What media formats does MindBites accept?

MindBites accepts media files for upload up to 100MB in size in the following formats: Audio: MP3 Video: iPod compatible formats (.mp4, .mov or .m4v) Screencast Videos: Most major formats (.MOV, .MP4, .AVI, .WMV…) with the exception of Flash formats (SWF, FLV, etc.)

Does MindBites reformat my media files?

We take the file you upload and create a 60 second Flash preview that users can view before they buy, and a full-length Flash version that can be viewed once the lesson is purchased. We do not do any reformatting or recompression of your original however, which will be the file users download to their own computers. Thus, it is important to ensure that you are uploading in the appropriate format. In the rapidly evolving world of digital media formats, we believe that the author community is in a much better position to leverage the proliferation of free and cheap tools out there to both produce a good, easy to use lesson and maintain control over the final product. For helpful information on media formats, tools and tips, please consult the MindBites forums.

What are iPod compatible formats?

Most video editing applications can answer this for you by providing “iPod compatible format” as an exporting option. If you want the gory details, at the time of this writing according to Apple, acceptable ipod formats are: • H.264 video, up to 1.5 Mbps, 640×480, 30 frames per sec., Baseline Low-Complexity Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 kbps, 48 Khz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats • H.264 video, up to 768 kbps, 320×240, 30 frames per sec., Baseline Profile up to Level 1.3 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 kbps, 48 Khz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats • MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640×480, 30 frames per sec., Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 kbps, 48 Khz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats

If your editing application does not offer any ipod compatible formats as an export option, there are many very inexpensive tools that can convert video to an iPod format. Please see the MindBites forums for more information.

Why do you only accept iPod compatible formats?

Simple. A lot of people own iPod and as a result, there are a lot of free and cheap ways to get media into iPod compatible formats. Our goal at MindBites is to balance ease of use for users and maximum control for authors. Currently, the prevalence of the iPod and iTunes for both PC and Mac users, provides a useful focal point for both video formats easy to use for Learners and there also exists a wide range of applications for authors to both export and/or convert to iPod formats. As the world of digital media evolves, so will we. If you think a different policy would be better, Raise it with the community in the MindBites forums!

Why do you accept more formats for screencast videos vs. normal videos?

While we believe iPod compatible formats offer a good uniform focal point for video in general, screencasts provide some unqiue challenges and have less of a need for being played back on a mobile device. For instance, authors will often want to utilize a larger resolution size (greater than 320×240 or perhaps even larger than 640×480) for clarity on a computer screen as well as possibly use a non-standard aspect ratio depending on the natural window size of the application being taught. In addition, many of the current inexpensive screencast capturing programs often only offer a limited variety of formats for export. Finally, for end users, most people will want to play screencast tutorials back on their pc or Mac anyway, vs trying to download to an ipod of mobile device (and if they do so desire, they can convert it themselves).

MindBites recently updated the file size limit to 200 MB in size.