[videoblogging] getting better quality out of Blip.TV
Hi all, I've been using Blip.TV for quite some time for nearly all of my video blog posts and other video projects, for both work and fun. I love the service and the features, but have started to become a little disappointed with the final flash video after conversion. If you upload the same video to Blip, Vimeo, YouTube, and Facebook, the Blip version that is converted seems to be the worst in the bunch. I'm generally only uploading SD video, if that makes any difference. I don't plan on moving away from Blip any time soon, as the other features (playlists, cross posting, customized player, custom thumnails, etc) are the reasons I stay with Blip. However, I was wondering if any of you have any suggestions for getting better quality out of the Blip video player. Are there tricks I can employ on my end to make my file more friendly to conversion? I'm a low budget windows user, so typically my files are WMV (Flip video SD) or Mov (Canon SD 780 IS), and I occasionally still shoot video with and older Canon MiniDV (edit in moviemaker and output as WMV). Is there a file type or size that Blip may like better for better quality conversion to flash? The other three seem to take WMVs just fine and crunch them well, but perhaps there's something better I should be looking at when uploading to Blip. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide. --Chad -- Chad F. Boeninger libraryvoice.com - blog libraryvoice.com/videos - videoblog twitter.com/cfboeninger [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: [videoblogging] getting better quality out of Blip.TV
> I've been using Blip.TV for quite some time for nearly all of my video blog > posts and other video projects, for both work and fun. I love the service > and the features, but have started to become a little disappointed with the > final flash video after conversion. If you upload the same video to Blip, > Vimeo, YouTube, and Facebook, the Blip version that is converted seems to be > the worst in the bunch. I'm generally only uploading SD video, if that > makes any difference. I don't plan on moving away from Blip any time soon, > as the other features (playlists, cross posting, customized player, custom > thumnails, etc) are the reasons I stay with Blip. However, I was wondering > if any of you have any suggestions for getting better quality out of the > Blip video player. Are there tricks I can employ on my end to make my file > more friendly to conversion? I'm a low budget windows user, so typically my > files are WMV (Flip video SD) or Mov (Canon SD 780 IS), and I occasionally > still shoot video with and older Canon MiniDV (edit in moviemaker and output > as WMV). Is there a file type or size that Blip may like better for better > quality conversion to flash? The other three seem to take WMVs just fine > and crunch them well, but perhaps there's something better I should be > looking at when uploading to Blip. I'd love to hear some folks chime in as well. Chad, do you have a video that youve uploaded to several different sites? It would help to actually see how each site has Flash converted the same video. A big thing is blip's favor is that they host the original video you upload. We convert our own Flash video and just upload that so we can be assured of the quality. Jay -- http://ryanishungry.com http://jaydedman.com http://twitter.com/jaydedman 917 371 6790
Re: [videoblogging] getting better quality out of Blip.TV
The great thing about blip is that they will serve up the original file that you upload, so you get to determine the quality. Now the trick is to get that file to show up in the flash player. What you have to do to make that happen is to make the file that you upload a really good quality h.264 file and then configure a custom blip player to use your h.264 file. - Verdi On Mon, Nov 30, 2009 at 9:05 AM, Jay dedman wrote: >> I've been using Blip.TV for quite some time for nearly all of my video blog >> posts and other video projects, for both work and fun. I love the service >> and the features, but have started to become a little disappointed with the >> final flash video after conversion. If you upload the same video to Blip, >> Vimeo, YouTube, and Facebook, the Blip version that is converted seems to be >> the worst in the bunch. I'm generally only uploading SD video, if that >> makes any difference. I don't plan on moving away from Blip any time soon, >> as the other features (playlists, cross posting, customized player, custom >> thumnails, etc) are the reasons I stay with Blip. However, I was wondering >> if any of you have any suggestions for getting better quality out of the >> Blip video player. Are there