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Interview with Doug McIntyre from On2 Technologies

Last week, FlashMagazine had a chance to talk to Doug McIntyre, CEO of On2 Technologies and ask him a few questions about the new video codec being used by Flash and what he feels is the future of video on the web.

Interview by David Vogeleer It's no secret that Macromedia wants Flash Video (FLV) to be the next big thing. And with more and more people getting fed up with the video experience on the web, Flash may have found a niche in the video world with its good quality, small file size and a player that is the most downloaded piece of software on the Internet.

And while demos of the new Flash player are being shown by Macromedia at different conferences all over the world, many people are wondering where this new video codec has come from. On2 Technologies with its VP6.2 codec is the answer.

What made Macromedia come to On2?
My understanding is that they took a very broad look at the codecs available with video quality as the most important market. They came to us the middle of last year. After some testing, we negotiated terms and they began their integration. If the video quality had not been considered best of breed, I don't think we would have ever been contacted.

Why should people consider Flash video as a serious contender for video on the web?
The first thing is the Flash platform. It is miles ahead of Java, Real or Windows Media in PC penetration at 98% worldwide. Even with the old H.263 codec in Flash 7, the video is being used by Amazon, ESPN, CBS, The Washington Post and a host of other major content sites. It has also replaced Java as the player of choice for online video advertising, and has close to 100% share there.

Now the video is improving by a very wide margin. The quality of the picture at data rate is better than Windows Media, Real or QuickTime. You don't need one format for PC and one for Mac. You now have one platform that gets you all of the Internet viewers, with the best video in the world and you don't have to pull up Windows Media for one clip and QuickTime for another.

In addition, it is a much better experience for the end user. People using broadband now are no longer early adopters. We have a lot of people on line who just want the Internet to work without having to acquire a lot of technical knowledge to use it. Flash video is easy to use. Other formats require much more messing around by the end user.

What is the difference between the video codec included in Flash 7 and the new codec for Flash 8?
The old H.283 codec was good in its day, but that is three or four years ago. The industry is seeing video compression improvements every year. VP6 is state of the art. It really is like the difference between driving a 2006 model car and a car from the 1970s. The differences in performance and features are that great.

Will users be able to utilize the new video codec, VP6.2, without having to purchase Flash?
On2 does have its own VP6.2 encoder that works with the On2 player and server. For people who want to encode in VP6.2 for Flash but do not have Macromedia tools, we sell VP6.2 Flash encoders through our Flix encoder line and we are setting dozens of channel partners to sell video encoders for the new Flash. We have already announced a deal with Autodesk and there will be many more of these. We want the Flash encoder with VP6.2 to be universally available.

What is the size/quality difference between video produced in VP6.2 and the video most people see on the web today?
It is much better than current Flash video, and, depending on data rate, probably 10% to 20% better than Windows Media 9. In the majority of cases, people on the web will be able to tell the difference.

Who is already using VP6 or VP7 to put video on the web? Who is planning on using it?
VP6 and VP7 are being used by companies like AOL for their media player and the Win amp player. That is a very broad distribution. VP7 was just licensed by Viewpoint, which has 120 million players and a PC penetration of about 60% of the market. We will be announcing several two-way live video VOIP alliances soon with major VOIP and instant messaging providers. VP7 is an excellent codec for this.

How far back can the VP6.2 codec go as far as the Flash Player is concerned?
The encoder will be backwards compatible to older players with H.263, but to get the new video quality, you will have to have the new Flash player.

Does the new video codec support meta-data?
Yes. At least the Flash 8 version.

Who will be able to use this new codec to produce Flash video?
We are making the SDK to create encoders available to virtually any encoding company that wants it. I think you will see dozens of encoder applications supporting the new Flash video. Companies and individual like to use certain encoding interfaces because of their unique features. We need to make sure that all of these support the new Flash video encoder.

How will the impending Adobe Macromedia deal fit in with/affect how you see video in the Flash player moving forward?
I can only speculate that Flash and video are part of the reason Adobe did this deal. If Adobe wants to compete with Microsoft across a broad spectrum of software, they have to have these ubiquitous tools, and now they have them.

Doug, thank you so much for your time in answering a lot of questions people have been curious about.

Related reads: The quest for a new video codec in Flash 8

Written by David Vogeleer (July 25th 2005)