Making content Windows friendly

[StudioAdam]

I'm looking for a way to make my online movies more Windows friendly. I've heard of Flip4Mac, but read of problems about it. Also read about how QT may soon be the only survivor in the online movie game. Regardless, I can;'t show just H.264 stuff, as good as it is.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

[Maureen]

I use flip4mac with no problems.

[StudioAdam]

I guess my question is should I modify my QT to be more Windows friendly or go with Flip4Mac? If I go with Flip4Mac, which one is right for me?

[gl]

My first choice is Flash for compatibility. Flip4Mac is the other alternative.

-gl

[gl]

Also, h.264 is windows friendly, they just have to have QT7 which is a large d/l :(

-gl

[GmElliott]

Can't compressor encode WMVs? When peoople say they "use" flip4mac- what do they mean?...as a player or as an encoder? The encoder part is a feature you get when you buy the full version correct?

[RatVega]

Can't compressor encode WMVs? When peoople say they "use" flip4mac- what do they mean?...as a player or as an encoder? The encoder part is a feature you get when you buy the full version correct?

Flip4Mac is basically a QuickTime Pro plug-in that allows you to generate .wmv files easily on a Mac. I take all "use flip4mac" comments to mean they are encoding from withing the QT framework.

I don't even know if Flip4Mac is capable of playing anything... :icon_redface:

[gl]

Flip4mac does work within the QT architecture to enable playback and encoding. So, if you get the "Studio" version you would be able to encode to wmv from Compressor. The free version of FLip4Mac simply allows you to play some wmv files in the QT player.

-gl <- still say Flash is a better investment

[GmElliott]

Flip4mac does work within the QT architecture to enable playback and encoding. So, if you get the "Studio" version you would be able to encode to wmv from Compressor. The free version of FLip4Mac simply allows you to play some wmv files in the QT player.

-gl <- still say Flash is a better investment

That would explain the fact that when I DO render using Flip4Mac via Export>Quicktime it only renders the first 30 seconds and looks like ass regardless of what settings I choose!

I wish I would have known this about 2 hours ago! I'm pulling my hair out!!!!

[gl]

Sorry. Gotta have at least the $99 version but even that gives you no control over settings.

-gl

[GmElliott]

I just tried rendering out using the H264 preset and it's taking EONS to render 1 minute of video????? I need to give up and hit the hay. Needless to say I'm not excited about my first experiences editing on FCP tonight. :sad-smiley-018:

[GmElliott]

So how does a mac user output WMVs? There's no option out there that will give you any controll over settings?

Lastly why do I see "Windows Media" as a selection under Quicktime Output. Is that placed in there as a bait from Flip4Mac to buy the full product. Those b*st*rds- the render takes the full length but you end up with a crap file. Nothing warns you about it ahead of time.

[Maureen]

I am pretty sure I paid less than that and I can alter all the settings. It is a plugin, so from FCP I choose quicktime conversion and choose the wmv option and I get to change any settings I like.

[GmElliott]

Maybe the upped the price on the Universal Binary version. ???

[MediaConcepts]

I use Flip4Mac Pro, it works great for me. I can show you samples if you want.

Joe

[GmElliott]

With Flip4Mac Pro Can you change:

1) The physical dimensions of the output?

2) bit-rate of the file?

[MediaConcepts]

With Flip4Mac Pro Can you change:

1) The physical dimensions of the output?

2) bit-rate of the file?


1) Yes

2) Yes, plus keyframes, quality, variable & constant bit rate.

Here's a screenshot. Hope it's readable, I shrunk it by 50%.

[Postal Boy]

My experience is this:

When I post a QT video, MAC people say it looks TONS better than the WMV video when they play it through any Mac WMV viewer. The PC users say the WMV video looks better than the QT video.

I think that in the end, each vendor cripples the opposite vendor's capabilities to show how much "better" their own is...

Business is business I suppose.

Flash seems to be a fairly neutral format. H.264 is really nice on both types of machines, but until they get a non QT format for it the QT download is quite large and can discourage viewers.

[RatVega]

My experience is this:

When I post a QT video, MAC people say it looks TONS better than the WMV video when they play it through any Mac WMV viewer. The PC users say the WMV video looks better than the QT video.

I think that in the end, each vendor cripples the opposite vendor's capabilities to show how much "better" their own is...

Business is business I suppose.

QT works well enough to be the de facto pro video standard; what other reason can there be for pushing a non-standard?

Flash seems to be a fairly neutral format. H.264 is really nice on both types of machines, but until they get a non QT format for it the QT download is quite large and can discourage viewers.

One more time on H.264...

H.264 (a.k.a. MPEG-4, Layer 10; a.k.a. Advanced Video Codec) is an international standard. It works remarkably well but can tax older processors since it requires processor bandwidth for both the encode and decode cycles. As a Rule of Thumb, it's either half the size (at the same quality) or twice the quality (at the same size) as MPEG-4. It is designed to support HD as well as reduced formats and will undoubtably be a key player in the Hi Def DVD authoring equation.

I finished two short 1600x1000 graphical animation sequences last night that totalled 560MB when output from Motion. I encoded them for full frame "medium" quality (most would call them "spectacular") in H.264 (with audio) and will pass them on to my customer for comment/approval. The two H.264 files total 16.7 MB before I zipped them... This is what we call 21st century compression techology. :smile:

If I can resolve some "issues" with my FTP site, I'll post a 5-minute project I did (DV filesize: 1,088MB) in H.264. It's 39.4MB and the video quality will startle you.