tricks I can employ on my end to make my file >> more friendly to conversion? I'm a low budget windows user, so typically my >> files are WMV (Flip video SD) or Mov (Canon SD 780 IS), and I occasionally >> still shoot video with and older Canon MiniDV (edit in moviemaker and output >> as WMV). Is there a file type or size that Blip may like better for better >> quality conversion to flash? The other three seem to take WMVs just fine >> and crunch them well, but perhaps there's something better I should be >> looking at when uploading to Blip. > > I'd love to hear some folks chime in as well. > Chad, do you have a video that youve uploaded to several different sites? > It would help to actually see how each site has Flash converted the same > video. > > A big thing is blip's favor is that they host the original video you > upload. We convert our own Flash video and just upload that so we can > be assured of the quality. > > Jay > > > -- > http://ryanishungry.com > http://jaydedman.com > http://twitter.com/jaydedman > 917 371 6790 > > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > -- Michael Verdi http://michaelverdi.com http://talkbot.tv
Re: [videoblogging] getting better quality out of Blip.TV
If you upload as iPod compatible H264 M4V files (.M4V is Apple's extension for iPod compatible MP4 files), you can customise your Blip Show Player to show them in their original form. However, even so, I've been noticing a deterioration in quality and colour recently, and I'm not sure why that is. Blip's flash conversion has always been a bit grey and pixelly - as Jay says, you can always just upload your own flv file - converted using MPEGStreamclip or your editing software. There was a point when people loved Blip because they had the best quality and best feature set, back when YouTube's quality was appalling. They seem to be losing that advantage now. I heard someone I didn't know really complaining about their reliability at an event last week. Add to that the uncertainty about what's acceptable under their T&Cs as discussed here before. It must be a very expensive & competitive business, and seems they're defining a different niche for themselves: a home for Web TV serials, rather than home movies. In my experience, Vimeo has very good quality - but as Jay said, Blip allows you to link to the original file for podcasting. A solution I've been using recently is uploading to Vimeo and Blip at the same time using Pixelpipe, then embedding the Vimeo player and linking to the file on Blip for podcasting/iTunes. Rupert http://twittervlog.tv On 30-Nov-09, at 2:53 PM, Chad Boeninger wrote: > Hi all, > I've been using Blip.TV for quite some time for nearly all of my > video blog > posts and other video projects, for both work and fun. I love the > service > and the features, but have started to become a little disappointed > with the > final flash video after conversion. If you upload the same video to > Blip, > Vimeo, YouTube, and Facebook, the Blip version that is converted > seems to be > the worst in the bunch. I'm generally only uploading SD video, if that > makes any difference. I don't plan on moving away from Blip any time > soon, > as the other features (playlists, cross posting, customized player, > custom > thumnails, etc) are the reasons I stay with Blip. However, I was > wondering > if any of you have any suggestions for getting better quality out of > the > Blip video player. Are there tricks I can employ on my end to make > my file > more friendly to conversion? I'm a low budget windows user, so > typically my > files are WMV (Flip video SD) or Mov (Canon SD 780 IS), and I > occasionally > still shoot video with and older Canon MiniDV (edit in moviemaker > and output > as WMV). Is there a file type or size that Blip may like better for > better > quality conversion to flash? The other three seem to take WMVs just > fine > and crunch them well, but perhaps there's something better I should be > looking at when uploading to Blip. > > Thanks in advance for any help you can provide. > > --Chad > > -- > Chad F. Boeninger > libraryvoice.com - blog > libraryvoice.com/videos - videoblog > twitter.com/cfboeninger > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/videoblogging/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/videoblogging/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: videoblogging-dig...@yahoogroups.com videoblogging-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: videoblogging-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [videoblogging] getting better quality out of Blip.TV
