Best way to stream video

this new system is wierd but i had a question about streaming video. i have a website that has a lot of steaming video. i have spent about 1200 bucks getting it built and now they tell me that they can only offer 100mb of streaming space.
i have 3 videos sizes v1-622mb, v2 438mb, v3 922mb, they were all coverted to sorenson video due to the fact that it was the only format that i could get a pc to play. so here here are my questions:

1. is there a smaller sized format that i could use to steam video on the web.

2. If the file is converted to flash would the size be smaller?

3. do you know of any hosting companies that are more video friendly?

J-

You didn't mention the length of the videos you're streaming or the resolution you want to achieve. There are lots of ways to give the videos smaller bandwidth if you're willing to live with the tradeoffs in visual and audio quality. I'm guessing that you will have few users willing or able to stream such large files anyway.

Give us a bit more info about your video length, intended use, and target audience, and we can offer suggestions for how to format your streams.

bob rice
frameworx media

you also didnt mention if you really "NEED" streaming or if just the typical progressive download is acceptable...

here is a link to some swf's that ive just put up. they behave as though the are streamed, but in reality ist just a garden variety progressive download. and so far ive yet to run into anyone (pc or mac) who cant see them... the flix pro app that generates them is a couple hundred bucks, but beyond that its free.

[h2obo.net]

my videos range from 2 - 12 mins averaging to about 5 mins a piece. i do not have to have all of the videos just a preview. i have a demo vid that is 00:04:37mins long that is the one video that i must have in its entirety. the other vids can be cut to 3 mins each.

as for resolution i am not sure of how to gage that. what ever the default settings are for sorenson/compressor mpeg2 is all i use. the only thing that i manipulate is vbr setting ( i use 2pass best ) and some times when exporting sorenson i tell it to give me the highest setting for quality.

i have seen some web videos that have mosaic points in them and it makes it hard to watch i dont mind a small drop in quality but i just dont want to look like an old vcr tape if you can remember those:-) the demographics of my clients may find a bad quality video to be unprofessional and decide to go with one of my competitors. i cater to a bunch of well to do anal-holics and trust fund babies.

i wish i knew more about resolutions but i dont. knowledge just sorta live by if it iant broke dont fix although now i am seeing that i need more knowledge in that area. if there is a way to find out what res i am at i will do so. i just dont know where to look.

i will be at my g5 waiting for answers so if you need me to do anything that may aid you in your response let me know.

thanx a million

""" What you do with what you have, is more important than what you could do, with what you don't have."

> > > Knowledge + Action = Wisdom - J. Corbett 1992 """"

nice wayne

i didnt even get that desk top icon that lets me know i have downloaded something.

can you imbed that into html where a person can scroll the page and read the info while the video plays?


by the way when you say a few hundred does that mean 3oo.oo ?

""" What you do with what you have, is more important than what you could do, with what you don't have."

> > > Knowledge + Action = Wisdom - J. Corbett 1992 """"

yeah, apparently thats built into the new version of dreamweaver - and i just noticed it last night when i was building that website. when you import flash video it asks you if you want the browser to check and prompt the user. and you my friend are the first user to make use of it! thanks for being my beta tester!

if you are intent on putting affordable video on the web, the $900 or so for the macromedia (sorry ADOBE) studio MX is about the best money you can spend.

and no. the On2 flix pro app is only $249 and WELL the HECK WORTH IT! from a quality/filesize standpoint SWF kicks the snot out of just about anything!

is it possible due to my limited funds that you could convert these videos i have for a small fee.

i just have no head or pocket space to do it. i am trying to have cybersharks finish my site by tues of nxt wk.

and i am currently looking for a pace that can store the video and link it to my site.

if you can not can you tell me of a place that can? i am looking at [www.ipower.com] but havent talked to a rep yet. i plan to talk to them just after this post.

tanx

it is easier to find a needle in a hay stack than it has been to find what i need for my site.

""" What you do with what you have, is more important than what you could do, with what you don't have."

