Streaming Video Tips And Tricks For Video Producers - Taming The Video Compression Monster

This article is specifically aimed at video producers who are interested in getting the most out of their streaming video productions in terms of video and audio quality. It mainly involves the best working practices for ensuring that your streaming video wrestles well with that dastardly beast, the "compression monster", which wants to turn all your pristine video to digital mush.

I came from a background in professional video and media production in Perth, Western Australia, shooting TV commercials, independent film, corporate video, and much much more. With the advent of the internet, I became excited about the possibility of using it as a way of delivering quality streaming video advertising for businesses both in Perth and around the world. So I founded my current business, ONLINE AURA, and went into developing video specifically tailored for streaming. The problem was, although I was familiar with the theory of video compression, the most I'd ever come up against this beast was at the level of VHS or DVD production, where it occasionally wrangled but never inflicted serious damage upon me. The reality of video streaming compression was a huge adjustment however, as I watched pin sharp images shredded into digital mud before my eyes, and heard glorious soaring music turned into a horrific sequence of farts and dying bumblebees.

Over the course of time, through experience of testing and producing many streaming videos for local clients, I learnt the best practices and techniques for shooting and editing streaming video. I won't say I've tamed the compression monster, because he still lurks over my shoulder on every shoot, but I will say that I've learnt how to keep him under control and make it through the video compression process with just a few scratches here and there. So this articles includes a number of tips and guides to help you battle this beast in your next streaming video production.

SHOOTING

1. Let there be Light - I'll start with the most obvious and what can be considered as one of the most crucial aspects in producing quality video streaming. I know there's a lot of things written about this recommending strongly-lit flat lighting (i.e - no shadows). The theory being that reducing contrast in your image means that it will compress more efficiently and you'll end up with a higher quality streaming image. This isn't quite right, as the human perception of "sharpness" relies on contrast differences, and even though a higher contrast image may in mathematical terms be less well compressed at a pixel by pixel level, it will create the illusion of being sharper to the viewer. Basically the rule for best quality is to provide a smooth ratio of contrast, and to favor large soft sources that don't over light what you're trying to shoot. Blasting light directly from your camera position over the entire scene is not going to produce favorable results in terms of streaming video quality. The best results come from soft directional sources, but there's also room for backlighting and other creative approaches.

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