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By larry on
I'm just coming to grips with wap and wifi, be gentle. Recently, I downloaded and tried out that most excellent of modules...media.module. I have have a couple of questions for the more learned among us. The way I understand it, video can be used one of two ways on the web. First, you can download and then play the file through something like quicktime or windows media player. The advantage here is that the quality of the video is predetermined, that is, based on your media player...not on connection. The second way is to use streaming video. The disadvantage here is that your net connection and bandwith size determine the video quality as it plays as it's being transmitted, not after it's fully loaded. If you have a fat connection with mucho bandwith, awesome, otherwise be prepared for video breaks with poor quality. Ok...that aside. What's the deal with the extensions, for example...wma, wmv, avi, ogg etc. I know they are formatting extensions, but I have read some postings here and am confused. I hear everyone rejoicing over media.module. Yes, it's awesome. But, with flexinode for example, I can upload all sorts of different types of files without worry. Other than making a playlist, what's the difference between flexinode's uploading capabilities and media.module's? Flexinode allows any file extension to be uploaded and media module supports only four extensions...wma, wmv, ogg, and avi. Also, as a side note...is there anyway I can limit the type of file extensions uploaded by users with flexinode? For example, only wma and wmv and not avi? I know its alot to ask, but I'm stumped. Can someone please tell me what I'm missing here.
thanks,
larry
Comments
Quicktime
there also has been some work on a Quicktime extension for flexinode:
http://drupal.org/node/11193
Unfortunately I didn't have time yet to work on it again.
thanks for the reply...but...
I appreciate the reply and the information. It's very informatve. However, I would greatly appreciate someone elaborating on the questions I asked in the original posting so I can better understand harald.walker's reply. For example, the Quicktime extension. With flexinode, can't I already upload a file with the extension used by the Quicktime application? Then I can just have nodes with these files attached and users can go through them and play which ones they like, they just need to have Quicktime(or whatever) installed to be able to support the file extension they selected. Is this how it all works? Flexinode, with it's file upload support enabled, acts as a holder of any file extension. It is up to those who download and play the file to have the appropriate application for supporting the extension. Correct?
thanks,
larry
--There are no Kangaroos in Austria--
There are 2 ways to handle media files
I think we have a misunderstanding here. Of course you can attach any kind of file to any node. The visitor then has to click on the link of the attachment and it will be downloaded to his computer. Depending on his software and configuration on his system, the file will be saved on disk or opened in a program.
The other and better way to present media files is to embed them in the page. Depending on the media file format (flash, quicktime, etc.) the method of embedding differs. If the visitor of your site has the correct browser plug-ins installed, the media content will be displayed within your node page. If the plug-in does not exist, the user will be notified and usually see some sort of help text.
thank you for clearing that up...
After your post and an hour on gigablast, I finally got it. Thanks for explaining it. You said that the better way to present media files is to embed them in a page. May I ask why you think that, not to be a smart-mouth, just for discussion. From what I have read, this may not be better because it limits your user's choice of a file extension. This applies if they are submitting content for others to view. What I mean is this...suppose Drupal creates a videoblog module that supports Quicktime, windows users are stuck. I think, but do not know for sure, that wma and wmv would not be supported. Would'nt it be easier, to allow users to just upload their videoblog files ala flexinode or upload.module, give a description, and let others download the file to their own computers and view them later based on their application, i.e. quicktime or windows. Yes, not everyone could view everything, but then again not everyone who could would upload videoblog files for the same reason, file extension support limited by the applications they have on their computer. Does that make sense?
larry
--There are no Kangaroos in Austria--
There is a middle option
With progressive download, which is an available setting at the encoding phase, the file can download partially, and then start playing in the browser right away. This is not the same as streaming, which loads a buffer and then starts playing. At the end of the progressive download loading, the entire file is there in the browser cache, available to be played again without server needing to load the file again. This is not the case with streaming.
With progressive download, then, it makes sense to have the video embedded in the page. That way, the user can be reading the background info while the video actually is loading into the player. And the user can start watching without having to download the whole thing.
BTW, QuickTime, RealPlayer and Windows Media Player are all free downloads for all platforms. And often with older versions of media the newer players can play each others' formats. So you can play QT on your Windows machine. If anyone does post media clips in their site, it's recommended to have a "download plugin" link that points to the right URL so that people without the plugin can get it easily.
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mediagirl.org
very interesting...
Thanks mediagirl, I did'nt know of this. I only thought you had two choices, streaming and download. The only part I don't get is conversion. For example, I get my digital camera and make a short video of uncle Ed's dog Rover. I want to put this on a node for everyone to see. The problem is, the Type or file extension of the file is 'video clip' and won't upload. Upon further investigation I find the file to have an .AVI extension but is listed as type 'video clip' and still won't upload while other files will. What gives? It appears to be something with the camera's format...other .avi files can be uploaded. Do I have to convert this file into .avi or .wma? Can't I just make a short video on my digital camera of Rover, upload it to a node, and let others download it or view it? I just don't get it.
larry
--There are no Kangaroos in Austria--
It varies
AVI is not a single format, but an old video designation that covers a wide variety of image sizes, frame rates, codecs, etc. AVI is NOT good for online uses. Neither is mpeg-1. To create a video clip that is viewable online, you need to encode it.
For example, you can purchase QuickTime Pro (from Apple) for not too much money and gain some "save as" capabilities to create QuickTime movies. I believe the same is possible with each of the major players, by purchasing their deluxe version.
Or you could look at a professional application like Cleaner, which pretty much sets the standard for software encoders, offering dozens of formats. To convert video to Flash, a good tool is Wildform Flix Pro.
There are a lot of online help forums and knowledgebases for this kind of thing. Google is your friend.
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mediagirl.org
thanks for your help
I appreciate your small tutorial mediagirl. Now I know enough that I can at least begin looking on google. It always helps when you know what you're looking for before you begin your search. Thanks again. By the way, your site rocks.
thanks,
larry
--There are no Kangaroos in Austria--