Pay site video questions
 

I have a bunch of DVDs that I will be putting online for paying members of my website. My question is:

What is the best format to convert the videos to? Something that keeps the quality of the video and streams without problems.

Thanks :)

Does anyone know if .mov or .mp4 is the best way to go?

I heard .mp4 is not the best choice because it takes away some of the quality of the video.

Its not just quality to think about, its also compatability.

Most surfers / members are on a Windows machine, so WMV files can be played with no additional software.

But, WMV is not the absolute highest quality (but not bad.).

MOV on a Windows machine calls for them to download and install something. Surfers often don't want that hassle. It is great quality but massive downloads. Some surfers do not want to wait, others don't mind.

There is also dVIX and a couple of other formats.

Also, be aware that just selecting a format isn't the only answer. Each format in itself has variables like Bit rate, sound quality, screen resolution, and others that YOU select when setting up the conversion software. Making a bad choice there can screw up a perfectly fine video, no matter which format you use.

Just recently I started posting BOTH the Quicktime (.mov) format and the Windows Media (.wmv) format. I do my encoding (conversion plain English) at a fairly high bit rate to preserve quality.

The h.264 codec / format in Quicktime is the best quality in my opinion, but having the Windows file there for download works for Windows users (and logs show is more popular among those downloading whole files).

Dude... from a lame surfer's perspective: go for the one without hassles. The wallet will open much quicker with a site having less obstacles to their wank.

just my :2 cents:

Thanks guys.
yeah I think I will offer both options on my site. We have a big enough server to do that.
I guess it wouldn't really use up any more bandwidth have it as another option. Its not like the member will first watch it in .mov and then again .wmv :) And if they did.... I guess they are paying for the month.

Does anyone disagree with .mov and wmv?

Every format have his own + and -.
WMV and MOV best for streaming for PC and MAC.
MP4 for i-phone,
3GP for mobile phones,
AVI for downloading and use in hardware players.

Surfer want to pay money to you and don't want to any work for seeing videos (downloading, installing, encoding etc).
If you have big powerful server, you must have all variants, for all tasks, which maybe comfortable for user.
If he's professional and ready to do some work for video, he will download any pirate copy from torrent, and do anything, for seeing it, but not pay money to you. Your members are peoples, which want pay and see content from your site at any device, which maybe comfortable for em at this moment.

Feel free to contact with me, if you want know more about video encoding or anything around this theme.

honestly .flv is best becouse it can be played imediatly so users need not to wait for streaming.
if any more questions or want to see sample contact me.
thanks

Go with flv... and spend some money on a good encoding software.

I would go with .flv to! Great way to keep the quality and reduce the size.

I always use the on2 codec :thumbsup

Only flv in a members area? I have to strongly disagree - take a look at the surveys on pornusers.com under forum (shit - I need more post to past a url here :upsidedow) - this was also published in the x-biz magazine around the first of the year.

Members want content they can download. Not that I don't like flash video but it's not the solution to every video need. In a perfect world, a member should be able to stream a flash video to preview it and have easy access to a wmv they can download if they like the preview.

There's a reason that some of the best known review sites deduct points for having flash videos only in the members area - members DON'T like it.

Is it flv not best since 98% of users have flash already installed on the browser, and is thus the most compatible, all you want is users to have the least hassles to view the video and convert/stay. You can download flv + you can also true stream (giving some content protection) using wowza etc. although you can also stream mp4 through wowza 2 with amazing quality..

The best thing to do, is give the CHOICE. the more choices they have the more likely they are to join.

Its more work for you but more money as well.

Thanks guys.
A lot of great points and tips.

I have to agree with some of the guys above, Flash - and streaming in general - is great but the vast majority of members want to be able to download to their machine. I've seen it happen with a couple of current sites where there are a lot of complaints due to videos being only available in a streaming format, with a lack of downloads you have to get your price right.

Personally for downloads I'm using the AVI file format with standard mpeg4 video codec and mp3 audio codec. I've not had any issue or complaints and they play on all platforms; Windows, Mac, and Linux. Also all encoded with open source software so no need for a massive outlay of cash. :D