Here they are:
1. Drive site traffic
2. Increase depth of visit
3. Enhance user experience
4. Boost conversion and ROI
5. Turn customers into salespeople
6. Stand out from the competition
7. Encourage viral marketing
8. iPlayer is affordable
9. You can now host your client's video online
10. Harness the power of this emerging media
The future of online video has arrived. iPlayerHD
Get it for your business. www.iplayerhd.com
Monday, July 14, 2008
Friday, July 11, 2008
Your Website is Your Storefront
What I am about to write does not apply to everyone reading this email. But it does apply to almost everyone.
Your website is your storefront. I call the door to your store a landing page. On your landing page, you have only a few short moments to attract and keep the attention of those persons that walk though the door. The power of video, exceptional video, will help keep them there.
Today's economy, more than anytime in recent memory, is awful. Most businesses feel vulnerable and scared. Now is the time to focus on marketing - on distinguishing your business from the plethora of competition. Use the power of video to distinguish yourself. Use the power of iPlayer to deliver exceptional quality video to your site visitors.
The future of online video has arrived. www.iplayerhd.com
Your website is your storefront. I call the door to your store a landing page. On your landing page, you have only a few short moments to attract and keep the attention of those persons that walk though the door. The power of video, exceptional video, will help keep them there.
Today's economy, more than anytime in recent memory, is awful. Most businesses feel vulnerable and scared. Now is the time to focus on marketing - on distinguishing your business from the plethora of competition. Use the power of video to distinguish yourself. Use the power of iPlayer to deliver exceptional quality video to your site visitors.
The future of online video has arrived. www.iplayerhd.com
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Does H264 mean the end of FLV?
In an earlier Post, I wrote that the two competing Flash HD formats, H264 and VP6-S, both play in Flash Player 9 with update 3. When You Tube moves to H264, these two Flash HD formats are going to soon command your serious attention. To repeat my earlier post, You Tube will force the 50% or so of you that do not have update 3 to get it. It is an easy and fast upgrade but its going to take a force like You Tube to get the world to act. Once they do, H264 and VP6-S become viable.
Over several months, prior to launching iPlayer, we encoded a lot of video in both the H264 and VP6-E formats. The results showed marginal differences between the two formats. H264 has a slightly better visual quality, probably not enough to be noticed by the untrained eye. VP6-E used slightly less processing power while producing an excellent visual result. On balance, I'd say the two formats are even.
Having said all that, will H264 win this battle of the online Flash formats? Probably not. There are many encoders on the market creating both formats and the folks marketing them will work hard to preserve their share of revenue. Until there are more compelling reasons why one format should dominate, we'll see both formats used extensively.
Over several months, prior to launching iPlayer, we encoded a lot of video in both the H264 and VP6-E formats. The results showed marginal differences between the two formats. H264 has a slightly better visual quality, probably not enough to be noticed by the untrained eye. VP6-E used slightly less processing power while producing an excellent visual result. On balance, I'd say the two formats are even.
Having said all that, will H264 win this battle of the online Flash formats? Probably not. There are many encoders on the market creating both formats and the folks marketing them will work hard to preserve their share of revenue. Until there are more compelling reasons why one format should dominate, we'll see both formats used extensively.
What you should know about Flash Video - Part B
Here's something most folks I talk to don't seem to know: Flash is a CPU hog. It seems nothing really good is perfect and that truth certainly applies to the Flash video format. Have you ever seen stuttering in a Flash video playing online? The latest Flash player, Flash Player 9, while better than Flash Player 8, often does not manage its own format very well. Videos sometimes stutter - stuttering is simply skipping frames - making the video seem jerky. The primary culprit are scenes that are panning across a room or landscape. Note: The slower the panning, the less stuttering that will occur.
Flash Player uses a computer's CPU to manage the videos it displays. It does not utilize the video card like Quicktime and Windows Media. That's changing, however, as Flash 10, which is now available as a beta version, does utilize some of the video card's assets and presumably will lower the incidence of stuttering.
Stuttering in Flash is also caused when the machine is busy with other processes. Viewing Flash when your machine is, at that moment, dedicating all of its resources to Flash, is a much better experience than when you have several processes going at the same time. With the introduction of the Core Duo processors and the new generation of video cards that have their own onboard CPU and increased memory, the stuttering issue will soon become a thing of the past.
Flash Player uses a computer's CPU to manage the videos it displays. It does not utilize the video card like Quicktime and Windows Media. That's changing, however, as Flash 10, which is now available as a beta version, does utilize some of the video card's assets and presumably will lower the incidence of stuttering.
