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Output video files for the web so all devices can watch
I wasn’t sure whether to post this here or web streaming, but since I work only in FCP X I figured this was the best place. If not just tell me and I’ll move it to there.
So, once I complete a project in FCP X 10.1.3, I output a file master mov. file. Then taking that file, I create a smaller web friendly .mov file version using an older version of Squeeze 6.5 from Sorenson and then upload those .mov’s to my website and that option works great for desktop purposes. But I have just realized that Android phones can’t read .mov files. So I’ve tried everything I know, creating .wmv, m4v along with using Share option from FCP X with the HTTP streaming option and I end up with all kinds of files and folders that I’m not familiar with.
What I want to do is upload my video’s to my company website which is hosted with GoDaddy and whether it’s a desktop, mobile android phone, Tablet or whatever…it will play. No downloading or whatever. Just play. Right now my Android (4.4.4) Samsung Note 3 Phone, when I click on any of the formats I listed above on my website, my phone downloads the movie and then it says it can’t play it. A .mov it doesn’t do anything, because like I said Android phones don’t recognize .mov format UNLESS you have an app that helps the phone read that format…which I DON’T want anyone have to do. So what’s the answer here? Do I have to now purchase something like a Vimeo acc’t, or put everything on my Youtube channel, upload everything there then have my video’s linked to those services and they will decide what version to send to what device?
I really would like to solve this on my website and NOT be linked to another site if possible.
Could you all help me here understand what the problem is and what my options are?
Thanks in advance guys.
Mac Pro Late 2013, 3.5 GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon E5, 32 GB 1867 MHz DDR3 ECC, 2 x AMD FirePro D700 6144 MB, OS X 10.9.4, FCP X 10.1.3, CC Suite, Promise Pegasus2 R4 8 TB RAID 5 Thunderbolt 2
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13 Replies
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The ubiquitous Internet format is currently MPEG4 AVC/H.264. Most devices can play MP4 files. The easiest way to generate one from FCP X is to share using the Apple Devices 720p setting. This will produce an .m4v file that you can simply rename to .mp4 and upload to your web site. If you want more control over the encoding you can buy Apple Compressor $49 and create your own templates that can be loaded directly within FCP X.
Whether the video streams from your web site or gets downloaded as a file is a function of the player that you are using on your web site. HTML5 is the latest standard for playing video on all devices. I would make sure that you are using an HTML5 Video Player. Note that older Flash video players won’t work on any Apple device (iPad/iPhone/iPod) so stay away from any Flash based player.
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com -
FWIW Vimeo Pro really is the best option here. Post to it directly out of FCPX, make a custom player frame with no branding, and it’ll look great every time.
John Davidson | President / Creative Director | Magic Feather Inc.
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John,
When you said, “Whether the video streams from your web site or gets downloaded as a file is a function of the player that you are using on your web site. HTML5 is the latest standard for playing video on all devices. I would make sure that you are using an HTML5 Video Player”…..how do you exactly do that? I don’t designate a player do I when I just upload a video file and link to it do I? Isn’t the persons device that wants to see the video determine how it will be played depending on what they have on their device?
Help me a little here.
I mean what I do now. What I have always done is export the .mov file, upload and it plays. Never had had one problem with any desktop or Apple device. It’s only recently I discovered that Android devices trying to view my content were having problems.
Mac Pro Late 2013, 3.5 GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon E5, 32 GB 1867 MHz DDR3 ECC, 2 x AMD FirePro D700 6144 MB, OS X 10.9.4, FCP X 10.1.3, CC Suite, Promise Pegasus2 R4 8 TB RAID 5 Thunderbolt 2
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John D,
Yeah I figured you all might say that. It’s been my intention and in my plans to subscribe to Vimeo Pro it’s just that with the 1st of the year and all with so many financial things hitting all at once I really didn’t want to spend the money right now.
But with that being said, when you said, “make a custom player frame with no branding”, what exactly do you mean here? Do you mean that I can make a player within my Vimeo acc’t that has no look or feel that it’s coming from Vimeo or what? Could you explain a little bit more here please?
thx
Mac Pro Late 2013, 3.5 GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon E5, 32 GB 1867 MHz DDR3 ECC, 2 x AMD FirePro D700 6144 MB, OS X 10.9.4, FCP X 10.1.3, CC Suite, Promise Pegasus2 R4 8 TB RAID 5 Thunderbolt 2
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[Martin Jordan] “But with that being said, when you said, “make a custom player frame with no branding”, what exactly do you mean here? Do you mean that I can make a player within my Vimeo acc’t that has no look or feel that it’s coming from Vimeo or what? Could you explain a little bit more here please?”
