Cross-Browser Video

1 Description

It should be possible to use ffmpeg to convert uploaded videos at least into mp4 and ogg formats. The HTML output of media objects, that support these formats should use a combined <video> and <object>-Tag to support as many current browsers as possible, http://websitehelpers.com/video/html.html.

2 Status

3 Additional Information

4 Discussion

JF 19 Mar 2012: We appreciate this feature. To manage the additional cpu load the java server should queue the conversion requests and we must replace the current flash player by a better version, see Audio/Video Player.

DZenker 20 Mar 2012: Video transcoding is a rather CPU consuming operation - do you really think about the ILIAS server should manage this? (or which "Java server" is meant above?)
It should be suggested to implement a connection between ILIAS and dedicated video management systems such as Opencast Matterhorn, Kaltura or MediaMosa that also provide a HTML5 video player with flash fallback (e.g. ilUB implemented a plugin for SWITCHCast).

Alex 21 March 2012: We do not force anyone into this solution. But I think it is feasible to offer it as an optional one and not make video conversion available only to ILIAS installations that install an additional system. "Java server" means the one that currently offers indexing for Lucene as well. We may restrict this feature to selected roles. Players like MediaElement.js do already offer wide support when only a h.264 file is uploaded. Better is the combination h.264/webm. It is not necessary, that ILIAS does any video processing here. The simple solution is that the author uploads both files manually. The main point is, that ILIAS can handle alternative files within the same media object and forwards these alternative files to a media player that does the rest of the magic.
 
I totally agree, that interfaces to video management systems would be a good idea, too.

Dietmar 22 March 2012: Just an additional info: Mozilla announced that Firefox will support H.264 in the future, too (via hardware or OS ressources). Indeed, it looks as if h.264 is just prevailing over its competitors in the web video race...

5 Implementation

We integrated mediaelement.js as a video player, see Audio/Video Player. Native <video> and <audio> support is used for mp4/h.264 and webm as stated on the mediaelement.js pages. Mediacasts allow to upload both versions in one element. Conversion has been implemented prototypish, but ffmpeg configuration and server load does not make it feasible to provide this as a quick&simple solution.