The SmugMug Video Help Thread

[James D]

Hi, I have uploaded a couple videos with no problem and they work great.

The last one I upload is still processing... three hours later.

It's hi-def, it's huge, almost five minutes long,250+megs, but I thought it would be ready by now.

Pro user so I'm within the limits.

Is it dead or do I need to re-upload this monster?

Thanks,

Jim

[Sheaf]

Hi, I have uploaded a couple videos with no problem and they work great.

The last one I upload is still processing... three hours later.

It's hi-def, it's huge, almost five minutes long,250+megs, but I thought it would be ready by now.

Pro user so I'm within the limits.

Is it dead or do I need to re-upload this monster?

Thanks,

Jim

Link?

[Sheaf]

I have just added my first videos so I am new at this but here is my question. Is it possible to have the video playback in the space to the right of the thumbnails (preview space?) when using the SmugMug style? If I click on the play button, another window opens and I would actually prefer to contain it on the same page. I know it won't be as big, but that is okay.

Thanks for any help

For the time being, no. Well, at least not without some crazy customization or something. Sorry!

[James D]

Sheaf,

Thanks for fixing it, greatly appreciate that.

Was there anything I did wrong on my end or was this just a kink in the system?

Jim

[Sheaf]

Sheaf,

Thanks for fixing it, greatly appreciate that.

Was there anything I did wrong on my end or was this just a kink in the system?

Jim

I didn't actually do anything. It must have taken a really long time to process that video. Sorry!

[dennismullen]

Hi, I have uploaded a couple videos with no problem and they work great.

The last one I upload is still processing... three hours later.

It's hi-def, it's huge, almost five minutes long,250+megs, but I thought it would be ready by now.

Pro user so I'm within the limits.

Is it dead or do I need to re-upload this monster?

Thanks,

Jim

I'm having similar problems. It takes over three hours to upload the file, and twelve to fifteen hours later it is still processing.
I've had several files that just disappeared after all this time. Then I have to start all over again.

This is very frustrating!

[Addman8]

i finally got around to uploading some videos. Video shows up fine, but no audio. Any thoughts?

They were .3g2 files played in QT and are in this gallery:

http://mattaddington.smugmug.com/gallery/4201060#245529700

thanks much,
MA

[scwalter]

I'm having similar problems. It takes over three hours to upload the file, and twelve to fifteen hours later it is still processing.
I've had several files that just disappeared after all this time. Then I have to start all over again.

This is very frustrating!

You are not alone. I've been working with the help desk for about a week on this problem. At first, we thought it might be the codecs I was using, but I am able to upload shorter versions of my clips and they convert fine, albeit very slow. We still have not found a solution.

Check your upload log to see that status, all files should be there. Make sure that you pick "all" from the top so it shows errors as well as success. If you're logged in to your account, this wil show it.

http://www.smugmug.com/homepage/uploadlog.mg?type=all&scope=week

On average, the videos that work for me take 2-3 hours to convert and the ones that fail take about 10-14 hours before it shows as a failure. This is HD video, 3-5mins long.

http://www.smugmug.com/homepage/uploadlog.mg?type=all&scope=week

-Scott

[scwalter]

i finally got around to uploading some videos. Video shows up fine, but no audio. Any thoughts?

They were .3g2 files played in QT and are in this gallery:

http://mattaddington.smugmug.com/gallery/4201060#245529700

thanks much,
MA

Those play fine for me and I hear audio, although the volume is a bit low on them. Maybe try updating quicktime?

-Scott

[Addman8]

Those play fine for me and I hear audio, although the volume is a bit low on them. Maybe try updating quicktime?

-Scott

Thanks for checking things out and for the info. For now, I just reprocessed and reuploaded them as .m4v files. They seem to work.

thanks again.

[Baldy]

There's a lot of good feedback in this thread. The two things we've been busy doing are writing the Flash player, which has been in testing for a couple of weeks, and working on conversions from the zillion video formats to the one we standardized on. Man, we thought converting the various still image formats was hard (CMYK jpegs, etc.).

We're also working on a video format help section in English instead of codec.

It might be an interesting idea on pro accounts to allow 10-minute videos if the res does not exceed DVD-quality, 5 if it does. If/then details like this cause a lot of heartburn on our support desk because you get questions like, "I uploaded 7 minute videos before and they worked and now I got a new camera and they don't," but maybe with pro accounts that's complexity we can live with. We'll talk about it and see what the gotchas are.

SunGlo, your video (http://sunglo.smugmug.com/gallery/3841746#242258012-A-LB) was FABULOUS!! It looked so crisp and clean, with no caffeine.

[DodgeV83]

There's a lot of good feedback in this thread. The two things we've been busy doing are writing the Flash player, which has been in testing for a couple of weeks

:smile6


:tough Lets all give a moment of silence for my Dreamhost account

[SunGlo]

SunGlo, your video (http://sunglo.smugmug.com/gallery/3841746#242258012-A-LB) was FABULOUS!! It looked so crisp and clean, with no caffeine.

Thanks Baldy. There was no caffeine because I drank it all during the production phase...sorry, next time I'll leave some for the viewers.

Seriously, I appreciate your feedback.

Phil

www.sunglophoto.com (http://www.sunglophoto.com)
www.sunglo.smugmug.com (http://www.sunglo.smugmug.com)

[Baldy]

:smile6


:tough Lets all give a moment of silence for my Dreamhost accountLooking through the test emails I still see a lot of testing on previous Flash version detection, audio slider scrubbing, etc. That's been going on for a few weeks... It isn't that we're not focused on it, it's just that it's programming. :doh

[scwalter]

I'm having a lot of issues getting my videos uploaded right now and it takes approximately 10-14 hours for it to fail.

Anyone else having issues uploading large HD files?

-Scott

[Andy]

I'm having a lot of issues getting my videos uploaded right now and it takes approximately 10-14 hours for it to fail.

Anyone else having issues uploading large HD files?

-Scott
Scott, how large? < 512mb? < 300 seconds of time?

[scwalter]

Scott, how large? < 512mb? < 300 seconds of time?

Yes, I've had an email thread going with the help desk. All files are <512MB and <300sec. At first, we though it might be codec, but I was able to upload shorter versions of the clip using the same codec (all of the .mov files are h.264). Things start to go bad with larger videos, typically 3min or longer. I actually got a 5min version to upload and convert after many tries, but I've been trying another video and it fails.

Just wondering if this is specific to me or if others are seeing the problem.

-Scott

[dennismullen]

Yes, I've had an email thread going with the help desk. All files are <512MB and <300sec. At first, we though it might be codec, but I was able to upload shorter versions of the clip using the same codec (all of the .mov files are h.264). Things start to go bad with larger videos, typically 3min or longer. I actually got a 5min version to upload and convert after many tries, but I've been trying another video and it fails.

Just wondering if this is specific to me or if others are seeing the problem.

-Scott

I'm having the same issues here.

[djphotography]

how can i add Music into my SemugMug

[Sheaf]

The problems with videos taking a long, long time to process and sometimes just pooping out at the end... We think it's a bug that we have fixed internally. So hang on!

[Baldy]

Okay, we're trying to make it so that if you upload 640x480 or lower res videos, we'll take them up to ten minutes in length. That feature has made it to testing, we'll see if it makes it to the other side. We're seeing some issues with it that need fixing.

[scwalter]

The problems with videos taking a long, long time to process and sometimes just pooping out at the end... We think it's a bug that we have fixed internally. So hang on!

Thanks for the update. Will you update this thread when the fix goes live please?

-Scott

[Baldy]

Thanks for the update. Will you update this thread when the fix goes live please?

-ScottIt's live. You should be able to upload 10-minute videos now, as long as they're not HD (you can add longer than 5-minute HD videos but only the DVD resolution will appear). This is a pro-only feature.

[Pickled Photons]

Hello-

I was successfull in uploading "videos" or more correctly slideshow done using the Proshow Gold software and the slideshow works fine on Smugmug. However beginning today (and as of 6:14 PM 1/30/08), the video no longer loads and plays. What gives?

I also clicked the video in the first message of this thread, same results. The link to the slideshow is here.

Any insights appreciated.

Thanks


http://www.yasmeen.smugmug.com/gallery/4044055#246529254

[Baldy]

Hello-

I was successfull in uploading "videos" or more correctly slideshow done using the Proshow Gold software and the slideshow works fine on Smugmug. However beginning today (and as of 6:14 PM 1/30/08), the video no longer loads and plays. What gives?

I also clicked the video in the first message of this thread, same results. The link to the slideshow is here.

Any insights appreciated.

Thanks


http://www.yasmeen.smugmug.com/gallery/4044055#246529254Hmmmm, that's a good question. It plays fine for me an I'm not aware of other reports that they're not playing. Can you supply more details about your system, such as browser and version of QuickTime?

Thanks,
Baldy

[Pickled Photons]

Baldy-

To answer your question, I am using explorer version 7 and Quicktime version 7.3

Everything works fine this morning and the last couple of days but beginning this afternoon, the things went blank..

[Pickled Photons]

and, I checked using Mozilla (version 2). It works in Mozilla. So it seems it has something to do with Explorer version 7.

Baldy-

To answer your question, I am using explorer version 7 and Quicktime version 7.3

Everything works fine this morning and the last couple of days but beginning this afternoon, the things went blank..

[SunGlo]

Hmmmm, that's a good question. It plays fine for me an I'm not aware of other reports that they're not playing. Can you supply more details about your system, such as browser and version of QuickTime?

Thanks,
Baldy

Baldy,

I'm also having problems. My video's won't play at all via my custom URL. They play via my SmugMug URL but a greatly reduced size.

UPDATE: They only play via my SmugMug URL if I'm logged in and then they play at a greatly reduced display size. Also, deleting the cookies did not affect the outcome.

My video's are located in this gallery.

SmugMug ===> http://sunglo.smugmug.com/gallery/3841746

SunGlo Photo ===> http://www.sunglophoto.com/gallery/3841746

Phil

[albumflip]

I can confirm that I am also having this issue in IE7 only. It works fine in Firefox. Here is an example:

http://jclewis.net/pictures/screenshotvideos.jpg

Baldy,

I'm also having problems. My video's won't play at all via my custom URL. They play via my SmugMug URL but a greatly reduced size.

