Selecting a File Format
Delivering screencasts on the web is a relatively straight forward process--create your video, upload it to Screencast.com, and then share it via links, embedding, or email invitations. Screencast.com is great for the last two steps, but we have some tips for the first step as well.
After you've recorded and edited your video, you produce it to a specific file format. The format determines two very important parts of your viewer's experience: quality and playback.
File format and quality aren't directly linked, but the format you choose to publish your screencast in determines the codec used (which does determine quality). For video on the web, we recommend FLV. It looks good and compresses well, leading to reasonable file sizes.
One of the reasons why we recommend FLV is the other important part: the player. You want to choose a file format for your video that plays on as many computers as possible. The Adobe Flash Player has almost universal market penetration so almost anyone will be able to watch your video. It also embeds nicely.
The important thing is to think about the viewer's experience all the way through the screencasting process. Start when you're recording ("Is this too long? Is it too big?"), producing ("Is this format the right choice for viewers on the web?"), and then publishing ("Should I embed this on my blog, or should I provide a link to a Screencast.com view page?"). In the end, it's all about the viewer. Choosing the right file format is an important part of delivering great screencasts.
Question...when I create a file using Jing it is an .swf file - how is that different from an .mov, .wmv, and .flv file
Also can audio files also be stored in screencast.com or is there a better way to do that?
do i upload my flash file ZIPPED up? if I dont there is too many files?
but i cant get the zipped file to work when i embed in in my site??
Cheers pete
@Gail--SWF is just another file format, although not usually considered for pure video. The advantage of using SWF with ExpressShow in Camtasia Studio and as the output of Jing is that our SWF files come with built in play controls. Jing SWF recordings are also lossless, which means you don't lose any quality.
Audio files can be stored on Screeencast.com as well. Upload them as you would any other file.
@Stuart--There are a few different reasons that the Jing Project uses SWF. One of them is for the lossless recording. Because of the way video is encoded, a lossless encoding of something with a lot of movement is much, much larger than something that is mostly static.
The big variation in file size with Jing recordings comes from the different type of content you're recording. For most screen recording, the screen doesn't change that much. Websites, applications, and desktops are mostly just a static image. Jing recordings of this type of content are fairly small.
For things like real world video and screen animation, where the entire recording area is changing all the time... well, file size gets pretty big there. A Google Earth Tour is full of new frames all the time, which means large file size.
For more info on the Jing Project's file format, check out this blog post: http://blog.jingproject.com/2007/08/jing_file_formats_flash_swf_pn.html
If there are any changes to the Jing Project's output format, you can be sure you'll hear it first on the Jing Project blog. It's a great source for news, tips, and tricks for using Jing.
I have an FLV video and a Flash (.fla) file that has a branded fit and feel with "Media Display" and "MediaController" components. I want to upload the FLV to ScreenCast and host the built SWF file that streams the FLV through the Media Display. This doesn't seem to be working. Is it possible?
Thanks,
John
I like this site! http://lohomopoko.blogspot.com ">online fresh blog