pre-loading an avi

[tgoode]

has any body tried preloading an avi -or what is the best way to show a avi on a web page ?

[Rick_E]

AVIs are usually not used on the web because their file sizes are too large. The AVIs are usually encoded into one of the streaming formats such as RealMedia, Windows Media, or QuickTime, because the file sizes are much smaller and because they start playing before the entire file is downloaded.

In another message I'll give some information on converting your AVI into a streaming format file.

[Rick_E]

You can convert your video or audio files to one of the streaming formats such as Windows Media, Real, or Quicktime. There are free or almost free encoders provided for this purpose.

The free Windows Media Encoder can be found at
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/create.aspx

The free Real Producer for encoding RealMedia is at
http://www.realnetworks.com/products/producer/index.html

and the Pro Version of the QuickTime player, which will encode streaming QuickTime files is at http://www.apple.com/quicktime/products/qt/

Performance:

You would get improved performance by hosting your streaming media on a specialized media server, but for low-traffic sites you can host your streaming media files on your web site and use http streaming (AKA progressive download).

Many people encode a broadband version at around 250 kbps and also a dialup version at 28 kbps. Obviously, the broadband version will have better quality and frame rates.