Streaming Video Platform

Have You Considered Mobile Video Viewers?

Rob James — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 21:51:35 +0000

Watching videos on your mobile phone is becoming increasingly common, with most people now having some form of default or downloaded app player to watch files. Though, how much control you have over converting formats and whether or not you can get around proprietary software like iTunes is another question. It’s important to look at the different mobile video viewers and players that are available for Android and Apple’s iOS, as well as options for streaming video.

For Android-enabled phones, the most common players include the default that comes with the OS, as well as downloadable apps like the Act 1 Video Player, the mVideoPlayer, the MX Video Player, V Player, and RealPlayer Android. Apps such as Act 1 will provide consistent playback on the phone, but is limited in terms of the formats it can support. MX Video Player, by comparison, allows for the decoding of formats and codecs, while allowing for pinch to zoom viewing, and multiple subtitle formats. Free apps like RealPlayer also provide an easy way to copy over music and video files from your computer.

Other players that support HD content and tagging, and include MoboPlayer, which has an extensive range of different conversion options. VLC for Android Beta is also being tested as a way of adapting the popular media player from desktops to smartphones. It’s also worth checking out DicePlayer for reliable video playback, and ArcMedia Pro as a free option for your phone.

By comparison, iOS enabled phones can be limited by having to pass files through iTunes, making it harder, in some cases, to convert files and use codecs. Some of the popular media players for iOS include Azul, CineXPlayer, It’s Playing, and VLC, most of which should be able to work with or bypass iTunes to play AVI, MPEG-2, MP4, DIVX, FLX, XVID, and MPQ files. Swift is also useful as an app that’s compatible with YouTube, and allows you to save videos from the website app to watch offline.

Few of the video playing apps listed here are completely compatible with iTunes, with an exception being It’s Playing, which pays to use protected files. Azul is also compatible with iTunes, and can attach video files through Mail sending. OPlayer similarly works well as a video app with fast browsing for the iPhone and the iPad, while Video Stream is compatible with the Retina display on the iPad. YouTube viewing apps are also available for both OS’s.

Alternatively, if you want to do more than just watch downloaded videos, there are apps available that allow you to stream video live from your phone to the Internet. Some apps and sites that allow you to do this include Justin.tv, TwitCasting, Veetle, and Bambuser; though, be careful if you’re streaming content to social networks that you know have access to your feed.

Rob James is a self-employed internet marketer. He uses Distinct Connections to find the best business mobile deals. Rob uses Internet marketing to promote himself, and recommends you optimise your site for mobiles too. He can usually be found blogging about mobile related topics, and loves checking out the latest gadgets.

Best Practices for Creating Business Video

Jeff Fissel — Tue, 22 May 2012 16:27:51 +0000

For many of you, as much as you might want to embrace using business video to promote your business, train customer or co-workers, the very idea of creating business video is daunting enough to avoid it. However, hopefully much to your surprise, with the proper tools and guidelines, you can easily create a high quality business video.

To help you get started, I’ve listed some best practices that you’d need to be successful.

Know Your Audience

Before you begin to shoot any video content, you must first pinpoint the video’s intended audience. For example, are you targeting business prospects, customers, co-workers? Once you know who your audience is, you can then think about the tone of your business video that will appropriately address those people. For example, if you are creating a video on a more serious topic, like new hire benefits, you will need a more formal delivery.

If you have identified your audience and are still unsure of what style and tone would be appropriate or engaging, ask yourself these three questions:

What will my audience respond to and what will put them off or make them lose focus?
How enthusiastic and informal can I be before it comes off too unprofessional?
Does my content require a serious delivery?

Get to the Point

Once you’ve settled on the style and tone you want for your business video, make sure that your message is clear and concise. If the message that you wish to deliver is too long or your point isn’t defined, then you won’t make your desired impact.

Hint: To hold your viewer’s attention, don’t produce a business video longer than 5 minutes (if you can get your point across in 2 minutes, all the better).

Pay Attention to the Look and Sound of Your Business Video

While your business video’s content is obviously important, you need to pay just as much attention to the look and sound of your video. If you spend time making your video visually and audibly appealing, you will get a better response. A lot of common mistakes people make when shooting a video come down to improper lighting and poor sound quality. Luckily, both mistakes can easily be fixed with a little natural light and a small, affordable clip-on mic.

