HTML5 Video: The Future is Now!
June 7th, 2007
Given the many parallel projects to bring ogg theora into the many browser platforms it can easily get confusing. In this post I will give an update on the embed video projects that I have been following in the development of the latest mv_embed script. This script is a rewrite of the mv embed script with the intentions of bridging support for video tag from the html5 spec to non html5 browsers. Once the mv_embed script is included it goes through the page and rewrites all the html5 video tags with whatever playback method the client supports, letting web developers use the future html5 video tag today! See the sample page.
The script works by creating a html element / javascript object that mapps html 5 video tag javascript calls to the appropriate methods on clients supported playback system. Obviously not all of the html5 features will be supported for every playback method, but the idea is to build robust support for basic video embeding while letting web users immediately take advantage of simplicity of usage for embeding theora video.
Native (html5) browser support for ogg media is developing nicely…Chris Double is working on ogg video support for firefox3, experimental builds of Opera have been shown to support it, and the oggplay plugin is under very active development as a firefox plugin for the win, linux and osx platforms. Even an ActiveX version for IE is planned. The mv_embed script should detect any of these “native” support mechanism and do nothing. As these playback systems should more or less conform to the html5 spec.
But for all the existing browsers: the mv_embed script looks for existing methods to decode ogg video. Initially I am only targeting the vlc plugin for *near* html5 support. Basic video playback with the html5 tag will be supported via the java cortado applet & any plugin that registers the mime type: application/ogg such as mplayer, totem, or xine.
Future versions can extend the base javascript embed video object to implement more complete support of the html5 spec with plugins. Also we will improve the cortado applet so that it exposes the necessary javascript hooks for more complete html5 support. And we will also want to get the cortado applet signed and hosted somewhere so that ogg embedding is further simplified and the mv_embed javascript can be referenced on a different domain than the ogg media.
adoption update:
Just a quick note on the adoption front, wikimedia commons now supports inline playback of ogg audio/video media via a iframe very cool! great work maikmerten and gmaxwell
Entry Filed under: development, html5, mv_embed, theora
61 Comments Add your own
1. kocio | June 8th, 2007 at 4:07 am
It’s actually “Wiki_m_edia Commons” - Wikipedia is only a part (probably the biggest one, but still…) of the Wikimedia family.
2. dale | June 8th, 2007 at 1:51 pm
fixed …thanks for the correction
3. Brian Croner | June 18th, 2007 at 7:26 pm
That’s damn awesome. I’m going to employ these newer methods to distribute my ogg videos. Free video is hard to argue with. I’m also going to make available a [lossy, lossless] video and audio codec pair to the Xiph.org foundation to further the reaches of free video and audio software (as well as put it in Java applets).
As a side note, has anybody done any work on a J2ME application for application/ogg? I took a look at the Cortado source code, and I’m considering doing it myself. I don’t want to reinvent the wheel, but I suspect J2ME programming is still a rarity because it’s so new.
4. Randy Simons | June 21st, 2007 at 6:17 am
Why develop serval plug-ins for several OSses and several browsers? The Cortado-player (http://www.flumotion.net/cortado/) is already capable of playing OGG media in browsers using a Java-applet. IMHO, that’s a far better sollution than requiring users to install some kind of plug-in, since Java comes pre-installed with almost every computer.
5. dale | June 23rd, 2007 at 11:03 pm
In response to Randy. Native playback enables new interfaces like putting div or png elements ontop of the video, quicker page load times as you don’t have to download and initialize the applet, easier usage as you don’t have to deal with java’s cross domain access issues (ie the html page does not have to come from the same domain as the video), Native playback enables higher resolutions and hardware accelerated video rendering & fullscreen playback. Some browsers /platforms don’t have java applet support by default… and finally the goal of plugins is a way to transition to native browser support. ie firefox3 and new version of Opera will have ogg playback built in.