Hi Jay, Thanks for the quick reply. Here's a video I shot last summer while on a 50 mile bike ride. I shot it with my Flip Mino SD, so granted some of the handheld on bike action is a little herky-jerky. I've posted all the videos from all the services I have accounts with at http://libraryvoice.com/technology/facebook-video-is-actually-pretty-good , so you should be able to get a decent comparison of the video formats there. All I did for the videos was stitch them with FlipShare, and then render them as 640x480 WMV (the only choice). All services received the same file for conversion. On a different note, I do make my own FLV for screencasts and then upload that to Blip. I generally record my screen with Camstudio and then convert the AVI file to FLV with a program called Quick Media Converter (it's free). I only use the Easy conversion settings on the program, and my eyes think the result is slightly better than the flash conversion at Blip. Quick Media Converter (http://www.cocoonsoftware.com/) has some advance settings as well (two pass encoding, bit rate, etc) but I haven't gotten around to messing with those settings. Perhaps that could be a way to make a better flash file and then upload to Blip. Thanks, Chad On Mon, Nov 30, 2009 at 10:05 AM, Jay dedman wrote: > > > > I've been using Blip.TV for quite some time for nearly all of my video > blog > > posts and other video projects, for both work and fun. I love the service > > and the features, but have started to become a little disappointed with > the > > final flash video after conversion. If you upload the same video to Blip, > > Vimeo, YouTube, and Facebook, the Blip version that is converted seems to > be > > the worst in the bunch. I'm generally only uploading SD video, if that > > makes any difference. I don't plan on moving away from Blip any time > soon, > > as the other features (playlists, cross posting, customized player, > custom > > thumnails, etc) are the reasons I stay with Blip. However, I was > wondering > > if any of you have any suggestions for getting better quality out of the > > Blip video player. Are there tricks I can employ on my end to make my > file > > more friendly to conversion? I'm a low budget windows user, so typically > my > > files are WMV (Flip video SD) or Mov (Canon SD 780 IS), and I > occasionally > > still shoot video with and older Canon MiniDV (edit in moviemaker and > output > > as WMV). Is there a file type or size that Blip may like better for > better > > quality conversion to flash? The other three seem to take WMVs just fine > > and crunch them well, but perhaps there's something better I should be > > looking at when uploading to Blip. > > I'd love to hear some folks chime in as well. > Chad, do you have a video that youve uploaded to several different sites? > It would help to actually see how each site has Flash converted the same > video. > > A big thing is blip's favor is that they host the original video you > upload. We convert our own Flash video and just upload that so we can > be assured of the quality. > > Jay > > -- > http://ryanishungry.com > http://jaydedman.com > http://twitter.com/jaydedman > 917 371 6790 > > -- Chad F. Boeninger libraryvoice.com - blog libraryvoice.com/videos - videoblog twitter.com/cfboeninger [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/videoblogging/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/videoblogging/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: videoblogging-dig...@yahoogroups.com videoblogging-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: videoblogging-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [videoblogging] getting better quality out of Blip.TV
Rupert and Michael, Thank you as well for your answers. It seems your messages came in as I was composing my response. I too, am a little concerned about Blip's terms of service. I have two accounts there, one for video blogging and work, the other for family videos. Neither of which meets their criteria for a show, so I really don't know where I fit. Recently I had trouble with a video, and they re-encoded it for me. In the two instances that I needed to contact them, Blip reps have been really helpful. My videos definitely are not works of art, typically me just goofing off or videos of the kids. Most of my viewers would just watch the videos on my blogs, so the podcasting file is not really necessary. I'd just like to make sure that the grandparents get the least fuzzy quality views of my kids with the least amount of effort. Of course, no one is complaining really about the quality. I guess the more videos I watch and the better I get with this hobby, my tastes have become a little more discriminating. I'm going to give MPEG Steamclip a whirl to see how that works out. I've been very pleased with the quality of Vimeo's