Why should I encode a movie into the Clipstream™
Video format?
Clipstream™ Video allows you to put your video
clips on-line without requiring anything more from the viewer than their
Java enabled browser. The viewer does not need to download a player
or plug-in and is not subjected to a lengthy delay for buffering. Moreso,
Clipstream™ Video can be viewed within a Java
enabled email client without a large attachment. All of this and you
are still able to provide an incredibly high quality stream. Some applications
for Clipstream™ Video are suggested in our
Demo Pages.
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What are the possible formats for the source
files of the video?
Clipstream™ Video can be exported from .avi,
.mov, .mpeg, .ppj, and .bmp and .wav.
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What if my video is still on a tape?
You will need to perform a process called capturing the video. This
can also be outsourced to a video specialist.
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I'd
like to use Clipstream™ Video for emailing
video; how do I do that?
Unlike other Internet video applications, Clipstream™
Video can be inserted into an email with no large attachment. This can
be done quite quickly and easily. Contact our Sales
Team to get your Clipstream™ Video
email license.
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How long does it take to download a Clipstream™
Video Email?
A Clipstream™ Video Email can be downloaded
as fast as a regular html email and the video clip will play instantly
when selected.
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How many different speed samples should I provide
for my viewers?
The viewers of your videos will have various Internet connection speeds
and varying computer speeds. We suggest three to five samples for your
viewers. Where it is not as practical and/or important, one or two samples
may be acceptable. Clipstream™ Video's 'Auto
Bitrate' capability will provide them the appropriate file.
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How big is an encoded file in the .vcs format?
The size of your Clipstream™ Video files will
vary widely. The files are highly compressed and the main factors that
will dictate the size of the file are: the length of the file, the video
data rate limiter, and the audio bit rate. Using these variables, the
ultimate size of the file can be calculated. Try out the Clipstream
File Size Calculator.
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What
is this videoclipstream.zip file for?
The videoclipstream.zip file contains the
Java applet that enables your video to play. Warning: Do not unzip
this file.
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I've compressed a clip. How do I make it play?
To play your video, you will need the videoclipstream.zip file and an .html page with Clipstream™
Video applet code in it. A button panel image is also desirable but
not essential as the video can be set to start automatically, by mouse-over,
or from clicking on the title image. Please visit the convenient Code
Generation Page to get your custom-made applet code.
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Can my video start automatically?
Can I set it to loop?
Yes, the Clipstream™ Video video
can be set to play and/or loop automatically. There are other parameters
that can be set as well. Most common parameters are easily set with
our convenient Code
Generation Page.
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I've built my page but why are there are no buttons
to start the video?
The button panel to control your video is referred to in
the applet code. Make sure it is labeled properly and in the specified
location. As well, the buttons will not show up and the video will be
unplayable if the videoclipstream.zip file
is missing. Also check that the applet dimensions are large enough to
fit the video and the buttons.
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How can I alter the buttons and/or title
image?
The buttons for your video are referred to
in the applet code and can be of the design of your choice. A title
image can be easily captured while working within Premiere. Further
instruction for creating a title image can be found here.
In Clipstream™ Video 2.0 a single user
interface graphic file is used instead of multiple separate images so
editing one image is sufficient.
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Why
is there a grey box where my movie should be?
If you have neglected to include the videoclipstream.zip file with your web page and .vcs files, the title image and
buttons will not show up and the video will be unplayable. Also be sure
that you are using version 2 applet code.
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Why are the play buttons appearing on top of the
viewing area?
If there is a title image specified that is not available,
the buttons will appear in the wrong location.If it is preferred that
there is no title image, leave the parameter blank and Clipstream™
Video will provide a default image.
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My video played great locally but now
that it is on-line, I get the message 'Key does not Match the Web Site'
For your video to work on the Internet, you will need a code key
that has been generated specifically for your URL. Contact our Sales
Team to get your Clipstream™ Video license!
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The video is playing back
nicely but the audio is very choppy... what happened?
The trouble is likely a down sampling problem in Premiere.
If a source QuickTime file was encoded with QDesign Music 2 codec, the
audio will come out jittery with 'double' sounds if additional steps
aren't taken. The audio portion of the file must be extracted, down
sampled, and replaced. This can be accomplished with a third party audio
editing tool such as Cool Edit. Instruction for down sampling in Premiere
can be found here.
Another reason for choppy audio could be that the speed of the viewer's
Internet connection and the settings for the clip are not compatible.
Providing lower quality samples for low speed listeners is important.
Please visit Encoding
help.
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I've encoded an mpeg file into Clipstream™
Video and the result is not optimal... what can I do?
.mpeg movies are sometimes handled poorly by Premiere and
may require being exported to .mov or .avi format before Clipstream™
Video conversion for best results. Or try the VCSEncoder instead.
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In
the middle of encoding an mpeg file, Premiere locked up... what happened?
Premiere has trouble with some .mpeg movies which may require them
to be exported to .mov or .avi format before Clipstream™
Video conversion. Or try the VCSEncoder instead.