Stuttering in Flash is also caused when the machine is busy with other processes. Viewing Flash when your machine is, at that moment, dedicating all of its resources to Flash, is a much better experience than when you have several processes going at the same time. With the introduction of the Core Duo processors and the new generation of video cards that have their own onboard CPU and increased memory, the stuttering issue will soon become a thing of the past.
Monday, July 7, 2008
What you should know about Flash Video - Part A
Whenever a new subscriber signs up for an iPlayer account, I call as soon as I can to arrange a live one-on-one tutorial. During the tutorial, I focus on three primary subjects. The first, of course, is how to use iPlayer's tool set. Although iPlayer is very easy to use, a small amount of coaching goes a long way towards saving my subscriber's time while building value in our relationship. The second concerns the various ways subscribers can use iPlayer to earn additional income, particularly for those who earn a living creating video content. The third subject typically saves them the most time, frustration and headaches. That subject is how to create Flash video content. I've learned that most folks I work with do not have a clear understanding of this subject and I do everything I can to change that.
The first thing we must all understand is that Flash has become the dominant format for the Web. Right or wrong, good or bad, it is the simple reality. The reasons are long and complicated and there is no need nor is there space here to explain why. Rather than fight it by delivering competing formats like QuickTime or Windows Media, neither of which can come close to Adobe's very accurate claim of 98% penetration on all computers WORLDWIDE, smart businesses with video on the Web choose Flash.
Ok. That's the why. The how is much more complicated. It seems there are as many tools to create Flash content as there are stars in the sky. Deciding which software to use can be difficult. Then, after you purchase the software, how do you use it? What settings create the best looking result? In this post and others to follow, I'll attempt to answer those questions.
Of all the encoding tools available to create Flash content, three emerge as the leaders: Adobe Premiere, Sorenson Squeeze 5 for Flash, and ON2 Flix Standard and Pro. All three will create VP6 Flash video - the VP6 Flash codec was invented by ON2 and is the primary reason Adobe delivered Flash Players 8 and 9. While all three softwares will create excellent Flash video, I choose ON2 because - well, honestly it is the one I know best and have come to trust. The others, I am sure, provide the same comfort level to those who use them as ON2 does for me.
Having said all of that, it is in my next post that I will talk about the encoder settings that will create the best looking video. The settings I will provide are those I use in ON2 Flix Pro but they are also settings that can be used in any multi-pass Flash encoder. Stay tuned.
In the meantime, let's talk about the various Flash codecs and what they should mean to you and the choices you make. Earlier I stated that 98% of the world has Flash Player. To be more accurate, 98% of the world has Flash Player 9, a distinction that is important to note. Flash Player 8 is required to play ON2's VP6-E codec. All other codecs created prior to VP6-E will also play in Flash Player 8. Flash Player 9 plays all codecs that play in Flash 8 but also plays two newer codecs: VP6-S and H264. These are two HD competing formats, the former created by ON2 and the latter by MPEG-LA. There is a caveat to these two codes however and you need to know it. VP6-S and H264 require Flash Player 9 with Update 3 to be viewed. If you don't have Update 3, neither VP6-S or H264 will play. Extensive testing by iPlayer confirms that while 98% of machines have Flash 9, only half have Update 3. This is why we recommend iPlayer subscribers not use VP6-E or H264 until a larger share of the world's machines have Flash 9 with Update 3. Most of us are not in the position to require a software upgrade to view our video, even one as easy as Flash.
Here is some good news: You Tube will soon convert to H264. This insures the adoption of the latest Flash Player 9 will soon reach the level of it's predecessor. The world is watching You Tube and You Tube knows you'll upgrade when prompted.
Next up: Encoder settings that create excellent video
The first thing we must all understand is that Flash has become the dominant format for the Web. Right or wrong, good or bad, it is the simple reality. The reasons are long and complicated and there is no need nor is there space here to explain why. Rather than fight it by delivering competing formats like QuickTime or Windows Media, neither of which can come close to Adobe's very accurate claim of 98% penetration on all computers WORLDWIDE, smart businesses with video on the Web choose Flash.
Ok. That's the why. The how is much more complicated. It seems there are as many tools to create Flash content as there are stars in the sky. Deciding which software to use can be difficult. Then, after you purchase the software, how do you use it? What settings create the best looking result? In this post and others to follow, I'll attempt to answer those questions.
