Ogg Theora to Flash Transcoding Live on EngageMedia.org
EngageMedia are happy to announce Ogg Theora to Flash transcoding is live on the website. What does that mean?? Ogg Theora is a high quality FOSS (Free Open Source Software) video codec developed by Xiph.org. It means that now you can make an Ogg file of your video and when you upload it you'll be able to watch a transcoded (or converted) version of this in the EngageMedia embedded Flash Player - just as you would with any other video format. At EngageMedia we try to encourage the use of free software wherever possible. As far as video codecs like Quicktime, Windows Media and Flash are concerned, these are proprietary codecs that can cost huge amounts of money for online distributors to use, depending on the license and how these videos are delivered to the web audience. We encourage the use of FOSS codecs where possible, and are hoping to increase their usability and uptake.
There is an example of an Ogg Theora/Vorbis video on EngageMedia you can look at here.
From the Theora.org website...
Q. What is Theora?
Theora is derived directly from On2's VP3 codec; currently the two are nearly identical, varying only in framing headers, but Theora will diverge and improve from the main VP3 development lineage as time progresses.
Q. Why use Theora?
Q. What other video formats will Theora compete with?
Q. What is Ogg? What is Vorbis? What is xiph.org?
The Xiph.org Foundation is a Delaware non-profit company devoted to producing, maintaining and supporting an open multimedia platform.
Q. What is the license for Theora?
Q. Why the name 'Theora?'
Recommended Ogg Transcoders
Here is a list of software you can use to create Ogg Theora/Vorbis files on your computer:http://wiki.xiph.org/index.php/TheoraSoftwareEncoders
We recommend the use of these applications to create Ogg files on these platforms:
Mac (Intel OS X): Simple Theora Encoder
Linux: OggConvert
Windows: Gfrontend ffmpeg2theora
All these applications are still in development, so you can expect a bug here or there, but are very simple and easy to use.
Tutorial for Simple Theora Encoder
We published a News Item recently about a new tutorial for Simple Theora Encoder on the website. You can access this tutorial here.
Please contact us to let us know how you go!
Cheers,
The EngageMedia Team