That being said, the Cortado player is an excellent back up method and is used by the mv_embed script and the metavid site
6. Brian Croner | August 17th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
Dear Diary of a Guy Without Enough Friends,
Well here I am 2 months later and I have completed the first video encoding (8 yuv420p 420×640 frames) using my codec. Very slow in its current form. Ogg is a good container format, but incompatible with my particular paradigm. I keep thinking about ogg/theora/vorbis. It’s incremental in improvement over mpg/mpeg1/mp2. Not revolutionary in improvement. Things just don’t get outside the box enough unless you have a troubled rogue working the ropes. I think people want what they want, and don’t care about much else. The only thing I’m bad at is being compatible with other people, which when combined with my ridiculous intelligence and related personality quirks renders incompetitive my competitive edge. I think I’ll purposely try to be stupid and lazy, from my point of view. Maybe then I’ll solve my personal problems better. Everything wrong with me is in my head.
7. train horn | August 20th, 2007 at 7:46 pm
Great info, video embeding is def the future!
8. Tubag Bohol | August 22nd, 2007 at 3:01 am
I just read an article on Web 3.0 and now I read this another mind-blowing technological leap. How can we cope with this change?
9. Dave | August 24th, 2007 at 5:10 am
Yeah, some good points made, however there are always two sides to a story so I’m not sure I completly agree.
10. Nate | September 11th, 2007 at 4:49 am
Great read, I can’t wait till video embedding is the norm.
11. train horn | February 25th, 2008 at 9:16 am
I just read a news article this weekend that says Google is about to release embeded ad videos from the main results pages at google.com. How weird will that be?
12. dropship | March 1st, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Yep, it’s just around the corner. It will be pretty crazy when the internet & TV are combined into one media source. I think we’re about 10 years from that point.
13. dave counter | March 1st, 2008 at 2:33 pm
There’s no doubt it’s coming, the question is when. With the iPhone & all the other crazy devices that have come out in the past 2 years, I’d say it’s right around the corner!!!
14. Ephena | March 9th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Not 10 years away, we just need higher speed backbones to do it. In Tampa Florida we have fiber internet 15MBPS speeds out provider also supplies digital cable and voip phone service. All of this you are speaking of and more is coming.
15. Train Horn | March 13th, 2008 at 3:04 am
I saw that Cortado Player can play OGG media through a Java Applet.
This could be a better solution because users will not have to install any plug in.
Java comes installed on most computers these days.
This would also solve the problem of different browsers or operating systems.
16. Nick | March 27th, 2008 at 8:08 am
Great to see open source is helping out here!
Regards,
Open Source in Israel
17. law | March 27th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
This is interesting news… definitely the next evolution of web is embedded video!
18. Missy Monroe | April 11th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Well another embed video evolution. . . well lets hope. Too many times in the past I’ve watched great ideas never pick up, or get distributed properly.
19. eve isk | April 16th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
good
20. Aoleon | April 17th, 2008 at 5:38 am
Great stuff, however the html5 video sample page is broken. Please fix it as I would love to see it in action.
21. canadabizmart.com - businesses for sale | April 25th, 2008 at 9:39 pm
There’s a javascript code (mv_embed i think?) which goes through the DOM and replaces all video elements with a playback method that the clients browser supports,
If it supports HTML 5 then it does nothing.
22. dale | April 26th, 2008 at 9:10 am
yea canadabizmart check out Mv_Embed here on metavid
23. james | April 26th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
great post
great news for video sites
24. Studium | May 20th, 2008 at 10:01 am
In Eastgermany we also have fiber internet, so the future für html5 start now
25. Fernstudium | May 20th, 2008 at 10:02 am
The Inet getting faster and faster. Look at the Ajaxtechnologie it performance better speed with better usability
26. Geek | May 30th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Wow, this is trully awesome, this is quite an achievement! Any update news on the project?
27. Mechanic | June 18th, 2008 at 11:40 am
Awesome project, can’t wait to see the result from this.
28. Ryan | June 21st, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Yeah, me too!
29. Babynamen | June 23rd, 2008 at 8:45 pm
wow.. what an interesting post.. thanks
30. webmaster blog | June 30th, 2008 at 11:13 am
thank you
31. funny jokes girl | July 1st, 2008 at 5:26 pm
@ Mv_embed will then rewrite the video tag to whatever playback method is available on the client be it native support, java cortado, mplayer, vlc or oggplay
Really cool cause u dont need adobe flash anymore !!
It will be an fantastic option for poor students on restricted university such I.We don’t have flash installed.
32. Dave Hermansen | July 2nd, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Last time I was in my Google Adwords account it mentioned video ads, so I do believe the title of this page is right on; “the future is now!”
