Was my process ok for WMV-HD to MP4 and/or FLV?

[absbica]

So a client of mine needed his videos put on the web. I have recently used FlowPlayer from www.flowplayer.org. I should note, I am using the popup/overlay piece of flowplayer, basically a non-window popup like this http://flowplayer.org/demos/plugins/overlay.htm

This is the process we had to go through in order to get the videos created. Since doing this, the videos apparently have had mixed results. Of the people I have sent the link to (mostly younger techies) all the videos have played perfect and smooth. Of the people he has sent the link to, about 1/2 have reported playback issues...mostly choppy playback.

1. The videos were shot in HD.
2. The client doesn't have advanced editing equipment, so he imported the videos into Windows Movie Maker and converted them to 720p WMV's. The file type was something like WMV-HD. The result was 1280x720.
3. We then loaded the WMV's into Camtasia 6, changed some settings so the videos would export at 640x360 (youtube size) mp4's.
4. I loaded the videos into FlowPlayer and for me and others they have played fine and smooth...for people he is connected with, they play choppy for some.

I assume Camtasia 6 uses the h.264 codec, so if it was shot in HD, even if I downsized the video, I assume its still an HD file. yes?

What could be causing the choppy playback? Am I better of sticking with the traditional FLV? If so, I can use MediaCoder from sourceforge to do this I think.

Thoughts?

Thanks,
Bryan

[Baldrick]

Nope, it's not HD if you downsized it.

H264 video requires a pretty fast cpu even for 640x360. So I would try flv and see if it plays smoother. Or try convert to mp4 h264 using another tool and see if it make any difference, like xvid4psp or avidemux.

[absbica]

Ok, so basically...is h.264 stupid to use if its not going to be at minimum 1280x720?

I used mediaCoder to convert to Flash Video (format=flash video, container=flashvideo)...so even though the file size is
higher, hopefully the playability will be better.