Vidize.com

Now that the Vidize is in beta, I plan to go over the list of recommended equipment.
I start with the absolute must-have - a Web camera.
A while back, there was a discussion about USB 1.1 vs USB 2.0 web cams. This discussion is mostly obsolete now as the majority of new web cameras are […]

Adobe has scheduled the beta test of the new Flash player 10 (codename Astro) for today.
There doesn’t seem to be any substantial improvements in the video department but here’s the feature list:
3D Effects - Easily transform and animate any display object through 3D space while retaining full interactivity. Fast, lightweight, and native 3D effects […]

ITV has started blogging recently. You can find the individual blogs here.
Here’s a sample of the video blogging from Afghanistan:

Tags: iTV, podcast, podcasting, video, video blogging

Another special delivery from Ask a Ninja:

Tags: special, writers strike, youtube

According to Associated Press (as of a few hours ago):
Hollywood directors (DGA) reached a tentative contract deal Thursday with studios, a development that could turn up the pressure on striking writers to settle their 2-month-old walkout that has crippled the entertainment industry.
“Two words describe this agreement — groundbreaking and substantial,” said Gil Cates, chair of […]

Finally, Adobe has realized that the high price of the Flash Media Server was hindering its more wide adoption. I hope the open source alternative, Red 5, will still keep its momentum.
Here’s the summary:
The latest version of Flash Media Sever, which will ship in January 2008, will be come in three versions, ranging from free […]

If you’ve expected ANY bad news from Paris, you can relax for at least a day. The Paris bureau of Reuters voted yesterday in favor of a 24-hour strike.
The strike is in protest at a ‘deliberate policy’ of staff reductions (see also BBC staff reduction).
‘The decision (to strike) demonstrates the concern of the […]

Here’s a few tips from Cinetech on how to get better results from Youtube’s encoder.
1. Learn to shoot better quality videos for the Web.
2. Your source video needs to be ideally high resolution. For instance: MOV or AVI file, NTSC 720×480 or VGA 640×480.
3. You need to get a high quality video encoder. Keep in […]

Adobe announced a new version of the Flash Media Server (FMS) at IBC at Amsterdam. According to the press release some of the key features of the new version will be:

Improved performance and scalability
Streaming upport for H.264 and AAC (following Flash player’s support for H.264)
Secure streaming
Flash Lite 3 support (i.e mobile video delivery to your […]

Stefan Richter at Flashcomgurus and a host of other Flash enthusiasts are excited by Adobe’s announcement that the next generation of Flash will support H.264 Video. This bit from Stefan:
The bottom line: a huge step forward for web video. The Flash Player will incorporate what is arguably the most versatile and most widely adopted video […]