Video Streaming is all the rage. Discover the many options to get your video on the web.

A Brief History Lesson

A decade ago, when the web as we see it today was in its infancy, video streaming... come to think of it, video alone was unheard of on the internet. The web was mainly text based and also 28K dial-up modems did not offer the bandwidth to efficiently download a video stream.

When video did arrive, it was most commonly in the MPEG-1 format and about the size of a postage stamp. To further complicate things, there were not many software packages for playback either.

As internet connections got faster, video in the form of MPEG's and Quicktime movies, started to find their way on to the web. And around the mid 1990's, Real Player introduced the first system of video streaming, albeit of poor quality and prone to drop outs.

It did however open up the doors for video on the internet and allow a form of 'video on demand' with the first introduction of video streaming.

Video Compression

With video files being so huge it is important that they be compressed to be of practicable use for their desired output, be that CD, DVD or the web. The most common types of file compression formats are:

• Windows Media Video (.wmv). Made by Microsoft and can be played back on any computer with the Windows Media Player installed.
• QuickTime (.mov). Originated from Apple and a favourite of web developers (who are primarily Apple Mac users). Is cross-platform and accepts a high number of file formats.
• Real Madia (.rm). Limited to the Real Media Player (a free download from the manufacturer site).
• MPEG- Can be viewed on any of the above mentioned players. Comes in three versions for video, layers 1, 2 & 4. A simple rule of thumb is that MPEG-1 is for output to CD, MPEG-2 for DVD and MPEG-4 to the web.

There is another alternative... Flash

Macromedia Flash is commonly known as a animation program, but the latest versions include support for video. This means that you can import video and allow Flash to handle the resizing and web compression into the .swf format. The benefits of using Flash include-

• research shows that 98.3% of all web users already have Flash Player version 3-6 installed.
• you can manipulate your video within Flash, create 'players', reshape or add effects (of course, a working knowledge of Flash is needed for this).
• no special server is required.

What you see above is a sample of whats called 'embedded video'. The video stream is veiwed within the webpage and not opened in another player.

If you would like to find out how to do this quickly, easily and cheaply for your own web pages, click here.

Quality Vs. Instant Gratification

Now that we know video needs to be compressed, you need to determine how much compression is to be applied.

Highly compressed video will stream faster or download quicker than a larger file, but the trade-off is with the Quality. In order to compress video the CODEC eliminates any material it considers redundant. Resulting in jerky movements and 'blocky' images.

Also, internet speeds can vary widely from older dial-up modems (eg. 28-56kb) to broadband and cable connections (eg. 128-512kb+). So you can provide a single video of lower quality for download that will cater for all connections speeds. Or offer options (multiple videos encoded at different data rates) based on the users specific internet connection.

Before compressing/encoding video for the web, you need to consider the following criteria:

• What Data Rate? For example, you would encode at 40kb's for a 56kb modem to allow for fluctuations in internet speed.
• What Frame Rate? Uncompressed video plays at 25 or 30 frames per second, but you need to encode your video at 5 to 6 fps for a managable file size.
• What Window Size? 240 x 180 pixels down to 160 x 120 pixels (postage stamp size)

Video on the internet is about finding a balance between video quality and connection speed that best serves your target audience.

To Stream Or Not To Stream?

Non-streaming or downloaded video generally is of better quality than real-time video streaming files. This is useful if detail in the images is important or you want to display a movie trailer or short. There is also a cost saving as special 'streaming servers' are not required.

Non-streaming video works best for videos under three minutes, but if you know that your audience/visitors will stick around for the duration of the dowload it can be a viable option.

Real-time video streaming requires a special streaming server. The quality isn't as good as downloaded video, but it will begin automatically and keep pace with the user's connection speed. It is best suited for longer videos, live events and presentations and the user can skip ahead to various parts of a clip without having to download a huge file.

If you need to quickly get a message to your sites visitors and hold their attention then real-time video streaming is for you.

Codec/Encoder Options For The Web

There are many internet compression software applications about, but the most common you will find are:

• Macromedia Flash. As discussed earlier only in the latest versions.
• Sorenson Squeeze. Version 3.5 supports export to Flash, QuickTime, Windows Media and Real.
• Discreet Cleaner XL. For the serious web distributor.

Video streaming