Best video format to upload to DigitalChalk?

This is a good question especially since the maximum video file which can be uploaded onto a DigitalChalk site is 500MB. When exporting files from editing software like Final Cut or Premier you are often given several options. It seems everyone has a favorite, but there are some considerations to take into account. For instance in Final Cut, you may want to select the H.264 compression option, and it is probably the best way to make an .mov file. However, if for any reason you would like to re-edit the piece and haven't saved the cut version on Final Cut, the entire file will have to be rendered to an NTSC file. For short videos, this doesn't take long, but if the video file is large, it will take time, and there's always the chance you may have difficulties in the render process. (It may even take a call to AppleCare to learn how to do this.) So for this reason, you may want to export the file using the DVC /NTSC option. In any case when it's exported from Final Cut it will be coded as an .mov file. Now in that format, even if it is less than 500MB, it is a good idea to compress the file further before uploading it on to DigitalChalk. This is not an endorsement for Divx, but that is a product which will compress the video to a smaller file which makes for faster uploads. There are others, but the point is the smaller the file the faster the upload and the longer the video can be. Although you may lose some video quality in the process, usually, the loss is not visible to make a huge difference. I would suggest to you may want to experiment, because the DigitalChalk system is flexible and can handle a number of common video formats. Just remember to keep the file to under 500MB.

Dave Tinker from Digital Chalk Support added this comment:

I am a big fan of Windows Movie Maker and have always had good success with video files coming from this software. I generally export all my video files using the Save Movie Wizard, check the radio button for Other Settings, and then choose the Video for LAN (768 Kbps) setting. This will export the file in 640x480 / 4:3 / 30fps

For most people who are not video professionals the best tool is going to be windows Movie Maker or on the Mac iMovie. iMovie and the MOV format can be tricky. I'd export out of iMovie as an mp4 just to be safe. 

Why are there different choices available when choosing a Layout and after your chalkboard is created using manage media?

The choices when choosing a layout are:

1. Inherited
2. Large Video
3. Small Video
4. Audio Only

And the choices within Manage Media are:

1. Audio Only
2. Small Video / Standard Quality
3. Large Video / Standard Quality
4. Large Video / High Quality
5. Large Video / Highest Quality

You can choose a layout when you first create your chalkboard. Making a decision on the layout up front is important as you can then choose which media profile will work best within your chalkboard layout. The reason that the options remain even after you make a selection is because we want the system to be flexible. The system will allow you to decide today that you want to use the small video layout and select the small video media profile. However, if tomorrow you decide that you would prefer to use the large video layout and a large video media profile you can make the change without much effort at all, you don't even have to re-upload your video. You can simply:

• select the new desired chalkboard template
• edit the chalkboard
• go to manage media
• click the media thumbnail
• click the add media profiles link
• select the new profile you would like to add

The system will then create your new media profile from your originaly uploaded file. Once processing is complete you can then select the new profile for default use in your chalkboard.

We recently had a customer upload a two seemingly identical videos but one put a letterbox on the screen and the other played without a letterbox after encoding to Flash on DigitalChalk. Both converted and played successfully but the one with the letterbox didn't look as good. After some digging it appeared that although they were both saved as MP4 files, the codecs were different.

The video without the letter box had a codec of this:

Selected video codec: [ffh264] vfm: ffmpeg (FFmpeg H.264)

The other was:

Selected video codec: [ffodivx] vfm: ffmpeg (FFmpeg MPEG-4)

Both codecs will work with DigitalChalk but the H.264 had the best result. I suggest you use H.264 rather than Divx if your video export options allow.