> > > Knowledge + Action = Wisdom - J. Corbett 1992 """"

sure. no problem - its a pretty mindless process. and if you have a proper hosted website, which it appears you do, there is NOTHING to playing them from your site. just embed them on your page and ftp the flv's to your root and whammo! off you go.

i think youre making things more complex by using (or letting your hosting company use) the term "streaming"

contact me directly and we'll work something out.

Hiya,

for my work I host some of the videos i make for people and do so through Flash. I use Sorenson Squeeze and put the files in a player that some lovely man made and gave away for free. I have a hosting account through IX Webhosting which offers a huge amount of server space and bandwidth for about $20 a month (although the cheaper packages offer a good amount too) and in 2 years haven't had a single bit of bother from them. I encode for 40kbps (which is terrible) 200kbps and 350kbps (ish). I am very happy with it all.


These are the two sites i have running Flash in case you want to see if it is what you are after:

www.youth-tv.co.uk
www.satorimedia.co.uk

One thing about the flix ap wayne. i went to the site and they, as a marketing ploy, pointed me to here: [www.flashvideofaq.com] to compare the quality, but when i went there, the quality of the sorenson flash file with the same specs was better. Any insight? (By the way, wayne, I believe it was you going on about Flash about 18 months ago in these forums that eventually swayed me to go that way, and thank you very much for doing so).

Hope some of this post may help.

the site i linked to above is hosted on godaddy.com. i think i paid $85 for domain reg AND a year of "deluxe" hosting (higher transfer limit) and the videos are behaving perfectly. so were looking at just over $7 a month - go beat that anywhere? their website and registration process is SUPER confusing. ive been doing web work for nearly 10 years and i had to call for support. but at $7/mo im not one to bitch...

jules, i looked through probably a half dozen of the A/B samples on that link you sent and some were better via squeeze and others were better via On2. seems On2 is better with text and about 70% of my work involves text in some way - so that (plus the fact that it does all kinds of fun peripheral stuff) is why i went with it.

hey i got a plan with ipower thats 10gigs storage + 250 bandwith/transfer rate + 1 free domaine name dont know if thats good but its 7.95 per month 95 bucks a year.


[www.ipower.com]

let me know if this is good

""" What you do with what you have, is more important than what you could do, with what you don't have."

> > > Knowledge + Action = Wisdom - J. Corbett 1992 """"

10 gigs of storage is INSANE BIG! that will be handy for moving big files to clients and stuff - considering of course you have a fat enough internet connection to move big files efficiently...

BUT 250g of transfer is a bit thin if you are going to be showing a lot of videos to a lot of people.
to be honest, my hosting plan is 250g transfer and ive only outused that ONCE in several years, so it may be a non issue for you. BUT i havent not made a concerted effort to drive a bunch of people to that site.

my deal with go daddy gives me 10 gigs of storage and 100gigs of transfer and is roughly the same price as your ipower deal. what matters with a web hosting company is their ability to provide constant uptime. as long as they have good service records - GO WITH THEM. i use both halfprice hosting and godaddy and havent had any noticeable downtime ever.

whos hosting your current site?

oh sorry - my godaddy deal gives me 1000 gigs of transfer

well Cybersharks is building it and iPower is hosting. i hope that there are no issues between the 2 cybersharks didn't have a plan robust enough. do you think i should go 4 300gigs transfer.

i dont anticipate that there will be more than 50 people viewing video on the site at any given time.

""" What you do with what you have, is more important than what you could do, with what you don't have."

> > > Knowledge + Action = Wisdom - J. Corbett 1992 """"

get all the transfer you can afford - i wouldnt go over $10 - $12 a month though. its just not needed. ive never really done the math as to how that works. all i know is that i exceeded 250gig once in like 7 years

i would be an idiot not to pay GODADDY. in fact between you last posting and this one it already done.......

i am no slow leak or at least i think.

""" What you do with what you have, is more important than what you could do, with what you don't have."

> > > Knowledge + Action = Wisdom - J. Corbett 1992 """"

if you have any questions, their email tech support is johnny on the spot! - within a few hours max

thank folks

that was an epiphany of info

""" What you do with what you have, is more important than what you could do, with what you don't have."

> > > Knowledge + Action = Wisdom - J. Corbett 1992 """"