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Send an FCP File via E-Mail.
I want to send out an approximately 30 second FCP clip via e-mail to about 30 clients. My question is this:
I don’t know what software each of these clients has on each of their computers, and I don’t want to send three QT, WMP or RP files. Can I use something like Flash to send a short cip that will be self-playing on each of their computers? Or do they have to have Flash to play it? Is there a way of sending a clip that will play automatically, such as we now see on CNN?
Thanks very much. – Rob.
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8 Replies
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This is a problem that has no perfect solution. Macromedia claims that Flash Player has the highest installed base of all of the commonly used players, and most of the big Hollywood studios do encode their trailers for the Web using Flash.
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Use the H.264 codec and also include a link to the Quicktime 7 download. It’s available both for Windows and Mac.
That’s what I do here and no one has complained. I just send the clip into Compressor and use the standard Quicktime 7 Web Download setting.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.comNow editing “Good Eats” in HD for the Food Network
“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters
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If you want it to be pretty much bullet proof, you should encode to mpeg1. It’s definitely not the best web compression codec out there, but it is playable in quicktime and windows media player. With all do Creative Cow respect, Walter’s suggestion of h264 and quicktime 7 is a good one, but sometimes it’s not realistic. I don’t know who your clients are, but sometimes if they work for large companies, they have crappy supplied computers that can barely run an mp3, let alone any kind of video. Also, depending on how computer savvy the are (or aren’t) asking them to download and install a new and unlearned software might be a daunting task. Even with QuickTime pretty much running itself, people can get easily confused. Now, all of a sudden, you are trying to tech support all 30 of your clients cuz they don’t know how to install something. MPEG1 will cater to these kinds of lowest common denominators as it’ll run natively on pretty much whatever they have installed on their machines.
This is just a suggestion and take it for what it’s worth. If you know that your clients have upgraded systems and can handle a simple download and install, h264 and a link to quicktime 7 is ideal and will also look the best.
Jeremy
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G5 Dual 2Ghz <> 4GB RAM <> FCP 5.02 <> Kona 2ATTO 42XS <> Huge Systems 1.25 TB 4105 Fibre
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[JeremyG] “I don’t know who your clients are, but sometimes if they work for large companies, they have crappy supplied computers that can barely run an mp3, let alone any kind of video. Also, depending on how computer savvy the are (or aren’t) asking them to download and install a new and unlearned software might be a daunting task.”
As I’ve said, it hasn’t been a problem here with large and small clients. I just provide them with a direct link to the Windows and Mac download pages and it’s pretty simple from there.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.comNow editing “Good Eats” in HD for the Food Network
“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters
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Yeah, I know…it seems simple enough, right? There’s definitely been times when I provide a link to a quicktime movie (sorenson3, usually) for my clients to view and download and they can’t see it and then i provide a link to quicktime and they still don’t get it. I have found if I use MPEG1, I get a lot less calls on how to watch video on a computer. You’re lucky, Walter, your clients are just smarter than mine. 😉
jg
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Well, my clients are real estate people, so they run the gamut from brilliant business people to those with IQs just barely out of the “retarded” category. MPEG 1 might be a soloution, but I’ll see what the quality is like. I like the idea of using the H.264 codec. One other question: do I need QuickTime Pro to encode in H.264?
Thanks again. – Rob
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I noticed that you are running fcp 4.5. Upgrading to qt7, while possible, is not advised unless you upgrade to fcp5 & Tiger. I’d stick with another codec until you are ready to take the plunge with Tiger & FCP5.
No, you don’t need QT Pro if you are on Tiger & FCP5. QT7 will upgrade to pro automatically upon installing fcp5. You can then use compressor to compress to h264.
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I’m with you Jeremy. I would love for everyone to have QT installed on their computer but in my experience that it not the case, even more so in large companies. I’ve had a few instances where the end user is not even allowed to install software on their computer, even if you do give them a link to the QT download. MPEG1 is a safe and universal option, at least to start out with.
Martin
Digital Heaven, London UK
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