For you as a member of EngageMedia things are pretty much the same as before – you can publish your video as usual. But now you can choose to encode your video as Ogg format, using the Theora video codec and the Vorbis audio codec and it will work just like any other video when you upload it.
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 an
open video codec being developed by the Xiph.org Foundation as part of their Ogg project (It is a project that aims to integrate On2’s
VP3 video codec, Ogg
Vorbis audio codec and Ogg multimedia container formats into a multimedia solution that can compete with
MPEG-4 format).
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?
It’s open and free. Do you need more reasons?
Q. What other video formats will Theora compete with?
Theora is targeted at competing with MPEG-4 (e.g., XviD and DivX), RealVideo, Windows Media Video, and similar lower-bitrate video compression schemes.
Q. What is Ogg? What is Vorbis? What is xiph.org?
Vorbis is an audio codec, Theora is a video codec. Ogg is the transport layer that both are stored in, so a video file will be Theora-encoded data inside an Ogg file, while audio is normally Vorbis-encoded data inside an Ogg file.
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?
Theora (and all associated technologies released by the Xiph.org Foundation) is released to the public via a BSD-style license. It is completely free for commercial or noncommercial use. That means that commercial developers may independently write Theora software which is compatible with the specification for no charge and without restrictions of any kind.
Q. Why the name ‘Theora?’
Like other Xiph.org Foundation codec projects such as Vorbis or Tarkin, Theora is named after a fictional character. Theora Jones was the name of Edison Carter’s ‘controller’ on the television series Max Headroom. She was played by Amanda Pays.
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.
Please contact us to let us know how you go!
Cheers,
The EngageMedia Team
