Mp4's over the Internet

[Barry Beckham]

Should Mp4 videos be zipped like exe files for transportation over the internet.  I feel the answer is no, but I'm not sure and a Google search didn't seem to reveal much.

What's the consensus

[Lin Evans]

Barry, if you don't zip them, many web host servers will play them rather than allow download from an FTP perspective. It's best to zip unless you have a very fast host server. I can't say about file sharing services because I only use them to download and never upload to them. But if you have your own website and upload an mp4 to the server and give the user a link, in most cases unless the host has some rule about not allowing "any" play over the web the mp4 will play rather than download...

Best regards,,

Lin

[Barry Beckham]

Lin

I didn't think about the Mp4 actually being played in a browser, I was thinking they would be downloaded and played on a computer. I was more concerned about the potential for a virus. They just don't seem as relevant with Mp4 videos as they are/were with executable files. Is that just my perception of am I missing something?

I am thinking more of Mp4's uploaded to MediaFire, Dropbox or some service like that. I don't want to zip each one if it's not necessary, but would rather find out before I actually do it . I kind of like being able to upload a Mp4 as is.

 

[jkb]

we both send & receive MP4, avi, mov etc using WeTransfer & haven't had any problems either way.

I always scan anything I download before attempting to open or play.

I only zip exe or if I am sending several files at once.

Jill

[Barry Beckham]

I haven’t had any problems either, but I have a lot of Mp4 videos to put up on line and want to get it right with best practice