Your Christmas QT movie on your Blog

Want to put that Christmas video on your blog? Here’s how . . .

Karen Ward was asking, so i thought there might be others also

I have been posting QT movies since 2000. I used to have to chase down the html and experiment because no one had the information. Things are a lot easier now with other programs. Ecto, my blog editor, creates the html and loads it up automatically. I just have to decide if i want to load it up to play automatically (not a good idea, especially for dial up readers) or have a “download movie” link or lastly, to use a thumbnail image (best idea) which will start the movie only when someone clicks the thumbnail.

Heres how to do it without an editing program. You may need Quicktime Pro for this – not too expensive but a necessary part of your blogger’s kit. download the program from apple.com/quicktime

The Skinny on Shooting for Web:

1. When you shoot your movie, try for
– As close up as possible.
– Little movement. Still is great and uses less space.
– Good lighting. Things may come out darker on the web. Use a flash or a lamp if you have to.

2. Export your movie to QuickTime format, for PC or Mac. If you are more familiar with Real Media or editing in Windows Media .avi, then ignore this part.
– Photo-Jpeg is a good setting. Sorenson also is good for compressing as small as you can without sacrificing quality. You may only need 15 frames per second rather than the hefty 24 or more, and that will give you a smaller file. You could also try lower than 15. I have used 12 and even 2 or 3 for a long file.
– Sound can be exported as mono rather than stereo, giving you an even smaller file. But if sound is important, stick to stereo.
– Consider 160 x 120 as a good size. 320 x 240 if it is really short and visuals are the focus. 640 x 480 is just too large. But people can resize it with their Quicktime players.
– Make sure you save your movie as a self contained .mov file. Make sure there are no dependencies – Double check by looking at the size of the file.
– Select the “fast start” option which will start the movie as soon as there is enough of the file to allow it. this is better than making them press play at the right time

3. Upload your movie to space on your server. You may want to create a /movies folder, like i have done. You will also want to upload a small image if you want to use a thumbnail image for your movie.

4. Here is the code you will need for the movie to be seen and played on your web site. I am showing you an image of the exact html i have used for the QT movie from a previous blog post 3 days ago, in which i posted two movies in two different ways. Go and take a look at it here if you like.

1. Embedded. I don’t recommend this but am mentioning it anyway. This one is all automatic and works for a really small movie file or a separate page with your movie. (Click on these images to make them larger)

You will note that my size is 160 x 140 on this movie – but you will most likely not be using that size. You could leave it blank if the size is right, or make it smaller here.

2. Thumbnail. This one is better for most movies. It comes up almost immediately, and only loads the movie if someone clicks the thumbnail image. Remember that you have to create and load the separate image as a thumnail.

Obviously you will be changing the addresses of the movie files and thumbnails from what i have given you here. Otherwise my movie will appear on your site.

Have fun with it.