Member Avatar for dpcolgan

Hi Please help, I'm a newbie when it comes to putting video in a webpage and I have successfully done it but the playback is attrocious. I've seen larger files using the same methodology and theirs plays consistently.

I am using a Macromedia Flash player - here is my code but it works. Is there a buffer setting or something that I'm missing?

<object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000"
codebase="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/
swflash.cab
#version=7,0,0,0" width="320" height="240" id="320x240" align="middle">
<PARAM NAME=allowFlashAutoInstall VALUE=true>
<param name=Flashvars value="url=120ProvidenceDr.flv">
<param name="allowScriptAccess" value="sameDomain" />
<param name="movie" value="320x240.swf" />
<param name="quality" value="high" />
<param name="bgcolor" value="#ffffff" />
<embed src="320x240.swf" swLiveConnect="true"
Flashvars="url=120ProvidenceDr.flv"
quality="high" bgcolor="#ffffff" width="320" height="240" name="320x240"
align="middle" allowScriptAccess="sameDomain"
type="application/x-shockwave-flash"
pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" />
</object>

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  • 2 Days Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by Grantmitch1

Dani AI

Generated

Short diagnosis and what to try first (quick checks)
As suggested, the host or the connection is the most common cause. Before changing players or re-encoding, download the video file directly from your server and time the transfer. Compare the observed throughput to the video’s average bitrate (use MediaInfo or ffprobe to inspect the file). If the measured download speed is consistently lower than the video bitrate, playback will stall no matter which player you use.

Encoding and player-side fixes
If the file is heavier than the connection, re-encode to a lower bitrate or a more efficient codec (H.264 in an MP4 container is the most compatible). For progressive playback make sure the MP4’s metadata is at the front (the “moov atom”) so the player can start before the whole file downloads. For FLV, ensure proper metadata and reasonable keyframe spacing (a keyframe every 1–2 seconds helps seeking and smoother startup). If you control the SWF player, increase the NetStream buffer so it waits longer before starting:

ns.bufferTime = 5; // seconds

Server and streaming considerations
Check whether the webserver supports HTTP range requests (byte-range); without them seeking and pseudo-streaming won’t work. On shared hosting, provider throttling or low upstream bandwidth will show as slow buffering — test the same file from a different, fast host (or a CDN/video-hosting site) to isolate the problem. For many simultaneous viewers or better user experience, use true streaming (RTMP/WOWZA/Red5) or an adaptive delivery (HLS/DASH).

Notes about the WMV approach
As found, a different container or plugin can sometimes behave better on a specific client, but WMV relies on platform plugins and is less universal than H.264/MP4 or modern HTML5 delivery. A short checklist: measure bitrate vs. throughput, test local playback, inject correct metadata/faststart, raise player bufferTime, and ask the host about bandwidth limits.

Recommended Answers

All 7 Replies

Member Avatar for FC Jamison

My first guess is that the host you're using is slow or your internet download speed is slow. Where are you hosting your site?

Member Avatar for dpcolgan

My first guess is that the host you're using is slow or your internet download speed is slow. Where are you hosting your site?

fortehosting.com

Member Avatar for Grantmitch1

Is it possible you can upload this video.

I will take a look at it for you and rewrite you a script - annotating how it was done.

Member Avatar for dpcolgan

file is at

Member Avatar for Grantmitch1

I see what you mean - Takes forever to buffer...

Well I will see if I can write a code for you.

Member Avatar for Grantmitch1

See below

Member Avatar for Grantmitch1

Okay this code here worked fine on my server.

<!-- START of Video Script-->
<embed src="" width="320" height="319" autostart="0" showcontrols="1" type="application/x-mplayer2" pluginspage="http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/download/"> </embed>
<!-- End of Video Script-->

Give that ago. It worked fine for me. If not you can make the video into flash format. My experience is videos in flash format work and load better than those that aren't.

Hope it helps.

Grant

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