Encoding Video for Upload to Viddler

Overview:

Encoding a video for upload to Viddler couldn’t be simpler. We support many of the standard formats (and can handle many, many more).

Topics:

• Quick Overview
• Can you get a bit more technical?
  • Video formats officially supported by Viddler
  • Pre-encoding .flv files (phased out)
  • Bit rate suggestions
  • Frame rate
  • A note on interlaced video content
  • Proprietary Codecs
  • Multi-channel audio
  • Audio-only (spoken word, music, etc.)
  • Filenames
• I’m Still Having Some Trouble Uploading
  • My video is a webinar
  • My video is directly from a digital camera or camcorder
• Next Steps

Quick Overview

If you’re excited to get your first video on Viddler, encode an .mp4 file using the H.264 Codec for video and AAC for audio. This will produce the best results when uploading. Any video-editing tool that produces an .mp4 file should support these formats.

Can you get a bit more technical?

Video formats officially supported by Viddler

¹Note for MOV Files: We do not support most extensions to the QuickTime MOV format, such as multiple video streams, image streams, or other interactive content. 

²WMA Audio: We currently do not support the WMA Professional or Lossless formats.

Note: We are currently unable process SWF files through our encoders. They may upload, but will fail encoding. Please convert SWF files to one of the suggested formats above before uploading to Viddler. The SWF format was originally the intended for interactive multimedia, vector graphics and ActionScript. Thus, it doesn't do well as a video container. Read more...

Formats that we have tested and should work (but we'll ask you to re-encode if you encounter issues):

• Motion JPEG (MJPEG) in an AVI or MOV Container 

Pre-encoding .flv Files (phased out)

If you select “Preserve FLV source files” option at the Encoding settings page, you can pre-encode an flv file, which will not be re-encoded for the flash player versions. We will still have to encode HTML5-compatible versions, however. Phased out since .flv files are no longer best practice for playback on the web and mobile devices.

Bit rate Suggestions

For standard definition video, we recommend keeping the bit rate between 800kbps and 1500kbps. For HD video, we suggest bit rates from 2Mbps (2,000kbps) up. We suggest not going much higher than 5Mbps (5,000kbps) for 720p resolution and 10Mbps for 1080p resolution, in order to have the upload complete in a timely manner. Higher bit rates will still upload. However, bit rates higher than 20Mbps are not necessary for the current state of web video. (When 4K is common on the web, then we can discuss that.)

Resolution

We support uploading resolutions up to 1080p (1920x1080). Higher resolutions (2.7K, 4K (2160p), etc.) will be downsized to 1080p.

Frame rate

We accept videos encoded in 24fps, 25fps, 30fps, 48fps, 50fps, and 60fps. The frame rate (frames per second; fps) you use depends on your content. Higher frame rates will often be used for video gameplay and videos that have fast movement and require more data per second. Fast movement in sports will often be recorded in a higher frame rate (60fps, 120fps, 1000fps, etc.), then converted down to 30fps to playback the video in slowmotion. We're only able to playback videos in 24fps, 25fps, 30fps, 48fps, 50fps, and 60fps. If you upload a frame rate outside of that, then they will be converted to 30fps — which could make the video look/play in an undesired way.

A Note on Interlaced Video Content

Your encoding software of choice should have an option to either turn off interlacing or to deinterlace content (for 480i, 576i or 1080i content). Uploading interlaced content to Viddler (or any web video service) will cause horizontal lines to appear in the resulting video. Video editing/compression software will often have a setting to deinterlace or decomb video on export. This will result in a progressive scan (e.g., 720p, 1080p) output.

Proprietary Codecs

Some cameras and screen capture software (such as GoToMeeting) implement a non-standard or proprietary video or audio codec, which we may not support. You will have to convert to one of our supported codecs.

Multi-channel Audio

We currently do not support more than two channels (stereo) in our supported audio files, such as AAC. These will need to be downmixed to stereo before upload.

Audio-only (spoken word, music, etc.)

We also accept audio file types (mp3, m4a, and wma) for upload. Just upload the file like you would any other video and it will processed through our encoders then placed on your account. By default, in place of the video it will show an image of a speaker. You can choose upload a custom thumbnail to it just like you would for any other video.

Filenames

We suggest using only letters, numbers, hyphens (-), and underscores (_) in filenames. Other symbols may work, but we suggest avoiding them. Likewise, most languages will work in filenames, but we suggest using English. Example: Training_2017-07-28.mp4

I’m still having some trouble uploading

My Video is a Webinar

GoToWebinar and GoToMeeting use a proprietary codec in a WMV Container. You can find out more details and conversion help by going to this article.

My Video is Directly From a Digital Camera or Camcorder

This could be due to the camera using a proprietary (or unsupported) codec. Some camera models use unsupported extensions to formats we do support, which may cause issues while uploading. If that is the case, please try processing the video to a supported format.

Next Steps

Once your video is encoded and all set to send to us, you can then upload to Viddler. If you’d like to see the full list of formats that our encoder works with, then take a look at our Github article. Just keep in mind that we don’t directly support issues with these formats — we’d suggest you re-encode to a supported format.