HD video for the web

When uploading HD clips on the web, make sure they actually reflect the quality of the footage you’ve captured and edited. You will need to know which codec to use and the optimum parameters for encoding.

To deliver high definition bandwidth, you have to aware of the difference between progressive download and streaming. If you post files to your web server and deliver them without a streaming server, you’re delivering via progressive download.

This means the file is stored to the viewer’s hard disk first and then played by the appropriate media player once enough data has been downloaded to start showing the clip.

On the other hand, streaming servers provide enough video data for playback on the viewer’s computer and the video isn’t stored. Clips that are posted for distribution and consumption place a premium on responsiveness, delivery bandwidth cost, and quality.

The three main codecs are H.264, VP6 and VC-1. Independent tests show that H.264 is the most efficient and requires the least amount of CPU power. While H.264 is generally higher quality, the difference is minor, and both H.264 and VC-1 files are easily editable in Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro, and most other editors.

Consider distributing your videos in VP6 format. If you produce in VP6 format, it’s almost impossible to edit the video without time-consuming (and quality-degrading) conversions.

The next consideration is choosing an online provider for those who elect to avoid the DIY route. The interesting first question, of course, is why should you use a third-party provider rather than simply posting files on your own site. There are multiple issues to consider.

First and foremost are the social networking considerations. In the early days of the web, the overarching strategy was to drive traffic to your own website through various marketing techniques such as search engine optimization and the like. In time, most website owners learned that it’s a big, noisy world out there and getting your share of eyeballs is extremely challenging.

More recently, networking sites such as Facebook have evolved from purely social to professional, and if you’re using Facebook for marketing, that’s where your HD videos should reside. Similarly, if you feel there is a benefit from marketing within a community such as Vimeo or SmugMug, where you can build your own commercial channel, you can host your videos there as well.

Interestingly, virtually all video-sharing sites let you embed videos in other sites, including your own website. So if you host your videos on SmugMug, you can still embed them into your own website, doubling your exposure and essentially using SmugMug as your content delivery network. With all these sites, you also get a highly evolved, more attractive player than you could cobble together yourself.

VIDDYOU

Viddyou, now motionbox, is an advertising-free video-sharing service that lets you create channels that can showcase your demo reel. The site converts all uploaded videos to FLV format using the VP6 codec at the same resolution as the upload, and you can make your original file available for download.

FACEBOOK

Consider hosting your HD demo clips on Facebook if you are already using Facebook as a marketing tool. You can upload an unlimited number of HD videos, each up to 20 minutes long, although the maximum upload size is 1GB. The service is free, though it’s ad-supported. The maximum supported video resolution is 720p, which Facebook encodes at 2.5Mbps using the H.264 format. The embedded window is 760x340, and you can expand to full-screen viewing.

YOUTUBE

YouTube’s H.264 quality is very good despite data rate of approximately 2Mbps video, with audio at 109Kbps. The embedded display is a compact 640x360, however you can boost display resolution to full screen. There is a 10-minute or 1GB limitation that applies to HD videos.

SMUGMUG

SmugMug is a video sharing/selling site that encodes all videos into H.264 files with the .mp4 extension, viewed within the site using the Flash player. The size of the embedded videos within the page: a full 720p with no advertising. SmugMug recompresses all uploaded files to multiple resolutions depending upon your membership plan and the resolution of the video that you upload. At the Pro level, if you upload a 1080p video (1920x1080), the site will encode lower data rate copies at that resolution at a combined data rate of 7.34Mbps, as well as an HD version (1280x720 at 3.38Mbps), Mid Def (960x540 at 1.9Mbps), DVD (640x480), and web (320x240).

VIMEO

Vimeo converts all uploaded HD video to 720p using On2’s VP6 codec, with a combined data rate of 1.56Mbps with 128Kbps audio. Vimeo starts HD playback in a 640x360 window, which you can expand to either full screen or 720p. Vimeo has a nice ability to create custom channels, and you can even customize the controls on your video player.