Internet Video

By Duane Taylor
February 2001

Introduction

Many Web pages incorporate video, which can be played right on the Web pages if embedded in the code. Video clips are usually very short (less than 10 seconds) due to the massive size of video. This section concentrates on the questions revolving around putting longer video files for users to access.

Streaming video is increasing in popularity and allows anything from news telecasts to full-length movies to be shown over the Internet. As more people have access to broadband Internet access, the availability of the services greatly increase.

Is video necessary?

Saying something in video can be cheap and easy or expensive and complicated. Of course, slow connections and restrained access are huge factors to consider. Sustainable development organizations must be guided by the needs and capabilities of their audiences.

Organizations must ask: What are the reasons for using video? Do the benefits outweigh the cost and troubles it poses?

The basic steps

The basic steps of creating video for the Internet:

• Shooting the video. This can be done with analog or digital format, but digital will require fewer steps.
• Capture the footage into the computer. Depending on how a computer is set up, this will require a direct cable or a video capture card.
• Edit/Compress. Using the proper software, the video will need to be then edited compressed due to the enormous size of uncompressed video. The quality of the actual video will be an issue here. The on-screen movement needs to be kept to a minimum or the video will look blurry and choppy.
• Once the video is in a usable format, he final step is distribution.

Formats

There are three standard options: Real Video (Real Media), QuickTime (Apple) and Windows Media (Microsoft). There is no clear choice to be made between these formats. The best suggestion is to research each one and balance the pros and cons. Real Media is currently the most popular, but its use requires the server software or an outside host. Some say QuickTime offers the best quality and it is free to use and available on several platforms. Windows runs its own free proprietary server and Windows Media Player 7 is distributed with Windows OS.

Methods

There are two methods of streaming between which to choose: Progressive and Real Time.

Progressive is the easiest to deal with technically as it is placed on the Web as a direct download. It also has a better quality than Real Time. However the user has to download the whole file before playing and, once downloaded, the user has no control over jumping ahead. This makes it very troublesome for longer videos, especially in long download times.

Real Time allows the user to view the video as it downloads directly from the Internet and allows the user to jump to what ever section they want. The file resides on the host server and does not get downloaded at all. This process allows for greater access but sacrifices quality and, despite trying to maintain the stream with the connection speed of the user, can become very choppy at times. This works well for longer videos such as news broadcast or informative instruction videos.

Other considerations

Other factors come into play when determining the size and accessibility of a video. Data-rate is the speed at which the data gets transferred to the user. For instance if the majority of an intended audience have a 56K modem, setting the data-rate of a streaming video at anything above that will cause problems. It would be best to set it a little below 56K because that is the maximum speed of the modem.

Window size is important especially if the data rate is set at 56K or below. Generally a window size of 160x120 pixels is the largest that should be used for slow data rates. If users all had broadband and good video cards, window size would not be an issue.

The last real consideration is the frame rate at which the video is set. Uncompressed video plays at 30 frames per second (fps) but that is too large for the Internet. For slower-speed modems it is best to use around 5 fps. The lower the number, the choppier the video. That is why videos with less movement are always best.

Case studies

Real Media: Making Sustainable Livelihoods Come to Life (20 Februrary 2001)
ENDA needed a way to communicate how Sustainable Livelihoods could be achieved in Sénégal through the voice of local actors. Real Media was integrated to provide a dynamic description of work done through the teams and grassroots groups.