Video Format and Hosting
Why a video must be formatted
Even our good friends, who want to see our birthday video or our wedding movie, or any other event video, do not want to watch the entire ten hours of material. They want to see the key moments that are interesting, funny and colorful, which will give the atmosphere of celebration and show the main events.
Often you may encounter a situation where making a short video is difficult. For example, if the original video format is not supported for editing, cutting, gluing, and improving video quality. In this case, video formatting is necessary. With this step, you can change the video format without significant loss of quality material. In addition, video formatting allows you to watch videos on your mobile device, to upload videos to the Internet, and to compress your videos so that it takes up less space on the disk. That is why almost every video must be formatted.
What types of video formats are out there and why would you use them?
There are many different types of video formats. The most widely used are MPEG-2, MPEG-4,DivX and Windows Media Video. Let’s briefly examine each of these video formats.
MPEG-2 is a widely used video format that forms the basis of standards for digital television. MPEG-2 provides a high-quality image at a sufficiently high level of video compression.
MPEG-4 is based on the same principles of MPEG-2. It has many variations and is used in various devices. Thanks to MPEG-4 format, other popular formats were created.
DivXcontains the same compression principles as the MPEG-4, but it has been substantially developed. DivX has a different extension, but most often, it is packed into an AVI container.
Windows Media Video (WMV) was developed by Microsoft. This format provides high-quality video and audio, which are comparable with DivX and MPEG-2.
Flash Video (flv) is rapidly gaining popularity due to the development of video hosting. Flash video web sites such as YouTube, automatically convert any video format to FLV and delivers it to the online player.
What does video hosting involve?
Once your video has been formatted, it is ready for hosting. Video Hosting is a service that allows you to upload and view your video in the browser, often through a special video player. Video hosting could be divided into user-generated content sites (e.g. YouTube/Vimeo), Online Video platforms (e.g.Wistia/Kultura), and independent video hosting (self-hosting). Let us look at each video hosting option in more detail.
User-Generated Sites: Many video hosting services do not provide video, following the principle of User-generated content.Thanks to this principle, you can manually upload your video to a special website. Typically, these sites are free for video posting, earning money on advertisements. YouTube and Vimeo are the most popular sites for that. They have a huge number of users, so your video can find its audience.
Online Video Platforms: In contrast to User-Generated Content sites, Online Video Platforms (OVP’s) charge for posting videos and they do not help to generate views. However, these online video platforms have a number of advantages. For example, in exchange for paid hosting, you get a full range of online marketing tools and support analytics. In addition, many OVP’s allow you to adapt the online player’s design to suit your needs, which can help you stand out among your competition.
Self-Hosting (Independent Video Hosting/IVH) is the best way to promote your video. The principles of IVH involve the use of a website or blog, with video playback. Thanks to IVH, you can set up back links to your domain and have full control of the statistical information, the number of video views, analytics, etc.
Future video hosting platforms and formats
Video Tracking
The development of computer technology does not shy away from the video industry, and tracking is proof of that. Trackingis the process of determining the location and orientation of a moving object in a virtual environment. It is actively used in the movie industry, in the production of television commercials, three-dimensional animation, and computer games.With the help of video tracking in all its manifestations, modern films, animated cartoons, PC games and TV series have become more spectacular and interesting.
Video Streaming Technology
Video streaming is the future of the Internet, and now it is easier than ever to stream. Thanks to modern devices and software, you can create your own streaming service that will allow you to broadcast your video most effectively.Today, a huge number of popular services can offer you a streaming service. Moreover, these services allow you to integrate all broadcast functions into your website, which will allow you to create your own self-hosted video streaming system.
Video Streaming Speeds and Files Comparison
Connection speed is crucial to successful video streaming.Your video can be played back with a delay at low speed connection, but that can cause some problems with your ISP. Most experts advise using no less than 20 Mbps speed if you want to get the highest level of streaming (10 Mbps is insufficient). This speed allows you to enjoy 1080 resolution video, and even 3D video live. Netflix recommends 4Mbps for laptop, 2 Mbps for TV, 4 Mbps for 720p streaming, and 5 MB for the best possible playback quality.