Of all the encoding tools available to create Flash content, three emerge as the leaders: Adobe Premiere, Sorenson Squeeze 5 for Flash, and ON2 Flix Standard and Pro. All three will create VP6 Flash video - the VP6 Flash codec was invented by ON2 and is the primary reason Adobe delivered Flash Players 8 and 9. While all three softwares will create excellent Flash video, I choose ON2 because - well, honestly it is the one I know best and have come to trust. The others, I am sure, provide the same comfort level to those who use them as ON2 does for me.
Having said all of that, it is in my next post that I will talk about the encoder settings that will create the best looking video. The settings I will provide are those I use in ON2 Flix Pro but they are also settings that can be used in any multi-pass Flash encoder. Stay tuned.
In the meantime, let's talk about the various Flash codecs and what they should mean to you and the choices you make. Earlier I stated that 98% of the world has Flash Player. To be more accurate, 98% of the world has Flash Player 9, a distinction that is important to note. Flash Player 8 is required to play ON2's VP6-E codec. All other codecs created prior to VP6-E will also play in Flash Player 8. Flash Player 9 plays all codecs that play in Flash 8 but also plays two newer codecs: VP6-S and H264. These are two HD competing formats, the former created by ON2 and the latter by MPEG-LA. There is a caveat to these two codes however and you need to know it. VP6-S and H264 require Flash Player 9 with Update 3 to be viewed. If you don't have Update 3, neither VP6-S or H264 will play. Extensive testing by iPlayer confirms that while 98% of machines have Flash 9, only half have Update 3. This is why we recommend iPlayer subscribers not use VP6-E or H264 until a larger share of the world's machines have Flash 9 with Update 3. Most of us are not in the position to require a software upgrade to view our video, even one as easy as Flash.
Here is some good news: You Tube will soon convert to H264. This insures the adoption of the latest Flash Player 9 will soon reach the level of it's predecessor. The world is watching You Tube and You Tube knows you'll upgrade when prompted.
Next up: Encoder settings that create excellent video
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Distinguish your Business with Video
An iPlayer subscriber recently asked me a valid question: Why use iPlayer or some other high value streaming video provider when his company could use YouTube, which is free? He also asked why he couldn’t simply deliver video directly from his web server. His question did not surprise me because as entrepreneurs and business owners, we must be vigilant in our quest to maximize the limited resources we have – especially money. My subscriber – actually he has a trial account and he’s deciding if he should activate – is doing his due diligence, something I respect enormously.
The answer to his questions came easily. I explained to him that delivering profits to his bottom line, particularly in our difficult economy when competition is fierce and margins thin, requires distinguishing his service, in this case he’s a professional videographer, from all the videographers he competes with. For example, I explained, if a potential client visited his competition’s website and saw a YouTube video example, with its typical low quality and then the client saw his video, in a large screen with exceptional video quality, which videographer is the potential client more likely to choose? All other things being equal, he’s likely to choose the professional with the high quality video.
iPlayer delivers exceptional performance at minimal cost. The software tools we created have made delivery of exceptional video very inexpensive and a breeze. Using a web developer to deliver progressive video would be much more expensive than using a self-service tool like iPlayer, with its true Flash streaming and bandwidth detection. The annual cost of iPlayer is $360. What would it cost to hire a web developer to manage all that content over the course of a year? Much more. I’ll not fail to mention the many opportunities to make money with a $30/month iPlayer account including the ability to host a client’s video for steaming delivery to their customers and potential customers.
My subscriber listened carefully and I think my message rang true to him. We’ll see. My bet is he’ll soon activate.
iPlayer is limited only by your imagination and innovation.
The answer to his questions came easily. I explained to him that delivering profits to his bottom line, particularly in our difficult economy when competition is fierce and margins thin, requires distinguishing his service, in this case he’s a professional videographer, from all the videographers he competes with. For example, I explained, if a potential client visited his competition’s website and saw a YouTube video example, with its typical low quality and then the client saw his video, in a large screen with exceptional video quality, which videographer is the potential client more likely to choose? All other things being equal, he’s likely to choose the professional with the high quality video.
iPlayer delivers exceptional performance at minimal cost. The software tools we created have made delivery of exceptional video very inexpensive and a breeze. Using a web developer to deliver progressive video would be much more expensive than using a self-service tool like iPlayer, with its true Flash streaming and bandwidth detection. The annual cost of iPlayer is $360. What would it cost to hire a web developer to manage all that content over the course of a year? Much more. I’ll not fail to mention the many opportunities to make money with a $30/month iPlayer account including the ability to host a client’s video for steaming delivery to their customers and potential customers.
My subscriber listened carefully and I think my message rang true to him. We’ll see. My bet is he’ll soon activate.
iPlayer is limited only by your imagination and innovation.
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