Video Filenames

From TreetWiki

File Name Parts

At Treet, we are careful and methodical about the way we name files that we distribute. File names always indicate the name of the show, usually the serial number of the show, the date, as well as suffixes which denote special formats.

Treet videos are named as follows:

showname_NNN_ddmmmyy_formatcode.ext

where:

• showname is the name of the show, such as "tonightlive" or "dw" for Designing Worlds.
• NNN is the serial number of the show, starting with 001 and ending with 999. Each show has an increasingly higher number and people often consider these the "episode number".
• dd is the day in two digits; mmm is the month as a three-letter abbreviation; yy is the last two digits of the year. Note that the date specifies the date of production, not the date of release of the media file. So, if multiple releases of the same exact production occur, the date will always be the same regardless of when the file or format is actually published.
• formatcode is not always present. The table below indicates what format the file is in if it is absent.
• ext is the file extension of the file, such as .mp4 or .mov.

So, for example:

metanomics_080_06may09_169d.mp4

specifies that this is the Metanomics show, episode 80, it was filmed on May 6th, 2009, and the format is 16:9 720p.

Summary of Format Codes

The following table summarizes the special format codes used, such as "169d" above.

File Type	Format Code	Encoding	MB / hr	Compatibility	Purpose
.mp4	absent	4:3 H.264 320x240 (Audio, MPEG4 44.1Khz, 128Kbits)	160	Web plus all devices.	A file with no format code is one of the original SLCN encoded videos in 4:3. This is a one-size-fits-all MP4 that plays well everywhere. Unfortunately, not possible to do this with HD.
.mp4	_169a	16:9 H.264 480x270 (Audio, AAC 44.1Khz, 64Kbits)	160	Web-only: Quicktime Player, Flash Players, VLC, etc.	High speed, moderate quality format used for standard websites. Assures widest range of consumer viewers possible. We recommend this format as the default, with links or references to higher quality formats.
.mp4	_169c	16:9 H.264 640x360 (Audio, MPEG4 44.1Khz, 128Kbits)	500	Web and Devices (iPod, Apple TV)	High quality web distributions. Excellent quality, full frame rate, best choice high quality viewing, but not good as a default format due to file size and excessive streaming latency.
.mp4	_169d	16:9 H.264 1280x720 (Audio, AAC 48Khz, 192Kbits)	750	Incompatible with iPods & iPhone but works on Apple TV and other high-end devices, plus web.	720p HD Distribution for television viewing. Best for large screen viewing on televisions, for presentations, close to broadcast quality.
.mp4	_169g	16:9 H.264 320x180 (Audio, MPEG4 44.1Khz, 128Kbits)	140	Devices (iPod, iPhone, PSP)	High-quality but small frame size, designed specifically for download to devices and mainstream "one size fits all" distributions such as iTunes.

Which One Should I Watch?

The _169a files are recommended for general web viewing and approximate the default data rates and frame sizes you see on sites like YouTube. These flies will not play on iPhones, iPods and many other portable devices because they use advanced encoding settings to achieve high web quality with minimal download size.

The _169g files are recommended for general download for devices, such as iPhones and other portable devices. The frame size is small, but the quality is excellent and the file size is manageable.

The _169c files are equivalent to the YouTube "high quality" viewing mode and will display very good quality on the web but may cause significant buffering for many people and may not play so they should be reserved as an option for those wishing for better quality.

The _169d files are the true HD quality and can be rather large. These are for showing on a large screen format or living room TV and a significant download. They will not play on portable devices like iPhones or iPods at all because the H.264 encoding is too complex for Apple devices, though they may play on some other portable devices.