and conversion. Drive traffic to your site first and convert the traffic to some kind of action when they get there. YouTube is one of many ways to drive traffic to your site. However, once traffic arrives at your site, YouTube is not going to help you convert that traffic. YouTube is a branded player that provides a one-click opportunity to drive your hard earned site visitors away from your site. An unbranded player displaying stunning video will do more to convert than a branded player. Does anybody really believe that using YouTube on a website will help convince potential customers to act? Savvy marketers use YouTube, along with many other sources, to drive traffic to their web sites. Once there, they only display unbranded video.

Did I mention that YouTube needs to make money? They do it by placing ads in the videos they host including videos embedded in business websites. Does anyone reading this post want ads placed in the videos they have embedded in their websites? I doubt it.

Drive traffic to your site with YouTube. Use an online video host provider to display the video on your site. Very simple logic.

Labels: ,

posted by Wes Moore at 2:07 PM 0 Comments

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Video Encoding Settings for 2010

In late 2008, Adobe, which owns Flash Player, enabled the latest version of their popular player to work with H264 files types including MP4, MOV and M4V. Since then, the adoption of Flash Player has exceeded 98% of all computers worldwide. The H264 video has reached near universal acceptance as the best compression format for the Web. As a result of these events, iPlayerHD no longer recommends the use of FLV files for the Web. Instead, we recommend the H264 codec as MP4, M4V or MOV. In a previous entry, we demonstrated how you can encode and place your videos in iPlayerHD for Mobile devices using M4V. In this entry, we’ll show you how to encode your videos to H264 as MP4.

Note: In 2010, iPlayerHD will begin encoding videos to MP4 for you. While you may take full advantage of this new feature when it arrives, you may want to convert new videos (and older ones) to MP4.

Encoding your videos for iPlayerHD

The encoding settings provided may be used in most encoding software tools. We’ll use QuickTime Player Pro as our encoding tool and we’ll do it on a PC. There may be slight variations in the appearance of the options but the choices will be the same if you do this on a Mac. QuickTime’s encoding tool does not accept AVI file types so you’ll need to export your edited file, within your editing system, to an H264 file – we recommend MP4 or MOV. Many editing systems have MP4 encoding tools that may work with the settings we provide so you may not need to use QuickTime. We like QuickTime because of its simplicity, ease of use and excellent quality output.

QuickTime Player is a free tool you can download from Apple. Once downloaded, you must upgrade to the $29 Pro version to use the Export encoding option. The option to upgrade can be found in the Player’s Options. Once purchased, you’ll need to enter the exact name of the User and the registration code in the Registration area of the Player to activate the Pro version.

In QuickTime Player Pro, after you complete your first encode, the parameters will be saved as “Use Current Settings”. “Current Settings” is always the settings used for the last encoding session.

iPlayerHD uses a bandwidth technology that delivers video at a speed that best matches the speed of the viewer’s machine. To take advantage of bandwidth detection, we recommend creating two versions of your videos: 1000 for the first encode and 2000 for the second encode. These are recommendations only – you may encode up to six different bit rates for your iPlayerHD Channels.

Open your source video file in QuickTime Player Pro.

· Click File then Export (not export for Web)

· In the window that opens, find “Export “and choose “Movie to MPEG 4”.

· Click “Options”. This window has several panes. The second pane down includes Video, Audio and Streaming. Begin with Video – you’ll choose Audio when we are done configuring the Video encoding options. Have a brief look at Streaming. You should never enable Streaming and the default should be an unchecked “Enable Streaming” box. Be sure it is unchecked. With Video chosen:

· File Format: MP4 (not MP4 ISMA)

· Video Format: H264

· Recommended data rates: 1000 for the first encode and 2000 for the second encode.

· Optimized for Download

· Image Size: Custom

· Widescreen Width: Any resolution may be used up to 1080. Your goal should be to deliver the best performing video to your audience – the higher the resolution of your encoded video and the lower the CPU of your site visitors speed means more skipping of video frames. Because many of your website visitors do not have HD monitors or the fastest CPUs, you may want to encode at 360, 480 or 720 although you may encode at 1080.

· Non-Widescreen Width and Height: Use the resolution of the source video.

If the image size width and height match the video’s aspect ratio, you should ignore the preserve aspect ratio option. Most will ignore this option.

· Frame Rate: Current

· Key Frame Rate: Automatic

· Video Options Window choose Restrict Profile to Main and Best Quality-Multi Pass

To create the audio settings, change Video to Audio in the second pane.

