May 2010
3 posts
Interesting blog post on HTML 5 by Jeroen Wijering →
According to Jeroen, HTML 5 is “not quite there yet.” The video tag is missing core functionality, which may tempt browser developers to move away from common standards in an effort to bridge these gaps.
New JW Player for HTML 5 (with Flash backup) in... →
Universal subtitle & captioning project →
From the Participatory Culture Foundation, makers of Miro. We’re using Miro Community as the engine for Duke on Demand. This project is expected to launch in beta next week.
March 2010
1 post
Flash may not really be a CPU hog →
Interesting data from Jan Ozer showing hardware acceleration could change equation in Flash v. HTML 5 debate
February 2010
4 posts
Google purchases video compression company On2 →
This acquisition began a while back but recently finalized. Interesting development in the upcoming war many are predicting between Flash and HTML5, since On2 developed the codecs used in large part to propel Flash to its current dominance in web video. Some are suggesting that Google will opensource the latest generation of high quality codecs (VP6, VP7, and VP8) as a way of jumpstarting HTML5
1 tag
Qik: free live streaming from your phone
Qik (www.qik.com) is an interesting free tool for live video and audio streaming from your mobile phone. It’s been around for a while but flying to some extent under the radar. I met these guys in late 2008 at a YouTube developer’s conference and thought their product was very cool, and that it would be even more interesting as cell phone video capabilities got better, which...
New YouTube metrics tool shows video speed →
Lets you compare your rates with others in your area and other regions. Includes real-time stats as an overlay over a test video. Should be a great diagnostic tool for connection problems for streaming—just play the YouTube test video to find out whether your current rate supports the video you’re trying to stream.
Flash v. HTML 5
It’s the Clash of the Titans as Apple and Adobe begin to square off around the iPad and its lack of support for Flash. Steve Jobs calls Adobe “lazy” and Flash “buggy”: http://tr.im/MzJf. Adobe’s CTO says HTML 5, which Apple wants to supplant Flash, will throw the web “back to the dark ages of video…with incompatibility issues”:...
January 2010
1 post
Smoothee by Steadicam for iPhone →
Thanks to my friend Chris Colomb for spotting this one. With a device like this that smooths out the shakes, your iPhone video footage can look a lot more professional. A price hasn’t been announced yet—hopefully it will be affordable, but considering the top of line Steadicams are $50,000 or more, it might not be super cheap. We’ll see…
December 2009
2 posts
iPhone/ Flash streaming--encode once, publish...
For our Duke media creators looking to deliver content through both streaming and podcasting to iPhones/iPods and other mobile devices: the iPhone export function in QuickTime Pro (or any QuickTime-based editing app) will produce output that can be used for both purposes. A couple advantages of this approach are that you don’t need to choose among complex export options—just select...
Duke YouTube Gets Captions →
Nice story by OIT’s Cara Bonnett on YouTube’s auto-captioning featuring being piloted by Duke and a dozen or so schools. Captioning is still a somewhat primitive technology, but will no doubt open lots of doors in terms of searchability and accessibility for the deaf or hearing impaired.
November 2009
3 posts
Automatic captioning for YouTube videos →
Captions are based on Google’s automatic speech recognition (ASR) technology and viewers of your video can choose to translate the captions on the fly into languages supported by Google Translate (currently 34). ASR technology is still primitive, so the captions YouTube creates will be approximations. But it’s still a great step forward for online video. Currently in limited...
Great page on video captioning technologies →
Focuses on YouTube videos, but offers a wide range of information on processes and tools for many applications. Covers some of the key tools available for transcription services, hardware & software tools, speech-to-text software, transcoding applications and services, chunking and synchronization tools and tips, helpful info on editing, uploading, and more. Thanks to Carolyn Kotlas for...
