New 3 Quality Option - Test It!, New GMC video player version! Options

[Kristofer Dahl]

Hi there,

Based on the feedback we have got from you - we have been working the last months on bringing you a better lesson player with more options, better video/audio quality and better/faster video streaming.

Today you have the possibility of testing this player!

In short:

Click "SETTINGS" in the lower left corner and choose a video quality option that suits you (if you are on a very slow internet connection try "LOW", otherwise you might want to try "MEDIUM" or "HIGH")

>> New player test

A little more info:

We have fixed a bug in the streaming algorithm, so once we implement this player live on the site, you should get better/less choppy streaming in the lessons (will be especially noticeable to those of you on slower Internet connections)

In order for the new video codecs to perform in an optimal way (and give best quality) - we have changed the video resolutions slightly. Because of this - wide screen videos will have a black border on the top and bottom. Also, the window containing tab and backing tracks will have a slightly different size as well.

The "HIGH" quality settings features the largest files ever streamed at GMC - a single video can be around 100 MB in extreme cases. We plan on offering this option without any extra membership fee.

The "LOW" quality setting contains the lightest videos we have ever had at GMC - which means that those of you who are on really slow Internet connections should notice a streaming improvement, even when comparing to really old GMC lessons. The "LOW" setting has a smaller video resolution as you can see (still bigger than the old GMC lessons though!)

However, the new video codecs used might be a little more demanding for old computers. We hope that other improvements made to the player will even these effects out.

Sound is improved with a better codec and 192 kbit/s setting - which means that audio quality should start approaching the quality of an audio cd (or wave file), and should be a definite improvement compared to what we have now.

As you can see the different test videos differ from each other in quality - this is because factors such as the instructors camera equipment, light settings and recording technique come into play as well.

I am looking forward to your feedback - it is incredibly helpful as we strive to make GMC as good as possible!

[Muris Varajic]

Great feature Kris!!!!

I have pretty descent and fast DSL so I didn't watch properly,
does it takes individual buffer for each quality level or?

[David Wallimann]

I love that new feature, it works great.
I tried all 3 settings and could see a difference between all 3.
The lower quality is much faster.
Great great job!

[Sensible Jones]

Unfortunately the Big Player won't work on my PC.
My Processor isn't fast enough to handle it, even on LOW setting.
Audio is fine but Visuals are jumping and not fluent!
I hope to have my new PC very soon so this should no longer be an issue!!

[Bogdan Radovic]

However, the new video codecs used might be a little more demanding for old computers. We hope that other improvements made to the player will even these effects out.

Great work team!! I love the new player and different quality options! They look great..
One thing I noticed though is that this new player works much better/faster on my old computer..I can not create any choppiness problems or anything (on high settings) even if I violently take the scroll page bar and shake it up and down fast..(which would result in audio/playback stopping at once if I done that in the older player)..So considering this to me new player is even less demanding on my old PC..

This post has been edited by Bogdan Radovic: Jan 28 2009, 02:22 PM

[Chris Evans]

works great, at work here I dont have a brilliant connection but on "low" quality no problems at all, and loaded really fast

[Kristofer Dahl]

I have pretty descent and fast DSL so I didn't watch properly,
does it takes individual buffer for each quality level or?

If you are on a fast connection just check out the high quality - as these contain better video/audio than we have had before.

The buffering pre-loads 7 seconds for any quality and then proceeds to percentage-based buffering, as it is now.

[Ajmurrell]

Looks good to me Kris Impressive audio quality, and the HD video codecs look great!! One suggestion though, please bring back the backing track volume adjuster!

[Kristofer Dahl]

Unfortunately the Big Player won't work on my PC.
My Processor isn't fast enough to handle it, even on LOW setting.
Audio is fine but Visuals are jumping and not fluent!
I hope to have my new PC very soon so this should no longer be an issue!!

Ah ok - and you have tried with the "LOW" setting here as well?

[Muris Varajic]

If you are on a fast connection just check out the high quality - as these contain better video/audio than we have had before.

The buffering pre-loads 7 seconds for any quality and then proceeds to percentage-based buffering, as it is now.

Got it, thanks for explanation Kris.

[Kristofer Dahl]

Great work team!! I love the new player and different quality options! They look great..
One thing I noticed though is that this new player works much better/faster on my old computer..I can not create any choppiness problems or anything (on high settings) even if I violently take the scroll page bar and shake it up and down fast..(which would result in audio/playback stopping at once if I done that in the older player)..So considering this to me new player is even less demanding on my old PC..

Very good to hear Bogdan! Let's hope more people experience the same thing.

One suggestion though, please bring back the backing track volume adjuster!

Noted! Just to check, you are aware that you can control the backing track volume with the volume fader of the video? (this way we don't need two of them)

[Ajmurrell]

Very good to hear Bogdan! Let's hope more people experience the same thing.



Noted! Just to check, you are aware that you can control the backing track volume with the volume fader of the video? (this way we don't need two of them)

I wasn't actually... Consider my request delt with

[coffeeman]

Thanks a lot for these improvements Kris. I have an old laptop and a very slow internet conetcion and all 3options work perfect for me, thats awesome.

I can't see the video controls is becuase it's a demo, or maybe is an error on my side?

Thanks again Kris!

[OrganisedConfusi...]

The High Quality vid is awesome and seen as though I have 50mbit/second connection it works perfectly

[Sensible Jones]

Ah ok - and you have tried with the "LOW" setting here as well?

Yeah, that was at the LOW setting! The Audio is fine but there's a slight 'jumpiness' to the Visual. Like I said I'm sure it's my slow PC! This one's only a Pentium III, 448MHz!

[skennington]

The "HIGH" quality settings features the largest files ever streamed at GMC - a single video can be around 100 MB in extreme cases. We plan on offering this option without any extra membership fee.

All 3 works great for me Kris and can definitely see and hear the difference. The above statement is what stood out to me the most man, hat's off to you and your team as I know these extra features are not free..

[Toni Suominen]

Cool upgrade Kris, great job!

[Kristofer Dahl]

I wasn't actually... Consider my request delt with

Ok fixed in a microsecond!

[UncleSkillet]

All 3 worked good for me here. I could really see and hear the the difference in quality.

Thanks for the awesome upgrade.

[Kristofer Dahl]

I can't see the video controls is becuase it's a demo, or maybe is an error on my side?

You should be able to see them...mm what browser are you using? And if you right click on the player somewhere, which version of flash does it say?