videos, and I have toyed with the idea of paying for the Plus service. I could in essence host all my videos there, and make the ones of the family "invisible" on Vimeo so that they can only be viewed on my blog. The other videos can just show up as normal on Vimeo. However, the thought of migrating content over is not appealing in the least. --Chad On Mon, Nov 30, 2009 at 10:19 AM, Chad Boeninger wrote: > Hi Jay, > Thanks for the quick reply. Here's a video I shot last summer while on a > 50 mile bike ride. I shot it with my Flip Mino SD, so granted some of the > handheld on bike action is a little herky-jerky. I've posted all the videos > from all the services I have accounts with at > http://libraryvoice.com/technology/facebook-video-is-actually-pretty-good > , so you should be able to get a decent comparison of the video formats > there. All I did for the videos was stitch them with FlipShare, and then > render them as 640x480 WMV (the only choice). All services received the > same file for conversion. > > On a different note, I do make my own FLV for screencasts and then upload > that to Blip. I generally record my screen with Camstudio and then convert > the AVI file to FLV with a program called Quick Media Converter (it's > free). I only use the Easy conversion settings on the program, and my eyes > think the result is slightly better than the flash conversion at Blip. Quick > Media Converter (http://www.cocoonsoftware.com/) has some advance settings > as well (two pass encoding, bit rate, etc) but I haven't gotten around to > messing with those settings. Perhaps that could be a way to make a better > flash file and then upload to Blip. > > Thanks, > Chad > > > On Mon, Nov 30, 2009 at 10:05 AM, Jay dedman wrote: > >> >> >> > I've been using Blip.TV for quite some time for nearly all of my video >> blog >> > posts and other video projects, for both work and fun. I love the >> service >> > and the features, but have started to become a little disappointed with >> the >> > final flash video after conversion. If you upload the same video to >> Blip, >> > Vimeo, YouTube, and Facebook, the Blip version that is converted seems >> to be >> > the worst in the bunch. I'm generally only uploading SD video, if that >> > makes any difference. I don't plan on moving away from Blip any time >> soon, >> > as the other features (playlists, cross posting, customized player, >> custom >> > thumnails, etc) are the reasons I stay with Blip. However, I was >> wondering >> > if any of you have any suggestions for getting better quality out of the >> > Blip video player. Are there tricks I can employ on my end to make my >> file >> > more friendly to conversion? I'm a low budget windows user, so typically >> my >> > files are WMV (Flip video SD) or Mov (Canon SD 780 IS), and I >> occasionally >> > still shoot video with and older Canon MiniDV (edit in moviemaker and >> output >> > as WMV). Is there a file type or size that Blip may like better for >> better >> > quality conversion to flash? The other three seem to take WMVs just fine >> > and crunch them well, but perhaps there's something better I should be >> > looking at when uploading to Blip. >> >> I'd love to hear some folks chime in as well. >> Chad, do you have a video that youve uploaded to several different sites? >> It would help to actually see how each site has Flash converted the same >> video. >> >> A big thing is blip's favor is that they host the original video you >> upload. We convert our own Flash video and just upload that so we can >> be assured of the quality. >> >> Jay >> >> -- >> http://ryanishungry.com >> http://jaydedman.com >> http://twitter.com/jaydedman >> 917 371 6790 >> >> > > > > -- > Chad F. Boeninger > libraryvoice.com - blog > libraryvoice.com/videos - videoblog > twitter.com/cfboeninger >
TVP Re: [videoblogging] getting better quality out of Blip.TV
Chad Boeninger wrote: > Hi all, > I've been using Blip.TV for quite some time for nearly all of my video blog > posts and other video projects, for both work and fun. I love the service > and the features, but have started to become a little disappointed with the > final flash video after conversion. If you upload the same video to Blip, > Vimeo, YouTube, and Facebook, the Blip version that is converted seems to be > the worst in the bunch. I'm generally only uploading SD video, if that > makes any difference. I don't plan on moving away from Blip any time soon, > as the other features (playlists, cross posting, customized player, custom > thumnails, etc) are the reasons I stay with Blip. However, I was wondering > if any of you have any suggestions for getting better quality out of the > Blip video player. Are there tricks I