· Audio Format : AAC-LC Music

· Data Rate: 128 kbps

· Channels: Stereo

· Output Sample Rate: 44.100kHz

· Encoding Quality: Better

You may now click OK. Be sure you include the bit rate in the name of the file for reference when uploading to your iPlayer account. Click Save and the video will now encode.

As always, if you have questions or need support, email us at info@iplayerhd.com or by telephone at 603.778.7000.

Labels: ,

posted by Wes Moore at 3:18 PM 0 Comments

iPlayerHD Supports Mobile Media

iPlayerHD supports Mobile media for Apple devices.

Did you know you can use your iPlayer account to deliver video to the iPhone, iPod and iPad? We're still testing formats for the other devices like Android, Nexus and Blackberry. More on that later. Since most mobile video is consumed on Apple devices, that's where we started.

Those devices use video players that play MP4, MOV and M4V format videos. Their small screens and resolutions mean bitrates smaller than you create for your iPlayerHD account. You’ll deliver a single bit rate video to mobile devices – no need to create multiple bit rates as we don’t use bandwidth detection on mobiles.

Follow these three steps to get mobile video on your website:

1. Encode your video specifically for Apple smart phones.

2. Upload your video to your iPlayerHD account.

3. Create a link to your video on your website.

Apple iPad and iPhone visitors to your site simply click on your video links and the device will open and play the video.

Using the method prescribed below, we'll create M4V files using the H264 codec.

Here are the details:

Encoding your videos

We’ll use QuickTime Player Pro as our encoding tool and we are doing it on a PC. There may be slight variations in the appearance of the options but the choices will be the same if you do this on a Mac. The source files for this example are QuickTime Movies.

Open your source video file in QuickTime Player Pro.

Click "File" then "Export for Web".

In the window that opens, give your file a name and a location where it will be saved

Choose "Export Versions for iPhone" (not cellular).

Click OK. The video will encode.

You may encode several videos at the same time – the faster your processor, the faster multiple encodes will complete.

Upload your video to your iPlayerHD account

In your iPlayer Management Console, click on Media Files/Upload Media/Browse. You may upload multiple files at the same time. Once your file is uploaded, you’ll see it listed in your media files. Click on “Details” next to the file name and then copy the file’s URL. It should look like this ( this is an active link - read this Blog on your Apple device and click on the link):

http://www.iplayerhd.com/Videos/1fc7935c-f150-450f-9800-a89abd339bdf/33e25699-cb49-4519-911d-16758e298de4-blue_marvel_m720p-iPhone.m4v

Create a link to your video on your website

Add thumbnails or other links to your website that signify mobile media. Visitors to your site click on the links and your video will open and play in the mobile device’s video player.

Here's an example - watch it from your Apple device as this is not meant for your desktop.


Click here to watch the video.

As always, if you have questions or need support, email us at

info@iplayerhd.com or by telephone at 603.778.7000.

Labels: ,

posted by Wes Moore at 3:15 PM 0 Comments

iPlayer's New Features for 2010

Happy, Happy New Year!

Near the end of 2009 we upgraded iPlayerHD accounts from 5 GB of storage and 20 GB of bandwidth to 30 GB of storage and 40 GB of bandwidth. That was an exciting way to end our year. 2010 also looks to be very exciting for iPlayer and it's subscribers as we'll be adding cool new features, many designed to simplify your work flow. These features include:

  • You will no longer have to encode your own videos. iPlayerHD will encode your videos for you to H264 MP4 in multiple bit rates including a Mobile version. We'll maintain your option to endode your own.

  • The option to batch upload your videos directly into Media Files and then drag and drop them into your Channels.

  • Advanced Statistics which agregate data over indefinite time.

  • The option to add clickable links such as logos, images and text to your videos.

  • The option to batch upload your videos directly into Media Files and then drag and drop them into your Channels.

  • The option to add multiple users to your account - each with a unique login and password. As the Master Account, you'll have access to your users videos but your users will only have access to their videos.

  • The option to add multiple categories in the form of tabs, to your embeddable Playlists.

  • We'll grab frames from your video for you to use as Splash images. We'll maintain your option to upload your own.

  • We'll grab frames from your video for you to use as Thumbnail images. We'll maintain your option to upload your own.

These will roll out over the next several months - watch for emails announcing each upgrade as they are ready to use. If you have a suggestion for a feature you would like us to consider, please shoot us an email.

Thank you for your continued loyalty.

Have a great 2010!

Cheers.

posted by Wes Moore at 3:05 PM 0 Comments