Ok video/web experts. I am overhauling my website. Need advice on the best way to post videos/multi media shows. Remember I am a web and video idiot

In past posted slide shows to Photodex and now Viemo and then just provided links to the individual shows at my site. Photodex problem is video can only be MPEG1 low rez. Viemo can only post "short" cuts. Shooting HC7 and using Sony Vegas to create shows. One 40min show for our consumption was 1.65gigs. I think even a short version if I downsize all photos for web view will still be +500megs.

Questions
1. Is it possible to save an HD show to my server service that people who are interested can download to their computer and view?
2. What is the best format to save video for people to view at home, mpg, mov, avi or wmv?
3. What is the best resolution(?) 4.8Mbps720-24, 5Mbps720-25, 6Mbps720-30, 6.4Mbps1080-24, 6.7Mbps1080-25?

Any help, advice welcome!

Wellll...it costs money, about $6 per month, but I host Endless Scooter at Screencast.com. Video is their speciality and they have gargantuan bandwidth. They have a very easy tool for uploading files, too; there's no file size limitations or format requirements as far as I can tell.


All the best, James

Thanks, probably a good idea I check with my current server service. $6 is not so bad I will just have to drop one trip to Starbucks per month.

Vimeo is free and will support HD .wmv files at 1280 x 720. There are any number of options for arranging the clips into albums, marking them as private etc. Short clips are probably better for web distribution anyway since it will take a long time to buffer a feature length film in HD. I have a few examples of moderate length clips at www.vimeo.com/oceanview. I still think that DivX is the best codec for web delivery of HD video files.

Thanks David, I will probably use Viemo for "short" clips. I posted this test clip a while ago http://www.vimeo.com/1052376. I do a long version that people possibly taking a trip to an area we have visited might be interested in. But they are huge files, as I mentioned, over 1gig in HD. So trying to figure out a way to make these available for those with the interest and patience.

I defintely fall into the average joe category.

I also use vimeo. My typical "trip" video averages 20 minutes. I break that into separate video files to make downloading/viewing over the internet easier. In a 20 minute video, I have natural breaks such as music changes, etc., that make it perfect to separate the whole video into parts.

I also sometimes make a preview video showing highlights of all the separate parts. This preview video is usually about 5 minutes long and it lets the viewer get an idea of what the whole video will look like, plus it lets them re-watch or download the only the parts they liked best.

It's worked well for me, and I can definitely see people have a preference for some parts of my videos vs others just by looking at the qty of downloads/views.

Love your work!
What camera and housing are you using?