Date: Fri 20-Mar-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

iinfo-Brand-movies-internet

Full Text:

INTERNET INFO FOR REAL PEOPLE: Movies on the Net

By Bob Brand

Watching high quality, full-length movies on the Net is a few years away,

maybe longer. The main problem is bandwidth, the ability of the Internet to

deliver the large amount of data needed to see a movie at a speed of 24 to 30

frames per second.

Today, we can see cinematic images in choppy motion when we view Real Video

clips. Usually, these images come across the Net at speeds of only three to

eight frames per second at best. These mini-pictures appear in a small window

about four inches by four inches. I use a USR X2 modem. With it, data is

delivered at about 50,000 bits per second. Without a 56k modem, you cannot

receive data at this speed. Frankly, image quality of Real Video is poor. When

viewing The Daily Show with Real Audio/Real Video, the sound quality is good,

but the video is only marginally acceptable. [Bear in mind that we are

watching this with data that is streaming across the Net.] As the Internet

fills with traffic, the video often becomes choked and the frames frequently

freeze. This allows only the audio to come through.

Higher Quality

In order to view smooth, high clarity, TV-like motion, the whole movie must be

sent across the Internet, captured on the hard disk, and viewed with software

that supports a movie format. Two most popular files are: Apple Quick Time and

AVI. A Quick Time movie can be viewed as the file arrives. However, AVIs must

arrive in their entirety before they can be viewed. Netsters using Windows 95

have an AVI viewer built into the software. Nothing is needed to view AVI

movies. Although the Quick Time format was developed at Apple Computer, these

movies can be viewed on PCs. Quick Time movies require a plug-in to the

browser. This is available at: http://www.apple.com/quicktime/.

Movie files (AVI or MOV) are large. For example, an 80-second video trailer of

Men in Black in Quick Time format (MIB.MOV) is 5.4 megabytes in size.

Therefore, not only is a large hard disk needed, but, also, a fast link to the

ISP (Internet Service Provider). Typically, I download movie clips with my X2

at a rate of about 40,000 to 50,000 bits per second. With a little arithmetic,

if Net conditions are perfect (no major traffic jams and the remote server can

push the file onto the Internet at high speed), it takes three to five minutes

to download a file of this size. Rarely are conditions ideal. Typically, files

of this size arrive at my computer in six to 15 minutes. Ouch!

The Solution

When large movie files are being transferred, you can perform other tasks

while waiting. For example, Juno (e-mail) and Opera, my favorite browser, work

together well. I receive large volumes of mail daily -- typically 200 to 300

messages. Many of these messages come from listserv e-mail lists. First, I run

Juno and retrieve my mail. After the messages arrive, I move Juno to the task

bar. Next, I connect to my fastest ISP and run Opera. On the Web, I search for

the movies I want to view. I instruct Opera to download the first one. While

the movie is being transferred, I move Opera to the task bar and maximize Juno

to read and answer mail. Frankly, time flies when reading e-mail and before

long the movie is ready for viewing. Neat!

AVI or MOV?

In my experience, AVI files give better performance than their MOV cousins.

Often, MOV movies are off-color when the viewer plays the file. By minimizing

the browser (moving it to the task bar) followed by reactivation, the problem

is often corrected. Less problematic are AVI movies. When an AVI movie has

completely transferred, the viewer automatically activates showing the movie

clip. The movie file is captured in the browser's cache folder. Should the

file arrive and somehow the movie does not play, do not panic. Examine the

cache folder with Explorer. Click the AVI file. This launches the viewer and

the movie plays again. Simple. Remember, MOV files can be viewed as the file

arrives over the Internet. This means that when Internet speed improves

(increased bandwidth) and you have a computer that can process the data at

higher speed, the movie plays in real time. We should see this on our home

computers in a few years.

A Few Favorite Sites

There are many movie trailers on the Web. However, due to the large size of

these files, you will come upon "File Not Found" messages when attempting to

view older films. I one area I found a Van Morrison site (I am terminally

addicted to '50s-'60s Rock and Roll). You may enjoy it.

How to find movies? One of the best ways to find good sites is to use your

favorite search engine. AltaVista performs this function well. Use the simple

keyword: .AVI. Over 40,000 matches are found, although, many are duplicates.

Caution: there are adult sites listed with graphic description of the

contents. Be careful. When you find a site that holds lists of AVI and MOV

files, be sure to set a bookmark.

Give It A Try

If you use Windows 95, download an AVI file and see the movie. Flush with

success, this may give you incentive to download the Quick Time player and

watch MOV files. Enjoy.

URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) of interest:

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/

http://www.polygram.com/polydor/artists/morrison/dayslike.html

http://www.kadets.d20.co.edu/~lundberg/videoclips.html

http://www.lookup.com/homepages/90381/search.html (Caution: many dead links)

http://www.russianstory.com/news/pictures/MIB.MOV

(This is the 95th of a series of elementary articles designed for surfing the

Internet. Next, "Websitegarage" is the subject on tap. Stay tuned. Until next

week, happy travels through cyberspace. Previous issues of Internet Info for

Real People (including links to sites mentioned in this article) can be found:

http://www.thebee.com. Please e-mail comments and suggestions to:

rbrand@JUNO.com or editor@thebee.com.)