UPDATE: They only play via my SmugMug URL if I'm logged in and then they play at a greatly reduced display size. Also, deleting the cookies did not affect the outcome.

My video's are located in this gallery.

SmugMug ===> http://sunglo.smugmug.com/gallery/3841746

SunGlo Photo ===> http://www.sunglophoto.com/gallery/3841746

Phil

[Baldy]

Hmmm... Sorry to see this but thanks for the heads-up. We're working on it.

[lalartu]

I have uploaded a video, looks great works fine. Audio is a problem (in the source, too quiet). I have a newly rendered version with amplified audio.

I can't figure out how to replace the existing video with the new louder one.

Is it possible?

If so what am I missing?

Thanks
Shawn

[lalartu]

I guess this might not be a support "problem", but I got some complaints about slow downloads which caused me to look into it.

I uploaded ~10min of 640x480 video in h.264 format. The starting file size was ~23MB the end file size (after processing) is ~94MB. I have no quality issues, the re-encoded video is slightly less clean.

I just don't understand why the end result is 4x larger.

Original file: http://mediacast.sun.com/users/yakshaving/media/ZFSDeviceShuffle.mp4

Processed file: http://lalartu.smugmug.com/gallery/3988551#249305815


I uploaded the video twice, the second time with louder audio, the end sizes are nearly identical. The processing time on second was over an hour (I didn't notice it taking that long on the first), but since they are roughly the same I don't think it is related.

First video is here (but hidden): http://lalartu.smugmug.com/gallery/3988551#249228659

[troykeipper]

anybody have success uploading videos taken from a Palm treo, in file format *.3g2? I can upload the video, but it loses the audio after the smugmug conversion. any help is appreciated. They upload fine to youtube, but no audio in smugmug....
thanks,
Troy

[Pickled Photons]

Any words yet on this? The video is still not playing in IE7

Hmmm... Sorry to see this but thanks for the heads-up. We're working on it.

[Baldy]

I guess this might not be a support "problem", but I got some complaints about slow downloads which caused me to look into it.

I uploaded ~10min of 640x480 video in h.264 format. The starting file size was ~23MB the end file size (after processing) is ~94MB. I have no quality issues, the re-encoded video is slightly less clean.

I just don't understand why the end result is 4x larger.

Original file: http://mediacast.sun.com/users/yakshaving/media/ZFSDeviceShuffle.mp4

Processed file: http://lalartu.smugmug.com/gallery/3988551#249305815


I uploaded the video twice, the second time with louder audio, the end sizes are nearly identical. The processing time on second was over an hour (I didn't notice it taking that long on the first), but since they are roughly the same I don't think it is related.

First video is here (but hidden): http://lalartu.smugmug.com/gallery/3988551#249228659Hey Shawn,

The answer to the mystery is we just pick a fixed bit rate to encode and you picked one lower than we did. On this video, you get away with it nicely but we had to test across a lot of fine art/color/camera motion/things moving in the video scenarios and we felt we had to go higher.

Someday we'll be smart enough to sense the most appropriate bit rate, but we aren't now.

[huey51]

The slideshows that were previously playing on my site have stopped working. All I'm getting is the Quicktime logo, or the QT with question mark. I put a lot of time in and paid for customizing and my website is turning into a disaster.

[Les]

The slideshows that were previously playing on my site have stopped working. All I'm getting is the Quicktime logo, or the QT with question mark. I put a lot of time in and paid for customizing and my website is turning into a disaster.

I am experiencing the same thing with my shows. Funny thing with me is that they play if I'm logged in but don't play if I'm not logged in. Hopefully they will provide us with some type update as to what's going on.

Les

[SunGlo]

Baldy,

I'm also having problems. My video's won't play at all via my custom URL. They play via my SmugMug URL but a greatly reduced size.

UPDATE: They only play via my SmugMug URL if I'm logged in and then they play at a greatly reduced display size. Also, deleting the cookies did not affect the outcome.

My video's are located in this gallery.

SmugMug ===> http://sunglo.smugmug.com/gallery/3841746

SunGlo Photo ===> http://www.sunglophoto.com/gallery/3841746

Phil


Are you any closer to fixing this problem?

[Baldy]

Are you any closer to fixing this problem?Yes, we're terribly sorry for the delay. It's being held up by some high-priority security fixes we're making that are in the final stages of testing.

[Baldy]

I guess this might not be a support "problem", but I got some complaints about slow downloads which caused me to look into it.

I uploaded ~10min of 640x480 video in h.264 format. The starting file size was ~23MB the end file size (after processing) is ~94MB. I have no quality issues, the re-encoded video is slightly less clean.

I just don't understand why the end result is 4x larger.

Original file: http://mediacast.sun.com/users/yakshaving/media/ZFSDeviceShuffle.mp4

Processed file: http://lalartu.smugmug.com/gallery/3988551#249305815


I uploaded the video twice, the second time with louder audio, the end sizes are nearly identical. The processing time on second was over an hour (I didn't notice it taking that long on the first), but since they are roughly the same I don't think it is related.

First video is here (but hidden): http://lalartu.smugmug.com/gallery/3988551#249228659Actually, we talked about this at lunch today and decided our answer was dumb. We mean to check bit rate before re-encoding and if your bit rate is lower than ours, we use yours. This must be a bug we need to look into, but right now the security fixes are consuming all resources.

[SunGlo]

Yes, we're terribly sorry for the delay. It's being held up by some high-priority security fixes we're making that are in the final stages of testing.

Thanks Baldy. Sorry, I'll try to be more patient. I have a video slideshow I wanted to upload this weekend, but it can wait until everything is back to normal.

[darryl]

YES!

http://blogs.smugmug.com/release-notes/2008/01/31/smugmungous-video-goes-to-eleven/

SmugMungous Video “goes to eleven”

* Well, not really. But we do go to TEN now! The time cap for Pro account videos has been raised from 5 minutes to 10 minutes in DVD (640) quality. The 5 minute cap on HD remains in place, but you can upload HD up to ten minutes in length and we’ll convert it to DVD (640) for you, no sweat!


Woohoo! Now you can steal even more Phanfare members. Well, assuming they're willing to pay 2X as much for a Pro account. :-{

Oh well, 50% off the first year! And then they can downgrade to Power and try to keep their videos under 2.5 min. C'mon -- 2.5 minutes!? Couldn't Power users get a bump to 5min for non-HD? :-P

[scwalter]

YES!
Woohoo! Now you can steal even more Phanfare members. Well, assuming they're willing to pay 2X as much for a Pro account. :-{

Oh well, 50% off the first year! And then they can downgrade to Power and try to keep their videos under 5 min. :-P

That's good news, but as a pro, paying more than twice the price of a power user, I think pros should be allowed 10-min HD clips.

-Scott

[Baldy]

Thanks Baldy. Sorry, I'll try to be more patient. I have a video slideshow I wanted to upload this weekend, but it can wait until everything is back to normal.Fixed?

[SunGlo]

Fixed?

YES!! Thank you, Thank you. I checked sunglo.smugmug.com-logged in, sunglo.smugmug.com-logged out, and sunglophoto.com. All worked just fine and dandy.

I'll be uploading a video slideshow on eagles either tonight or tomorrow.

If you're interested stop by and take a look ===> http://www.sunglophoto.com/gallery/3841746

Phil

[Elemental]

Hi. I love that we can now upload full size videos! I also love that Photoshop Elements 6 includes a simple button to upload photos to Smugmug! Elements also organizes videos, but won't upload them to Smugmug.

Is there any similarly simple way to upload videos to Smugmug from within Photoshop Elements? Would buying Premier Elements allow this?

Thanks,

-Steve

If relevant, I am using Vista.

[ss42]

The new SmugMug video is great. I have one question:

Is it worth the effort to transcode the 640x480 MJPEG wrapped in AVI that comes from my Canon Powershot (which can be 50+ MB for <150 sec) before uploading?

Transcoding could reduce the upload time; but might muck with the quality.
No transcoding looks great - but the uploads take longer.In specific, is there a "SmugMug sanctioned" encoder that would run on a PC; and perhaps ease or reduce what SmugMug needs to do on their side?

Ideally, it would be integrated into Omar's "Send to SmugMug" so video upload could be both easy and FAST.

Thoughts?

[Andy]

The new SmugMug video is great. I have one question:

Is it worth the effort to transcode the 640x480 MJPEG wrapped in AVI that comes from my Canon Powershot (which can be 50+ MB for <150 sec) before uploading?

Transcoding could reduce the upload time; but might muck with the quality.
No transcoding looks great - but the uploads take longer.In specific, is there a "SmugMug sanctioned" encoder that would run on a PC; and perhaps ease or reduce what SmugMug needs to do on their side?

Ideally, it would be integrated into Omar's "Send to SmugMug" so video upload could be both easy and FAST.

Thoughts?Moved your post to the dedicated video help thread.

[darinb]

Hello Andy,

I've been following your efforts to offer video services ever since I joined Smugmug and am very pleased with what I see so far.

I run a video-oriented web page (original videos) and would make great use of this service. The idea that viewers can log on to a single URL and have a video display customized for their connection speed, etc is highly appealing (Currently I have to make three versions.)

I have a few thoughts for improvments, etc.

1) Please consider some way to offer 10 minutes at high-def, even if it involves an additional fee. This is very important to me as most of my videos are right around five minutes--I have enough constraints..I don't need another one!

2) The ability to have a single link play on old and new machines, windows and Mac has major appeal to me.

I've tested this video: http://www.montarafog.smugmug.com/gallery/4279749#250760248-A-LB (Tsunami Ranger video--original is 9 minutes long; this one cut in half to fit SmugMug criteria.)

I used a new 24" iMac, 17" Powerbook (just before the Intel chip), a 12" iBook (just before the Intel chip), and an old iMac (original 15" with silver neck).

On all of them them the file loaded quickly enough. However, on the 17" in Windows/Explorer and on the iBook and older iMac I encountered extensive stopping/stuttering problems.

