Anyone use Flash instead of WMV streams for paysites?
 

just curious if anyone has tried using a good flash player (with FF and Rewind) instead of using a WMV based stream for a paysite member section? Any member feedback on it?

Flash have bigger size with same quality as WMV. so seems all prefer WMV

NichePay has flash streaming videos that load instantly.

wrong, if you encode all your videos in flv the file size is much smaller, sometimes even 1-2mb smaller

hmm, any tutorial sites out there that show what to use to encode it as good quality and equal or smaller sizes than a similar quality WMV?

Also, what kind of flash player do people use to allow FF and rewind?

with same quality? I'm not sure

We use both. The flash movies load instantly, provided you have a fast connection. Fo those who want to watch or download wmv or quicktime we give them the option to do that as well.

As far as encoding, we output an .flv file straight from our avid. Quality is what you set it to be when you encode it, so you can make the flash file as big as your source, ours being 1280x720. But we make the streaming videos 640x360, figuring those who wan higher quality will download the HD clips in wmv or quicktime.

so compared to WMV how big are the FLV file sizes for decent quality for streaming? Also what Flash player do you use?

We have sites that offer flash vids as well as wmv...

do the members like the Flash?

Sure do, I have found the instant load time is huge with the member retention

One of the best Flash Players is from Jeroen Wijering:

http://www.jeroenwijering.com/?item=Flash_Video_Player

You can download the full .fla source so you can brand the player, etc. But you can also use it 'out of the box'. Completely free, and like $12,50 if you want a license for commercial sites.

We use flash or the streaming, and have the option so they can download ( but not stream) WMV, MPG & MOV (for us Apple guys)

Ever since we added the flash streaming, peopl estopped bitching about movies not streaming, or having other weird problems associated with the embedded video

www.memberchannels.com has flash and wmv

One of the big advantages of Flash Streaming is that like 95% of the people have Flash installed, so the streams will work for nearly everyone, even if they are on a Mac or Linux for example.

If you convert a 5 minute DVD quality movie to for example 400kbps WMV and to 400kbps FLV their won't be much difference in quality nor file-size.

For the people who rather stream than download videos Flash is a big pro, but you will need to have wmvs or mpegs to satisfiy the people who want to download your movies.

thanx for the input guys, looks like I'll be adding flash...

last part of the puzzle... what's the best FLV converter if you are using WMV sources?

beeeeump!

bro you need to show me that shit cuz i am pulling the flash tour vid on casey parkers site and putting a wmv because it takes so damn long to load. hit a brotha up on icq. :helpme

MovieRoom.com offers Flash video with the ability to jump to any part of the movie instantly.

http://www.movieroom.com
http://webmasters.movieroom.com

Marc

Gleem we offer a flv seekable flash streaming that works with php & unix.

flash is the way to go. we wanna do it, but it's going to be a rather large encoding job to get everything switched up.

I guess (without taking a look at the site) that you are putting the vid in an swf file. In that case the user has to download the entire swf file before the vid starts playing. It's best to use a small player (swf file) and convert the vid to .flv. That way the the player (small file) only takes a second or 2 to load and starts playing the flv file as it comes in (is downloaded).

i showed dickmans that caseyparker flash trailer and told them something has to be wrong cuz i've never seen a flash video take that long to load. i'm not an expert at Flash video but there are different ways of using a Flash video - one that downloads the whole video before playing and one that starts playing as soon as there is enough data to begin.

I use XOVOD Player, it cannot be pirated, and can stream higher quality video :)

cash uncovered hosts flash videos in different niches

from the research I've done I am leaning towards getting On2's Flix Pro 8.5 for Flash:
http://www.on2.com/consumer/flix-pro...d359460f1&ref=

together with their players,

Anyone have feedback on this?

There are some free and quite alot of cheap anyvideoformat to flash converters.
If you have Flash Pro 8 it comes with Flash Encoder from Macromedia, which is very easy to use, and has batch encoding. But otherwise there is lots of other programs that you can buy which have batch encoding for like 29 or 50 bucks.

I think it's way too expenisive. If you have the money it's great software, but there are much cheaper options that can do the same.

flash encoding
 

I have done a few tours with flash vids...

I have batched a couple hundred videos from wmv to flash using the encoder that comes with Flash 8, and it worked perfectly. I recommended going into settings, Show Advanced Settings, and lowering the audio quality down to save a bit on bandwidth, and to tweak the video quality to your liking.

And as mentioned by Konda, this is a good flash player to use, and it has the option to play at full screen.
http://www.jeroenwijering.com/?item=Flash_Video_Player

Make sure your server can handle the number of simultaneous streams you expect to have. Flash can put a performance hit on your server. I don't recommend trying to run many streams on a shared hosting plan. You'll spike the server real quick and create problems with your site loading.

Don't use the ffmpeg shit. It sucks. The On2 VP6 is absolutely terrific.

Here are some examples of the quality from the On2.

But I don't think I would use flash in the members area. Or at least not until stand alone flash players become more popular and people start downloading the swf/flvs.

good luck.

The On2 Vp6 is way better than 'the cheaper options' and quality level/file size is very different. :2 cents:

Flash has been very popular with our members, they're very happy to have it (Especially the Mac folks who couldn't use Windows Media streaming)

I cant see how members would be happy about video they cant download and keep.

I can't see how members would be happy squinting at tiny little video they can download and keep. :)

I agree. I think in general swf/flv are better for promo content and tours.

Who has tiny little video? Members like to download.You saying on home grown sites in the members area there is nothing for download?

Last time I saw your video it was 320x240...

We offer Flash Streaming, Windows Media streaming and WMV downloads. Many people prefer different formats/methods.

You trying to start a argument with me?If you got rid of downloads tomorrow, you would lose most of your member base.

Yup it is. The action is hot and people love it.
I've had absolutely no complaints about the size of the video.
I would like to up the size eventually but only after I hit a certain goal I have for the site.
We offer high and low wmv downloads and ipod downloads.

I can say that I had a couple people write me once and say that they wished they could download the movies. Once I explained to them how they COULD download them, they were very happy!

Not at all, simply an observation.

I beg to differ, but we have very different markets and user bases.

ok I can go with that.

For instant playback you need a RMTP server. You can also use a normal http server but then it will be standard progressive playing (as wmv from a http server)

We use IP-TV Exclusive Streaming Technology which can not be pirated and provides the highest quality available online today... www.WorldWideFeeds.com