Yep, you can even put your own logo on top of the video if you want. We have a very simple clean overlay that we put on top of ours (https://www.magicfeatherinc.com) and you can remove the VIMEO logo from it. Essentially it creates makes Vimeo just the host of your videos. Also, Vimeo creates a smaller phone and device friendly version of your spot that is responsive depending on the type of device you’re viewing the link from. This lets mobile devices load faster than desktops.
That help? Vimeo’s website explains more about what you can do with it.
John Davidson | President / Creative Director | Magic Feather Inc.
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[Martin Jordan] “I don’t designate a player do I when I just upload a video file and link to it do I?”
That’s exactly my point. You are not using a player. So you are relying on the web browser to interpret the file any way it wants. That means the same client using two different web browsers even on the same computer can get two different experiences e.g., Safari might try and play it while Firefox might download it.
[Martin Jordan] “Isn’t the persons device that wants to see the video determine how it will be played depending on what they have on their device?”
No, the device is interpreting a web page with a file link on it. If your video is just a link on that web page and not a video embedded in the web page how does the device know what to do with it? This is your problem. You are not specifying that the video should be played. The fact that some browsers will play it instead of downloading it is just a role of the dice. It is not a guaranteed behavior.
If you want your users to have a consistent experience you need to place the file in a player. I suggest using HTML5 tags to tell the browser that it should be played and not downloaded. There is a nice tutorial at w3schools.com on HTML5 Video. It will look something like this:
<video width="1280" height="720" controls>
<source src="mymovie.mp4" type="video/mp4">
Your browser does not support the HTML5 video tag.
</video>
This will guarantee that the video is played as long as the browser supports HTML5 which is all modern browsers.If you want to continue to only use links, try using MP4 files because all devices should at least know what an MP4 file is. I believe your problem is that you were uploading MOV files which requires the device to have QuickTime which Adroid devices running Linux don’t have so it’s downloading the file instead.
In other words, you might be able to solve this whole problem simply by uploading MP4 files instead of MOV files. Try it and see. You should never upload MOV files to the web for general consumption unless you know that all of your web clients will have Apple devices because MOV files require QuickTime to play them which PC’s don’t have by default and Android doesn’t have at all (as you have seen).
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com -
Thank you so much John R.
Mac Pro Late 2013, 3.5 GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon E5, 32 GB 1867 MHz DDR3 ECC, 2 x AMD FirePro D700 6144 MB, OS X 10.9.4, FCP X 10.1.3, CC Suite, Promise Pegasus2 R4 8 TB RAID 5 Thunderbolt 2
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Thank you so much John D.
I know Vimeo is the way to go……so be it.
Mac Pro Late 2013, 3.5 GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon E5, 32 GB 1867 MHz DDR3 ECC, 2 x AMD FirePro D700 6144 MB, OS X 10.9.4, FCP X 10.1.3, CC Suite, Promise Pegasus2 R4 8 TB RAID 5 Thunderbolt 2
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Hey John R,
Just thought I’d let you know, FYI…I figured out the solution today. You were right about just trying .mp4 files but even that suggestion needed more definition and research. So what I ended up finally doing was using Handbrake, tweaking the video / audio settings some, importing my finished .mov files, compressing, uploading to my website with just a link to those files and BAM…works across tablets, desktops, Samsung phones without having to download..looks and sounds great.
I spend all day on this and it finally paid off and since you got me started on the right foot I thought I’d let you know the outcome.
thx again.
Mac Pro Late 2013, 3.5 GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon E5, 32 GB 1867 MHz DDR3 ECC, 2 x AMD FirePro D700 6144 MB, OS X 10.9.4, FCP X 10.1.3, CC Suite, Promise Pegasus2 R4 8 TB RAID 5 Thunderbolt 2
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Awesome! Glad that got you going in the right direction. It’s too bad you had to use Handbreak because Compressor couldn’t create the correct file for you but as long as you got it working, that’s all that matters.
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com
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