There has been much debate about online video file quality, largely because too many video ads still lack it. Luckily, it need not be an issue as long as people follow a few rules.

These come from the number of variables we need to accommodate when working with online video: user bandwidths, Flash or Windows plug-ins, processor powers and operating systems to name a few. Get this right and you will be able to serve video of high quality. The real trouble at the moment is education. Issues arise when all too often the creative houses are made solely responsible for video encoding and optimisation. A great designer is not always a great video encoder. On top of this, agencies don’t always ask for - or receive - high enough quality video assets to begin with so optimisation of the asset is impossible.

File size

The most important aspect of good video production is the raw asset: the original video source file. If this is too small in size (say 20MB or less) then no amount of encoding and optimisation will bring optimum results. It is advised that for manual encoding the digital source file should be between 100 and 200MB at least before encoding. This gives encoders much more room to play with, tidy up noise and adjust contrasts, before compressing the file down to the eventual size of under 2.2MB or under 4.4MB.

File format

Several versions of the ad are needed in order to suit user connection speeds. We are still in a period of transition where dial-up users and broadband users on lines from 256K up to and beyond 8MB all exist in the same space. Video ads must be prepared to serve these connection speeds. Encoding a single video asset is not enough. It is more likely the case that up to 12 versions of one video are needed, either in the interactive Flash Video (FLV) or the higher quality Windows Media Video (WMV).

This can be very time intensive for creative agencies, often taking many hours to prepare. That’s why automatic encoding tools, which create multiple bandwidths in minutes, are growing in popularity. Eyeblaster’s own Video Studio is one solution, allowing up to ten 50MB files to be uploaded and assets created to serve both Flash 7/8 and WMV formats.

The quality of such tools is improving all the time and whilst they do not yet match the endless ability to tinker as with manual encoding, they are the most efficient means to cope with the demand for multiple bandwidth video ads. Automatic tools will eventually be the ideal method to prepare video assets as we now see over 40% of rich media ads now including video.