Enhance Your Business Video

The more time you spend enhancing your content, the more likely it is that your audience will remain interested and focused. There are tools out there (like KZO) that will allow you to synch PowerPoint slides, insert quizzes and polls, and interact through chat. Adding any one of these features will enhance your viewer’s experience.

Make Your Business Video Unforgettable

What do you want people to accomplish by viewing your business video? You might be distributing your video with the sole purpose of knowledge-sharing and education; however, whatever your point may be, you want to make sure that your viewers are getting something out of the experience. To accomplish this, you could end your video with a call to action or question that requires further reflection. All in all, if your hope is to leave an impression, the possibilities for inspiration are endless.

Enable Video Metrics Tracking

By enabling video metrics tracking, you can see where you went right – and wrong. You’ll be able to tell who watched your business videos and if they were watched all the way through (or when people started to drop off). With this information, you can form a clear idea of where your viewers tend to lose interest and apply that to future content.

What to see how easy it is to create an engaging business video and how it can benefit your company, try The KZO Video Suite for free.

VIDEO: Codecs and Containers – with Wes Cruver

Jeff Fissel — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:43:05 +0000

In this short video, Wes Cruver, CEO of KZO Innovations, explains video codecs, file containers, and the difference between the two.

4 Ways to Secure Your Online Video

Jeff Fissel — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:29:09 +0000

The power of video has not gone unnoticed by the corporate world and every day, more and more companies are integrating video into their daily processes. However, while embracing video can successfully increase efficiency and communication in the workplace, the proper precautions must be taken before using video to transmit information, especially of the sensitive nature, within the company. If the appropriate attention is not given to the security of video, the information that is distributed can be viewed and downloaded by those without permission.

Regardless of video type or security level, it can be assumed that companies would prefer to remain the owners and sole viewers of video that is distributed within their company. In order for this to happen, there are four main areas of security around video that need attention.

Streaming v. Progressive Download

Before uploading any video content, the video distributor must decide on how they intend on delivering their video to the end user. In this case, the distributor has two options: streaming or progressive download. Either choice will guarantee delivery to the end user; however, only one choice will ensure that the distributor remains in control of that content.

Many people trust that if video is put up on a web server, people only have the ability to view the content. However, in most cases, when videos are delivered over HTTP, content is actually being downloaded locally to the computer that is viewing the content. This local download is commonly called progressive download, and while many video platforms and web browsers work this way, YouTube is one of the most popular examples. On YouTube, video is downloaded locally onto the viewer’s computer as it is being watched and the red bar moves along. Once that happens, the viewer can go into whichever folder on their computer that houses downloaded content and retrieve said video without permission or ownership.

For professionals with videos containing sensitive information, or video content that should remain company property, progressive download comes at an especially great risk. To get around the issues that come with progressive download, video streaming can be used as the secure alternative. When a video is streamed out, the video distributor is only sending a viewer the data that they request. When a streaming video is viewed, roughly 3 to 5 seconds ahead of that video is sent and content on the other side is deleted. Therefore, video cannot be downloaded by way of streaming because the viewer will only have 3-5 seconds of video stored on their computer at any one time.

SSL v. Non SSL Delivery

While streaming ensures that video content cannot be downloaded, the protocol over which the video is delivered is just as important for those distributing sensitive information. To truly secure video content, distributors must deliver content over the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) instead of choosing an insecure delivery in clear text. For example, traditional YouTube videos are served up insecurely over HTTP, with the data flowing in clear text over the network. This means that anyone listening in on the network has the ability to see any content that those with permissions might be viewing.

Stream video content over the Secure Sockets Layer and the data stream will be encrypted between the server and the end user’s browser. At this point, with SSL delivery, if anyone sees the content, it will be a garbled encrypted mess. Without SSL delivery, any previous steps taken to secure video content will prove irrelevant.

Rule and Role-Based Permissions Systems

Once the choice between streaming and progressive download has been made, administrators or video distributors can add another layer of security to their content by setting access controls. These controls give those responsible for the content the ability to control who can see what video, when they can see the video, and whether everyone or just a subset can view certain video content. In a lot of cases, these groups are already defined within an organization and videos are often relevant to specific roles or departments.

