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FirePony
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Flash Video Looks great when i play localy but is very grainy when played from a server

May 15, 2012 8:33 AM

What could be going on that would cause my flash video to look terriable when played off a server, but look great when played localy?

 

the clip is encoded in f4v and is about 3 min long, when i test it i use the same html file and browser,  the only thing that changes is, local vs server

651 Views   8 Replies   Latest reply: FirePony, May 15, 2012 2:19 PM
 
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  • adninjastrator
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    1. adninjastrator,
    May 15, 2012 1:08 PM   in reply to FirePony
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    What is the file size when located on your local machine? What file size on the server?

    Is this your own server or did you upload to a video hosting site where the file was then re-encoded?

    When comparing local vs remote server, are the display dimensions the same?

    Adninjastrator

     
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  • FirePony
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    2. FirePony,
    May 15, 2012 1:20 PM   in reply to adninjastrator
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    the file size is 17,378,895 bytes (17 mb) in both locations,   the server is mine, its just a linux box with php and apache on it.  the file is not getting re encoded or anything like that

     

    i just pulled up the clip in two seperate browser windows same browser.   one the local version and one the server version, and the server version is deffinitly streached out.   its odd becuase its the same html, swf and f4v file.     i copied the distored one from the server to a new folder on my local disk, and ran it there, it looked normal.  what would cause this?

     
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  • adninjastrator
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    3. adninjastrator,
    May 15, 2012 1:25 PM   in reply to FirePony
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    You say "streached out" while you first described it as "very grainy".

    Is it one or the other? or both?

    A link to the actual web page with the video on it would be helpful for trouble shooting.

     
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  • FirePony
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    4. FirePony,
    May 15, 2012 1:36 PM   in reply to adninjastrator
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    here is a link to the clip   the issue really stands out at about 19 sec into the clip where there are some animated lines that flow around http://www.autical.net/saver/

     

    below i added screen shots the top one is the local and the bottom one is the server

    i guess i used the term grainy incorrectly,  i should have said blocky local.JPGserver.JPG

     
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  • adninjastrator
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    5. adninjastrator,
    May 15, 2012 1:52 PM   in reply to FirePony
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    The first thing that strikes me is the difference in display size of the two screenshots you posted. Is that correct or is the Forum somehow distorting the images.

    Does the local machine file display at a smaller size than the server version?

    When viewing the clip here, it looks pretty crips and I don't really see any pixilation.

    It does have a very high bitrate so there is the stop/start buffering issue. 17MB for a 2 min video is pretty high... but that's another issue.

    If the server version you are seeing is displaying at larger dimensions than the local machine, that could be the cause of the pixilation of the fine lines.

    But it's hard to believe that the exact same file would display at two different dimensions...

    so, at any time during development did you alter display dimensions? you may have old version either on your machine or on the server.

    Have you cleared the cache before testing from server?

    Why are we see two different display sizes?

     
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  • FirePony
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    6. FirePony,
    May 15, 2012 2:06 PM   in reply to adninjastrator
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    the forum seems to be changing the image, i retook and uploaded the screen shots to the server, you can see them here

    http://www.autical.net/saver/server.JPG

     

    http://www.autical.net/saver/local.JPG

     

    Yea the local version displays smaller, and i think that is why it looks bad on the server, its streched somehow

     

    yeah i cleared my cache,   i even pulled it up on a system that has never played it before, and from the server it always looks bad

     

    so for you, when you play it, it looks like my screen shot from the local ?

     
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  • adninjastrator
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    7. adninjastrator,
    May 15, 2012 2:14 PM   in reply to FirePony
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    The two image links in your lasted post show a completely different video aspect ratio than your first set of image and the video that I see in the web page link. Changing the aspect ration will distort the video.

    Have you viewed the video on the server from some other computer, not the same one you are testing locally on?

    Video looks pretty good when viewed on the server from here.

     
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  • FirePony
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    8. FirePony,
    May 15, 2012 2:19 PM   in reply to adninjastrator
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    I havent changed the aspect ratio, the only thing i changed from the first set of images to the second set, was i took the second set with the browser window maximized

     

    I am going to try this on my home computer tonight and see if it sees the clip differntly than my work computer

     

    At least it looks good on your machine

     
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