clips playing cleanly for my website

I'm trying to load some HD video onto my web site, but the workflow that I'm listing below is yielding flv files that pause too many times during playback. Length of files range from 1 to 3 1/2 minutes. We're using Amazon Cloudfront as a server.
1. I export my FCP sequence as a QT- same settings
2. I load clip into Compressor- setting for H.264 800 kbps for high bandwidth streaming (at this point, @800 kbps, video pauses several times. 300 kbps plays fluently but there's a quality loss that I'd love to avoid).

3. I tried using Adobe Media Converter to make .flv files from the .mov files We selected HD 720 as a pre-set, reduced the frame width to 900 and the bitrate to 495, but again, it yielded videos that pause.

For playback on the site we're using Flowplayer. One solution now being tried is to try and control the buffer.

Is there a better Media converter (besides Compressor) to recommend (for Macs)? My web designer is working with a PC and that's why we started with the Adobe converter.

If there's any simpler workflow to recommend, I'd be interested in that, hopefully still using the Amazon server. We looked at Vimeo as an alternate host but since we might have commercial purposes down the road, it's not a viable option.

I appreciate any help- as an editor, one can appreciate the concept of uninterrupted streaming.

For reference, here's the link to my site, which isn't public yet, so you can get an idea of my problem! If I'm not clear on something that I described, I apologize- I'm going throuh this process with really good looking footage for the first time.

[beautifulpeople.brinkster.net]



Thank you

No issues with using the mov container, and drop using the obsolete flv codec. What is your streaming speed? You need both a host that can provide the bandwidth for your target market. If you are delivering to a market with broadband connection, even 4 Mbs is fine. If your target market uses a slower connection, lower the bitrate. It will result in a quality hit, but otherwise, you can pay for broadcast or to upgrade Everyone's Internet connection.



www.strypesinpost.com