Hi,

I just released a video where I go into step-by-step detail on how to use Youtube to embed videos in your web pages. This is part one of two.

The video:

Notes from the Video

I assume you have a Youtube account.

There are pro’s and con’s to using Youtube as your means of adding video to your web site:

Pro’s:

- Easy to do, since Youtube provides all the tools you need to embed the video.
- You don’t have to pay for the video bandwidth.

Con’s:

- Videos are public – if you want to embed.
- Youtube branding on your videos.

Video Formats

YouTube accepts videos uploaded in most formats, including .WMV, .AVI, .MKV, .MOV, MPEG, .MP4, DivX, .FLV, and .OGG. It also supports 3GP, allowing videos to be uploaded directly from a mobile phone.

Nerd’s Choice: You should go for MP4 with H.264 encoding.

Programs that output H.264 video

There are many programs that will produce or convert videos into H.264

QuickTime 7 Pro ($29.99)
iMovie (Mac only)

More expensive video software ($300+):

Adobe Flash
Adobe Premiere
Apple Final Cut Pro Express (Mac only)

Note: Windows Movie Maker at this time only outputs WMV.

Nerd’s Choice: I would get QuickTime 7 Pro if you don’t have a professional editing package like Final Cut. If you are on a Mac, you can use iMovie.

Video Dimensions for Youtube

You can with just about any dimensions but Youtube will crop most sizes. These two video sizes Youtube does not alter:

- 1280 x 720 (16×9 HD)
- 640 x 360 (16×9)
- 640 x 480 (4:3 SD)

-

Hope that helps.

Stefan Mischook

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 10th, 2009 at 8:46 pm and is filed under Web Design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.