VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Frank F

O.K., I have finally made the decision to do a website. With a little luck and a lot of help from friends on this board... it might look nice.

Now the question, how many of you good folks out there "stream" your audio files (better known as "demos")? Or, how many just do a "click" to download type thing? Or, just how do you do "it"?

Your thoughts and wildest imaginative ideas are welcome...

Frank F

Jeff McNeal · Guest

Hi Frank,

I just do the "click to download" thing. My site is basically geared for broadband users, and since that's pretty much what most people in the position of hiring have, it seems to make sense. My demos seem to load fairly quicky despite some of them being 3 or 4 megs in size. My demos are all mp3 or wmv at present. Whoops wait a minute. A few are Quicktime mov files because that's what the client forwarded to me, and these are much slower to load and play. That's why I request wmv's and use them also for the demos that contain video like TV spots, TV news promos, etc.

There was a time when most of the world was still dial up and it was almost necessary to use streaming for those old 28 and 56k modems trying to download the content, but those days are long gone, thank goodness.

Charlie Channel · Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2005 8:11 am Post subject:

I just do the click to download. MP3 and Real Audio selections are provided.

I checked out Gary Joy's website and like his webmaster's approach. He streams video, too. Very cool.

C
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Charlie

audio'connell · Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2005 8:56 am Post subject: Streaming is for sissies

(I have no idea what that title means...it just came to me. Maybe cause its football Sunday and the Bills Sticking out Tongue

are taking on the Dolphins :evil: ..very big game!)

Anyway, I digress. :roll:

Here's another vote for download. Streaming has shown, in my opinion, very interuptable (check spelling and word validity there :shock: ) playback. I keep my audio downloads as MP3 and videos as MPEG and I still get paid, so it can't be all bad.

Good luck on the web site. If you need some professional, low cost options, e-mail me.
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- Peter
audioconnell Voice Over Talent
Your friendly, neighborhood voice over talent

allensco · Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2005 9:21 am Post subject:

Click to download for me too. All are mp3 files.

kgenus · Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2005 9:44 am Post subject:

I stream and allow mp3 download.

Personally, I prefer streaming over downloading audio to my desktop because I have broadband. Much like the "telephone number on the website" deal, I'm trying to reduce every road block by offering option overload. One day I'll remove the RealAudio files.

I need to redo my site soon and haven't decided if I'm going to take the time to do it myself again or just shell out the cash and let someone else do it at this point.

Kevin
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Genus

Bailey · Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2005 1:44 pm Post subject:

The majority seems to be... "click" to download. I agree.
Let me be the one to choose to listen. The chances are going to very high that I will listen, but at least give me the right to choose. Smile

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"Bailey"
a.k.a. Jim Sutton
Retired... Every day is Saturday, except Sunday.
VO-BB Member #00044 W00T

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"Be a Voice, not an Echo." Ninja

Jim Barton · Guest

kgenus · Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2005 10:50 pm Post subject:

Yes, you are correct. I do believe there is a reason why many places do this, Voicebank to be one of them. You just don't have time to download MP3s and click play, better to click the link and listen, then download.

I believe streaming is the best method of quickly auditioning audio at this point. One producer I worked with in Burbank, CA told me to do the demo in Flash so it would load when the mouse is over it..... can you figure out who that was?
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Genus

billelder · Guest

If audio plays when you go to a web site, that's called "embedded audio". It's a code you put in your html.

<BGSOUND SRC="http://yourname.net/audio/audiofile.mp3" LOOP=1>

It goes after <body> .

mcm · Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 3:47 am Post subject:

How do you encode the kind of stream that Frank is asking about - where you can click on a link to hear the audio quickly without having to wait for it to download? Not the kind of stream that scares the pants off ya when you visit the website unawares.

Frank F · Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 3:50 am Post subject:

Well it seems the concenus is "click to download" ("not to stream"), with some favoring "click to play" ("stream").

Since I am definately a newbie when it comes to this sort of thing... I guess I will have to stay in the "click to download" catagory... but I am learning.

I am still trying to figure out how to make some of the other toys on my "soon-to-be" site work in the preview mode... I didn't know it would be this challenging.

Thanks for the input. Your comments are definately interesting.

Bill, I am going to look into the play on site startup thing... I don't know why, but it intrigues me...

Frank F

billelder · Guest

I think the difference between streaming and downloading is mainly decided by the user. For instance, when you click on an MP3 link the first time in Windows, it will ask if you want to download to your hard drive or open with the default MP3 player program. So, selecting "open" would be like streaming.

I think steaming is decided with your host or ISP. It isn't something you can code into the web page. But, with todays high speed ISP's it's just about the same. It may take a few seconds to download, but then plays fine. Like Jeff said, most folks that will be listening or downloading will be on high speed. It has never been an issue on my web site. Most folks that are auditioning know their preference and how to listen.

Oh...I had to edit. Keep this in mind with Embedded sound. If you loop once, it will only play once every time you go to the page. But keep in mind that when you return from another page on your site, it's going to play again.

Charlie Channel · Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 3:44 pm Post subject:

PJHawke · Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 7:46 pm Post subject:

So long as your sampling rate isn't too high, streaming is the way to go if you assume your audience has broadband. Yes, with "click to download", you have to wait for the entire file to load before you can listen to it...BUT...if the connection is slow or webtraffic is high, a stream will load slower than the player plays it. So the playback constantly stops for several seconds to wait for the file to "catch up", and it'll load a bit more, play a bit more, stop, wait, etc. The halting effect is absolutely maddening. RealAudio, WMV, and QuickTime files generally stream by default unless a person sets their browser/viewer to download them instead; there are also sound files associated with a special player that opens when clicked (Susan Berkley's site uses that). Best bet is to offer a choice of each file as a download (mp3) and as a streaming file; then the audience can make the choice To Stream or Not To Stream.

For what it's worth, this is just the opinion of someone who listens/watches a LOT of different sound and vid files on different connections and formats. Choice, gooooood.