1. George Pratt
1
Task 3
Exporting a video to be uploaded to the internet can be a tricky affair; there are many combining
factors which change a plethora of different things. For example, there are lots of different video
codecs which are all separate from each other and all have different effects on the video.
I needed to find a correct format and codec to export my video, this meant I had to look closely at a
large number of different things to make sure it would be the best quality, have the best sound and
be easily playable by everyone who tried to watch it. I also needed to make sure it was possible to
put my video on a DVD, on the web or in a presentation. Having a multitude of different final uses
meant that I had to find a versatile and accessible file format. I also had to make sure that the file
which I was going to create was a suitable size, this was done as large files naturally take a long time
to upload and download when streaming and uploading. I did some research as to what the best
format for uploading to websites such as YouTube was. The results I found suggest that the best
container was .mp4 and the best video codec was H.264. Before starting the project I had to
research file formats, and .mp4 was one of them:
Movie or video clips that use the MPEG-4 compression, developed by MPEG, and similar to an .mpg format. The
difference is that it uses separate compression for audio and video. Video is compressed with MPEG-4 video
encoding, and the audio is compressed using ACC compression, the same type of compression used in .AAC
files. .mp4 is supported by many video programs and many hardware devices and operating systems.
I had to research what a codec was and I came across the following information: A video codec is a
device or software that enables compression or decompression of digital video. The compression is
usually lossy. Historically, video was stored as an analog signal on magnetic tape. Around the time
when the compact disc entered the market as a digital-format replacement for analog audio, it
became feasible to also begin storing and using video in digital form, and thus a variety of such
technologies began to emerge.
I then had to find out what bitrate I wanted to upload in, again I was clueless as to what different
bitrates do and how they affect the video both positively and negatively, I discovered that a bit rate
is the number of bits that are conveyed or processed per unit of time. This means the larger the
number of bits the higher the quality of the video but the slower the processing time. I wanted to
find a good middle ground so I went for something around 10,000 kbps for the video and 128kbps
for audio, I cannot find the exact numbers.
The table below explains the correct bitrates for uploading.
Type Video Bitrate
Mono Audio
Bitrate
Stereo Audio
Bitrate
5.1 Audio Bitrate
1080p 50,000 kbps 128 kbps 384 kbps 512 kbps
720p 30,000 kbps 128 kbps 384 kbps 512 kbps
480p 15,000 kbps 128 kbps 384 kbps 512 kbps
360p 5,000 kbps 128 kbps 384 kbps 512 kbps

2. George Pratt
2
Because I had used the recommended settings in Adobe Premier Elements I was unable to choose
the resolution I desired, but this wasn’t a problem as the final video had a resolution that I was
happy with, and it didn’t really need to be changed.
When streaming a video there are a number of things which affect how long they take to download,
it is important I was able to cater to all audiences, such as people who wish to watch the video in a
higher quality, and likewise people who want to watch the video in a lower quality whilst still having
a watchable video. I thought that around 420p would be a good quality to upload the video in, giving
people the option to watch in 420p, 360p or 240p. This is a good range of quality which means a
wide number of people can watch the video without worrying about download times. I thought it
would be important to have a high quality file format when streaming the video as people who are
watching it may be able to reduce the quality of the video in order to make it stream faster. I
believed his would make it the most effective as people with various bandwidths will be able to
watch the video with decent load speeds. This works in conjunction with file size, as the lower the
size = the faster the load speed online. It was important to get the lowest possible load times whist
retaining the maximum quality.
I had to make sure I was able to produce a video that was able to be played on all the major players,
such as Flash, Shockwave and Real Player. This is key to making sure the largest possible number of
people will be able to view the video. I felt that the majority of people would be using the Windows
Media Player. This is what I will aim the video at. Below I have listed some basic information for
consideration.
Flash Player is a product made by Macromedia, it is essential to run any .swf files in a web browser.
The name ‘player’ it is simply a program that plays files that are created in authoring applications.
Originally it was used to display simple 2-dimensional vector animation, but has become popular for
the playing of right internet applications, and also streaming video and audio.
Shockwave was created by Macromedia as their first and most successful multimedia player, before
flash. It was widely used to create online movies and animations; however, now it is mostly used in
game development, this is due to the faster rendering engine with hardware-accelerated 3D to
match. The only disadvantage to using this player is that it is not available for Linux, but there are
workarounds.
Real Player is a cross-platform media player; it supports and plays a number of multimedia formats,
such as MP3, MPEG-4, QuickTime and Windows Media.
Developed by Apple,QuickTime can play many formats such as digital video, media clips, animation,
text and music. This is mainly used on Mac machines and requires a different format. I felt less
people own Mac computers so this was avoided.
I felt that the format which met the majority of these players was .mp4, hence why I chose that
format; I felt that this would be accessible by most people, and was also able to be uploaded onto
YouTube.