Hi All,

I currently use stream my videos as wmv files, however these take up to 3 minutes to load before playing back! I would like something that loads up and starts playing back as fast as youtube or myspace videos. it seems these sites use flash or something. How do I go about converting my files into a format that will load more quickly, have good resolution and can still be played on my imbedded windows media player?

Help I am going crazy trying to find anything on google that will give me a solution!

Thanks
Ben

It's all about bitrate and connection speed. The reason youtube and google load so fast is that they take your compressed video and compress it again to get it as small as possible.

What size and length are your vids?

Good picture quality and high compression are possible using lower res and VBR settings.

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Streaming wmv video requires using special server software on your website. There is nothing you can do at compression time to implement streaming, only make the file size smaller.

Quicktime is another story, It has a built in 'poor man's streaming' method called 'Progressive Download'. The Quicktime plug in will measure the net connection speed and what the file size is and compute how much has to be downloaded before starting to play without having the movie stall along the way. Movie play back begins before the entire file is downloaded. On a fast connection with a bit rate greater than the movie's bit rate, the playback will begin almost instantly.

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Fav quote - "Experience is whatcha don't get 'till ya don't need it no more."

System - Athlon 1.4GHz, Win98, Hauppauge PVR250 receiver and compressor.
Software -Magix Movie Edit Pro 10, Nero 6 + NeroVision Express, Moho 4.61, PSP 8.1, Bryce, Quicktime 6.52 pro, Goldwave 5, DVD-Lab.
Cameras - Panasonic GS9, Canon ES8400V, Canon EOS D20 and Canon A70

Crusty – You are a wealth of knowledge, I never really knew the technical differences between Microsoft’s Media Player and Quicktime.

Thanks,
TA

Thanks.

If an .asx redirection file is used, mplayer will be launched and it will use progressive downloading. The downside is mplayer will not be embedded in the webpage, but running in it's own window.

ASX info

__________________
Fav quote - "Experience is whatcha don't get 'till ya don't need it no more."

System - Athlon 1.4GHz, Win98, Hauppauge PVR250 receiver and compressor.
Software -Magix Movie Edit Pro 10, Nero 6 + NeroVision Express, Moho 4.61, PSP 8.1, Bryce, Quicktime 6.52 pro, Goldwave 5, DVD-Lab.
Cameras - Panasonic GS9, Canon ES8400V, Canon EOS D20 and Canon A70

Hi Crusty,

thanks for that. I have checked with friends at various points around the country and they say the vids load up in about 10 seconds which i think is okay.

Anyone know how to make crisp web streaming files like those movie blockbuster types? I have tried looking at adobe flash stuff but can't make sense of their package description.

Ben

Not sure but I think movie trailers are encoded by very clever people with much more complex software to get the best from the bits available - hmm... I think I could be passing on drivel - anyone else know ?

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We have a file convertor from any video format with its further broadcasting in website's flash player. To work this convertor requires a free RED5 server. The convertation happenes while loading the file in Admins zone.

Crusty, I dont mean to contradict you just to clarify something.

Depending on how you encode your WMV's you dont need any special software on your web server as WMV's also support progressive downloads. If you encode the WMV specifically to rely on a windows media server than yes u need the software on the server otherwise it aint needed.

On my own server (mediachill.com) we use WMV's as sample files to our work (we also use QT files). It is in the embedding code where you can dictate how much of the file needs to downloaded before it plays i.e. pre buffer loading. The point is we sucesfully have many wmv files running off our webserver without the need of any special software on the server itself.

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www.irishmark.net / MyYouTube / www.mediachill.com