My experience with H.264 (I've been using it as my main codec for about two years) is that it makes for a high-quality, small file but it is easy to forget that it also requires an unusually large amount of CPU horsepower to decode. The screen size auto-slected for the older computers is correct to allow the signal to arrive without causing problems it seems to be incorrect in that it is just too much for the older machines to decode quickly enough.

3) I have not tested it with the new Flash yet but my understanding is that if the machine does not have the new Flash installed then it will request that the user do so.

Is there a more elegant solution? From my view, asking the user to install new software might not be possible (company computer) or they just might not want to or know how.

Is it possible to offer a branching choice at that point--"Watch the video in small size with the old Flash or see it bigger and better with the new Flash, if you want to install it"?

The idea is that everyone gets to see the video but there is incentive to upgrade when time allows.

In other words, I have a lot of viewers on Windows, many at work. It would be awfully risky for me to push them into the new Flash if that was the only choice. It would be easier for them just to not watch my videos!

That's probably enough feedback for now! Love your service...

--Darin

www.montarafog.com

[Rando]

Does the 512 MB size limit still apply for pro users? I can't seem to upload a 7:43 min mpeg1 video (578 MB).

YES!

http://blogs.smugmug.com/release-notes/2008/01/31/smugmungous-video-goes-to-eleven/



Woohoo! Now you can steal even more Phanfare members. Well, assuming they're willing to pay 2X as much for a Pro account. :-{

Oh well, 50% off the first year! And then they can downgrade to Power and try to keep their videos under 2.5 min. C'mon -- 2.5 minutes!? Couldn't Power users get a bump to 5min for non-HD? :-P

[DJKennedy]

All you wusses using a VIDEO camera!?!?!?! :rofl

Ok ok ok...first off, as mentioned before from others - a awesome thankyou for bringing this feature to us.

I DO have a video camera but I started messing with timelapse videos taken with a still camera (Canon 40D with a Canon TC-80N3 Intervaluemeter thingy (big word there).

Only had the chance to make one 'video' so far but I really like the results.

Sure a lot of work though!

Link (http://www.djkennedy.com/gallery/4285232)

Derek

I'll have to dust off the video camera - once I find it.

[Rando]

Does the 512 MB size limit still apply for pro users? I can't seem to upload a 7:43 min mpeg1 video (578 MB).

Scratch that, I found the answer (512 MB is still the limit it seems).

[rainforest1155]

Is there any similarly simple way to upload videos to Smugmug from within Photoshop Elements? Would buying Premier Elements allow this?
If the built-in Photoshop Elements uploader in version 5 and 6 doesn't work on video, you would have to contact Adobe about it since they were in charge of developing the uploading functionality using our API.

Sebastian

[rainforest1155]

Is it worth the effort to transcode the 640x480 MJPEG wrapped in AVI that comes from my Canon Powershot (which can be 50+ MB for <150 sec) before uploading?
Yes, transcoding these bloated video files is usally worth it, since the h.264 encoder does a pretty good job at preserving quality while keeping the file size down.

For specifications on what settings we recommend for encoding your videos and what we'll be using in the end on the site, have a look here:
http://wiki.smugmug.com/display/SmugMug/Video+Formats

You could give it a try in the Windows Movie Maker if you don't have Quick Time Pro or any other video editing software on your computer. Here's a link to a h.264 codec that you'll need:
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/x264_Video_Codec.htm

I hope this helps,
Sebastian

[albumflip]

You could give it a try in the Windows Movie Maker if you don't have Quick Time Pro or any other video editing software on your computer. Here's a link to a h.264 codec that you'll need:
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/x264_Video_Codec.htm

I hope this helps,
Sebastian

What file format do you publish the movie as when using Windows Movie Maker? After installing the codec I don't have an option to publish as h.264. I'm confused as to how that codec will allow me to publish a h.264 movie with Windows Movie Maker.

Thanks,
Jeff

[rainforest1155]

What file format do you publish the movie as when using Windows Movie Maker? After installing the codec I don't have an option to publish as h.264. I'm confused as to how that codec will allow me to publish a h.264 movie with Windows Movie Maker.
Jeff,

I'm sorry for the confusion. Actually, after trying it myself, I noticed that Windows Movie Maker doesn't allow you creating anything else than WMV files that don't allow using h.264.
As a free alternative for any of the pay software that might do this, give VirtualDub a try:
http://www.doom9.org/software.htm
It's in the AVI editing section and should support the codec you just installed.

Sebastian

[Baldy]

Only had the chance to make one 'video' so far but I really like the results.

Sure a lot of work though!

Link (http://www.djkennedy.com/gallery/4285232)Wow!!! That was really cool! :bow :bow :bow

I can see where that would be a lot of work. :whew

[Baldy]

Hello Andy,

I've been following your efforts to offer video services ever since I joined Smugmug and am very pleased with what I see so far.

I run a video-oriented web page (original videos) and would make great use of this service. The idea that viewers can log on to a single URL and have a video display customized for their connection speed, etc is highly appealing (Currently I have to make three versions.)

I have a few thoughts for improvments, etc.

1) Please consider some way to offer 10 minutes at high-def, even if it involves an additional fee. This is very important to me as most of my videos are right around five minutes--I have enough constraints..I don't need another one!

2) The ability to have a single link play on old and new machines, windows and Mac has major appeal to me.

I've tested this video: http://www.montarafog.smugmug.com/gallery/4279749#250760248-A-LB (Tsunami Ranger video--original is 9 minutes long; this one cut in half to fit SmugMug criteria.)

I used a new 24" iMac, 17" Powerbook (just before the Intel chip), a 12" iBook (just before the Intel chip), and an old iMac (original 15" with silver neck).

On all of them them the file loaded quickly enough. However, on the 17" in Windows/Explorer and on the iBook and older iMac I encountered extensive stopping/stuttering problems.

My experience with H.264 (I've been using it as my main codec for about two years) is that it makes for a high-quality, small file but it is easy to forget that it also requires an unusually large amount of CPU horsepower to decode. The screen size auto-slected for the older computers is correct to allow the signal to arrive without causing problems it seems to be incorrect in that it is just too much for the older machines to decode quickly enough.

3) I have not tested it with the new Flash yet but my understanding is that if the machine does not have the new Flash installed then it will request that the user do so.

Is there a more elegant solution? From my view, asking the user to install new software might not be possible (company computer) or they just might not want to or know how.

Is it possible to offer a branching choice at that point--"Watch the video in small size with the old Flash or see it bigger and better with the new Flash, if you want to install it"?

The idea is that everyone gets to see the video but there is incentive to upgrade when time allows.

In other words, I have a lot of viewers on Windows, many at work. It would be awfully risky for me to push them into the new Flash if that was the only choice. It would be easier for them just to not watch my videos!

That's probably enough feedback for now! Love your service...

--Darin

www.montarafog.comHey Darin,

I didn't want you to think your post fell on deaf ears. You obviously have a great deal of practical experience with video and very good instincts.

All of our current efforts at the moment are to get the Flash player shipped and to debug conversions, which are turning out to be a major time drain. Your other ideas are interesting and we're glad to hear them but I'm afraid the honest answer is our hands are full at the moment.

I wish we had more data on who can view hi-def smoothly. Any ideas where the line is drawn wrt vintage of machines? My Mac G4 laptop can play 960 fine but 1280 starts missing frames. My Intel Mac laptop is smooth as butter for everything.

The rest of the test machines we have at SmugMug don't seem to drop frames at any resolution.

[DJKennedy]

Wow!!! That was really cool! :bow :bow :bow

I can see where that would be a lot of work. :whew

:D Thanks Baldy!

It was a lot of fun to work on though. It's not quite what I was looking for but it still worked great. First of many I hope.

Derek

[BradfordBenn]

Howdy-

I got my first video posted at http://bradfordbenn.smugmug.com/gallery/4315732_Epj9M It seems like Derek and I had very similiar ideas.

So I have a question, is there a crib sheet of suggested settings for iMovieHD for how to "output" the file to work best here?

[DJKennedy]

Howdy-

I got my first video posted at http://bradfordbenn.smugmug.com/gallery/4315732_Epj9M It seems like Derek and I had very similiar ideas.

So I have a question, is there a crib sheet of suggested settings for iMovieHD for how to "output" the file to work best here?

That was pretty cool with the clouds. If you are curious - the settings I used when I did mine was this: (using a windows based program due to not having a Mac) I would have each photo (or slide) on the screen for .1 seconds, and a transition of .075 seconds. This will make your video go faster - maybe also smoother. Try that.

I wanted to do something like yours as well, but do for a loooong time, like sun up to sun down :P (maybe best done in the winter lol (shorter days))

Derek

[DJKennedy]

So I have a question, is there a crib sheet of suggested settings for iMovieHD for how to "output" the file to work best here?

I may have mis-understood what you where asking :rofl

[David Evertsen]

I have two videos that I uploaded to my site. www.phabulousphotos.com. I have no problems viewing them as well as any number of my friends. I have two people that I know that just get the beginning meaning a still and the play icon is never shown. Can someone direct me to what needs to be on those PC's to play them. One machine for sure has quicktime and can watch movie trailers and such. As well as having flash and shockwave. She can also watch youtube videos on the windows XP PC about 2 years old. Just looking for a starting point to get them going so any help would be greatly appreciated.

[rainforest1155]

Can someone direct me to what needs to be on those PC's to play them. One machine for sure has quicktime and can watch movie trailers and such. As well as having flash and shockwave. She can also watch youtube videos on the windows XP PC about 2 years old. Just looking for a starting point to get them going so any help would be greatly appreciated.
It sounds like she might not have the most recent Quicktime version. Older versions of Quicktime didn't support this codec that we're using for videos. Could you ask her to go to www.apple.com/quicktime/download to get the latest version of Quicktime?

That should enable her to see the video.

Sebastian

[David Evertsen]

It sounds like she might not have the most recent Quicktime version. Older versions of Quicktime didn't support this codec that we're using for videos. Could you ask her to go to www.apple.com/quicktime/download (http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download) to get the latest version of Quicktime?

That should enable her to see the video.

Sebastian

I just downloaded the latest Quicktime for her machine before I posted to make sure..

[Nata Harli]

I didn't read every post in this thread so if my questions been answered, I apologize.

I got my .mov files uploaded to my Smugmug account just fine after upgrading (Thanks, Tristan).

