Dear Support Team,
Now we use flv video for moodle used, but I found mp4,ogg,wmv format, which format can be used less network bandwidth ? Which format is support or can be used in moodle ? Thanks a lot.
I suggest .mp4, h.264. Realize that some video encoding software will allow you to adjust settings that affect bandwidth. I shoot for 2MPS to 4MPS.
Dear Rick,
I have some question about this.
I shoot for 2MPS to 4MPS.
What does it mean ? Thanks a lot.
It is a data rate, how many bits per second within the video.
I can see this calculated for me by opening the video with the QuickTime player and picking Window, Show Movie Inspector. DSL's lower common rate is 5 megabits per second, so staying below this is pretty safe.
As another measurement, a 10 minute video should be under approximately 100-150 MB in size.
These are guidelines.
Dear all,
What 's Sream Video? Is it video format , such as flv, mp4,avi...etc? Or we need setup streaming video server , such as nginx server, and then put video file in it. Finally , change moodle video path to nginx server. Is it right? (We try to know what's sreaming application.) Because we need use less network bandwidth.
Best Regards, Anderson Hsu
A video file, such as flv or mp4, is simply a computer file. When you try to download a computer file, it usually just downloads to your computer, pretty quickly (right?) But what happens if the computer file is large? You wait!
Well, many video files are large. So having to wait to download a big video file before being able to play it can become annoying. So what does one do? Well, some if this is dependent upon the "video server." Some video servers, like a video streaming server, are fine-tuned to deliver video. That's their major task and they tend to do it better than other servers. Additionally, being able to click on a video and have it immediately play is based upon your computer's (browser) software. This is where Flash had an advantage. Flash video players would download a chuck of the video file, start playing it for you, yet continue download more of the video "in the background."
Today, with faster computers, servers, bandwidth, etc., some browsers are able to play mp4 videos "real time." So other solutions, like Flash, may not be necessary.
nginx, don't know much about it, but I do often see that video servers use nginx to serve video. I don't know much more.
I rely on my university's video server for my own videos. It works well. I don't know what I would do if I had to do this on my own.
So your question is really plural ... 1) is about file format for videos. 1a) which file type is better and 2) is really the goal in relation to videos .... that of reducing bandwidth consumption from/to your Moodle server. Is that right so far?
So where/how do you host your moodle? Sounds like it's hosted someplace that has a data cap ... X amount of data can be served from your server.
Something to keep in mind here regardless of which/what direction you eventually choose ... that of the end point ... ie, what students are using to view/use your course(s). Think the research says more an more are using smartphones and tablets.
File types ... flv (flash) ... Adobe has already warned of demise of not only FLV but also SWF by 2020. Other file types you've mentoned .... avi ... mp4 and in another posting wmv. Of those 3 ... wmv is proprietary ... pretty much Windows only ... only mp4 is HTML5 compat ... and that's another thing to keep in mind ... HTML5. Those video/file types that are compat with HTML5 ... mp4, ogg, and webm (last I checked).
Video files, BTW, are normally already compressed ... see for yourself ... check the file size of any video file you have. Then zip it or gzip it .... you'll see the resulting zip/tgz, etc isn't that much smaller.
Depending upon where your Moodle is hosted and what other servers/services they offer, to get under the data CAP you have to reduce bandwidth usage there is only one answer if your provider doesn't offer a service/server etc.. ... host your videos else where and on a system that is designed for video streaming/broadcasting. From the moodle then you need to be able to embed the video content ... so that the video appears to be coming from Moodle ... but it's not.
You may/may not be able to use, but check out what's offered by the 'biggies' in the 'cloud' ... that of Google, Amazon, Azure ... and that area is getting competitive now-a-days ...
Don'e use Amazon (yet) but ...
Google has similar (might be known as YouTube).
Azure???? Not a Windows person myself so won't go there! ;)
Might also check to things like Discovery Education:
https://www.google.com/search?q=discovery+education
As you can see there is no simple answer ... many factors.
'spirit of sharing', Ken
Dear all,
I know Adobe has already warned of demise of not only FLV but also SWF by 2020. My main purpose is use less network bandwidth when foreign employee watch video at moodle.
We upload video in moodle server . We don't use other server to video. Because I have study some information,article..etc, I think I can setup streaming video server, such as nginx, and then put video to here. I think the way probably use less network bandwidth. (Although I have not test)
Our moodle server can not connect internet directly, so we cannot use youtube, Amazon. I also found some useful plugin , such as https://moodle.org/plugins/filter_rtmp, I think it's also helpful.
Best Regards, Anderson Hsu
So your primary concern is using less bandwidth in what used to be called 'the last mile'. That still exist and is 100% dependent upon how a student connects to the internet ... not just Moodle.
So the use of RTMP ... here's one page that talks about a private rtmp server ...
https://obsproject.com/forum/resources/how-to-set-up-your-own-private-rtmp-server-using-nginx.50/
on that page it states:
"If you don't have your own box, a VPS can also work. I recommend Linode or Digital Ocean as providers. Just make sure you have enough bandwidth...remember that bandwidth usage will be (the size of a stream) * (the number of people uploading + the number of people downloading). So when I have 2 streamers stream to my server, and I download both of them, I can chew up 10GB of bandwidth in 2 hours."
That talks about bandwidth usage from your server ... **not, however, the last mile**.
Could you ask some of your more tech savy students to test their connection to the internet for speeds/bandwith?
'spirit of sharing', Ken