Media Streaming


Which are the main Streaming Media Formats?
Audio
The most common audio formats on the web are: mp3, wma (Windows Media), ra and rm (Real Audio and Real Media) and compressed wav. mp3 is the most popular audio format in the web. In addition to these we have flac (Flash) ,m4a (Quicktime audio) and a bunch of other formats. We have to use compressed audio for better performance in the web.

You can convert your audio file with proper compression techniques by means of audio convertors (eg: dBpowerAMP Music Converter). Visit our download section for these applications.

Video
You can use different video formats, such as flash video (.flv), Flash (.swf), Windows Media (.wmv), Apple QuickTime (.mov), and MPEG-4(.mp4). It is best to use the most common file formats, and those that can be played on any operating system platform (or at least the most popular ones, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac, and Linux) with easily obtainable free codecs or browser plugins. We recommend Flash Media format (FLV) for video and MP3 for audio streaming. it's entirely up to you which format(s) to use.

Most serious video editing applications (eg: Adobe Premiere, Final Cut Pro) have options to export video for the internet. This is often the easiest way to create streaming video files.Otherwise you can use a convertion utility. A conversion utility is a stand-alone program which imports a video clip and exports it to a different format. Basically, you simply open a file and select which which format to save it as. You can set various parameters to optimise the final video. Different applications have different procedures, You may need to consult your application's help file for specific instructions.

Some conversion utilies can be expensive. If you're a novice or are not looking to invest a lot of money in software, there are also many free video conversion tools available. Visit the download section of the webcircuitmedia.com for popular free utilties.