But whenever I click on the play button it tells me I need to install the Quicktime plugin. When I click on this, it takes me to the Apple site and I install Quicktime. The instructions say it will auto-detect my browser and install the necessary plugin. It's not happening.

I've uninstalled QT and reinstalled it a couple of times and still get the same result.

Can someone help me? What am I missing?

Thanks.

[black_fx_35]

Can anyone let me know why there is no "play" key on this video?

http://randya.smugmug.com/gallery/4230669

its the picture at the bottom of the page...if you click on it, it opens up in Quick Time, but there is no visible indication that it is a video. Thanks.

[Rando]

Howdy-

I got my first video posted at http://bradfordbenn.smugmug.com/gallery/4315732_Epj9M It seems like Derek and I had very similiar ideas.

So I have a question, is there a crib sheet of suggested settings for iMovieHD for how to "output" the file to work best here?

Try this:
http://www.dgrin.com/showpost.php?p=705907&postcount=149

[probinson]

Really the video support in SmugMug is amazing now!!! Thank you so much for adding this feature.

You had me at H.264....

[BradfordBenn]

I may have mis-understood what you where asking :rofl

No worries. I went back and tried your settings on a plane flight, cool solution. It was too sudden for me though, I think it would work better one something like the plane shots as it has action that is more overt.

I was thinking of a crib sheet that says

Output from iMovie at x by y resolution and this frame rate and ... but for now trial and error is doing pretty well for me and my one video.

[dangin]

i've tried getting a video of mine to work on my sm site with no avail. it's been uploaded a couple of times and it seems that once the file is processed, the audio sounds like a bunch of chicken squawk.

uploaded video:
http://dangin.smugmug.com/gallery/4338291_kW7d4

original video file:
http://www.danielgin.com/media/daniel_gin_weddings.mov

help?

[docwalker]

Dan,

I am downloading your video now to take a look at the settings. Most likely this is using a codec we cannot handle. You may have to convert it to another codec and reupload. I need to run out for a bit. When I get back I will let you know what I find out.

--Doc

[docwalker]

Dan, quick updte. The download went pretty quick. I was able to get a look but I do not see anything out of the ordinary right away. Can you tell me how the video was made? What editor did you use?

[dangin]

Dan, quick updte. The download went pretty quick. I was able to get a look but I do not see anything out of the ordinary right away. Can you tell me how the video was made? What editor did you use?

sure, i created the original video using microsoft photo story 3 (creates a wmv file), then imported it into adobe premiere elements 4, added the footer, and recompiled it as a quicktime file. i can check to see what the exact settings were if you need.

[Norsman]

http://www.smugmug.com/img/help/video-mike.jpg (http://cmac.smugmug.com/gallery/3799272#219256548-A-LB)
Nov 9, 2007: SmugMug is out with the awesome H.264 video format (http://www.apple.com/quicktime/technologies/h264/) that works on both the web and consumer devices (like the iPhone (http://www.apple.com/webapps/entertainment/smugmug.html)).

SmugMug's video help section (http://www.smugmug.com/help/video) should answer most questions. This thread is is for the gnarly ones. http://www.advrider.com/forums/images/smilies/jjen.gif

How do you embed the video like this.. sort of like the youtube links?

[peestandingup]

I wish we had more data on who can view hi-def smoothly. Any ideas where the line is drawn wrt vintage of machines? My Mac G4 laptop can play 960 fine but 1280 starts missing frames. My Intel Mac laptop is smooth as butter for everything.It depends on lots of things. But one things for sure. Doing raw H.264 video streaming is pretty rough because it's sooo demanding on CPUs & usually ends up being clunky unless you're on a fairly speedy machine thats pretty modern. I think the pop-up style video player adds to the clunkiness as well.

I've actually been looking for a high quality video host & came snooping back around at Smugmug again. Not bad at all. The best sites I've seen however have encoded everything in flash with the ability to download the original uploaded file. Its much less of a CPU strain & plays smoother without having to stop to buffer like most high quality SM vids I've seen. Thats why so many sites use flash, its less of a hog. That & because people usually already have flash installed so there is no extra codecs/programs to download.

These (http://www.vimeo.com/hd) guys are probably the best I've seen for HD video presentation overall. If you upload an HD video, they have an HD version & a version where the HD is off (for older computers). I think its still the same resolution, just lower quality & not so demanding.

Dailymotion (http://www.dailymotion.com/sabotage/video/x4ffvl_coke-its-mine-hd_ads) isn't bad either in the HD department. I'd look at what both these guys are doing for guidance.

[Dannyphoto]

First of all, I'd like to thank smugmug for the great video service. :clap <?xml:namespace prefix = v ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" /><v:shapetype id=_x0000_t75 stroked="f" filled="f" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" coordsize="21600,21600"><v:stroke joinstyle="miter"></v:stroke><v:formulas><v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"></v:f></v:formulas><v:path o:connecttype="rect" gradientshapeok="t" o:extrusionok="f"></v:path><?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:lock aspectratio="t" v:ext="edit"></o:lock></v:shapetype><o:p></o:p>
It will be a big help for my business.
<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
I, however have a problem with H.264 format.<o:p></o:p>
When I convert my digitally created movie to QT using H.264, it brings gamma up a little bit.
<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
I have searched and found out how to keep the original brightness of the movie file but after I uploaded the movie it turns back to the brighter version.<v:shape id=_x0000_i1027 style="WIDTH: 11.25pt; HEIGHT: 11.25pt" alt="0" type="#_x0000_t75"> <v:imagedata o:href="http://www.dgrin.com/images/smilies/bncry.gif" src="file:///C:/DOCUME~1/DANIEL~1/LOCALS~1/Temp/msoclip1/01/clip_image003.gif"></v:imagedata></v:shape>:bash

<o:p></o:p>
So when you convert all the video files to H.264 after they were uploaded, could you be able to keep the original gamma?
<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
Here is how you can do it using QuickTime Pro.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
After you create the QuickTime/h.264 file, open it up in QuickTime Pro
Select "Show Movie Properties." Highlight the video track then click on the "Visual Settings" tab.
Towards the bottom left you should see "Transparency" with a drop-down box next to it. Select "Blend" from the menu then move the "Transparency Level" slider to 100%.
Right after that, choose "Straight Alpha" from the same drop-down and close the properties window.
AND finally, "Save."

Please let us know if it's possible to apply this solution to your converting script.

Thanks<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>

[peestandingup]

First of all, I'd like to thank smugmug for the great video service. :clap <v:shapetype id="_x0000_t75" stroked="f" filled="f" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" coordsize="21600,21600"><v:stroke joinstyle="miter"></v:stroke><v:formulas><v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"></v:f></v:formulas><v:path o:connecttype="rect" gradientshapeok="t" o:extrusionok="f"></v:path><o:lock aspectratio="t" v:ext="edit"></o:lock></v:shapetype><o:p></o:p>
It will be a big help for my business.
<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
I, however have a problem with H.264 format.<o:p></o:p>
When I convert my digitally created movie to QT using H.264, it brings gamma up a little bit.
<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
I have searched and found out how to keep the original brightness of the movie file but after I uploaded the movie it turns back to the brighter version.<v:shape id="_x0000_i1027" style="width: 11.25pt; height: 11.25pt;" alt="0" type="#_x0000_t75"> <v:imagedata o:href="http://www.dgrin.com/images/smilies/bncry.gif" src="file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/DANIEL%7E1/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/msoclip1/01/clip_image003.gif"></v:imagedata></v:shape>:bash

<o:p></o:p>
So when you convert all the video files to H.264 after they were uploaded, could you be able to keep the original gamma?
<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
Here is how you can do it using QuickTime Pro.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
After you create the QuickTime/h.264 file, open it up in QuickTime Pro
Select "Show Movie Properties." Highlight the video track then click on the "Visual Settings" tab.
Towards the bottom left you should see "Transparency" with a drop-down box next to it. Select "Blend" from the menu then move the "Transparency Level" slider to 100%.
Right after that, choose "Straight Alpha" from the same drop-down and close the properties window.
AND finally, "Save."

Please let us know if it's possible to apply this solution to your converting script.

Thanks<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
Quicktime Pro is funny about saving that stuff sometimes. Do you open the file afterwards with other programs to make sure its truly saved your settings?? Because when you open those visual/audio tabs, you HAVE to save it while the tab window is still open.

After tweaking audio/visual settings in the tabs while the tab bar is still open, hit the Apple/Command key + S key (don't save it from the "File" drop down menu). See if that does it (it should). If it doesnt, do the same thing but export the video as well to a fresh H.264 file afterwards. The exported video should retain all your tweaks. If THAT doesnt work, its a Smugmug issue.

[Dannyphoto]

Quicktime Pro is funny about saving that stuff sometimes. ....
Do you open the file afterwards with other programs to make sure its truly saved your settings??


After I had saved the setting from the QT pro by meaning that it's turned back to the original gamma, closed it and opend it again using the other program. And it looks like it was supposed to look like.

After I uploaded the file to my site, it turns back to the brighter version.

I think it happens because smugmug converts the file to H.264 again even though the origianl file had the same format. I hope it can be fixed by smugmug.

[peestandingup]

I think it happens because smugmug converts the file to H.264 again even though the origianl file had the same format. I hope it can be fixed by smugmug.Its weird that they convert it again, even if the file is the appropriate format, frame rate, screen res, etc. So its doubly converted??

[BradfordBenn]

Is an image like this
http://www.smugmug.com/img/help/video-mike.jpg
created automatically so that one can embed that link into forum posts or is it done by the user making their own?

Thanks

[dangin]

Dan, quick updte. The download went pretty quick. I was able to get a look but I do not see anything out of the ordinary right away. Can you tell me how the video was made? What editor did you use?

looks like i've found the culprit and a workaround...

[possible] culprit: audio encoding using AAC. works fine out of the box; but might not play well w/ sm conversion.

workaround: encode using linear PCM audio codec. seems to play nice w/ sm conversion. :thumb

http://dangin.smugmug.com/photos/258955161_vgAjY-X3.jpg (http://dangin.smugmug.com/gallery/4338291_kW7d4#257703969_5eSXx-A-LB)

[LDS]

So I posted my first video on www.wunlang.smugmug.com (http://www.wunlang.smugmug.com), under our teacher gallery. And then I clicked on play. Up came QuickTime. QuickTime had to load again, then played the video. To get out of QT, I had to use my back browser.

