Quixdraw Loc: x

I don't have or use phones, but a friend needs to post short videos, 2 minutes or less for particular individuals to view. She knows I'm into photography so asked me for info. She has no trouble taking the videos with her phone or transferring them to her computer, but when she Emails them, the viewers cannot play them. These are all the details I have. Suggestions for a simple, reliable method will be appreciated!

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Depends on the recorded format. Not everything intrinsically plays all formats.
I don't know what plays what formats.....

Quixdraw Loc: x

Thanks, what are the most common formats? I suppose she could post more than one?

riderxlx Loc: DFW area Texas

if the video arrives in an email as an attachment what I do is save the attachment to my desktop computer which is Windows based and then I’m able to view them either a picture or a video.
It would be nice if we had a sample to check out.
Bruce.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

So far I'm aware: MP3; MP4; MOV; WMV; AVI.
Some may be proprietary to the device doing the recording and different.

The "playing device" will have to have decoders/drivers for the various formats. Not all players support all formats.

Quixdraw Loc: x

Don't have one at the moment, sorry! Though it is just dogs she probably wouldn't want to be that much in the public eye.

Day.Old.Pizza Loc: Maple Grove, MN

I’m curious to hear what people respond. If I take a video on my iPhone anything much over 30 seconds becomes too large a file to send. I haven’t figured out what I’m doing wrong yet…hoping to hear an answer.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

The most common video file format is an MP4 "container" file with an H.264 video codec inside. Newer iPhones may default to a "MOV" container file with an H.265 codec inside. The phones can be set to a "most compatible" format. I've never seen a computer or other electronic device that won't play an H.264 MP4. The H.265/MOV is a favorite in the Apple world, but there are computers that can't play it without a little help.

A two minute video in either format will be so big that most email systems will reject them. Worse is how rude it is to put such large files into other peoples' computers!

The solution is for the sender to put the video file in an online location and then send the link to the viewer. Favorite on line locations include YouTube and Vimeo. Facebook and Instagram host videos too but, I think there may be length restrictions. Also common is to put the video file in a "public" or "shareable" folder on Microsoft OneDrive or Google Drive. It may also work for her to use iCloud, but I don't know how that works.

To make life easier for my personal video hoby and sharing I maintain a Vimeo account because there is no advertising involved. I am in full control of what I put there and who can watch it. It costs me about $65 a year.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

You are not doing anything wrong. Video files are big and email systems don't like big files. There are ways to shrink a video file but it is at the expense of visual quality.

With an iPhone, do you automatically get an iCloud account with space for sharing video files?

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Two of those are audio file formats!

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Which can include video......

https://blog.filestack.com/thoughts-and-knowledge/complete-list-audio-video-file-formats/

Granted, all my MP3s are only audio.
And of course I don't keep track of all of them.
I'm only concerned with what I have. Even then I don't pay attention to all the various types because I RARELY do video.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Video is not like photography. In photography the last three lettered file extension determines a format like JPG or the many RAW formats.

With video, the last three lettered extension designates a "container" file. In it is a long list of codecs and specifications covering everything from the video and audio codecs to the frame rates and shutter speeds.

The closest thing to a universal format it is an MP4 container with the H.264/AVC video codec and the AAC audio codec.

For those that enjoy tech for the fun of it, this is the structure of a common MP4 video file.

Complete name : D:\Working Data\My Graphics\GX8\2022-05-27\P1140006.MP4
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID : mp42 (mp42/avc1)
File size : 182 MiB
Duration : 16 s 16 ms
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 95.5 Mb/s
Encoded date : UTC 2022-05-27 12:09:37
Tagged date : UTC 2022-05-27 12:09:37

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L5.1
Format settings : CABAC / 2 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, Reference frames : 2 frames
Format settings, GOP : M=3, N=8
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 16 s 16 ms
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 95.2 Mb/s
Maximum bit rate : 106 Mb/s
Width : 3 840 pixels
Height : 2 160 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 29.970 (30000/1001) FPS
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.383
Stream size : 182 MiB (100%)
Encoded date : UTC 2022-05-27 12:09:37
Tagged date : UTC 2022-05-27 12:09:37
Color range : Limited
Color primaries : BT.709
Transfer characteristics : BT.709
Matrix coefficients : BT.709
Codec configuration box : avcC

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC LC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Codec ID : mp4a-40-2
Duration : 16 s 16 ms
Source duration : 16 s 64 ms
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 128 kb/s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel layout : L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate : 46.875 FPS (1024 SPF)
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 245 KiB (0%)
Source stream size : 245 KiB (0%)
Encoded date : UTC 2022-05-27 12:09:37
Tagged date : UTC 2022-05-27 12:09:37

Quixdraw Loc: x

That may be an issue! Thanks!

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Thanks for the education.
Suffices to say the extension depicts what type/that it is a video file,
that's all I need.

Quixdraw Loc: x

Thank you!