Advice on putting video on blogs?
 

If I want to put videos on my blog that will play (not auto play, but have the controls) on the page does this require the video files be in flash format? What would be the best way to convert sponsor clips to flash format?

I'm looking for a way to make video play on the page that would look similar to the way mainstream blogs play YouTube clips.

Thanks for any suggestions.

I had the same question last month NobleSavage, here ya go
http://www.greenguysboard.com/board/...ad.php?t=33215

Saved me a post....well almost.

presenting FLV Player

http://www.wedesignxxx.com/temp/player/

I just finnished developing it.

some features: full screen , reads the vid size and the player autoresizes / autocenters,
you can setup the player to play your own flv files , show/hide the full screen button , autoplay or not - these settings are easy to alter , they are in the html that calls the swf file.

best way to convert any video file to wmv?
Macromedia Flash 8 Video Encoder - shipped with Macromedia Flash 8.
easy to use , also very important: it has batch enconding too ;)

for those interrested to buy the player I've done : price is $100 (epassporte prefered) , of course I will change the top logo with yours.

Cheers,
FF

I had an error in my post.. correct is "..convert any video file to flv.."

Cheers,
FF

I'd be interested, but not for $100. I'd be happy to beta test it on several blogs and if it works good I'll tell everyone how great it is :)

;)

words don't feed people

That's what I figured so I made my own. If any one wants to know how to do it for free let me know.

http://surfcuties.com/flash-test/

I'd be interested in knowing. I was thinking of putting a video or two a week on one of my blogs. I am currently at the "how to go about it" stage.

I'm using the free vPIP plugin which handles wmv, flash and mov files. vPIP stands for video playing in posts and is available here http://utilities.cinegage.com/videos-playing-in-place/

You can see it in action on http://www.anaughtyblog.com

Thanks Walrus, I'll have a look at that, as well as what NobleSavage offers :)

I just put flowplayer on my server. http://flowplayer.sourceforge.net/

And then you can just put the object code in your posts or pages as you see fit. You have to convert the media to .flv locally tho.

vPIP sounds like a good option, I tried it, but I wasn't crazy about the big additional box it places below your editor. I'm also a little adverse to using things that are in beta. I might might try it again in the future. I'm kind of a minimalist so the flowplayer option suits me.

flowplayer also has some cool features - you can use your own skins, you can have playlists, and you can use a splash image (like a nice thumb) that shows before you play the movie.

The directions on the flowplayer page are fairly good. I didn't have any problems. If anyone needs help setting this up, let me know, I'll be glad to help.

*note: somewhere on the flowplayer page or maybe a linking site recommends some free windows application for converting media to .flv it doesn't work. I'm converting media with Blaze Media Pro (which is like $50, they have a free trial). There is a GPL command line unix program that I will probably write a script for to batch process sponsor clips on a local linux box. That is next on my list.

I'd say custom is the way to go... of course it's my opionion.

adding a "send this video to a friend" at the end of the vid now..

I've managed to 'borrow' a copy of FlashMX, so might see if I can do something myself :)

So far, tho, Walrus' offer looks favourite... for the short term at least.