Then, you’ll see a change as TWiT consolidates video formats into our HD feed only.
Video-LO and Video-HI formats will be discontinued for these two podcast feeds starting Friday, March 13, 2020. If you’ve subscribed to the feeds in those formats, you won’t have to take any action. You will be automatically redirected to the HD video feed.
The switch is part of an effort to streamline operations.
When TWiT began podcasting, bandwidth was an important consideration. With improved internet broadband capacities of our audience, priorities are shifting. As such, you may have noticed that TWiT’s recently launched shows are in HD format only for video. For example, Leo’s Hands-On Mac is in HD only for video, plus all the audio goodness. Our long-running shows will eventually be streamlined so there’s one video feed per podcast.
Consolidating video formats helps TWiT streamline operations and shift focus on other priorities in serving you, our valued audience.
Mmmmm, (puts on the grumpy hat)
Oh well that sucks for my monthly data allowance.
Thanks guys I may have to skip watching more of the shows I miss live, or just listen to the audio versions, in which case all that effort for video is wasted.
I always use the lowest available size in YT or Twitch etc. also because I am not dedicating an entire screen for TWiT, just watching in a window so I can continue using the computer properly.
There is a reason why streaming media sites offer low bandwidth options.
TWiT shows have very little or no need of being 60fps HD files. They are not movies or sport events.
Being mostly low motion panel shows, smaller medium sized files are more than adequate with MP4 unless you are intending on watching on a massive wall sized screen.
When using 2 pass VBR encoding then the quality in smaller files is very acceptable.
To be clear, this will not affect your choices on Twitch or YouTube. They do transcoding for every variety of quality settings. It’s only for downloads.
Yeah I understand it will only affect the podcast type DLs, not live streams.
For live watching I already use YT or Twitch at 240 px so nothing changes there.
It just means as a podcast it is less useful for me now unless I pull the shows I miss during my weekly visit to town or just use audio.
However they don’r have an archive of actual shows, so If you can make sure all the shows are kept available on those services, then people like me in a rural area will still be able to continue to catch up after they have aired.
Currently all there is is clips not full shows.
If not I may just go back to my old method of remotely uploading everything HD that I want to watch to my VK.com account, so I can watch the recoded low bandwidth versions at home.
I could make them public do others can also watch them.
I know there’s currently 3 identical video feeds for each of these in iTunes / Apple Podcasts and other podcatchers. It will take them some time to realize it’s a duplicate and merge those on their end. The same thing happened back when we merged TN2 into the TNT feed.
TL;DR: Today, I’ll be redirecting Video-LO and Video-HI feeds for All About Android, FLOSS Weekly, Ham Nation, Smart Tech Today, Tech News Weekly, and This Week in Enterprise Tech to the Video-HD feed and that will be the only video feed for those shows. Radio Leo, All TWiT.tv Shows, Ask The Tech Guy, Hands-On Photography, Hands-On Tech, TWiT News, TWiT Events, and TWiT Bits have all been consolidated for at least a month (and some of them more). Any new shows launched in 2020, only had one video feed from the start.
I’m planning to do the remaining shows (including iOS Today, Security Now, MacBreak Weekly, Windows Weekly, This Week in Google, The Tech Guy, and This Week in Tech) in July.
I have been using iTunes to download video Twit Podcasts for years. I’ve noticed that the most recent episodes are 1GB which are too big to download.
In the past, there was a Low Quality Video version of the Twit Podcasts. I am sure I was subscribed to this feed. But now it seems to have disappeared? Does anyone have a link to the Low Quality Video versions on iTunes?
There’s always audio. And there are still a variety of choices of quality on our YouTube feeds. Get a youtube downoader and you can get as low quality as you need.
We feel that 720p is a good compromise between file size and video quality. Very few people used the lower quality versions - and, in fact, people keep asking why we “only” do 720p.
Thanks for the explanation Leo. I know this was an announced change, and I’m sure you or @PDelahanty explained the reasons, but I couldn’t recall them. I’m sure only putting out a single video version also makes things easier on your end.
The workflow is pretty automated but it does take a lot of time to upload all those different versions. It also makes mistakes more likely. We’ve been debating this change for over a year, but I think the time had come.
Yes, the Video-LO was by far the least popular of the four feeds on every show. When you look at it, you can see why. It really didn’t look great, but it was kept around to be compatible with some ancient iPods and Zunes.
