Adding small videos

[Jennifer Snyder]

The Physical Therapy Department at the UHC would like to add small, digital video venuettes showing the most common PT procedures. Before they/we embark on this little adventure, I thought I would ask these questions up front:
1. Is it OK to add video?
2. What format is the best to use?
3. What should the maximum size of the file be?
3. What is the maximum amount of time the video should be?

Thanks!

[rin]

I also would like to know what the standards are for including video.

[rcrisler1]

Hey, Jennifer ...

Thanks for the question. We're recommending MPEG-4 h.264, which is an open standard with clients for Windows, Mac, Linux, Unix, you name it. MPEG-4 h.264 is playable on iPods and is downloadable, unlike Flash.

Flash Video has some charms of its own, chiefly that the player is more ubiquitous than any other. As I mentioned a second ago, though, you can't download it (easily), and you can't play it on an iPod.

I wouldn't make arbitrary decisions concerning length or file size. You'll want to be as economical as possible in those respects without compromising your message.

There are a lot of ways to encode MPEG-4 h.264, but the easiest is to get a copy of Apple's Quicktime, upgrade it to the Pro version for $29, and use the 'Export > MPEG-4' feature. We're looking for 320x240 video at 24 frames per second; this is open to debate, actually, for many things, 15fps might be adequate. Not sure it would play in the iPod, though; need to borrow my wife's iPod video. Screen shots follow: