It seems as there are some problems playing the second video clip in firefox and Opera.
It seems as a new plug-in is needed, to run in firefox. This can be downloaded at:
http://port25.technet.com/pages/windows-media-player-firefox-plugin-download.aspx
I`ve tried it on my computer and it looks to be working O.K.
I`m still looking at ways to get a better video up than YouTube, just need to make sure it works in all browsers.
Monday, 7 May 2007
Saturday, 5 May 2007
Playing with Video
As regular readers will know; I`ve been playing around with video on some of my walks and want to take my movie camera on the Dales Way with me.
All the video's are put together in Windows Movie Maker (WMM) which comes with all versions of Windows, for the moving photographs I use PhotoStory 3 which can be downloaded from Microsoft.
In WMM the movie video's can be saving in a multitude of ways i.e. DV-Avi for high quality video to 'video for dial up (38kbps)'; I normally save my movies at 768kbps. Once the video clips are made into a movie, they are uploaded to Youtube. When the files are uploaded; Youtube converts them to flash files (.flv) and compresses them down to about 300kbps, this is why the pictures can look badly pixelated sometimes.
Over the past couple of weeks I have been looking at ways to try and get a better video up but this can only be achieved by having the original 768kbps file playing.
One site that seems to allow this is upfordown.com with them you get 500MB Space, 5GB Bandwidth monthly, max file upload 50MB.
Using this service does mean a little bit of work on the users part as you have to work out the html code to make a player, play on your blog, unlike Youtube where you can just grab the code and embed it in the blog.
Obviously little review items like the freeloader one, can be saved at a lower kbps I saved that at 512kbps mainly because the picture didn't need to look that clear and a bit of pixelation doesn't matter that much.
Below are two video clips of the same video, saved at 768kbps on WMM. The file size is 7.5 MB
The first is the Youtube one, the second is hosted on upfordown.
When both clips are played together you can see the difference in the picture quality especially in areas like the font on the opening; the second one is much sharper and clearer, also the water and sky looks smooth and not blurred.
Clearly the video's are never going to be the same as a DV-mini camera or HD but with any luck I will be able to post a much better quality video in future.
All the video's are put together in Windows Movie Maker (WMM) which comes with all versions of Windows, for the moving photographs I use PhotoStory 3 which can be downloaded from Microsoft.
In WMM the movie video's can be saving in a multitude of ways i.e. DV-Avi for high quality video to 'video for dial up (38kbps)'; I normally save my movies at 768kbps. Once the video clips are made into a movie, they are uploaded to Youtube. When the files are uploaded; Youtube converts them to flash files (.flv) and compresses them down to about 300kbps, this is why the pictures can look badly pixelated sometimes.
Over the past couple of weeks I have been looking at ways to try and get a better video up but this can only be achieved by having the original 768kbps file playing.
One site that seems to allow this is upfordown.com with them you get 500MB Space, 5GB Bandwidth monthly, max file upload 50MB.
Using this service does mean a little bit of work on the users part as you have to work out the html code to make a player, play on your blog, unlike Youtube where you can just grab the code and embed it in the blog.
Obviously little review items like the freeloader one, can be saved at a lower kbps I saved that at 512kbps mainly because the picture didn't need to look that clear and a bit of pixelation doesn't matter that much.
Below are two video clips of the same video, saved at 768kbps on WMM. The file size is 7.5 MB
The first is the Youtube one, the second is hosted on upfordown.
When both clips are played together you can see the difference in the picture quality especially in areas like the font on the opening; the second one is much sharper and clearer, also the water and sky looks smooth and not blurred.
Clearly the video's are never going to be the same as a DV-mini camera or HD but with any luck I will be able to post a much better quality video in future.
Tuesday, 1 May 2007
Another day, another piece of equipment
May is here; so it's only 14 day until my trip on the Dales Way.
Over the weekend I got all my equipment out to check it was all O.K and most of it was although my Ortlieb mapcase seem to have gone a funny colour (more opaque than transparent).
Apart from topping up gas canisters; I haven't really bought much new gear in the past year, mainly because I`m pretty happy with the stuff I`m using.
Most of the new equipment has been more in the gadget sector; new camera, mp3 player.
Today is no exception; today I`ve bought a solar charger.
My still digital camera takes 2 AA batteries and one or two sets are normally enough for a trip, but I wanted to be able to take my Aiptek movie camera which takes a lithium-ion battery. This can only be charged either through the mains or a USB to a PC.
AktoMan tried a solar charger out on his WHW walk and this looked interesting but seems as though it could only be ordered from the USA.
After looking around the 'net; I found and choose one called a 'freeloader'
It comes with 11 different adaptors to charge anything from a Nintendo DS to a Blackberry; although it hasn't an adaptor for my cheap Motorola phone.
It weighs about 150g which is probably a bit on the heavy size but the battery can be charged before going on a trip and it with hold the charge for upto 3 months.
The manual states that the charger with charge in 2-3 hrs via a PC and 5-6 hrs via the solar panels.
The first charge needed to be done through the PC but after that, charges can be done with the solar panels.
So far; I've had a little play with it and it has charged my Aiptek, DS and Nokia phone.
It will probably be 3-4 weeks for me to put it through its paces and I'll report back then.
Over the weekend I got all my equipment out to check it was all O.K and most of it was although my Ortlieb mapcase seem to have gone a funny colour (more opaque than transparent).
Apart from topping up gas canisters; I haven't really bought much new gear in the past year, mainly because I`m pretty happy with the stuff I`m using.
Most of the new equipment has been more in the gadget sector; new camera, mp3 player.
Today is no exception; today I`ve bought a solar charger.
My still digital camera takes 2 AA batteries and one or two sets are normally enough for a trip, but I wanted to be able to take my Aiptek movie camera which takes a lithium-ion battery. This can only be charged either through the mains or a USB to a PC.
AktoMan tried a solar charger out on his WHW walk and this looked interesting but seems as though it could only be ordered from the USA.
After looking around the 'net; I found and choose one called a 'freeloader'
It comes with 11 different adaptors to charge anything from a Nintendo DS to a Blackberry; although it hasn't an adaptor for my cheap Motorola phone.
It weighs about 150g which is probably a bit on the heavy size but the battery can be charged before going on a trip and it with hold the charge for upto 3 months.
The manual states that the charger with charge in 2-3 hrs via a PC and 5-6 hrs via the solar panels.
The first charge needed to be done through the PC but after that, charges can be done with the solar panels.
So far; I've had a little play with it and it has charged my Aiptek, DS and Nokia phone.
It will probably be 3-4 weeks for me to put it through its paces and I'll report back then.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)