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FLV VIDEO COMPRESSION

 

Nowadays, broadband connections are widespread amongst the internet. Finally, video can be effectively added to website. But which format to go for? (Flash!). And how to get it done? This article features some tips and tricks for compressing and delivering video to the web.

Video formats

There are a couple of interesting video formats available for the web. So which one to go for? Nowadays, the best option is the Flash Video (FLV) format. Why? Well, because Google thinks so. If you're still not convinced, let's throw in some numbers:

Player

Spread

Size

Formats

Flash Player

97 %

1.31 MB

FLV

Windows Media Player

84 %

6.99 MB

WMV,AVI,MP4,MPG

Quicktime Player

66 %

32.30 MB

MOV,MPG,MP4

Real Player

56 %

8.08 MB

RM,RAM,AVI,MPG

Note the sheer difference in web coverage and installer file size between Flash and the other formats. Also, installing the flash plugin doesn't require you to fill in tons of forms, subscribing you to redundant services and filling your mailbox with spam. Real is notably good in that, that is, if you can find the button for the free player at all ..

The video quality of most video formats is quite similar, except for the MP4 format which results in a slightly better size-quality performance. MPG compression is shitty, a thing from the past. Quicktime 7 introduced a superior new codec, H.264, last year. Also, Flash Player 8 introduced a similar impressive new codec, the ON2 VP6. What does this mean? If you use one of these two formats you get great video quality at small filesizes, but since the software is quite new, it's possible that your visitors first have to upgrade their plugin. Note that this runs automatically with Flash Player.

The only weak point of the flash player is that it only supports its native FLV format, so you'll have to convert your existing videos to the FLV format. But in most cases your original video material will be way too big for the web anyway.

Lots of cuts and motion also give bad compession. Remember that the compressor works roughly like this: it saves one frame (the keyframe) entirely. and then saves only the changes that occur in the following frames. This starts again at the next keyframe. So if you have a cut, every pixel of the next frame has to be saved. If you only have a talking head, few pixels will change and the file will compress very well.

Delivering FLV files

Windows Media Player, Winamp and Quicktime will refuse to play FLV files. For desktop viewing, Martijn de Visser has built a cool standalone FLV Player (Windows only). Just drop a FLV file on top of it and you're good to go.

For web publishing you can use my Flash FLV Player. You don't need the original Flash Software, just a text editor to type in the correct path to your FLV file in the HTML file. More information and options can be found in the description of the Flash FLV Player. If you don't like my Flash FLV Player, just check out some other players. Note that some of them are not free and for some others you need the Flash authoring software.

Progressive download vs. streaming

For Flash, the streaming platform is called Flash Media Server, more info can be found at Adobe.com or at the FlashComGuru website.

 

 

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