My colleague doesn't have QT on his computer, and so couldn't play the video at all.

I would like other video players to be able to play our videos. Is there a way to set this up? Or is this part of a world-wide conspiracy to have QT on every computer?

Lisa Deeley Smith
director
Village Help for South Sudan
www.helpwunlang.org (http://www.helpwunlang.org)

[peestandingup]

I would like other video players to be able to play our videos. Is there a way to set this up? Or is this part of a world-wide conspiracy to have QT on every computer?I dont know, but I thought I'd be all about letting QT do all the work, but now seeing how its actually implemented, I see why other sites dont do it.

You're basically giving QT total control over the content because you're serving up a raw H.264 file, so you cant build anything into the player yourselves. QT is great on the desktop, but not for streaming online IMO.

For instance, if you click to play a raw QT video thats 1280 x 720, then its REALLY gonna play back at 1280 x 720, instead of scaling down to fit within the browser window like flash would. So, that means you usually dont get the whole video into the frame & have to scroll around to see everything if your screens not big enough. Add to that that SM doesnt detect my screen size & always dishes up the HD version by default, as well as the Lightbox feature (which I've never personally been a fan of its behavior or looks) & you get a clunky, unsatisfying experience I'm sorry to say.

Its great to have HD, but if its implemented bad, it ruins the whole experience.

[hyachts]

<s>So I have two short videos in a photo gallery here:
http://monkeytales.smugmug.com/gallery/4403839_MRau8#259240028

The reason I'm posting in this thread is that I can arrange all the photo thumbs fine (except for swapping the first two JPEGs, but thats an issue for another thread), but I haven't been able to get an "arrange" (moving) the video thumbnails to stick. The tool seems to take the input but when I get back to the gallery the two video thumbs are back to positions one and two... thoughts?</s>

EDIT: Never mind - I had the sorting set incorrectly. Duh.:scratch :scratch

[Andy]

So I have two short videos in a photo gallery here:
http://monkeytales.smugmug.com/gallery/4403839_MRau8#259240028

The reason I'm posting in this thread is that I can arrange all the photo thumbs fine (except for swapping the first two JPEGs, but thats an issue for another thread), but I haven't been able to get an "arrange" (moving) the video thumbnails to stick. The tool seems to take the input but when I get back to the gallery the two video thumbs are back to positions one and two... thoughts?
Hi, you have that gallery sorted by Date Taken, you must change to "by position" -- Gallery Tools>Customize Gallery :thumb

[hyachts]

Hi, you have that gallery sorted by Date Taken, you must change to "by position" -- Gallery Tools>Customize Gallery :thumb

Wow that was fast - I was hoping I could cover my own dumb tracks.

[hyachts]

Even with the date sorting I knew the first two pics were out of order but it turns out that the date on one of my cameras was off... *sigh*

/off topic

[lollipopkids]

Is an image like this
http://www.smugmug.com/img/help/video-mike.jpg
created automatically so that one can embed that link into forum posts or is it done by the user making their own?

Thanks

I'm interested in the same info. I would love to be able to embed, but if not, having the thumbnail like this generated for easy linking would be great.:thumb

[BradfordBenn]

I'm interested in the same info. I would love to be able to embed, but if not, having the thumbnail like this generated for easy linking would be great.:thumb

I got the answer over in the Screening Room (http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?p=765040) that it is not automated but it has the link to the image to make one's own.

[peestandingup]

Can Power Users upload "Mid-Def" or 960x540 videos??

[webbnathan]

I need help I think! I'm using a Sony HandyCam DVD camera for my video. When I upload my videos they end up being really small video's? How can I make them bigger like some of the other video's posted on SmugMug? I do convert my video's using ImTOO DVD Ripper Platinum 4 to a MPEG-1 format. I can't seem to find another way to get the video converted off the mini DVD. I even bought the QuickTime Pro to get it in the new h.264 format but that doesn't seem to work?

Any ideas what I'm doing wrong?

[sroberts1519]

Ok, so I am new to this video thing - I got a few videos edited and ready to be put on my SM site. After some experimenting, I have a few questions on whatis the best method to accomplish getting videos on SM.

1. What is the best wrapper to use when encoding video to upload to SM? (I see that the sample video is a .mp4 - is this the best wrapper to use?)

2. I am editing with Vegas Movie Studio Platinum v8 which does not support h.264.

a. I want to minimize the number of lossy renderings on my videos.

b. I tried rendering as a .wmv with compression, and downloaded to SM. The qualtiy was alright, but of course since the .wmv file is larger, download is longer. Also, when I "saved" or downloaded the video off of my SM site, it downloaded as a .wmv file, which would not play on my computer (error stating wrong file type for .wmv). When I renamed the file to a .mp4, the downloaded video played. I think that this is a bug on SM that needs to be fixed.

c. I can render from Vegas as lossless (using huffyuv), then convert to h.264 (.mp4?) using SIMPLE. Then download the h.264 video to SM. But my initial tests indicate that this method actually takes longer than to render as .wmv and download that bigger file to SM. And no, my rendering times are not slow because of my computer speed - 2.4 quad core with 3G ram.

d. Right now all my test have been with DV (DVD, i.e. 720x480) video. But, I will soon venture into HDV with my new HV-20 camera, and new faster computer.

Thanks in advance,
Shawn

[Baldy]

I've actually been looking for a high quality video host & came snooping back around at Smugmug again. Not bad at all. The best sites I've seen however have encoded everything in flash with the ability to download the original uploaded file. Its much less of a CPU strain & plays smoother without having to stop to buffer like most high quality SM vids I've seen. Thats why so many sites use flash, its less of a hog. That & because people usually already have flash installed so there is no extra codecs/programs to download.Hey peestandingup,

I've been making some help videos can have encoded them for Flash 8 using Sorenson Squeeze using VP6 and comparing to h.264. It's true that more people have Flash 8 installed than 9 with Moviemaker, which is what's required for a h.264 player. And true that more people have Flash 8 than iTunes/QuickTime. But I can't tell any difference in how they play/CPU hogging at the same bit rate. Our issue is we encode at higher bit rates because we have high-end customers.

There seems to be a huge movement under foot to go h.264 to be iTunes and consumer device compatible. The universities are doing it with their talks. YouTube is laying the groundwork. We have a lot of customers who love the podcast ability of our h.264 format.

[Baldy]

I guess this might not be a support "problem", but I got some complaints about slow downloads which caused me to look into it.

I uploaded ~10min of 640x480 video in h.264 format. The starting file size was ~23MB the end file size (after processing) is ~94MB. I have no quality issues, the re-encoded video is slightly less clean.

I just don't understand why the end result is 4x larger.

Original file: http://mediacast.sun.com/users/yakshaving/media/ZFSDeviceShuffle.mp4

Processed file: http://lalartu.smugmug.com/gallery/3988551#249305815


I uploaded the video twice, the second time with louder audio, the end sizes are nearly identical. The processing time on second was over an hour (I didn't notice it taking that long on the first), but since they are roughly the same I don't think it is related.

First video is here (but hidden): http://lalartu.smugmug.com/gallery/3988551#249228659Okay, we found this bug. It only affected 640x videos. The bug fix should go live something like midnight on Thursday.

[peestandingup]

Hey peestandingup,

I've been making some help videos can have encoded them for Flash 8 using Sorenson Squeeze using VP6 and comparing to h.264. It's true that more people have Flash 8 installed than 9 with Moviemaker, which is what's required for a h.264 player. And true that more people have Flash 8 than iTunes/QuickTime. But I can't tell any difference in how they play/CPU hogging at the same bit rate. Our issue is we encode at higher bit rates because we have high-end customers.

There seems to be a huge movement under foot to go h.264 to be iTunes and consumer device compatible. The universities are doing it with their talks. YouTube is laying the groundwork. We have a lot of customers who love the podcast ability of our h.264 format.Thanks. I really dont have a problem with H.264 per sa, I actually prefer it over anything else, I just hate the way Quicktime handles streaming it online. QT's a fine desktop player, but not so much within a browser. And like I said, you're letting QT handle it 100% so you cant build a better player with your own features embedded like you could with flash.

Do you know what will happen once Flash fully supports H.264 (doesn't it already?)?? Will the Flash player be taking over the playing abilities for the Smugmug videos?? I sure hope so.

Also, no one ever answered my question whether Power Users can upload "Mid-Def" or 960x540 videos. :ear

[sroberts1519]

Ok, so I am new to this video thing - I got a few videos edited and ready to be put on my SM site. After some experimenting, I have a few questions on whatis the best method to accomplish getting videos on SM.

1. What is the best wrapper to use when encoding video to upload to SM? (I see that the sample video is a .mp4 - is this the best wrapper to use?)

2. I am editing with Vegas Movie Studio Platinum v8 which does not support h.264.

a. I want to minimize the number of lossy renderings on my videos.

b. I tried rendering as a .wmv with compression, and downloaded to SM. The qualtiy was alright, but of course since the .wmv file is larger, download is longer. Also, when I "saved" or downloaded the video off of my SM site, it downloaded as a .wmv file, which would not play on my computer (error stating wrong file type for .wmv). When I renamed the file to a .mp4, the downloaded video played. I think that this is a bug on SM that needs to be fixed.

c. I can render from Vegas as lossless (using huffyuv), then convert to h.264 (.mp4?) using SIMPLE. Then download the h.264 video to SM. But my initial tests indicate that this method actually takes longer than to render as .wmv and download that bigger file to SM. And no, my rendering times are not slow because of my computer speed - 2.4 quad core with 3G ram.

d. Right now all my test have been with DV (DVD, i.e. 720x480) video. But, I will soon venture into HDV with my new HV-20 camera, and new faster computer.

Thanks in advance,
Shawn

I guess I should have more clearly stated my questions:
1. What is the best wrapper to use when encoding video to upload to SM?
2. After I uploaded a .wmv file, and then download it from the website, it downloads as an invalid .wmv file that needs to be renamed to a .mp4. Why do I have to rename it to mp4? SM should add the correct extension before download.
3. What is the advantage to convert to a h.264 format before upload when I can render as a wmv file and upload that faster then it takes to convert to h.264 and upload?

