Is there anywhere that says what Proclaim can and can't import?
I know it imports .mp3's, but is it restricted to a certain form of mp3?
I ask because I'd like to start using Google Play Music because of the higher quality music. iTunes is kinda muddy (Even after turning off the preamp). I know most people can't tell, but I can and it bothers me.
Thanks all,
Jared
Jared,
My understanding is it doesn't matter the bitrate of the file if you are playing it locally. However, if you upload and share that mp3 with other users then that file will get down sampled and will not sound as good. I've found that I have to only put mp3's as local files because of this. Hope this helps.
Be Blessed, Josh
Hi Jl
I don't think that iTunes would be quite so muddy if we weren't made to convert from the AAC native format.
tootle pip
Mike
How to get logs and post them.
Interesting, so adding an mp3 to my Proclaim library (cloud) will compress it. I wonder if it does this for videos? I'm already having to compress the videos down a lot due to the file size limit.
Yeah, it'd be nice if Proclaim could handle mp3's and AAC's.
If the videos are not in native WMV format (for Windows computers), they will be converted to WMV and are compressed. I have found that I must convert my videos (mp4's, mov's or m4v's) to WMV FIRST or they are compressed with bad sound when they are converted by Proclaim's servers. Again, you can get around the size if you use local files only, but then you lose out on the cloud functionality of having the files sync across multiple computers.
I only have access to Mac's.
Doing WMV's are near impossible. I mean I can, but it isn't easy.
One way to avoid the terrible sound from synced videos is to stream them directly from the Web.
This does require a decent and reliable Internet connection in the church though.
Some work needs to be done on this by the developers because not all sights will expand to full screen on the presentation monitor - they insisting on jumping back to the control computer.
iPlayer is a case in point.
I work in a cross platform environment where I do all my work on a Mac and only use a Windows Machine to present. That's why I have to convert to WMV first. I think in your situation, if I remember correctly, you can use MOV files just fine and they won't transcode for you providing you use a Mac every time. But if you ever open your service on a Windows machine then they will be transcoded on that machine and you lose quality of the video. Maybe Spencer or someone can comment on this.
I agree with Mike, however, even with a reliable connection, I choose not to stream directly from websites during my main services. I always download the videos in the best format possible and then convert to WMV at the highest quality possible to stay within the 200 MB file size limit. Many times I find that a compressed WMV is much smaller than even an MP4 file and looks and sounds just as good on a Windows machine as the MP4 does on my computer. I use VideoMonkey (do a web search for it. It's FREE) to convert all my videos to WMV. It works very well! And, best of all, it's free. :-)
Josh Edwards: I think in your situation, if I remember correctly, you can use MOV files just fine and they won't transcode for you providing you use a Mac every time. But if you ever open your service on a Windows machine then they will be transcoded on that machine and you lose quality of the video. Maybe Spencer or someone can comment on this.
This is correct.
Additionaly, MP4s will play on both systems without transcoding, provided your Windows machine is Win7 or above.
Scott, thanks for the clarification. I didn't know that MP4's would play without transcoding! I will start to use that option more. Thanks again!
Does Proclaim play a certain format smoother than another?
My MOVs sometimes freeze on start then play. Or play for a split second, freeze, and resume playing. Or is this a graphics card issue?
Hey Jared,
I would make sure all drivers on your computer are up to date. If the videos are still not playing well after updating any outdated drivers, then it is most likely the video that has been transcoded. Any video that does not have to be transcoded on your machine (such as mp4 said above) will most likely play the best.
I've started using mp4's and it has made things run smoother. Of course mp4s are compressed more, but most people can't tell a difference. They can tell when something freezes though.