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Why did Premiere crash right after
I started encoding my sample?
This is beyond our control. After you have configured advanced audio
settings, Premiere 5.x will crash during next usage due to a bug in
the software. The preference file prem50.prf needs to be deleted before
restarting Premiere. Remove the Preference file Prem50.prf before launching
Premiere again to resolve the problem and avoid a crash. Default path:
C:\program files\adobe\Prem50.prf
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What frame rate should I select?
The frame rate that you choose should be based on many factors.
The encoded file should match a fraction of the source frame rate and
the speed of the viewer's Internet connection needs to be taken into
account. See some suggestions in our Frame
Rate help section.
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Premiere
doesn't offer the frame rate I would like to select... what can I do?
We have included a work-around for this in the Clipstream™
Video Premiere Plug-in. Click on Configure in Video Settings and use
Frame Rate Adjustment to get the desired frame rate. Also see more in
our Frame
Rate help section.
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What can I do to increase the video quality
of my clip?
The settings you select for your videos are somewhat dictated
by the viewers' Internet connections. If you wish to have the smoothest,
clearest picture possible, other elements such as frame size and/or
audio bit rate will need to be adjusted. Please visit the Video
Settings Help Page for more detailed information on how the settings
interact.
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What can I do to increase the audio quality
of my clip?
The source sound for the video can be extracted and down
sampled with a third party tool prior to encoding. Instruction for performing
this process within Premiere can be found here.
The settings you select for your videos are somewhat dictated by the
viewers' Internet connections. If you wish to have the smoothest, cleanest
sound possible, video elements will need to be adjusted. Please visit
the Custom
Settings Help Page for more detailed information on how the settings
interact.
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As my encoding job finished,
Premiere locked up and prompted that it could not open the file as it
is an unsupported format; what happened?
Your file should be fine and in its saved location. What
has happened is that Premiere defaults to the option 'Open When Finished'.
This is useful when performing tasks such as down sampling audio but
should not be used for .vcs files. Unselect 'Open When Finished' in
General Settings to overcome this problem.
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Can I encode Clipstream™
Video with Premiere on my Macintosh computer?
We're sorry; not yet... our Macintosh version of the Clipstream™
Video Premiere plug-in is still in development. Visit our site often
for updates!
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The video will not play in my email client. What
should I do?
There is some useful instruction for setting up common email clients
in our Viewer
Help section. Please note that many web-based email clients as well
as AOL mail do not yet support Java. If you are using such an email
client, you will need to view the video in your browser.
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I don't even own Adobe Premiere;
is there an alternative for creating Clipstream™
Video?
Destiny Software Productions has developed the Clipstream™
Video Encoder for your ease of use. The Encoder will not only efficiently
encode your videos, it will create a sample html page with applet code
for instant playback. It is available in our Help / Tools download page.
Go here to find it.
>How
can I get better quality with my encoding?
You should always
try to start with the highest possible quality source file.
Note that when you
select settings, there are constants and settings that the encoder will
adjust as necessary.
The settings that are static at what is specifiedare:
- Width
- Height
- Total Bitrate
- Audio Bitrate
From a combination
of those settings and these ones listed below, the Encoder will be forced
to adjust quality and then fps as necessary:
- Quality (within
the specified range or up to one third)
- Frame rate (when quality can not be met, fps suffers)
The quality is reduced
first, down to either a minimum of one third of the specified quality
or the specified minimum quality. When the encoder reaches the minimum
quality, frames will begin to be dropped. Be sure to follow the settings
guidelines.
Note that the dos shell that is populated while encoding with the Clipstream™
Video Encoder displays pertinent information to assist you with tweaking
your settings:
Progress: 4200/148903ms Dropped: 0/43 (0%) Q:90 (46)
It refers to how many frames have been dropped and what the actual and
average quality are.
Why does the video take so long to
start?
Clipstream™ Video's auto-detection
capability is configured by the creator of the video. The 'sniffing'
will sense your connection speed (find this in IE
under View->Java Console) It will then use that detected
speed and determine the appropriate video to play.
If the lowest speed is set higher than the viewer's connection speed,
the applet will 'pre-load' the entire video prior to playback. Users
of the batch encode and page building function will encounter this if
they use the default applet code that is built.
In a sample applet code:
value="300,310, clipname.vcs"
is described as: value="what is displayed in
the button panel , minimum connection speed required for playback ,
filename"
Valid entries are: value="numbers or letters, number , vcs file" The
minimum connection speed value will dictate which video plays.
In this example:
param name='VideoURL1' value='500 kbps,500,video500.vcs'>
param name='VideoURL2' value='350 kbps,350,video350.vcs'>
param name='VideoURL3' value='256 kbps,256,video256.vcs'>
param name='VideoURL4' value='128 kbps,128,video128.vcs'>
param name='VideoURL5' value='44 kbps,44,video044.vcs'>
param name='VideoURL6' value='24 kbps,24,video024.vcs'>
...a modem connected at 22 kbps would be forced to wait
for the entire file to cache before playback starts.
To overcome that, a small change to this line after the first comma:
