Best format for web viewing and best Terabyte drive

Greetings:

Question 1:
What is the best format for compression for web viewing? I'm getting ready to post some videos on my blog, via bliptv, etc. and want them to look as good as possible. I know H.264 is where it's at, but I'd like input on what specifically to select in Compressor for the highest quality--or quicktime conversion.

Question 2:
What is the best, most affordable terabyte drive, compatible with FCP?

and o.k., Question 3:
What is the best video-blogging software? I'm using wordpress right now...any thoughts on this and other open-sourced software out there?

Thank you!

Nicolle

Question 1:

Ideally you would want to host the videos yourself, because your footage won't be subjected to further re-compression. As to what bitrate you should be encoding them at, you need to first identify the speed of your server, the connection speed of your target audience, and the amount of simultaneous viewers who will be watching the clip.

If you're new to web encoding, DV Kitchen is simple to use and has a bitrate calculator.

[www.dvcreators.net]


Question 2:

That depends on what the stores in your area charge. If you are looking for external drives, then I would suggest you look at something with more reliable housing and RAID components, like a Caldigit VR.


Question 3:

I'm on Wordpress, and so is Shane. But I don't video blog. We're no web programmers, so our opinions don't count for much, but I heard Wordpress can be quite server intensive. I'm running a cache plugin so Wordpress doesn't have to generate a new page every time someone accesses the site.



www.strypesinpost.com

Thanks for the info on all accounts.

Can you give more detail about Wordpress "opening a new page every time someone accesses the site?" Given that Wordpress IS the server, does it matter to the blogger that it's server intensive? Are you saying it takes longer to load, might have problems playing media, etc? How do you access the cache plugin?

When a visitor visits a wordpress page, the page is generated from php files. The same happens for every visitor. So when you have a lot of simultaneous visitors, that consumes a lot of system resources. When you run a cache plugin, a static page is generated when the first visitor visits the page, and that static page will be used for every subsequent visitor.

>Given that Wordpress IS the server

I was talking about wordpress.org.



www.strypesinpost.com

Thanks for filling me in. Now, how do I run a cache plugin?

[wordpress.org]

This really isn't the place to discuss this. You would prefer to ask on a web related forum.



www.strypesinpost.com

Picking up on this thread....the Caldigit drive looks great--but is a bit out of my budget. What would be the best in Terabyte/FCP compatible drive under $200?

Thanks!

Nicolle

The OWC Mercury Elite Pro is under $200 for 1TB. But make sure you get the one with eSATA and FireWire 800. You need those to edit HD.

[eshop.macsales.com]


www.derekmok.com