what codec shall I use ?

[janlameer]

Hi!

I'm working on my new website at www.timelapse.nl and I am wondering what codec I shall use for my filmclips.
I'd rather not use divx for the general audience since it requires downloading and installing their codec.

I noticed that Sirko uses mpeg codec for the movies on his very informative meteor site. Those movies played immediately on the Windows XP machine I'm currently working on, so mpeg might be an option, I'd say.
I'm editing on Adobe Premiere Pro, so I can almost choose any codec I want...

To explain the question a bit more: I usually access Internet on different computers, either at work or in a public Internet place. So downloading and installing divx or other codecs is a hassle or even impossible. That also explains why I haven't viewed Bernd's Zeitrafferfilme yet, to my regret (I will soon Bernd, I promise :-) ).

Anyone has an opinion on this for me somewhat fundamental question ... ?

[Dirk L]

Thanks for considering this point! So many web developers assume that everyone looks at their web site with internet explorer without any consideration of other systems. I usually use a linux box, and have not, for example, found a way to look at divx movies....(I have to boot my other computer into XP). My experience is that mpeg is least troublesome. Most avi also work (I use xanim for that, and sometimes there are avi codecs that xanim can't deal with). Whenever I put a movie on the web, I try this out on a linux box and on my XP notebook to make sure it works on both systems.

I also appreciate that you are moving your Museum of Time away from angelfire.com. The number of pop-up advertisements was getting to be a bother. I hope that gets better with the new site.

--Dirk

[Heiko Rodde]

hallo jan,

da mein schrift-englisch nicht so toll ist, alles in deutsch.
also ich habe auf meinem ibook den mplayer und den vlc installiert und diese beiden teile spielen alle moeglichen codec ab. ich hatte auch mit bernds neuen filmen keine probleme. da diese beiden player zum ueberwiegenden teil der mac-nutzer (unter osx) verwendet werden, gibts zumindest von der mac-seite keine formate die besser oder schlechter bzw. gar nicht laufen.

glueckwunsch zu deinen neuen seiten ! die darstellung ist auch mit safari und firefox in ordnung.

gruss heiko

[janlameer]

Hi Heiko and Dirk

Thanks for the replies.
So mpeg it will be, I will do some experimenting with it. It is always hard to find the right compromise between filesize and quality.
I probably will also add some larger DivX animations. My Kiruna shots are just screaming to go on-line. But my main concern indeed is that anyone on any platform can see the clips without downloading extra software.

I'm very glad also that I'm rid now of the pop-ups and in-page advertisements. Angelfire has been a good free host up till 2003 with few ads, but that period is over now. They're even stopping their e-mail service in a few weeks.

greetings, JanL