Thanks
Shawn

[jasonrn]

Hi all. I am thinking about signing up with Smugmug because I like the integration with Photoshop Elements, and the video support. My problem is the requirment for quicktime. I read many post about this but havent seen a straight forward answer. Is there going to be a Flash player option?

I have an older Win XP PC and the default size format that Smugmug uses results in choppy playback. I have the latest quicktime, "Large" trailers from quicktime's site play fine, and only the SmugMug "web" size plays smoothly.

My photos/video are just of my kids, taken from my Canon SD630, and I want to share them with my family, who have PC's of similar age, so I am assuming they will run into the same problems.

My current site - created by myself - uses flash without problems. The site is just too time consuming which is why the interest in SmugMug.

Jay

[Baldy]

Thanks. I really dont have a problem with H.264 per sa, I actually prefer it over anything else, I just hate the way Quicktime handles streaming it online. QT's a fine desktop player, but not so much within a browser. And like I said, you're letting QT handle it 100% so you cant build a better player with your own features embedded like you could with flash.

Do you know what will happen once Flash fully supports H.264 (doesn't it already?)?? Will the Flash player be taking over the playing abilities for the Smugmug videos?? I sure hope so.

Also, no one ever answered my question whether Power Users can upload "Mid-Def" or 960x540 videos. :earYes, Flash fully supports h.264 and we've been working on a player for some time. We've been two weeks from releasing it for a number of weeks. Apple has a very impressive in-browser QuickTime player that they use on their site.

You can upload mid-def if you're a power user, but we convert it to 640 pixels wide. To play mid and hidef, you have to be a pro user for now.

Thanks,
Baldy

[peestandingup]

Thanks, Baldy. Thats good to hear.

[brandofamily]

Is there anyway to make square thumbs for the video clips?
I'd really like to be able to change the thumb that is used too, but I think I'm stretching my luck on both of these...

[brandofamily]

How I missed this, I don't know. Incredible! :ivar

Quick question. I have the save movie thing disabled, and I have photorank turned off. That leaves me with a blank slidy thing coming out. How again do I turn that off? Thanks.

Again, w00t! :barb

Here's another option that will only turn it off gfor the video gallery...


/*==============================================*/
/*== No Flyout in SmugMug Style Video Gallery ==*/
/*==============================================*/
function fixVideoGallery()
{
showPhotoBar = false;
}

if (YD.hasClass(document.body, "gallery_3958183"))
{
fixVideoGallery()
}</pre>


I had the "if" statment in the header JS originally, then it broke w/ the new updates from SM. SO I moved it to the footerJS section.

[Allen]

Here's another option that will only turn it off gfor the video gallery...


/*==============================================*/
/*== No Flyout in SmugMug Style Video Gallery ==*/
/*==============================================*/
function fixVideoGallery()
{
showPhotoBar = false;
}

if (YD.hasClass(document.body, "gallery_3958183"))
{
fixVideoGallery()
}

I had the "if" statment in the header JS originally, then it broke w/ the new updates from SM. SO I moved it to the footerJS section and used Skript tages
I believe if you moved it to the footer the script tags are needed but not the footerJS box.

[brandofamily]

I believe if you moved it to the footer the script tags are needed but not the footerJS box.
correct ...

[brandofamily]

hey, you've certainly have so playtime w/ this stuff... any thoughts on the thumbs being made square? Or changing the thumb image?

[qsjewl]

I currently use phanfare and am desperately trying to find an alternative since their recent announcement of sweeping changes in phanfare 2.0. Smugmug is the only other solution that allows for mixed sharing of photos and videos while also allowing the user to download original photo files. However, Smugmug's slideshows aren't nearly as nice as phanfare's, which have these additional features beyond Smugmug:

1) music
2) Ken Burns zoom/pan effects on photos
3) videos play automatically (and the background music volume decreases so you can hear the video's sound)

Will Smugmug ever offer any of these features in its slideshows? I think sharpcast might do it someday, so there is other competition out there.

I didn't see any answer to this post. I am also curious to know if any of these features on in the plans...I used to be a phanfare customer and loved their video features and the above mentioned items, but left because of the changes they are imposing on their members.

I'd LOVE to see these features.

[qsjewl]

YES!

http://blogs.smugmug.com/release-notes/2008/01/31/smugmungous-video-goes-to-eleven/



Woohoo! Now you can steal even more Phanfare members. Well, assuming they're willing to pay 2X as much for a Pro account. :-{

Oh well, 50% off the first year! And then they can downgrade to Power and try to keep their videos under 2.5 min. C'mon -- 2.5 minutes!? Couldn't Power users get a bump to 5min for non-HD? :-P

I have to agree with darryl, I would love 5 min for the power user accounts. My site is for my family and they love to see videos of the grandkids. 2.5 minutes isn't long enough to hear a 3 yr old tell a really cute story!

[peestandingup]

I agree. You guys should really give more to Power users. Videos over 2.5 minutes & over 640 x 480 arent a big deal these days & I dont consider those "Pro" features. No need reserving that for only those who shell out $150 a year that might not need all those high end Pro features.

While were at it, is using your own domain name really a "Pro" feature as well. Everyone has their own domain these days & many services let users use it for much cheaper than $150. I mean, Dot Mac lets users use their own domain & they suck & are considered way behind in features. Zenfolio does it for only $40 a year. I'm just saying. It's not a big deal.

I know you have to entice people to go with the Pro account, but those things to me arent high end Pro features.

[Andy]

Zenfolio does it for only $40 a year.

AFAIK the Pro account is what you need @ Zenfolio for this, and it's $100 per year (http://www.zenfolio.com/zf/features.aspx).

I'm just saying. It's not a big deal.


:lol3 maybe to you, but it's not simply a wave of the hand, Kerry.

[peestandingup]

AFAIK the Pro account is what you need @ Zenfolio for this, and it's $100 per year (http://www.zenfolio.com/zf/features.aspx). http://www.photosbykerry.com/img/v2/p1022848140.jpg

:lol3 maybe to you, but it's not simply a wave of the hand, Kerry. I understand, but its not like you have to develop the feature either. It's already there. Im just saying its a common thing now & not necessarily a "Pro" feature.

[Andy]

http://www.photosbykerry.com/img/v2/p1022848140.jpg


weel shame on me for not reading carefully :lol3 you're right and I was wrong. Guess I should've double-checked that this morning when I went to the page :)

Thanks Kerry!

[mmtoruno]

I have an Canon HD camcorder, edited the stream on Ulead Video Studio 11 saved it as MPEG file 194 MB its less than a 2 minute clip. I have tried to upload but keep getting this message " Uploaded but with errors"

Can any one help me?

[Sheaf]

I understand, but its not like you have to develop the feature either. It's already there. Im just saying its a common thing now & not necessarily a "Pro" feature.

What you're not counting is the support time/money spent on it. It's a giant headache for us because so many domain registrars are, to put it bluntly, terrible.

[peestandingup]

What you're not counting is the support time/money spent on it. It's a giant headache for us because so many domain registrars are, to put it bluntly, terrible.
That may be true, but you all have to admit that there's a gap in Smugmug's pricing scheme ever since you raised prices. Basically all Power Accounts are is Standard Accounts with the ability to customize & upload short videos on top of it.

Look at it this way. The accounts go from $40 to a mere $60 then take a gigantic leap to $150. When you raised the Pro Account price to $150 instead of $100 where it used to be, there should have been something in between Power & Pro accounts then. There's a huge void there now.

Power is underpowered, Pro is overkill. I can't be the only one who sees that.

Im not saying none of the existing accounts are worth it, they are. Just that there's a gap now in the pricing scheme.

[Andy]

Power is underpowered,

Show me a site that allows the type of customizing we do, and has the high-quality video that we offer :deal


Pro is overkill. I can't be the only one who sees that. Here I'll disagree with you :) -- our pro business is growing at a huge clip, and, while I want us to deliver more and more features, I'll stack up what we deliver now in terms of value, service, features, all with a sustained record of excellence, against anyone out there :thumb We probably pay out more in pro profits than some sites take in as total revenue.

Still, we're not sitting back and resting. We plan on delivering even more to all levels of subscribers, standard, power, and pro :thumb

Thanks for telling us like it is, Kerry, we wouldn't have it any other way. Your feedback is like gold to us.

[peestandingup]

Show me a site that allows the type of customizing we do, and has the high-quality video that we offer :deal I can't. You guys definitely offer a unique & great bang-for-your-buck service. Again, I think all of your plans are worth every penny. All of them.

Speaking from cretain standpoints, I think Power isn't enough for lots of people, but they might not necessarily need a $150 Pro account either. What I mean is, its hard to justify Pro just for instance if you wanted to use your own domain or if you wanted to post longer videos. That person may not have any interest at all selling their prints online or digital downloads for a price, but they have to pony up the cash if they want those things because there isn't another option.

Back when it was $30, $50 & $100, that was a solid pricing scheme. If Power wasnt enough, then Pro was just double the price for the features, even if you didnt use all of them, it was much easier to swallow. Now there is such a HUGE jump from Power to Pro (2 1/2 times more) that its harder to justify to those same people. Not that Pro isnt worth the money, it is. Its amazing for what you get. But its just that there is such a gap now in the pricing scheme & isnt anything to fill that void now as far as pricing & features.

Basically what I'm saying is that there should be an $80 membership with some of the current Pro features sprinkled in that arent really "Pro" features (simple things like custom domian names, guest passwords, etc).

Thanks for telling us like it is, Kerry, we wouldn't have it any other way. Your feedback is like gold to us. You're welcome. I hope you guys know that I only criticize because I like you so much & care about the service. You should see me at work at Apple, oh my Lord. But its all for the greater good. :D

[DavidTO]

I have an Canon HD camcorder, edited the stream on Ulead Video Studio 11 saved it as MPEG file 194 MB its less than a 2 minute clip. I have tried to upload but keep getting this message " Uploaded but with errors"

Can any one help me?


I moved your posting here. The Action! Forum is for more general video questions. This thread is specifically for SmugMug Video Support!