When setting access controls, an enterprise should choose a rule or role-based permissions system that can seamlessly tie into their organization. This is important because while it might be appropriate for some video to be publicly available, it’s likely that a majority of video content will need to be registered with a slight level of restriction or with completely restricted viewing access. If the rule or role-based permissions system ties into the enterprise, the company wouldn’t have to manage another set of usernames, passwords and permissions. Instead, particularly if you are going to require restricted viewing, the platform can authenticate with your existing set of usernames and passwords. This can be done through LDAP or Active Directory authentications, or any sort of Single Sign On whether that’s open SSO, Crowd, or SAML.

Security Review

While protection from the outside is usually the priority of most organizations, there is always a chance that security issues will originate from within the company. Companies can control who has access with rule and role-based permission systems; though, this might not be enough for organizations that need added assurance. If companies need a guarantee that malicious things cannot be done within the software without immediate knowledge of the breach, there are video platforms that will give those responsible for the content the ability to moderate and approve aspects of a company’s system. Regardless of how extreme an organization wants their security review process to be, options are available that will allow responsible parties to track, delete, approve, and report all actions or communications.

The world of video is ever evolving and unfortunately, too new for absolute certainty. However, when it comes to video security, enough is known in the area for enterprises to comfortably continue taking on video. By paying specific attention to these four main areas of video security, companies can be sure that they are doing everything they can to safeguard their content.

Lighting – Color Temperatures

Ben Williams — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 15:28:37 +0000

Have you ever noticed that not all light bulbs are created equal? Maybe you’ve purchased new bulbs and come to realize that they seem a lot more “white” than your old ones. No, you’re not going crazy – bulbs can emit many different colors of light. We refer to these differences of color as “Color Temperature.”

So, how is color temperature measured? The standard measure of color temperature is the Kelvin. Let’s start with two light emitting objects that everyone can relate to: a candle, and the Sun.

A candle emits a very “warm” color light, a reddish-orange light. On the kelvin scale this would equate to approximately 1,500 Kelvin.

Sunlight, on the other hand emits a “cool” whitish-blue color light. In midday the sun’s light would be measure at approximately 6,500 Kelvin.

In between these two light emitting objects lie virtually all other lights, be it incandescent lightbulbs, florescent lights, quartz lights, or tungsten lights. They all give off a different color of light and this is important to consider when taking photos or making videos.

Why is it important? Quite frankly the color temperature of lights do not mix well when seen together. As I mentioned earlier, it is quite possible when replacing old light bulbs that you at one point have accidentally grabbed a bulb of the wrong temperature that doesn’t match the rest of the bulbs in your house. And if you’re like me, when that has happened, it annoys you visually.

Same rings true in videos and photos. When two types of light are mixed, it makes it impossible for the viewer to know the true colors of anything in the shot. Even if the editor can white-balance the photo for one source of light, it will be near impossible to then balance for the other light source.

Simplified – Use all the same temperature lights, it will make your life easier.

Handbrake Quick Start Guide

Dave — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 20:30:08 +0000

If you’re looking for a quick and easy encoding solution, Handbrake is pretty clutch. It’s free and open source and will work most of the time for most of your purposes. It’s also pretty well-maintained. (Like I’ve said before, with free and open-source software, sometimes that’s the best you can hope for.) This post is a quick start guide to get you acquainted with the basics of Handbrake.

Encoding using Handbrake

HandBrake can accept almost any sort of video file you can throw at it, although with exotic fare, things can sometimes be a little rough around the edges.
-Handbrake User Manual

Handbrake is an encoder – it can’t produce video on its own. So, the first thing you’re going to need to encode a video using Handbrake is the source video itself. Use the Source button at the top left to find your source video and load it. Like the manual says, Handbrake can handle a lot of different video files, but it makes no guarantees. If you’re feeding it one of the more common formats, you should have little difficulty. It can also use a DVD as a source, which is handy.

Once you’ve found your source video, you’ll need to tell Handbrake how to encode it. Handbrake will only encode to a handful of formats – mainly Apple formats, like MPEG or MOV – but they’re modern and will work for just about any purpose.

