Streaming Technologies

© N. Ganesan, Ph.D.

Real Media

Product of RealNetworks, Inc.

RealNetworks, Inc. Background

• In 1995, RealNetworks pioneered and introduced the concept of streaming

• Foresaw the need for solutions for creation, delivery, & consumption of media over the Internet

• Invented and released its first version of RealPlayer and RealAudio

RealNetworks Related Products

• Media Creation: Helix Producer, Camtasia Studio, Presentation Maker, Media Publisher…

• Media Delivery: Helix Universal Server, Helix Universal Gateway …

• Media Players: RealOne Players for Unix, for Mac Osx, and for Windows …

• Other: Helix Platform, RealMedia Production Bundle, Streaming Media Starter Kit

Some RealNetworks Components

• RealOne SuperPass – rich media subscription service – over 1 million subscribers

• RealRhapsody – Song distribution service

• SMIL – language to manage media clips

RealNetworks Helix Platform

• Three components work together to stream the user’s media:– Helix Producer – creates streaming

Real Media clips (such as RealAudio and Real Video); this process is called “encoding”

– Helix Universal Server – streams the Real Media clips over the network

– RealPlayer – plays the streamed Real Media clips for the user

RealNetworks Streaming Media Creation

• Helix Producer creates streaming media data packets by an “encoding” process– The source media is received as a file or live

audio/video– A codec is used to compress the media

source data into packets– The data packets are streamed via the

Internet or network to the user– At the user’s end, the codecs are used to

piece back the media so the user can play it

RealNetworks SMIL

• SMIL: Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language, recommended by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)

• A markup language for coordinating and specifying how and when clips play

• Works for a media player in the same way HTML works for a Web browser

• Fosters interoperability between media players

RealNetworks SMIL advantages

• Stream clips located on different servers– SMIL files list a separate URL for each clip– Eliminates the need to merge clips into a

single streaming file– Can lay out a presentation: for example,

a RealVideo clip with subtitles written in RealText

– Can time and control a presentation

RealNetworks File Formats

• In Real format, the content is compressed with proprietary RealVideo and RealAudio codecs

• Stored in a format developed by RealNetworks, and can be played using the RealOne player

• RealNetworks file formats .ra and .rm and .ram are not supported by Microsoft’s Windows Media Player

QuickTime

A product of Apple Computer

QuickTime Background

• In 1999, Apple Computer introduced its QuickTime Streaming Server and created a real stir in the streaming media industry

• This new Server featured an open sourced, standards-based RTP/RTSP* engine– *Real-Time Transport Protocol/Real-

Time Streaming Protocol

Growth of QuickTime

• In its first year, QuickTime 5 was downloaded over 100 million times by both Windows and Mac customers

• QuickTime 6 reached 100 million downloads in less than 10 months

QuickTime Products

• QuickTime Player: FREE premier multimedia player.

• QuickTime Pro: Powerhouse media authoring.

• MPEG-2 Playback Component: Play MPEG-2 files with QuickTime.

• QuickTime Streaming Server: Industrial strength streaming server.

• QuickTime + Mobile Multimedia: Apple 3GPP & 3GPP2 solutions.

• QuickTime Broadcaster: FREE live encoder webcasting.

Darwin Streaming Server

• “While sharing the same code base as QuickTime Streaming Server, Darwin Streaming Server is an open source project intended for developers who need to stream QuickTime and MPEG-4 media on alternative platforms such as Windows, Linux, and Solaris, or those developers who need to extend and/or modify the existing streaming server code to fit their needs” –An open source server offered by Apple.