[JohnnyJr]

Is anyone able to see this video? It was working fine but it no longer plays. The only thing I can think of is that I Bulk Zoom Thumbnailed it along with some still images and since then no longer seems to work:

http://www.sissonphotography.com/gallery/4501095_gMMsi/1/264111682_yJ7eM#264111682

Any thoughts?

[JohnnyJr]

So, I re-uploaded and it is working again. Seems that it must have been the Bulk Zoom Thumbnail action that somehow threw things off...

Is anyone able to see this video? It was working fine but it no longer plays. The only thing I can think of is that I Bulk Zoom Thumbnailed it along with some still images and since then no longer seems to work:

http://www.sissonphotography.com/gallery/4501095_gMMsi/1/264111682_yJ7eM#264111682

Any thoughts?

[J.T.]

According the the SM FAQ the current max limit for video length is 10 min for DVD quality and 5 min for HD video. Is there any chance these limits will be changed and increased in the forseeable future? Thanks

[DavidTO]

According the the SM FAQ the current max limit for video length is 10 min for DVD quality and 5 min for HD video. Is there any chance these limits will be changed and increased in the forseeable future? Thanks


J.T. I moved your post here, as the Action! Forum is for more general video questions, and your Smugmug question is best answered here. :thumb

[Sheaf]

According the the SM FAQ the current max limit for video length is 10 min for DVD quality and 5 min for HD video. Is there any chance these limits will be changed and increased in the forseeable future? Thanks

There is a chance. We only recently made the change to allow 10 minute DVD-quality videos.

We are still looking at numbers, usage, etc.

[Nougat]

How about creating a Power Plus subscription plan for $100/year that would include HD Video and domain name, but none of the other "Pro" features that non-pros don't need? If you offered this I would upgrade my Power account in a heartbeat! :barb

[Baldy]

How about creating a Power Plus subscription plan for $100/year that would include HD Video and domain name, but none of the other "Pro" features that non-pros don't need? If you offered this I would upgrade my Power account in a heartbeat! :barbGood suggestion.

Hey, for those of you who are patiently waiting for our Flash player for video, we're still working furiously on it but decided to release the full-screen slideshow first.

One of the bugs that has stopped us is Apple's format (h.264) and Flash don't play well in Apple's Safari browser. Ironic that Apple's format plays perfectly on Windows and with Firefox on the Mac, just not Safari. We don't know if it's a Macromedia bug or Apple bug, but we have reported at least one critical bug to the Safari team that they say they're working on.

[Comfort]

If I have a video that is 512 x 288 and I upload it in h264/mp3 format the processing seems to reduce the video quite dramatically so that when I play it back it is very small. I cant change the size at all so I assume it has resized it to the web size.

So some questions:

1/ Do I have to resize the video to get it to display larger. If so what size?

2/ I dont seem to have any controls at all when I watch a video. Is that normal? No play, rewind, pause.. etc etc.

Cheers

[Baldy]

If I have a video that is 512 x 288 and I upload it in h264/mp3 format the processing seems to reduce the video quite dramatically so that when I play it back it is very small. I cant change the size at all so I assume it has resized it to the web size.

So some questions:

1/ Do I have to resize the video to get it to display larger. If so what size?

2/ I dont seem to have any controls at all when I watch a video. Is that normal? No play, rewind, pause.. etc etc.

CheersHey Comfort,

Ouch, sorry about that. We were reluctant to upres anyone's video for fear we'd stand accused of displaying it in a size that degraded its quality, so we only downsize. If you were to save it as 640 pixels wide, we'd leave it that size for you.

Apple's QuickTime player is pretty sparse, just a tiny control bar at the bottom with a play button on it so small you might not recognize it as one. Is it possible that's what you're seeing? We have a Flash player in testing now that will give big, beautiful controls (unless you're using Safari on the Mac, which doesn't seem to be able to play videos well using Apple's format).

[peestandingup]

Good suggestion. Ahem.

Speaking from cretain standpoints, I think Power isn't enough for lots of people, but they might not necessarily need a $150 Pro account either. What I mean is, its hard to justify Pro just for instance if you wanted to use your own domain or if you wanted to post longer videos. That person may not have any interest at all selling their prints online or digital downloads for a price, but they have to pony up the cash if they want those things because there isn't another option.

Back when it was $30, $50 & $100, that was a solid pricing scheme. If Power wasnt enough, then Pro was just double the price for the features, even if you didnt use all of them, it was much easier to swallow. Now there is such a HUGE jump from Power to Pro (2 1/2 times more) that its harder to justify to those same people. Not that Pro isnt worth the money, it is. Its amazing for what you get. But its just that there is such a gap now in the pricing scheme & isnt anything to fill that void now as far as pricing & features.

Basically what I'm saying is that there should be an $80 membership with some of the current Pro features sprinkled in that arent really "Pro" features (simple things like custom domian names, guest passwords, etc).

[dohara]

Good suggestion.

Hey, for those of you who are patiently waiting for our Flash player for video, we're still working furiously on it but decided to release the full-screen slideshow first.

One of the bugs that has stopped us is Apple's format (h.264) and Flash don't play well in Apple's Safari browser. Ironic that Apple's format plays perfectly on Windows and with Firefox on the Mac, just not Safari. We don't know if it's a Macromedia bug or Apple bug, but we have reported at least one critical bug to the Safari team that they say they're working on.
Thanks for the Flash update Baldy, I'm looking foreward to release.
Dennis:thumb

[TXDrifter]

I just upgraded to power user status and am uploading some video clips. The audio on this one stops after just 2 seconds. :dunno http://philhouse.smugmug.com/gallery/4564039_3fBMx#269225742

I uploaded it twice with the same result.

Thanks for your help.

Phil

[TXDrifter]

Here's another one that cuts out after a few seconds.
http://philhouse.smugmug.com/gallery/4564039_3fBMx#270738562

Any thoughts?

Phil

[DakotaKid]

Looks like I have to convert my JVC .mod files the ipod format before I can upload them. Is there any work being done to allow direct upload of these .mod files?

[scwalter]

Looks like I have to convert my JVC .mod files the ipod format before I can upload them. Is there any work being done to allow direct upload of these .mod files?

According to Wikipedia, the .mod file is just an mpg file with a different extension. Try renaming one of your files to .mpg and try it

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOD_(file_format)

-Scott

[DakotaKid]

According to Wikipedia, the .mod file is just an mpg file with a different extension. Try renaming one of your files to .mpg and try it
I've tried that in the past, but a simple rename doesn't change the file extension. I just end up with a file name like yadayada.mpg.MOD :scratch

A little more google research has yielded this: File extentions default as invisible, to make them visible, go to the specific Folder –> Tools –> Folder Options –>File Types –> look for .MOD extesion ..... After choosing .MOD extention –> Click Advanced –> Click the Check Box “Always show extension”, Now yadayado.MOD files will appear, they can now be renamed as yadayada.mpg, it will ask for confirmation –> Click Yes
Those re-extensioned files can now be uploaded to smugmug without any conversion. But converting them to mpeg4 files can really reduce the size, so I'm almost back to where I started. Hope this helps someone with a Everio.:dunno

[TXDrifter]

No respose on the video help thread so I thought I would try here.

Thanks,
Phil


<TABLE class=tborder id=post785350 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width="100%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD class=alt1 id=td_post_785350>http://www.dgrin.com/images/icons/icon5.gif Audio stops?
<HR style="COLOR: #575757" SIZE=1><!-- / icon and title --><!-- message -->I just upgraded to power user status and am uploading some video clips. The audio on this one stops after just 2 seconds. :dunno http://philhouse.smugmug.com/gallery...fBMx#269225742 (http://philhouse.smugmug.com/gallery/4564039_3fBMx#269225742)

I uploaded it twice with the same result.

Thanks for your help.

Phil
<!-- / message -->
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=alt2>http://www.dgrin.com/images/statusiconDefault/user_online.gif </TD><TD class=alt1 align=right><!-- controls -->http://www.dgrin.com/images/buttonsDefault/edit.gif (http://www.dgrin.com/editpost.php?do=editpost&p=785350) http://www.dgrin.com/images/buttonsDefault/quote.gif (http://www.dgrin.com/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=785350) <!-- / controls --></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- post 785350 popup menu --><TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=4 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=thead>TXDrifter</TD></TR><TR><TD class=vbmenu_option>View Public Profile (http://www.dgrin.com/member.php?u=7385)</TD></TR><TR><TD class=vbmenu_option>Send a private message to TXDrifter (http://www.dgrin.com/private.php?do=newpm&u=7385)</TD></TR><TR><TD class=vbmenu_option>Send email to TXDrifter (http://www.dgrin.com/sendmessage.php?do=mailmember&u=7385)</TD></TR><TR><TD class=vbmenu_option>Visit TXDrifter's homepage! (http://philhouse.smugmug.com/)</TD></TR><TR><TD class=vbmenu_option>Find More Posts by TXDrifter (http://www.dgrin.com/search.php?do=finduser&u=7385)</TD></TR><TR><TD class=vbmenu_option>Add TXDrifter to Your Buddy List (http://www.dgrin.com/profile.php?do=addlist&userlist=buddy&u=7385)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

<!-- / post 785350 popup menu --><!-- / close content container --><!-- / post #785350 --><!-- post #788570 --><!-- open content container --><TABLE class=tborder id=post788570 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width="100%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=thead style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal"><!-- status icon and date -->http://www.dgrin.com/images/statusiconDefault/post_old.gif Mar-26-2008, 05:50 PM <!-- / status icon and date --></TD><TD class=thead style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal" align=right>#380 (http://www.dgrin.com/showpost.php?p=788570&postcount=380) </TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD class=alt2 width=175>TXDrifter (http://www.dgrin.com/member.php?u=7385)******** type=text/javascript> vbmenu_register("postmenu_788570", true); </******** p <>TXDrifter

Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 17



</TD><TD class=alt1 id=td_post_788570><!-- icon and title -->Still have audio problems

<HR style="COLOR: #575757" SIZE=1><!-- / icon and title --><!-- message -->Here's another one that cuts out after a few seconds.
http://philhouse.smugmug.com/gallery...fBMx#270738562 (http://philhouse.smugmug.com/gallery/4564039_3fBMx#270738562)

Any thoughts?

