Research - Video compression, length etc

[stevie_t_ok]

Hi,

Our company is about to release 4 pay-sites and one DRM site (with full length movies) in the next few months.

We have a wealth of movies and photos but are unsure what the recommended video length and compression rates/clip quality settings would be.

Having trawled the net and finding nothing conclusive regarding pay-sites, I was wondering if anyone here could assist with the following questions:

1) What length should an average 20 minute clip be split into.

2) Should we provide both hi and low res options. If so what quality/compression would you recommend.

3) Other than WMV(standard) and MPEG2 (for Mac), would you suggest any additional formats.

Thanks for your help,

Steve.

[MagicJohn]

What length should an average 20 minute clip be split into.

Let them as they are. Users today are looking for long clips or mucht better full movies of 90 minutes and longer

Should we provide both hi and low res options. If so what quality/compression would you recommend.

You will need at least 3 or better 4 compression ratios. Low (56kbits)/middle(120kbits)/semi(150 to 200kbits)/high(340kbits)
DSL ist not all over the worl 384kbits in some countries it's just 200kbits

Other than WMV(standard) and MPEG2 (for Mac), would you suggest any additional formats.

MPEG2? Ok, the most common standard at all is MPEG1 and this could be used by any system, but how many users do you have using Mac or Linux? Just ask you logfiles and I guess about 99% all of them are using Win. So WMV is a perfect solution

You would better thinking about using a streaming server before you start. I guess this will make some stuff more easier for you to handle and control.

[stevie_t_ok]

Hi John,

Thanks for the useful info.

It seems we'll need to cater for a range of bandwidths, low-high. More production time, but greater choice for the user.

We were thinking of splitting the 20 minute clips into 3 or 4 sensibly cut clips. I suppose this could annoy the user as they would need to view or download each clip. But then again, if the clips description provides the user with some insight into it's contents and they are searching for specific material, they may not wish to download the entire 20 minute clip. This is a tricky one.

So, you don't think users would be interested in smaller clips? Or rather, if given the choice, they would prefer the larger 20 minute option?

Cheers,

Steve.