Along the bottom of the Handbrake window, you’ll see a list of tabs. These are the encoding options. Unless you want to do something fancy like crop or resize the video, you’ll probably want to leave most of these alone. The main settings you want to look at are under the Video tab. If you’re encoding video for web (like we do!) you’ll want to adjust the Quality - or the Bitrate. You can adjust these settings however you like; however, here’s what we’ve found works best for us.

Converting Video Formats

Ben Williams — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 17:40:49 +0000

Working with video and audio can get a little tricky, especially when you’re working with different formats. This is a brief guide on the tools you can use to convert media from one format to another. I’ve broken the guide down into two categories; First, the costly professional encoders, and second, freeware based encoders.

Professional Encoders:

Adobe Media Encoder - This is Adobe’s tool for video conversion, it is included with the Adobe Creative Suite. If you are in need of complete control over your encode, and would like to use a flash based codec, this is your best choice. http://www.adobe.com

Apple Compressor- This program is available via the app store on your Apple computer. It is a professional video encoder and can encode to nearly any format short of .wmv, .flv, or .avi. Compressor gives you complete control over all aspects of your encode. http://apple.com/compressor

Freeware Encoders:

Apple Quicktime- Installed by default on Apple computers, Quicktime can be used not only to record, save, and trim videos but can also export videos in a multitude of Quicktime based formats.http://apple.com/quicktime

RealPlayer- A free universal Audio and Video player. Along with the Media player, Real also provides a converter. This converter can encode videos to a multitude of formats. http://realplayer.com

Handbrake- Free, open source, cross-platform media encoder that can take video and encode it to many different formats. This can be downloaded for free from their website, http://handbrake.fr/

VLC- With VLC, not only can you open nearly any format of video, but you can also then encode that video to another format. This program is very helpful when dealing with uncommon video formats.www.videolan.org

Encoding for Enterprise Streaming

Ben Williams — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 17:07:52 +0000

When working with enterprise communications, one faces the challenge of distribution to varying locations with various bandwidth limitations. To effectively reach an entire organization with streaming video, one must encode the video at a rate which all employees can view. In this blog, I’ll discuss the optimal way to encode your video for distribution with the least amount of quality loss.

For this write-up I’ll be using screen shots from Apple’s Compressor. These settings however can easily be translated to Adobe Media Encoder, or any other video encoding software.

To begin, lets look at the compression type, bitrate, frame rate, and encoding settings. First the compression type; there are hundreds of different codecs one can use, I recommend using H.264. You will then want to set the frame rate of the video to no lower than 24fps for fluid playback. You will also want to adjust the bitrate to accommodate for the members of your organization with the slowest network speeds. Typically 350kbps will suffice. Now make sure that your encode is optimized for streaming, and that your compressor is set for a multi-pass encode. These settings will give you the best video quality and stream size for enterprise distribution.

We’ll now cover settings for your audio. Once again there are many different ways to encode your audio, I will however only address the one I feel best fit for low-bandwidth distribution. My codec of choose is AAC, or “Advanced Audio Coding.” I then recommend a target bit rate around 40kbps. All other settings can stay at their defaults.

And finally I would like to address the frame size. I suggest not exceeding 640×480 with the settings previously mentioned. Any larger and your viewers will notice a large amount of pixilation.

If you have any questions pertaining streaming video for enterprise distribution feel free to contact me at bwilliams(at)kzoinnovations.com

Choosing the Best Camera for Your Needs

Ben Williams — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 17:06:26 +0000

So you’re in the market for a video camera, and even after doing some poking and prodding, you still have no idea which one is right for you. With hundreds of different models floating around, this is understandable; especially when prices vary from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars.

The first step in choosing your camera is to figure out what you will be using it for. Will it be for recording your kids soccer games, or will it be for creating professional video for your business?