Phil

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

[docwalker]

Phil, I am sorry that you did not get a response earlier. For some reason I missed that post.

It sounds like you might be using an incompatible CODEC on the audio side. Can you send us an email on the help desk and we will take a look at it. We will have you send us a copy to our drop box. Be sure to include any details about how the movie was made/edited.

Most likely running the video through a converter before uploading will fix the problem. Converting the video to a supported CODEC/Format often fixes these issues.

--Doc

[davidweaver]

I'd doing panos but instead of QTVR I'm getting nicer results using Flash9.
However I can't upload the SWF. Since this is a 'motion picture' i thought to ask in the video section.

Am I just :dunno for the time being?

Suggestions?

Cheers,
David Weaver

[TXDrifter]

Phil, I am sorry that you did not get a response earlier. For some reason I missed that post.

It sounds like you might be using an incompatible CODEC on the audio side. Can you send us an email on the help desk and we will take a look at it. We will have you send us a copy to our drop box. Be sure to include any details about how the movie was made/edited.

Most likely running the video through a converter before uploading will fix the problem. Converting the video to a supported CODEC/Format often fixes these issues.

--Doc

Problem solved. Expert help is always worth wainting for. :thumb

Thanks Doc.

Phil

[albumflip]

Just curious.

When the flash video release goes live, will our current videos be converted to play in the new flash format?

BTW, can't wait for it to come out!

[peestandingup]

Just curious.

When the flash video release goes live, will our current videos be converted to play in the new flash format?

BTW, can't wait for it to come out!
I'd also like to know this. Also, if a persons computer has both QT & Flash installed, which will be used to play the video within the browser? I assume it will be Flash, but I'd guess there would be conflicts too sometimes.

I know you guys don't give exacts, but roughly what is the ETA of the flash-based version? I'm needing a video sharing service within the next month & would like to go with you guys, but not in its current state.

[TriggerHappy]

Here's another one that cuts out after a few seconds.
http://philhouse.smugmug.com/gallery/4564039_3fBMx#270738562

Any thoughts?

Phil

I'm in the same boat as Phil (TXDrifter). I just upgraded to a power user account and am having trouble uploading video clips with audio. On a minute and a half quicktime file, it sounds like all the audio gets compressed into the first 2 seconds and then silence for the rest of the video.

I'm using a mac power book with the latest quicktime (7.4.1) on tiger. I'm using iMovie to capture and edit, and exporting to quicktime. Quicktime file plays fine on my mac, but is garbled playing from my smugmug site.

I saw something about using the right codecs. I figured using the latest quicktime would automagically use the right codec.

Help!! Thanks!

[TXDrifter]

I uploaded a video twice today with the same negative results. It uploads, then I see the Processing Image icon on my website, then eventually it just disappears and there is no video. :dunno It is the same as all the other videos that I have uploaded sucessfully.

Phil

[Nougat]

I think I am having the same problem as TXDrifter. I uploaded a 3 minute HD quicktime movie last night using the simple uploader (500mb) and it did not show up on my website. It does not show up in my upload log either. It just disappeared.

[Kallel00]

For the love of me i can't get a proper HD video done for Smugmug :(


I can capture without any problems from my sony HDR-HC1 camcorder into a native HDV file, which gives me a superb quality video, altho it's about 10 gigs for 1 hour.

the minute I try to convert it, the results are catastrophic unless I use windows media maker and make me a 720p movie in WMV-HD (altho there's some pixellization that appears). Everything else I try to make with h.264 format ends up being bad.

I was able to make me AVCHD files with Nero Vision that look great, but smummug converts them in lower resolution & the aspect ratio gets all messed up.

Obviously I use a PC so I can't easily make me videos using Quicktime Pro (only time in my life I wish I had a mac!!!)

[TXDrifter]

I think I am having the same problem as TXDrifter. I uploaded a 3 minute HD quicktime movie last night using the simple uploader (500mb) and it did not show up on my website. It does not show up in my upload log either. It just disappeared.

On Doc's advice I ran mine through Streamclip and then uploaded it and now it works fine. http://www.squared5.com/

[peestandingup]

For the love of me i can't get a proper HD video done for Smugmug :(


I can capture without any problems from my sony HDR-HC1 camcorder into a native HDV file, which gives me a superb quality video, altho it's about 10 gigs for 1 hour.

the minute I try to convert it, the results are catastrophic unless I use windows media maker and make me a 720p movie in WMV-HD (altho there's some pixellization that appears). Everything else I try to make with h.264 format ends up being bad.

I was able to make me AVCHD files with Nero Vision that look great, but smummug converts them in lower resolution & the aspect ratio gets all messed up.

Obviously I use a PC so I can't easily make me videos using Quicktime Pro (only time in my life I wish I had a mac!!!)
Truth be told, PCs don't do H.264 very well outta the box because Winders is based of WMV/WMA (and the other plethora of MS developed formats). Macs tend to use more non-proprietary formats.

I hear a lot pf people like Adobe Premiere Elements & Sony Vegas software. Also, keep in mind there is Quicktime Pro for Windows as well. You basically have it now, just have to purchase an unlock code from Apple.

[Nougat]

On Doc's advice I ran mine through Streamclip and then uploaded it and now it works fine. http://www.squared5.com/

I tried Streamclip and it seriously degrades the video quality. I am editing AVCHD footage in Sony Vegas 8 Pro and rendering it out as a quicktime mov file-- being very careful to stay under the 512mb file size limit.

I uploaded another 490mb file last night that completed, however, the video never showed up in my gallery or in list of uploaded files or errors. It's very frustrating leaving a computer on all night to upload only to find out it didn't work.

I should note that I tried re-uploading the first file that failed and it worked. I made no changes on my end.

[docwalker]

Nougat,

I have run a bunch of videos through Steamclip and noticed no "Serious" degradation. Can you tell us what export format setting you used? compression settings, output codec?

So far I have tried several but my favorite is the h.264 using the highest quality setting unless I need to reduce the file size.

--Doc

[phototristan]

h.264 does a pretty good job for size vs. quality. If you are not changing the resolution of your video, MPEG Streamclip should do well. I've not noticed much if any quality degradation.

[Nougat]

Nougat,

I have run a bunch of videos through Steamclip and noticed no "Serious" degradation. Can you tell us what export format setting you used? compression settings, output codec?

So far I have tried several but my favorite is the h.264 using the highest quality setting unless I need to reduce the file size.

--Doc

My problem with Streamclip was that I was re-rending a file that was already rendered to quicktime format as another file in quicktime format. You are always going to lose quality that way. I'm sure that if I had rendered as .mov or .mp4 from the original footage it would have been OK. The problem with that option is that I want to use Vegas to edit my AVCHD m2ts files before rendering. I should be able to use Vegas to output files for uploading to smugmug, no? Vegas gives an option for Sony .mp4, mts, m2t. Do you think that would be better than .mov files?

[docwalker]

mts and m2t formats are not currently supported so they are not an option.

.mp4 should be fine and I have used that in the past.

[Nougat]

mts and m2t formats are not currently supported so they are not an option.

.mp4 should be fine and I have used that in the past.

Any idea why my Vegas rendered Quicktime .mov files my not be uploading?

[docwalker]

Without looking at the video... Codec? We would need to look at the codec to see if that might be the culprit. Also, does the entire video upload and then fail while processing? We get a few folks that write in with video upload troubles and it turns out to be connection failures or packet loss corrupting the video.

I looked back and see you are reporting the same symptom. Can you run a traceroute?

Try these instructions to run a traceroute on a PC:
http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/2959046
You can send them to the help desk if you need help analyzing the results.

[docwalker]

oh, and one other thing, and this is for everyone reading this... When you are uploading videos keep in mind that wired connections are better than wireless. Micorwaves, cellphones, even the human body messes with wifi signals. Wired is almost always better when sending these large files.

I only say this as there have been several people who have been using wifi and finding that uploads fail.

[rinkshots]

OK, so is there a tutorial out there for handbrake yet? I didn't like the reviews of Quicktime Pro, so I downloaded handbrake. I am trying to use an mpeg that is 2GB. I have the file selected, the output file name, etc. I have tried various presets. When I hit start, or add to queue, and then start, another window briefly pops up, and then goes away and I am told that it is done, but there is not file generated. Any help on that?

Scott

[peestandingup]

OK, so is there a tutorial out there for handbrake yet? I didn't like the reviews of Quicktime Pro, so I downloaded handbrake. I am trying to use an mpeg that is 2GB. I have the file selected, the output file name, etc. I have tried various presets. When I hit start, or add to queue, and then start, another window briefly pops up, and then goes away and I am told that it is done, but there is not file generated. Any help on that?

ScottHandbrake is for transferring DVDs to Mpeg4.

If you just need basic editing & exporting, QT Pro is the way to go. iMovie does a good job with bigger projects. Final Cut Express is next & so on.

[rinkshots]

Handbrake is for transferring DVDs to Mpeg4.

If you just need basic editing & exporting, QT Pro is the way to go. iMovie does a good job with bigger projects. Final Cut Express is next & so on.

I've tried creating my slide show as an ISO, and then handbrake works, but when I upload it, the file is stretched upward. How can I avoid that? I believe I used the "normal" setting in Handbrake. Any ideas on that?

[Saigerino]

I’m having a problem with all the QuickTime movies I upload. They play fine but after watching them a few times, the movie control bar goes missing. I have viewed the movies on other computers and it will still disappear after a few viewings. Watching a movie in the same size over and over doesn’t seem to cause the problem but when testing the movie in different size format (sizes: Web · iPod/DVD · Mid-Def) the movie control bar will go missing.
I’m using Sony Vegas 7.....Render as QuickTime 7 with "Sorenson Video 3”
I attached a photo of the problem in action. Here is a link to one of the movies I’m having trouble with. http://seemyswing.smugmug.com/gallery/4630924_awKfh#275928086_N8rqm-S-LB
This is the only thing keeping me from joing SmugMug once my
trial period ends. Thanks for any help.
Saige

[vivie]

Okay, I'm very much the amateur here - no fancy camera, just a little Pentax digit