QuickTime Streaming Server

• The current version, QuickTime Streaming Server 4, extends its support to new standards:– MPEG-4– MP3 – 3GPP – Applicable to mobile

computing

QuickTime Streaming Server Available Versions

• Designed for Mac OS X Server• Versions are available for Linux,

Solaris, and Windows servers• Also available as an open source

server:– Called Darwin Streaming Server– Can be ported to other platforms by

modifying some platform-specific source files

QuickTime

• Provides MPEG-4 video and audio (.mp4) file format support

• Also supports 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), the new standard for high-quality multimedia on wireless devices

• MPEG-2• Pixlet – for the file industry • For further information access:

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/products/qt/

Technology and Relationships

• Apple Computer is a founding member of ISMA, an organization dedicated to accelerating the adoption of open standards for streaming rich media over the Internet

• The QuickTime file format was chosen by the ISO MPEG committee as the basis for MPEG-4

QuickTime Architecture

• QuickTime architecture is track-based• Each element of a QuickTime movie is

contained in a separate track• To make a QuickTime movie, add tracks

that point to the media to be used• A single movie may have many different

track types, including video, audio, text, sprite, Flash, HREF, hinting, QuickTime VR, and chapter divisions

• Each track may possess modifiable properties

QuickTime Track types

• Movie track – annotations, copyright info, & general info on the entire movie

• Audio track – CD-quality audio; other formats• Text track – Text imported for titles etc.• Sprite track – Small animatable images• Video track – Digitized video, 3D animation….• Music track - MIDI music with QuickTime

instruments• 3D track – QuickDraw 3DMF metafile objects

QuickTime Track Types (cont.)

• Chapter track – Divides movie into randomly-addressable chapters

• Flash track – for .swf Flash animation• VR track – VR info for panorama movies• Streaming track – reference to a live

stream, or movie on a streaming server• Hint track – allows real-time delivery• HREF (URL links) & VR objects tracks

QuickTime VR Panoramas

• QuickTime permits content authors to create immersive “cubic” VR movies spanning 360 degrees

• Interactive elements as well as other movies can also be embedded into QuickTime VR panoramas

QuickTime Hint Tracks

• Not all media types can be streamed• QuickTime VR movies and Flash tracks

will not stream and must be delivered locally from a hard disk or LAN

• Movies for streaming via QuickTime Streaming Server must be hinted (hinting not needed for VR & Flash)

• Hint tracks tell the server exactly how to package the media data for the network

Flashand Shockwave

Products of Macromedia, Inc.

Macromedia MX Product Family

• The MX product family combines client and server-based products and development tools for creating Internet applications

• The MX suite includes two cornerstone products:– Flash – for graphics– Shockwave – for animation

MacromediaStudio MX 2004

• An integrated tool set• Includes these applications:

– Dreamweaver MX 2004– Flash MX 2004– Fireworks MX 2004– FreeHand MX– ColdFusion MX 6.1 Developer Edition

(Windows only)

Macromedia Flash MXRich Media Support

• Video Support:– Import any standard video file

supported by QuickTime or Windows Media Player:• MPEG, DV (Digital Video), MOV

(QuickTime), and AVI

– Manipulate, scale, rotate, skew, mask, and animate video objects, and make them interactive using scripting

Macromedia Flash MXRich Media Support

• Dynamic loading of JPEGs and MP3 files at runtime– Decreases maintenance costs– Optimizes file sizes

• High-fidelity audio support– Incorporates audio with support for

MP3, ADPCM, and new speech audio compression techniques

MacromediaStudio MX 2004

• Common user interface across all tools

• Shared Start pages, site definitions, panel management, document tabs, coding metaphors, and the common Property inspector

• An advanced version also includes Flash MX Professional 2004

MacromediaFlash MX 2004

• Features Macromedia Flash Player 7• Enhanced compiler• Create charts and graphs• Animate text effects• Integrate rich media content via

import of PDF and Adobe Illustrator 10 files

• Use Timeline Effects and Behaviors to simplify timeline & scripting tasks

MacromediaFlash MX Professional 2004

• All features of Flash MX 2004 plus:– Forms-based development environment– Powerful data binding– Professional video capabilities to deliver

high-quality video– Use slides to organize & sequence

projects– