VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Frank F]

With the pending depletion of Flash based players for embedded audio demos on V"O websites, I thought an explanation of what to do would be a good idea.

As Apple continues to make Flash obsolete and what Apple will or will not allow to play media on their boxes, the debate about what-to-do continues. Included in the debate is whether or not the dubious .mp3 codec will survive.

With new licensing fees being set by Farunhofer for .mp3 codec use; the new standard will likely be Open Source codec's such as Ogg-Vorbis or FLAC/FAAD (AAC) for audio files inside your web pages.

Some of the browsers will default back to Flash players (for .mp3), at present, so it may be necessary to have a few versions of your file available. If you choose to go HTML5's direction it is likely you will need to convert your demos to Ogg or AAC or keep your file as a .wav (not .aiff interestingly enough).

Here are a few (websites) for audio players for your website which are a simple files to embed and allow visitors to still hear your demos:

http://bocoup.com/open-source/jai/

http://www.happyworm.com/jquery/jplayer/

Here is a quick primer, with and embedded player option.
http://www.html5laboratory.com/playing-with-audio-files.php

Yet another option is to create your own player in Java -- if you know how to write Java script (I don't so I will be relying on someone else to create my players).

This will probably confuse you more, but I hope it at least gives you a place to remember as the war of Apple and Flash continues.

Frank F
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Be thankful for the bad things in life. They opened your eyes to the good things you weren't paying attention to before. email: thevoice@usa.com

[bobsouer]

Frank,

Thank you for this solid gold information.
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Be well,
Bob Souer (just think of lemons)
The second nicest guy in voiceover.
+1-724-613-2749
Source Connect, phone patch, pony express

[Deirdre]

Here's some input about next-gen players from Jeoren Wijering, creator of the Long Tail video players.
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DBCooperVO.com
IMDB

[whalewtchr]

Frank, Thank You this is awesome info!
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jonahcummings

[Jeffrey Kafer]

[Frank F]

Whoops, pardon me, I was writing and thinking (a scary thought). The sentence should have read: "...Yet another option is to create your own player in Java OR JAVA SCRIPT -- if you know how to write EITHER (I don't so I will be relying on someone else to create my players)."

Good catch Mr. K. Thank you.

Frank F
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Be thankful for the bad things in life. They opened your eyes to the good things you weren't paying attention to before. email: thevoice@usa.com

[anthonyVO]

This is a great topic, Frank.

We have to be careful and take this media/codec/browser "battle" with a grain of salt. We're not serving the general public or each other. We're serving media professionals (sometimes I doubt it, but stay with me for a second.) Therefore, it would be best to open a discussion on what codec or delivery system most producers support. If we don't know, we can ask. I know for a fact, in my case, most of my buyers have no issues whatsoever with H264 since that's what they work in anyway.

-Anthony

[Frank F]

For video delivery H.264 is becoming a run-away favorite. The issue gets deeper involved when speaking of audio delivery via web-pages. At present, .mp3 will not play in most Java players and in a few browsers will fall back to Flash if HTML5 is not viewable.

The choices for web-page playback of audio seems to be limited to .wav, .ogg,, and .aac (.m4a). FLAC/FAAD codecs are "open-source" alternatives to the paid .M4a (aac) codec. The difficulty comes when asking a client his/her wishes and they don't know or don't care.

The audio file we send the via email or .ftp will not change unless requested. Although from my own experimentation it would be nice to have/use the loss-less quality of .aac over the lossy quality of .mp3 when sending files to clients.

Similar to the client training of the 80's and 90's; VO's now must re-train those producers who hire us to use the higher quality format(s).

Oh, yes there are "open-source" (read: FREE) versions of .aac available for streaming audio; they are not in widespread use however. The video debate rages over one item specifically it seems - that of MONEY. Are you willing to pay $00.01 every time someone listens to your demo on your website, or each time you encode a file to send to a client? That scenario is in the wind for H.264 and/or M4a.

The audio standard has yet to be set or further discussed, which is why I bring it up for discussion. As VO's WE WILL be affected by the choices.

Frank F
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Be thankful for the bad things in life. They opened your eyes to the good things you weren't paying attention to before. email: thevoice@usa.com

[audio'connell]

I have no freaking clue what is being discussed here but much like my HS algebra class, I'm pretty sure there's going to be a test on it.
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- Peter
audioconnell Voice Over Talent
Your friendly, neighborhood voice over talent

[SoundsGreat-Elaine Singer]

Peter, , Me too

Frank, when it happens, expect a call from me....
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Elaine
The Youthful Mature Voice (Emeritus)
Senectitude is not for the faint of heart.

[kevinpowe]

As a genuine question Frank, how serious do you think Apple's market penetration is in terms of web browsing? (when you look at the breakdown of browser types visiting your site, do you see it weighted heavily toward Apple?)

In terms of smart phones, the Google Android phone supports Flash, although I understand where you're coming from in terms of iPad takeup.

Those links are awesome! I'd heard about the audio tag for HTML 5, but hadn't seen an in-depth discussion of it. HTML 5 looks to be able to do some amazing things - the Google Pac Man game is an awesome example.
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http://kevinpowe.com
<something>

[jasbart]

[Frank F]

All the above.

At least the idea is being thrown around by the patent holder. The same fear is also being presented for the H.264 video codec by MPEG LA which is prompting ides to charge a fee for the codec and it's companion audio codec, AAC (which the patent is also owned by Farunhofer under the .mp4, .m4a, and .m4v designations).

VP8, by Google is a fee based structure. OGG-Theora (for video) is an Open Source product which is only "licensed" to commercial enterprises.

Other codecs in the running for HTML5 in the audio realm are OGG-Vorbis, .wav, and MPEG 4 (under the FLAC/FAAD Open Soruce structure).

For some reason Apple's AIFF (their alternative to Microsoft's WAV) is not included in the current round of discussion.

One reason given for the changes in policies is the lower processor capability needed for "Cloud" based computing used by such devices as the iPad and iPhone, Droid, and some other web based appliances.

Frank F
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Be thankful for the bad things in life. They opened your eyes to the good things you weren't paying attention to before. email: thevoice@usa.com

[anthonyVO]

The Fraunhofer license fees apply to software developers. Obviously at some level (outright purchase, subscription, etc.) the costs are passed down to the end user.

The approach to serving audio does leave alot to be desired. Apple's stance on Flash since the introduction of the iPad complicates the matter even further. It's not as easy as taking a glance at your stats to see which OS/browser your visitors are using. You have to further categorize those visitors. Who are they? If the majority of your visitors are VO buddies on PC/IE, then how much are you going to work and code your site to serve them?

Since H264 is gaining in popularity, perhaps a workaround could be to *only* serve video. That is, to create a file that will play your demo's audio while displaying only a logo. Then, under that video you can provide a download link to your mp3 or other audio. Just a thought.

In the meantime, the JW Player is worth looking into *first* for serving both video and audio. It's Open Source and they seem to really get it. As a matter of fact, they have a beta player for HTML5 that you can start playing with now.

-Anthony

[Gregory Best]

WOW !!! Sure gald we have Frank and Anthony here or how could we keep up. Keep up? I'm with you Peter. I am still trying to figure out the alphabet soup. I just want to be able tro have food audio play on my site.
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Gregory Best

greg@gregorybest.com