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You Are Here: AHRQ Home > News & Information > Information Quality Guidelines > AHRQ Publishing and Communications Guidelines > Appendix 4-E. Best Formats for AHRQ Video Products
AHRQ Publishing and Communications Guidelines

Appendix 4-E. Best Formats for AHRQ Video Products

(As of May 26, 2009)

For video projects, AHRQ requires the following file formats:

  1. An uncompressed .avi file at a resolution of 720x480 (NTSC). These files will be large and may require one or more data DVDs to deliver the final product to AHRQ. These .avi files are for mastering purposes only and should not contain the embedded captioning.
  2. An MPEG-2 file at 720x480 resolution, which should not contain embedded captioning.
  3. A Windows Media® 640x480 file version with captions/subtitles embedded in the video file if a CD is the deliverable. Contractors must provide Windows® video with the captions/subtitles on the video. This enables users to view the video and see the captions/subtitles within a PowerPoint® presentation.

For example:
Sample screen capture of a woman sitting with a young boy; a caption identifies the woman as 'Melanie Wright, Patient's Mother' and a second caption identifies the boy as 'Todd Wright, Patient.' Below the screen capture is the label, 'Captions/Subtitles together in same file,' and below this, subtitles that read 'Mrs. Wright: It's these upper teeth. We've traveled a long way, so please make sure you take good care of him.'

  1. A transcript of the captions in a Word file.
  2. Flash video for the Web that meet the following requirements:
  • Video File Type: .FLV
  • Caption file: .XML with time codes linked to .FLV video file
  • Size: Between 400 x 322 and 720 x 480. For wide format, between 600 x 337 and 720 x 405
  • File size: approximately 5 to 12 MB per minute, depending on video size and resolution.
  • The Flash video should be embedded in ShockWave player (.SWF) on an HTML page using an RTMP link supplied by AHRQ. To determine the RTMP link, submit the FLV file via the managing editor to the AHRQ Web Team before producing the HMTL page and final SWF file. All files needed to run and maintain the video, including Javascript (.JS), ActionScript (.AS) and Flash Movie Authoring (.FLA) files to enable future changes, must be submitted to the Web Team.
  • The player window should start playing the video automatically when the page is loaded, and use the following controls directly below the video: Play/Pause, Slider (seek), Volume, Captions on/off, and Full Screen.
  • Captions should play directly under the player controls.
  • After playing, the video player should display a screen shot from the video and a replay “button.”
  • Examples of videos demonstrating these requirements are found at: http://www.ahrq.gov/video/personalrecord/indivrecord.htm and http://healthcare411.ahrq.gov/videocast.aspx?id=333

Note: Contractors must not send Windows Media® files for which a proprietary (downloadable only) plug-in for Windows Media® is required. Many users do not have Administrator rights to their machines, and asking them to install an additional file to view the videos is unreasonable.

Please note: These requirements are subject to change. Before embarking on a video project for AHRQ, contractors should contact Karen Carp at (301) 427-1858.

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