Frequently Asked Questions
- How does video get to the desktop?
- Why are the servers so important?
- Why does bandwidth matter?
- What are the technical requirements?
- Does online video play in all browsers and all operating systems?
- Does it matter what player is installed on the PC?
- What can stop online video?
- How long for online video?
- What is the difference between interactive video and online video?
- Does interactive video play on all systems?
- Can you work with video footage we provide?
How does video get to the desktop?
Video files are large chunks of data that have been compressed so that they can reasonably be processed as they are called from the server. There are two ways to distribute video files from the server. Stream it or send it as a download to the PC. Both options are viable. Until recently streaming media was the main way of distributing long format data files with few security risks. Windows Media Video files are still used as one of the main ways of sending video from the server to desktop.
Flash progressive download is now accepted as a standard way to process video from the server. Although this is not true streaming, it has many of the qualities associated with streaming. Flash plays in the browser and is extremely versatile, working with almost all browsers and on all systems. It does not require a specially optimised server like the streaming files but like all online video it will use a lot of transfer as hits accrue.
The difference between Windows Media streaming and Flash progressive download is seen in the servers they need to operate on, the access they have to browser and operating systems and in the player they end up in.
Why are the servers so important?
Servers are the place where Internet files are stored. As video files are very big they require a server with reasonable storage and a lot of bandwidth or transfer. Streaming files like Windows Media or Quick Time require optimised servers. These are specialist servers that have been adjusted to allow the smoothest data flow out of the server when the call for the video file is made. As a result the hosting costs are often higher than normal data servers. Flash files can also be streamed and they too require an optimised server.
Flash progressive download can be stored and transferred as a normal data file and therefore can be held on a web server. The difference between a web file and a video file will be the amount of data being transferred per hit, which, if the video gets a lot of hits, could mean exceeding existing web bandwidth agreements.
Bandwidth is the amount of space allocated by a server to the transfer of data held on the server. This will always be more than the amount of data stored because each time data is called for counts as data transfer. If there are lots of calls, which a successful website hopes for, then there will be lots of data being transferred to individual computers.
Video requires high bandwidth because the video files, even though they are compressed, are large compared to smaller web files. The higher the quality of the video and the longer it is will mean it needs more bandwidth.
If an online video becomes very popular and attracts thousands of hits this has implications for the cost and quality of transfer from server to PC.
Quality will suffer if there is not enough bandwidth in place. If the call from the individual on their PC cannot be met because all the bandwidth is being used, the data will not stream or load. There are mechanisms that can deal with the data demands on the server such as a blade server option used by YouTube and Google. This allows the call for data to be passed on in a chain from server to server until the call is dealt with. It means that customers calling on that data will never have to wait.
The cost of bandwidth is essentially the cost of distribution
What are the technical requirements?
For the client – a website. If you have a web team that looks after your website it is best for us to talk to them and include them in discussions about where the video should be placed on the website and how this is best done. If you don’t have a web team then we can help you. Give us access to your website codes and we can either embed a flash player or add a link to Windows Media Player wherever you want.
For the general user – a broadband connection speed of 512kbits or above.
Does online video play in all browsers and all operating systems?
This is where the choice of how to distribute your video becomes important.
Streaming video has specific requirements according to its file codec which means it is not universally accessible. However, Windows Media Video will play in most browsers except older versions of Macintosh Safari.
Flash progressive download plays in all browsers and all operating systems but you may need to download the plug-in, which is free and takes only a couple of minutes to install.
Does it matter what player is installed on the PC?
Online video players come in two sorts. The first and oldest is the stand-alone player, which is a software application that has lots of functionality. Stand-alone players like Windows Media Player allow you to play CDs and DVDs, let you open video and music files and allow limited media copying.
Just as its generic title suggests it stands alone as a complete programme outside the browser installed on a computer’s hard drive. It can be embedded as a player into a webpage, but most commonly it opens as a separate player on top of the web page. Web designers who are used to Flash do not favour it. It will only play its own streaming video files from a web server. Most PCs come with Windows Media Player already installed.
The second type of player is a Flash Player. Rather than being a software application in its own right, the player has to be created in Flash and embedded into a webpage. It only exists to service the online video being downloaded into it. Flash video files open in the browser and are directed to download into the player. The Flash player does not need to be embedded into an existing webpage as it can be created in its own separate page, mimicking the stand-alone player, and opening from a link. Web designers like this option because it gives them great control over the creation and placing of the player within a webpage.
If all other requirements are met, security settings may prevent the video from playing on the desktop. A disabled Active X Function, Pop-Up Blockers and Firewalls can all prevent the video files from streaming.
In most cases, it's just a question of tweaking security settings, but corporate firewalls may require an IT department to get involved in enabling video on individual computers in a large network.
Balancing the file size and the number of hits are factors in determining the length of your video clip.
The quality and length of the video is reflected in the file size. Reducing the quality of the video or reducing the length of the video will reduce the file size. File size matters because it has a distribution cost associated with bandwidth allocation.
If you know that only a limited number of people will access the video, which may be the case for conference videos or online training, longer video clips should not incur heavy bandwidth costs.
For general online video we recommend short, clever clips of up to 7 minutes. We know from experience that shorter clips are often more effective. We also know that you can disperse several shorter clips across your website to great effect. Note that even YouTube restricts uploads to 10 minutes because of bandwidth implications.
What is the difference between interactive video and online video?
Interactive video is a rich media application developed by Mendip Media; it allows the viewer to engage with complex ideas as they arise by accessing embedded information in the video itself.
Online video is the generic term for any video that plays on a PC.
Does interactive video play on all systems?
No. The interactive video will play only on Microsoft Windows OS (all versions) in Internet Explorer. Non interactive video will play on all systems in all browsers.
You won’t have to place any files in your website directory.
Can you work with video footage we provide?
We can work with your video footage as long as you provide it in the correct format, but issues of copyright and quality might mean it’s not right for your new needs. If the video quality isn’t of the highest order the rest of the video will be compromised. Part of every tailored video package is the expertise our production crew lends to your project.
