[imc-scotland-discussion] video quality

[variantmag at btinternet.com]

Could try: http://clearerchannel.org/




On 31 May 2006, at 14:33, Harry Halpin wrote:

> I second Chris on the sheer difficulty of getting videos up. From a
> technical standpoint, I do apologize if video upload takes a while,
> although 30 meg uploads are relatively large.
>
> However, I would add that we do have virtually unlimited space on our
> server, which is a plus. Yet, because of the problems with
> video-uploading, I also recommend looking into BitTorrent, although I
> admit I know nothing about transforming normal videos to a BitTorrent
> capable format. Does anyone on this list know how to do this, or where
> to find out?
>
> Second, does Indymedia have a streaming video server anywhere? I can  
> ask
> ibiblio if they have one, it's really never occurred to me before.
>
>           cheers,
>                harry
>
> chris wrote:
>> Having spent a frustrating evening helping that video piece get  
>> uploaded
>> to the site by its creator (who is one of us Indymedia folk) I want to
>> make a few points.
>>
>> If the complaints about quality relate to the video's content then
>> that's an aesthetic judgement. I think it works as a version of the  
>> same
>> sort of newspiece you'd get on the TV and a pleasant change from the
>> frantic THESE PEOPLE ARE EEEEEEEEEEEEVIL stuff more common on IMCs.  
>> Folk
>> can have their own opinion and direct it to the filmaker if they want.
>>
>> If the complaints are related to the quality of the image or sound  
>> then
>> that's a technical / user feedback issue that needs to be addressed
>> before we go further in making any kind of video content.
>>
>> The first 3 attempts to get the video online were as a 20-30Mb file  
>> that
>> looked a lot better. Each time, after 10-15 minutes (on a fast
>> connection, too) without feedback, the site dumped us out to the
>> Newswire without feedback as to whether the video had been  
>> successfully
>>  uploaded, or what the problem was.
>>
>> Finally, we attempted to upload the text and video seperately. This  
>> only
>> suceeded once we shrunk the file down to about 6 Mb, with obvious
>> drawbacks in picture and audio quality.
>>
>> There are a bewildering array of video codecs, file formats and  
>> bitrates
>> in use. We aren't providing any guidance about which of these we want  
>> to
>> be used, or what size of file the server can cope with.
>>
>> It seems kind of churlish to me to complain about the quality of  
>> videos
>> submitted when it's so difficult to do. And that's not intended to  
>> knock
>> anyone. I had no idea uploading videos was an issue before I tried to  
>> do
>> it. If we want more videos on the site, of better quality, then it  
>> needs
>> to be dealt with. There'll be a video of the last Critical Mass made
>> soon but it's unlikely to get uploaded without help.
>>
>> I'd be up for writing documentation to help but I have minimal
>> understanding of the issues. What format will work flawlessly on the
>> widest range of computer OSes. What's the maximum file / display size  
>> or
>> a bitrate we can handle? etc.
>>
>> --
>> chris h
>>
>> M74 Extension - complete nonsense
>>     www.jam74.org
>>
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>>
>>
>> -- 
>>         -harry
>>
>> Harry Halpin,  University of Edinburgh
>> http://www.ibiblio.org/hhalpin 6B522426
>>
>
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