33. seo company india | July 11th, 2008 at 12:03 am
In the future video Projects is helpful to all the webmaster’s. Very much helpful information . Great work…..
34. Rayz | July 22nd, 2008 at 3:20 am
Great read. Any updates on this project?
Its good to see how the internet is transforming and new things like this are making way.
Thanks for pointing to the demo @ dale. I checked the link but when I go to the sample page to check the demo, the page doesn’t load.
35. VideoFreak | July 28th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Well i think why do we need an HTML 5 just to get annoyed with browser differences again? Most people can not code strict HTML 4 and still get fucked up with it.
36. seo blog | August 2nd, 2008 at 9:53 am
Well why bother? It jsut messes up browers unsing html5!
37. dizin | August 4th, 2008 at 11:40 am
Yeah, me too!
38. chris | August 9th, 2008 at 7:23 am
Its good to see how the internet is transforming and new things like this are making way. thanks all…
39. das-fernstudium.com | August 30th, 2008 at 9:56 am
Mozilla will implement the formats, so ca 25 % of the users could watch directly to media without having to instsall any plugins.
40. Metavid Blog » The &hellip | September 23rd, 2008 at 10:08 am
[...] codec agnostic implementation of the video tag is next to worthless. A simple javaScript library could accomplish the same thing. Codec agnostic video tag represents no significant difference from [...]
41. Pure Acai | January 9th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
this has everything to do with the high internet bandwidth we actually have, i hope in the near future virtual reality be the next common application in the web like video is now.
42. dominican republic | January 10th, 2009 at 5:06 pm
the future is here….
43. Search Torrents | February 1st, 2009 at 7:01 am
I think the HTML 5 spec looks fabulous. It definitely makes it a heck of a lot easier to deal with content like embedded rich media without having to futz with javascript. Fantastic post!
44. Home Projector | February 15th, 2009 at 11:29 am
It amazes me how well this can work for embedded content.
Thank you so much for this post.
45. Carriage Clocks | February 23rd, 2009 at 11:38 am
Cool stuff, but I could swear that I heard talk about video embedding elsewhere.
46. VistaPrint | February 25th, 2009 at 8:06 am
Wow, great stuff. I am very interested to see how this is implemented in the future
Get custom checks for your business
47. Girokonto | February 27th, 2009 at 1:18 am
Great and when HTML 6 will come?
48. Mr. Hunter | March 18th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
All this info is really great it will be a great to see the future soon.
49. Mr. Carriage | March 18th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
Good to see new improvements it all looks pretty cool
50. Backlinks Tips | March 20th, 2009 at 12:54 am
It will be interesting to see how this evolves in time
51. Affilo Blueprint | April 10th, 2009 at 12:56 am
Great Info. Awesome!
52. Scope Haven | April 13th, 2009 at 6:09 am
This sounds like a great idea if it works like it’s supposed to. If not, I can see an influx of help requests to the IT department.
53. Gardening Gifts | April 29th, 2009 at 7:38 am
Great information. will be watching to see how it all is going to work out
54. Bean Chairs | April 29th, 2009 at 11:27 am
Sounds awesome! Can’t wait to see.
55. Manfred | May 3rd, 2009 at 7:11 am
We will have to wait what will happen. There is so much news you will never hear from anymore.
56. Article Directory | May 8th, 2009 at 11:23 am
HTML5 is great and it will change the way browsers are working now.
Will HTMl6 also come after html5?
Cheers
Roger
Article Directory
57. Chris | June 3rd, 2009 at 1:47 pm
We have tried to Impliment the HTML using the script and it has brought about a plethora of problems. It’s going to be a while before we attempt to roll out this technology again.
58. Horse Riding Saddles | June 16th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
Will every browser [both old archaic & new ones] be able to implement this new html5 video embed efficiently?
59. Self Expert | June 24th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
Who are the current experts in HTML5?
60. Raten | July 1st, 2009 at 12:11 pm
Great when will come HTML 6 ???
61. carriage clocks | July 2nd, 2009 at 9:24 pm
“I just read a news article this weekend that says Google is about to release embeded ad videos from the main results pages at google.com. How weird will that be?”
Imagine the clicks you’ll get with videos as opposed to adwords. I don’t want to get google slapped with something with such a high clickthrough rate as video.
Leave a Comment
Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed