Things have changed quite a bit since I started in the film and video business in 1988. Back then, many corporate shows were still filmed and edited on film. Video filming was done on “normal Jane”, not SP, Betacam analog. The video editing was done in Low Band U-Matic, a process that required taking a lot of notes and a day or two to write all the timecode numbers for the online (linear) editing. Mastering was done on a bulky one-inch reel-by-reel video, which was so sensitive to magnetic fields that it couldn’t be taken on a London Underground train. The distribution was on low band U-Matic, Betamax (remember that?) Or VHS.
Today, almost twenty years later, the much heralded digital age is upon us. You can record to DV, edit to Avid, and burn the result to DVD without a moment’s thought or loss of quality. The only stage of the process that has remained more or less the same is the final one: the delivery of the program to the viewer. Whether it’s by mail, Fed-Ex, or motorcycle courier, someone has to take a copy of your finished show, transport it to the viewer will see it, and then play it back on specialized equipment. If your program has to cross borders into another country, you will likely have to make special copies to meet the television standard of that country, and the customer will also have to pay a high customs fee.
The Internet provides a solution to this problem and is, in my opinion, the perfect medium for the distribution of corporate videos, for companies large and small. Broadband / ADSL Internet access is fast becoming the norm. Around 80% of the UK now has the ability to access broadband (source: The Guardian) and the figure is higher for some other countries. Here are some examples of the ways this technology can be used:
Let’s say you run a small or medium-sized business and have made a promotional video to show potential customers. You can easily broadcast this from your website. If you don’t want your competition to watch your video (and you can’t guarantee that a DVD won’t fall into the “wrong” hands), you can password protect that part of the website and access by invitation only. You can also stream a commercial from your website for the whole world to see, not just the people in your local TV area. You could even link it to your print advertising, so that people want to visit your site and see your commercial. That certainly beats them up to getting up to go to the bathroom when your commercial is shown on TV, or forward it if they have taped the show it’s being shown on. There is so much video content of this nature displayed on the web now, Yahoo! you have devoted a large chunk of your search engine to it. Visit Yahoo!, click on the “video” tab and type “commercial” to see what I mean.
If you run a large company or have staff in more than one location, video streaming becomes a real boon. In addition to the options available to small businesses, you can use it for corporate communications. You can show the same video to employees in different locations, cities, time zones, or even countries. Aside from converting your video to the correct format (more on that later), and having your webmaster upload it to their web space, the actual costs are practically nil, and there is definitely nothing for the tax collector to prove! ! Your video can cross borders without incurring customs charges, and standard conversion becomes a thing of the past.
Getting your training message across also becomes a lot easier. Employees can view the video from their computer screens. Add some “interactivity” to the mix and you can create a personalized training session for each employee. If you are on a network, you can do so through your company’s intranet as well as through the web.
With live streaming, a trainer can train multiple people at the same time, even if they are in different parts of the world. This is particularly useful for medical training. A surgeon can demonstrate a particular technique from a sterile environment, without the operating room having to be crowded with students. The whole process can also be videotaped for later viewing.
There are many formats available for digital video and careful research is required to select the most appropriate one. The most popular formats are:
Macromedia Flash (swf)
Microsoft video (avi)
Cinema Expert Group (mpeg)
Fast time (mov)
Real Mean (rm)
Windows Media (wmv)
Video streaming doesn’t compare to what viewers are used to watching on TV or DVD. The most obvious difference is that the optimal screen size is much smaller. Ideally, the video transmission can be clear and continuous, but the latest technology must be used to create, send and receive the video or the results may be unsatisfactory; However, with that said, the type of image one would see when sitting directly in front of a computer monitor is no different than what is seen on a 14 “portable television viewed from a distance of approximately 10 feet.
Due to the smaller screen size, it is better to avoid complicated graphics or DVE movements in a streamed video, although still frame graphics can always be displayed on the website along with the video.
There are many myths and misconceptions about video streaming. Some of the most common questions I get asked are:
“Don’t I need a special website for video streaming?” No, it is not. Because the files are large, most free sites won’t host them, but regular sites will. I have more than five hours of video streaming on my website, and it is normal. Some web hosting companies charge you more if you have continuous live video streaming, but this is usually to cover the additional bandwidth.
“Ah, bandwidth. I bet it consumes a lot. Won’t it cost a fortune?” This is true in a way. The video files are large, but they are only binary files. Downloading large files, whether they are video or software, is bandwidth-hungry. However, the video streaming formats are specially designed to keep the file size as small as possible. Bandwidth isn’t that expensive these days anyway, and many web hosting packages come with a 50-100 gigabyte monthly allowance, which is more than adequate for most applications.
“Some people who want to watch my videos have Windows PCs, while others have Macs. Isn’t that a problem?” No. Most streaming formats are compatible with multiple operating systems, and even manufacturer-specific formats, such as Microsoft’s Windows Media and Apple’s Quick Time, have versions that can be used by “the competition.”
“Is the video transmission good on a dial-up connection?” It is true that video streaming works best over broadband. The best option is to offer the alternative of downloading the video file in addition to streaming it; that way someone on a dial-up can download the file and view it from their hard drive.
Video streaming can add a whole new dimension to your corporate video, whether it’s for training, communications, or marketing. It’s like having your own cable TV channel, only considerably cheaper.
