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EXAMPLE VIDEO
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO PLAY ALL MY VIDEOS
Media
Player Classic: this small player is fast and free, but has an incredible
number of features many of which you won't find elsewhere.
Real
Alternative: Real Alternative plays Real Audio and Video and doesn't take
over your system. It includes Media Player Classic.
Quicktime
Alternative: plays Quicktime files beautifully, without having to install
Apple's official bloatware player. It includes Media Player Classic.
Codec
Pack: install the K-Lite Mega Codec Pack (18Mb) and you'll be able to play
just about every video and audio format around. It includes all the alternatives
mentioned above. Easy to uninstall too if you wish to.
All software is for Windows. See my Favourite
Software page for more links.
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Last updated:
22
In the world of online video, things change almost weekly. Just when it seems
I've found the ideal format for the videos on my site, along comes something better
and it's 'all change' again.
Then there are the developments with the hosting and listing of videos: iTunes,
blip.tv and YouTube, RSS... More people are getting ever-faster broadband and
inexpensive portable video players are just months away... It's all pretty exciting.
BROADBAND NEEDED
You'll need a broadband or cable connection to view or download the videos (better
than 400k/sec).
OLDER VIDEOS
The older video clips in the Daily Journal are
available in Windows Media and Real Media formats and aren't available for download
at the moment.
The links take you through to a 'video player' page and the Windows Media version
of the video begins playing within the page (it's 'embedded'). It may be a couple
of seconds before you see anything, the player tries to download enough of the
file so the playback won't be interrupted.
I've tested the pages in Internet Explorer, Opera and Mozilla Firefox. But some
people will find that the embedded video doesn't play. This can be due to any
number of configuration, web browser and software reasons.
LAUNCH A SEPARATE PLAYER
So, under the video, there are links to launch the movie in a separate player.
Some people find the video starts up more quickly when they use these links. Experiment
and see which works best for you!
MORE RECENT PAGES
I never thought I would use Quicktime on my site but, currently, it's looking
like a good solution. Especially since iTunes came along.
Future pages will probably have an embedded Quicktime video, with the option to
download Quicktime or Windows Media. The Windows Media file will sometimes be
larger and better quality, depending on the subject matter.
QUICKTIME QUALITY & THE IPOD
Currently Quicktime offers terrific picture quality. However it does require quite
a powerful PC (the files are encoded with the H.264 codec). If you're on an older
computer, you may find Windows Media plays better for you.
The Quicktime files are compatible with the video iPod and iTunes.
FEEDS
If you use a feedreader you can add my site using this link:
http://www.g7uk.com/photo-video-blog/feed/
The Opera web browser has
a feed reader built in and Opera is now completely free.
ITUNES
To get my videos in iTunes: right-click and copy this feed address:
http://www.g7uk.com/itunes-feed.rss
Then, in iTunes, go to the 'Advanced' menu, choose 'Subscribe to Podcast', and
paste in the link.
But don't forget to call in here at my site, or you'll miss out on a whole lot
of related information and links ;-)
VIDEOS FOR 56K DIAL-UP?
I aim to make the rest of the site accessible to everyone. But most videos will
be broadband only. The quality of 56k clips is always barely acceptable however
much time I spend tweaking them, and I would rather spend that time making and
adding more movies instead.
As more than 50% of UK internet users now have a broadband connection, dial-up
is fast becoming a thing of the past.
COMMENTS
I'd love to hear what you think. You can leave comments on blog
entries. Or send me a email.
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