In this article I’ll address both scenarios. Lets begin by looking at the important requirements for a professional camera to create stunning video for your business. Below are four items we’ll discuss:

-3ccd or 3cmos
-XLR audio inputs
-Manual controls
-Recording media

3ccd/3cmos??? What does that mean? Well, to give you the shortened version, a ccd or a cmos are imaging chips, they’re what bring your video to life. Most consumer cameras will only have one of these chips. The reason for wanting to have three is for a higher quality. In the case of professional video, bigger chips and number of chips equates to higher quality video (you won’t find a camera with more than 3 as each sensor captures a separate color, red/green/blue).

To sum it up – 3ccd/3cmos = superb video quality.

Next lets look at XLR audio inputs. This one is easy, there is no point to an awesome camera if you have no way to run quality audio into it. XLR is the most common audio input standard, you will definitely want to have these inputs on your camera if you are producing high quality video. XLR audio inputs are not used for lower production quality / home movies. The internal microphone will suffice for these videos.

To sum it up – xlr audio inputs = superb audio quality

Manual controls. This one is scary to the new user. When you’re looking for a camera, it is important to find one that will allow you to manipulate the focus, the iris, the white balance, audio levels, and scene files. I’m not going to dive into what these controls are in this post, but they are important. And if you’re just starting out, don’t worry — these cameras will also have an “automatic” setting that you can use until you become more comfortable with the manual controls. Down the road, manual controls will be very handy to have. Most cameras that have manual controls will explain their purpose in the manual (pun intended).

To sum it up – manual controls = more control over your video

Finally let’s address the media the camera uses. Some common types are miniDV tapes, internal hard drives, P2 Cards, SxS Cards, and SD cards. All of these options work. There are some downsides to each, but no matter the media, it is more important to consider your work flow. For example if you choose a tape-based camera, the only way to ingest the footage onto your computer is through a real-time transfer, 60mins of video will then take 60mins to import onto your computer. Not many people like that idea anymore, so all the other medias that I mention will save you time after filming. I would recommend doing some research of your own on this subject to figure out what media will work best for your situation.

So there we have it. 4 things to keep in mind when purchasing a professional camera. As a recap:

3ccd/3cmos = superb video quality.
XLR audio inputs = superb audio quality
Manual controls = more control over your video
Media = what will work best for your workflow

Now let’s talk about things to consider when looking for a camera to use for your kids soccer games, your family vacations, and every day around the house activities. Here you won’t particularly need 3 separate imaging chips, or a lot of the manual controls we discussed earlier. For around the house you want something that you can turn on quickly and start recording as not to miss any special moments. There are two main topics I’ll discuss here.

-camera phones
-camcorders

In today’s world, the camera that is on your phone is likely a pretty good camera for candid moments. In fact the iPhone 4 has a 5megapixel still camera, and an HD video camera. For around the house I would recommend using your phone, you’ll likely already have it in your pocket, so it’s easy to use and there when you need it.

For sporting events, vacations, and school plays, I would recommend a camcorder, something with a good optical zoom (12x-20x would be perfect). And when you are shooting these events, try to use a tripod or monopod, it will make your video look 100 times better than trying to hold it steady in your hands.

Basic Lighting Techniques for Video

Ben Williams — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 20:36:16 +0000

Have you ever tried to watch a video that was filmed in a dark or dimly lit room? Now unless this was a horror movie, you probably were disappointed. Not being able to see whats happening or who’s talking in a video makes you a lot less likely to finish it.

That’s precisely why it is so important for your subject to be lit well when creating a video of your own. Let me give you a few tips on how to do this. Mainly I will focus on a lighting technique known as “3-point lighting.”

In this lighting setup you will need a total of three lights (if the name didn’t already give that away). We’ll refer to these lights as the key light, the fill light, and the back light.

The key light will be the strongest and most important light. This light should be placed on either the right or left side of the camera. It should be positioned as high as possible and at a 45 degree angle towards the subject being filmed. This light will illuminate one side of the subject leaving small shadows on the other side.

Next, the fill light. This light will be less intense than the key light and should be placed opposite of the key light. This light should also be placed as high as possible and shot at a 45 degree angle towards the subject. When used properly, it will fill in the shadows created by the key light.

The final light is the back light. This should be the weakest of your lights. You should position the back light at a diagonal of the key light. Once again you will want to make sure it is positioned as high as possible. You should aim the light at the subject’s back. This will help give separation between your subject and the background.