can employ on my end to make my file > more friendly to conversion? I'm a low budget windows user, so typically my > files are WMV (Flip video SD) or Mov (Canon SD 780 IS), and I occasionally > still shoot video with and older Canon MiniDV (edit in moviemaker and output > as WMV). Is there a file type or size that Blip may like better for better > quality conversion to flash? The other three seem to take WMVs just fine > and crunch them well, but perhaps there's something better I should be > looking at when uploading to Blip. > > Thanks in advance for any help you can provide. > > --Chad > > -- -- Bohus Blahut (BOH-hoosh BLAH-hoot) modern filmmaker Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/videoblogging/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/videoblogging/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: videoblogging-dig...@yahoogroups.com videoblogging-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: videoblogging-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
TVP Re: [videoblogging] getting better quality out of Blip.TV
Rupert wrote: > If you upload as iPod compatible H264 M4V files (.M4V is Apple's > extension for iPod compatible MP4 files), you can customise your Blip > Show Player to show them in their original form. However, even so, > I've been noticing a deterioration in quality and colour recently, and > I'm not sure why that is. > > Blip's flash conversion has always been a bit grey and pixelly - as > Jay says, you can always just upload your own flv file - converted > using MPEGStreamclip or your editing software. > > There was a point when people loved Blip because they had the best > quality and best feature set, back when YouTube's quality was > appalling. They seem to be losing that advantage now. I heard > someone I didn't know really complaining about their reliability at an > event last week. > > Add to that the uncertainty about what's acceptable under their T&Cs > as discussed here before. > It must be a very expensive & competitive business, and seems they're > defining a different niche for themselves: a home for Web TV serials, > rather than home movies. > > In my experience, Vimeo has very good quality - but as Jay said, Blip > allows you to link to the original file for podcasting. A solution > I've been using recently is uploading to Vimeo and Blip at the same > time using Pixelpipe, then embedding the Vimeo player and linking to > the file on Blip for podcasting/iTunes. > > Rupert > http://twittervlog.tv > > > On 30-Nov-09, at 2:53 PM, Chad Boeninger wrote: > > >> Hi all, >> I've been using Blip.TV for quite some time for nearly all of my >> video blog >> posts and other video projects, for both work and fun. I love the >> service >> and the features, but have started to become a little disappointed >> with the >> final flash video after conversion. If you upload the same video to >> Blip, >> Vimeo, YouTube, and Facebook, the Blip version that is converted >> seems to be >> the worst in the bunch. I'm generally only uploading SD video, if that >> makes any difference. I don't plan on moving away from Blip any time >> soon, >> as the other features (playlists, cross posting, customized player, >> custom >> thumnails, etc) are the reasons I stay with Blip. However, I was >> wondering >> if any of you have any suggestions for getting better quality out of >> the >> Blip video player. Are there tricks I can employ on my end to make >> my file >> more friendly to conversion? I'm a low budget windows user, so >> typically my >> files are WMV (Flip video SD) or Mov (Canon SD 780 IS), and I >> occasionally >> still shoot video with and older Canon MiniDV (edit in moviemaker >> and output >> as WMV). Is there a file type or size that Blip may like better for >> better >> quality conversion to flash? The other three seem to take WMVs just >> fine >> and crunch them well, but perhaps there's something better I should be >> looking at when uploading to Blip. >> >> Thanks in advance for any help you can provide. >> >> --Chad >> >> -- >> Chad F. Boeninger >> libraryvoice.com - blog >> libraryvoice.com/videos - videoblog >> twitter.com/cfboeninger >> >> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] >> >> >> >> > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > -- -- Bohus Blahut (BOH-hoosh BLAH-hoot) modern filmmaker Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/videoblogging/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/videoblogging/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: videoblogging-dig...@yahoogroups.com videoblogging-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: videoblogging-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
