Help with playing .mov file

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Help with playing .mov file

Wondering if plan makes sense...

Mabel_Minn

7:55 pm on Mar 22, 2007 (gmt 0)

I'm brand-new to playing video from a web page. I have a .mov file from a video production company. It's a 20-minute video and the file is about 130Mb. Here's the code I'm using:

<a href='javascript:void(0)' onClick='window.open("video/070322.mov","movie","fullscreen=no,toolbar=no,
status=no,menubar=no,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes,directories=no,location=no,
width=660,height=500,left=15,top=100")'>Play the 20 minute video</a>

My questions are:
1. Does it make sense to attempt to play a 130Mb video from a web page?
2. Does supplying the video only in .mov format then require that the visitor use QuickTime to view it?
3. Are there better options to serving this movie to visitors?

Basically, I'd appreciate any general advice to help me head down the right road. Thanks very much for your time!

[edited by: limbo at 9:44 am (utc) on Mar. 23, 2007]
[edit reason] fixed scroll - please note you will have to remove the line breaks to preview the JS [/edit]

thecoalman

9:43 am on Mar 23, 2007 (gmt 0)

1. Sure why not, just make sure the file isn't on a main page and the user is aware of it's size. I embed files much larger than that.

2. That is correct, either quicktime or another player that will play it. If not they are juts going to get a prompt to save the file if it's a direct link such as the one you have. Once saved they still won't be able to open it. Personally I use WMV, for all intents and purposes anyone with a machine Win98 or better will be ale to play these from a fresh install of windows. My next choice would be flash which requires the flash plugin. Overall MPEG1 is actually the most compatible format but requires about 4X the file size for comparable quality compared to WMV and other formats that compress better.

3. You can embed a file into a page instead of providing a link. Not sure how it's done with .mov becaue I never worked it. Do a seach for embedding video.

Mabel_Minn

3:08 pm on Mar 23, 2007 (gmt 0)

Dear thecoalman,

Thanks for your feedback. I appreciate the advice.
Have a great day!

rocknbil

6:58 pm on Mar 23, 2007 (gmt 0)

Welcome aboard Mabel_Minn, I wold suggest making a few other formats available. I personally have had nightmares with QT and use it only when forced to. .wmv and .mpg are good alternate choices.