|
 |
Making Movies Cross Platform Friendly
by Brian FitzGerald
on
Nov 1, 2009 at 1:00:30 pm |
I am an Apple Power User after and before the phrase came into and went out of vogue.
I have included Quicktime movies on my website since it was possible.
I am not stating these things to brag but because I am trying to give my bona fides in short form and because I am stuck. I have been swimming upstream for too long and need some help.
I recently finished my first two movies in HD and want to get the news out. I have always liked to use splash video screens on my website to announce stuff. I have vacillated at times and removed the video because some people's download speed would not allow it to work. Other times I decided that if they didn't have enough pipe, they wouldn't be interested in what I do anyway...
Lately I have returned to having a splash video on my splash page. It is fairly large. After having it that way for about 3 months I finally got some feedback from some friends (who I guess didn't think it was important enough to tell me) that they didn't want to go into my site because it asked for a Quicktime plug-in. Even though it tells them the plug-in is free they are SCARED to download it from Apple's website because they are SCARED about getting a virus. This is a REAL letdown for me because if they are not going on the site (and claim to be my buddies) that means LOTS of people are doing the same thing because they are seeing the dreaded Q logo on the screen instead of video and are paralyzed with fear about being infected if they DL the plug...
Since most everybody I know uses Windows and I'm always trying to widen my website's ability to be seen, I am in a quandary and frankly a state of confusion.
So, I decided to revert to the "web standard" Flash.
I used Adobe Media Encoder to change my h.264 splash video into a flash file. It seems there are several types (.flv; .fv4; .fla; .swf).
(I am still using GoLivePro because I find Dreamweaver impenetrable)
I load the Flash file up as an .f4v and tell it to have a "video/flc" MIME type and guys are STILL telling me it asks for Quicktime.
Please understand, I think Quicktime is the best video there is but if people will not download the FREE plug from Apple because of their FEAR problem I can't get them to watch my stuff.
So. If you can tell me how I can fix my plug-in problem so that the movie will load into the Flash Player or what I am doing wrong there OR if you have a better idea altogether I would appreciate any suggestions.
If you are interested you can see what I am talking about at fitzvideo.com
(please don't be afraid if it asks you to download the QTime plug-in... Apple just wants you to use their technology... Really... and it's Free! - just kidding (I hope))
Thanks!
ps: actually this issue involves more than just the splash screen since I have taken to posting industrial movies I do for clients and they tell me they have to load QTime to see them also (when they are .f4v). My latest client in this regard has an iPhone and is enlightened enough to have loaded the QTime plug but he is concerned that most of his customers will not...
Brian FitzGerald
FitzVideo.com
| |
