Streaming video is not easy! Over the last few weeks, we have been wrestling to solve a variety of streaming video issues.

Some were caused by slow Internet connections, others with an outdated media player on our web server. But the one we couldn't figure out was why iOS devices, like iPads and iPhones would not play long videos.

Holly Smokes, was this complex!  Come to find out, iOS does not allow iOS devices to play videos longer than ten minutes when connected to a cellular data network!  So, I spent the last week researching this issue and, finally, figured out what HTTP Live Streaming is and why we need to learn about it.

First, I wrote an article about this that is my lead story this week. If you are working with web video at all, you need to read this. This provides both a background and new method you can use in compressing your videos.

Second, we learned that in order to support iOS devices, we need to re-compress and re-program ALL our videos.  With over 600 videos in our library, this is a massive job.  We plan to start by updating our most recent webinars and work back from there.

We already have this working in the lab, now we need to figure out how to roll it out across the entire library. (As the article states, the trick is to get this working on Amazon servers, which is where our subscription media is hosted.) I'm hoping to see the first newly-compressed files up and running next week.

I'll keep you informed.

Each week, I feature a different interview from our podcast: Digital Production Buzz. This week, I want to call an interview with Matt Jackson and Sean Stack to your attention, from our June 6th show.

Matt is the director of the indie horror / suspense / comedy film "Love in the Time of Monsters." Sean did the color grading.  So I ask you, what's the color of a zombie?  You'll discover the answer here.

Listen to their interview here.
Listen to the entire show here.

To learn more about this contest and the free stuff you can WIN - or just to review past winners - click here.
 

Creating files for download is easy.

Creating streaming files that stream smoothly is really difficult.

In this article, I explain the streaming limitations of mobile devices, the new protocols that have been invented to fix this and a detailed explanation of how you need to change your compression techniques to get videos, or live events, to stream properly on mobile devices.

If you are compressing video for the web, you need to read this.

This short video excerpt from last week's webinar shows how to create the "Pleasantville Effect," where everything in the frame is black-and-white except for one object; in this case, the red coat of an actor.

In this video tutorial, I show you how to use the color settings in Final Cut Pro X to create this effect.

Shape masks are new for Final Cut Pro X. They allow you to select a portion of an image based upon a geometric shape.

In this video tutorial, I show you how to create shape masks to reduce hot spots in the frame and make the actor a lot more dominant in the shot.

From a business point of view, these are hard times. There is too much competition fighting over too few clients.

This means not only do we need to smart in our craft, but we need to be really, really efficient. Clients don't pay us to be slow.

So, over the years, I've written and updated a multi-step editing workflow that answers the question: "What should I be doing RIGHT NOW?"

Earlier this week, I updated this, again. So, here's the latest version.

Here are the top three articles, webinars, and audio interviews for the past seven days.

Articles

• FCP X: Manage Events & Projects  
• FCP X: 5 Tips to Faster Exports  
• FCP X: Native / Optimize / Proxy Media 

For a list of all our articles, visit here.

 

Webinars

• #71: Manual Color Correction in FCP X
• #99: 3rd-Party Plug-ins for FCP X  
• #95: Create Killer Titles in FCP X  

This list is based on the webinars watched most often by our monthly subscribers. For a list of all our webinars, visit here.

 

Digital Production Buzz Audio Interviews 

• Philip Hodgetts: The Future of FCP X
• Bobbie O'Steen: Writing the Book on Editing Movies
• Alan Heim: A History of Editing Classic Films

For a list of all our audio interviews, visit here. 

We are committed to providing the highest quality training at the lowest possible price and distributing it as widely as possible.

From subscriptions to individual downloads to free techniques and articles -- we've got your back.  And there's lots more to come.

Thanks!