Video Prep

You have two options when it comes to adding video to your website:

Option 1: "I don't want to fuss with encoding my videos for streaming online."

No problem. Go get yourself a Vimeo account (pro account if you want HD streaming) and upload them there. Leave the encoding to Vimeo. Here's how you embed Vimeo videos on your site:

1.) Go to your Vimeo page. Make sure the settings for your video allow it to be viewed by the public, or setup so that it will only play on your domain name.

2.) Copy the numerical ID number that you see after the "https://vimeo.com/" in your address bar of your browser (it's different for each vimeo video you have)

3.) Login to your APhotoFolio account and click MEDIA LIBRARY

4.) Click (+ VIMEO) and give your vimeo video a "Title". Then paste the numerical ID # that you copied, into the "Vimeo ID" field.

5.) In the "Custom Thumbnail" field, click the (+ ADD) button to upload a .jpg image as the placeholder thumbnail for the vimeo video. (we recommend uploading custom thumbnail images that are 1860 x 1140 pixels in .JPG format)

6.) Click DONE to save the new video addition to your MEDIA LIBRARY and repeat the process for any additional videos you have.

7.) Drag-and-drop the video to assign it to a menu title in your WEBSITE MENU column, just like you would with any images.

Option 2: "I want to encode them myself for online streaming. I want to control all the settings."

Awesome. Are you sure? Encoding for streaming is not the same as playing a video on your desktop. If your answer is yes, well that's great, here are the requirements: First, if you can get your hands on Quicktime Pro, it's the easiest and simplest method to encode a video. If you have experience with more advanced editing programs by-all-means use those. Video Size: I recommend 640 pixels wide to accommodate all sizes of screens and devices, but there's nothing to stop you from rocking 1280 × 720 pixels (720p) or 1920 × 1080 pixels (1080i/1080p). Streaming Rate: 800 - 3000 kbits/sec is the recommended data rate and keep in mind the higher you go the better quality the video but the slower the playback will be. Of course it all depends on the viewers connection speed. Audio: AAC, 44.100 or 48.000 kHz and 128 or 144 or 160 kbps. Format: The video should be exported as mp4 and MUST have h.264 compression enabled (optimized for streaming natch). Only mp4 is accepted by all browsers and devices. Streaming: Make sure you "Enable Streaming" and "Optimize for server" on the streaming tab.