Moving Video to the
Web
By J.P. Regalado
courtesy B&H Photo Video
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Transferring Old Analog
Video to DVD
Our best practice guide for
transferring your old videos to DVD
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The web video
revolution exploded with popular video
sharing sites such as YouTube. Social
networking sites, like Facebook and MySpace
quickly jumped on the bandwagon, offering
free video uploads to users. Over 75,000
videos were uploaded to MySpace daily at the
time of this publication.
An era of
independent video producers emerged,
catalyzed by simple, user-friendly web
technologies. A simple point-and-shoot
camera can now capture video for quick web
uploads. Video-editing software developers
revamped their interfaces with intuitive
features geared for the everyday user.
How do you
even begin to post video to the web? Maybe
you've never done it and want to join the
revolution, or perhaps you're a professional
filmmaker who wants to upload your latest
footage to score a gig.
We'll go over
the basics of web video to get you started.
In addition, we'll outline the most popular
codecs and review encoding of
software-customizable web delivery.
Background
With
traditional distribution formats such as
DVD, compression schemes weren't much of a
hassle. Essentially, you exported a video
file at the highest quality. Your only
limitation was the 4.7GB capacity on the
DVD.
With web video
it's a little more complicated. You have to
strike a balance with quality and file size.
Better image quality equals a larger file
size, and vice versa. The compromise of a
smaller file size is that you're throwing
away data, and the video image might look
degraded or blocky. As fast, broadband
internet connections facilitated video
streaming, a new variable was introduced —
bitrate.
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Image
by J.P. Regalado |
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Optimal Codec settings yield clear
images |
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Image
by J.P. Regalado |
Too
much compression will give you a
smaller file size,
but may result in a pixellated image
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Imagine
bitrate as an 8-lane freeway during rush
hour that merges into 2 lanes. The traffic
bottleneck prevents "data" from flowing.
Similarly, a host server might have the
capacity to stream videos fast, but if the
end-user has a dial-up connection
"bottleneck," the video will stream slowly.
To solve this
problem, you can output two files — a
high-quality version for users with
high-bandwidth cable/DSL connections and a
low-quality for low-bandwidth connections
such as dial-up modems.
Codecs
The ultimate
goal of web compression is thus to keep the
file size as small as possible while keeping
video quality up. Compression is
accomplished through encoding software
programs with a Codec (Compression
Decompression scheme). Codecs essentially
interpolate between video frames, keeping
only essential frames and discarding
non-essential information. An optimal Codec
designed for web distribution, will produce
the best-quality images and sound, with a
file size compressed down to available
bandwidth. How do you even begin to choose a
suitable codec for distributing your videos
on the web? Here are a few popular codecs to
look out for:
MPEG-2
MPEG-2 (Moving
Picture Experts Group) is a high-quality
video compression format, target for
applications that require high bitrates and
high bandwidth. It's the standard codec
format for DVD, Super VCD, and digital
television. File size and bitrates are still
too big for web delivery.
MPEG-4
Delivers
DVD-quality video at lower data rates and
smaller file sizes. Introduced with its
companion plug-in application QuickTime 6,
MPEG-4 played a role in codec evolution. Its
standards were widely adopted by Internet
applications and wireless multimedia
industries. Consider MPEG-4 when outputting
to MPEG-4-compatible devices, such as 3G
mobile phones or digital still cameras.
H.264
H.264 is the
next-generation of the MPEG-4 standard. It
delivers video at half the data rate of
MPEG-2 at four times the frame size of
MPEG-4. H.264 also delivers pristine video
quality across a wide bandwidth spectrum.
From 3G to High-Def H.264 is an open
standard format, meaning that companies
around the world can create products that
can interoperate with one another.
Flash
Video
Aside from
integrating seamlessly with the Adobe
Creative Suite 3, the advantages of Flash
Video are its ubiquity, creative control,
and interactivity. FLV comes installed on
more than 96% of internet-connected
computers, so you don't have to download
additional plug-ins before viewing in your
web browser. Flash video essentially fuses
video together with data, graphics, sound,
and dynamic interactive control users to
create interactive web experiences. Creative
possibilities are endless with Adobe CS3
integration-design custom video playback
controls: change size and aspect ratio of
your video, or drop your video directly into
Dreamweaver for quick and easy viewing.
Flash Video
uses 3 codecs –
*Adobe Flash
CS3 Video Encoder installed with Flash CS3
Professional
*On2 VP6 codec
for Flash Player 8
*Sorenson
Spark codec for Flash Player 7
Encoding
Software
Some video
editing programs such as Apple's Final Cut
Pro have built-in codecs sufficient for web
output. Options for customization, however,
are limited. High-end encoding software
offers extra output formats, automation and
batch output options. We'll outline 3
popular encoding software powerhouses –
Autodesk Cleaner 6.5,
Grass Valley ProCoder 3, and
Apple Compressor 3 (part of Final Cut
Studio 2).
Trial software
is available for Cleaner 6.5 and ProCoder 3,
so you can try before you buy. Ultimately,
choose the encoding program that suits your
needs.
Specifically
designed for Apple, Cleaner 6.5 supports
over 60 supported media formats including
MPEG-4, Real Video, Windows Media, and Video
for Windows (AVI). Add interactive stream
navigation, synchronize HTML for streaming
media, and embed links and interactive hot
spots. Cleaner 6.5 offers hundreds of
professional encoding pre-sets for authoring
interactive video, or you can author basic
interactive video.
ProCoder 3 is
a versatile, Windows-based solution for
multi-format encoding and compression. Batch
processing, priority queuing, and
simultaneous creation of multiple
destination files are a few of the key
features included in this comprehensive
package. Quickly transcode web video with a
user-friendly ProCoder Wizard. Or exploit
the power of the application with custom
settings. Version 3.0 adds support for the
H.264 codec to produce Apple iPod and mobile
video files, and decoding of the AVCHD
format from the latest generation of MPEG-4
camcorders.
Built into the
Final Cut Studio 2 Suite, Compressor 3 makes
multi-format delivery easy and efficient.
Encode and output multiple formats from the
same source file, or "batch". Output
multiple formats from multiple files. More
than 100 encoding presets analyze your
source files to provide the best default
compression settings. Compressor supports
H.264, QuickTime-supported codecs, Flash 8
FLV, Windows Media WMV, and Apple supported
iPod and iTV.
Conclusion
Our overview
has hopefully given you a starting point for
the popular codecs and encoding software. An
infinite number of variables, ranging from
the file size of your source media to
bitrate, affect decisions regarding
compression. Sharing video on the web can be
as simple as an upload to YouTube or as
complex as an interactive Flash Video web
experience. These tools enable you to
produce independent video content for any
web compression scenario.
Deciding what
parameters to use when exporting compressed
video is both an art and a science. There's
no magic formula for web video compression.
As with all media, always keep your end user
in mind and you'll inevitably avoid the
blurry pixel-block, stuttered videos on
YouTube that make us cringe. Get your hands
dirty. Experiment with presets and export
options, then customize codec settings to
fit your web video needs. You'll be batch
processing pristine multiple-format web
video in no time.
