I didn’t see a lot of fanfare, but the release of the WordPress Video Solution Framework plugin, also called the WordPress.com Video Server, has the potential to be huge.

Some of you may wonder why I was interested in getting FFmpeg installed again. This is the reason why: Auttomatic has released code that makes it possible (with some work and knowhow) to turn a WordPress Mu platform into a video solution.

Features

• Video-Uploader: A program that will load raw video files into the transcoder without making the user wait
• Video-Transcoder
  • Takes in raw video from the Uploader
  • Transcodes the video into h.264
  • Stores the video into an mp4 container
  • Creates thumbnails
  • Sends the files and meta data to the file server
• Video-FinalTouch
  • Receives files and data from the Transcoder
  • Copies the files into the source video’s folder
  • Updates the database tables with new video information
  • Can be customized to replicate or load files into a CDN (Content Delivery Network)
• Video-XML
  • Reads in information from the video such as: caption, duration, and format
  • Returns this information in XML format
  • Caches information to ensure quick performance
• Video-AJAX: Displays the video when the transcoder has not completed processing the raw video data
• Includes a player written in ActionScript 3 that will handle proper display of the video based upon your configuration

Final Thoughts

The notes indicate that at least some work must be done in order to make everything function. Since I have yet to try everything out yet, I don’t know exactly how much work that would be. I’ll be sure to post about my experiences and hopefully have some examples soon.

The notes also indicate that you’ll need to have a working install of FFmpeg and qt-faststart (the readme.txt file says qu-faststart, but it’s actually qt-faststart). To install FFmpeg, see Install FFmpeg and ffmpeg-php on CentOS Easily.

I’ve always been a big fan of AMVs. Years ago, I would find and archive my favorites and then show them to my buddies when we’d hang out at IHOP. It was always a great way to start conversations about music and anime. Over the years, my focus on AMVs has waned. Fortunately, that has now changed.

Lately, we’ve been having groups of friends over to the house frequently, and queuing up some AMV Hell on the HTPC is a great way to keep everyone entertained and talking. This has broken my fast and got me back into digging around for some great AMVs, and great AMVs are what I found. I had never Nostromo is my new-found favorite AMV creator. Checking out his deviantART page, I found that he’s from Paris, has a pretty sweet computer setup, creates some cool images, and is a fellow fan of The Big Bang Theory. Also, considering how he is younger than me by a few years and has created some awesome AMVs, I am incredibly jealous (even though I have no knack for creating AMVs and probably never will create one myself).

Nostromo, to you I tip my hat. You have some amazing work that not only has me hooked on AMVs again, but you also have me purchasing music because I enjoy your music selections so much. Thanks for introducing me to Watch Them Fall Down by DJ Spoke and Lifelight by Andy Hunter.

I’d have to say that two of his AMVs stick out as definite favorites of mine. I’ve included vids of them here so you can check them out.

Galaxy Bounce by Nostromo

[youtube]S76Eze91_bs&ap=%2526fmt%3D18[/youtube]

Auriga by Nostromo

[youtube]kHieEhINI7g&ap=%2526fmt%3D18[/youtube]
The Youtube vids don’t do adequate justice to the quality in his vids nor to the audio (even though I embedded the high-quality versions). You can find the full-quality versions of the videos on Anime Music Videos.org at the following links: Auriga and Galaxy Bounce.

If you haven’t been bitten by the AMV bug yet, what are you waiting for? Browse around the Anime Music Videos.org site.  You can search by song and by anime so you can find something that you are sure to enjoy quickly. After digging around for a while, start looking at random videos, you never know when you will find something that makes you want to watch an anime that you’ve never seen before or when you’ll discover an artist that you’ver never heard before.

Another great way to jump into AMVs is to watch the AMV Hell videos. Make sure you pay attention to the warnings as some of them have explicit content. AMV Hell 2 and 3 are definitely my favorites. They are huge movie-length videos that are composed of dozens of songs.

In closing, I leave with a short AMV that I enjoy that features scenes from Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence. The video is called Project Xanthium by Niotex and features You’ll be Under My Wheels by Prodigy

[youtube]oZcwdFdZ2Hc[/youtube]

I found this gem right before going to bed, and I’m so glad that I stayed up to check it out. It’s a series of three short musical-style episodes about a mad scientist with aspirations for villainy who longs after a woman at the laundromat.

Joss Whedon, yes the same Joss Whedon who brought us shows like Firefly and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, cooked up a crazy idea to break outside of the standard mold of show making. The idea came up during the Writers’ Guild of America strike that effectively paralized Hollywood for half a year. Joss wanted to test how successful a show could be outside the grips of production studios and networks; Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog was the result.

By pooling all of his connections, Joss Whedon put together this series of three shorts on a very limited budget but with great results. Some very famous and recognizable faces make up the cast. You may recognize Neil Patrick Harris from How I Met Your Mother, Nathan Fillion from Firefly, Felicia Day from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Simon Helberg from The Big Bang Theory. The combination of these easily recognizable faces with witty lines and silly songs makes for great entertainment.

I hope that Joss Whedon, the actors, and the talented crew that helped with development and production are all handsomely rewarded for their efforts.

For more information about Joss Whedon’s idea and the plan for Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, check out the plan page.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5BxymuiAxQ

This song is going to be stuck in my head for weeks.

I love computers, I love fishies, I love WordPress

I love the whole world, and all of its wonders

I love thunder storms, I love friends and smiles, I love silliness

I love the whole world, it’s my favorite place

I love ones and zeros, I love peanut butter, I love ceiling fans

I love the whole world, and all the human race

Boom de ah da, Boom de ah da, Boom de ah da, Boom de ah da