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playerless java video player home page |
First Published: November 11, 2004 Playerless.com to Offer an Inexpensive MPEG-4 Website Video Solution that Doesn't Require a Dedicated Player Like Real® Player, Quicktime® Player, or Windows® Media PlayerIt's a dream that is becoming a reality, written in Java®. We have a fantastic new video solution under development that will allow visitors to your website to play a video without having a particular player already installed on their computer! All they have to do is show up, and the video can start playing. In a few cases, they'll have to approve a small Java® upgrade, but they won't have to have any technical expertise to install it. All they'll have to do is approve the installation, and their computer will take care of the rest! Ever since the video revolution first hit the net, webmasters have been beset with that most perplexing question: which format should I use? Windows PC users tend to prefer Windows® Media Player. Macintosh® users have Quicktime® Player installed. Linux and other smaller OS users settle for whatever they can install. The result is a hodgepodge of conflicting player standards, and the poor webmaster is left scratching his or her virtual head, trying to figure out how to meet the needs of all their website visitors. The beauty of a Java®-based solution is that 93% of the world's computers are already Java® enabled. The Java® revolution was started by Sun Microsystems in the 1990s, based on the revolutionary idea that there could be a platform-independent software solution that would run on any computer. Java® has since swept the computer world. Playerless.com's soon to be released "playerless" website video player will use that technology. Even better, it will be a terrific, inexpensive way to leverage the latest video improvements wrought by the new MPEG-4 standards. MPEG-4 gives viewers the highest quality video available with the smallest compressed file sizes. This is critical, considering the slowness of most users' internet connections. Even cable and DSL users have relatively slow connections compared even to a typical, low-cost local area network (LAN). Dialup and ISDN users have even slower connections. So being able to deliver high-quality video over Internet speeds is truly a revolution. As of November 2004, when this website was launched, the MPEG-4 revolution is just getting started. It was developed in 2000, but it hasn't taken hold before now, primarily because of high bandwidth costs. All that is changing, however, with the recent telecom crash and the inevitable reduction in bandwidth costs. MPEG-4 and video in general will undoubtedly sweep the Internet world over the next few years. The day is coming in the not so distant future when the Internet will be many people's main source for video-based news, information, and entertainment. When Is It Gonna Be Ready?Our development team is already working on the project. We were hoping to launch by June 30, 2005, but that date has come and gone. The development team has had a major breakthrough since that date, however, and we're hopeful that we'll have a beta product available in the next couple of months or so. Check back in August or September. Update: January 8, 2006We had to sack the previous developer, who simply wasn't getting the job done in a timely manner. However, I'm happy to report that there is now progress. We have a new team that has been working diligently on the problem for less than a month, and already they've made substantial progress. They've created a player that enlists many commonly installed players (Winamp, Windows Media Player, etc.) as an mp4 player. They're currently working on developing the streaming server platform piece to the puzzle, which they hope to have finished by the end of January. Also, they're still looking at incorporating the JMF java platform, which will make it truly playerless from an installation point of view. So stay tuned! Will It Have Its Own Encoder?The playerless.com website video player will have the best available encoder on the market. We'll be bundling either the Sorenson® Squeeze MPEG-4 encoder or the IBM MPEG-4 encoder with our package. We're also considering adding the DIVX MPEG-4 codec, which will enable owners of DIVX and Pinnacle Studio to put their movies on the web in streaming MP4 format as well. Ever notice how many encoders are hard to figure out? And how you never really know what settings to use to get the highest quality video at the smallest compression available. Our encoder gives you tremendous power and control, without making you do all that guesswork. What are the minimum PC requirements?
What features will be available?High Definition (HD) encoding optionsIncludes High Definition (HD) encoding options for AVC/H.264 and MPEG-4. Support for AVC encoding (H.264) Create content for the newest formats in the industry - H.264 and High Definition (HD) H.264. Batch processing at job, source, and output levels Lets you process multiple video clips efficiently via the new batch processing window. Apply your settings at the job, source or even output level to quickly prepare multiple video clips at the same time. Detachable and resizable preview window Detach and resize the video preview window or move it to a second monitor! Encoder will remember where you drag and drop the windows. Video zoom tool for pixel-perfect cropping With the new zoom tool you can make sure that you crop only the pixels you don't need. In/out preview markers Leverage the new in/out preview markers to select a section of your video clip to encode. Multi-Bit-Rate file creation for Windows Media and RealMedia Create a single file with all of the common data rates. Visitors to the Web site, who access your file will receive the appropriate data rate for their connection speed. Ability to save audio and video filter settings Not only enables you to adjust the audio and video filter settings, but it also lets you to save your own settings for future projects. Ability to save a project Now enables you save your uncompleted project so that you can work on it at a later time. Filter preview slider Use the new filter preview slider to view your filter setting changes before you encode your video. Modeless filter dialog The new modeless filter dialog allows you to edit your filters and view the results of those changes (via the preview slider) without closing the dialog box. Improved audio and video filters Users get maximum flexibility with advanced control of audio/video parameters such as:
In/out trim points With the in/out trim points you can encode just a section of your video to make sure that your settings are correct. Multiple Watch Folders with multiple output options Set up several different Watch Folders for multiple output options on your computer or even your network to streamline your workflow. Supports output for multiple formats including QuickTime, Windows Media (7, 8, and 9), RealMedia, Flash, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and MPEG-4 media for streaming, progressive downloads, CDs, and even DVDs. Improved intelligent presets Includes optimized presets for CDs, DVDs, streaming, progressive download, as well as local delivery with various data rates for each preset. Optimized presets for streaming, progressive download, and local delivery (with various data rates for each preset) All presets have been tested and optimized for a variety of delivery scenarios. All you need to do is select a preset. Duplicate source button With the new duplicate source button you can quickly add multiple output options with just a few clicks. Customizable interface layout Customize the interface to fit your workflow needs. Simply minimize or close windows that you do not need and expand windows that you do need. Standard NLE shortcut keys Use the NLE shortcut keys to quickly implement standard keyboard controls that are used in other popular video applications. Ability to constrain output file sizes Allows you to request a final target output file size and then automatically adjusts the compression settings to reach the desired file size. Adjustable cropping Cropping ability allows you trim the edges of your video and to quickly "cut out" undesirable areas within your video. Audio import Lets you select an audio track to encode with your video file. DV capture Captures digital video through any DV source, whether it is a digital video camera or an analog-to-digital converter. One-Pass Variable Bit Rate (VBR) compression One-Pass VBR compression reduces processing time to non-VBR standards while delivering only slightly lower quality than Two-Pass VBR compression. Two-Pass Variable Bit Rate (VBR) compression Supports Two-Pass VBR, which produces higher-quality video than standard compression while only adding slightly more processing time. Tools for MPEG-4 (Visual Simple Profile and Visual Advanced Simple Profile) Includes tools for both MPEG-4 Visual Simple Profile and Visual Advanced Simple Profile. |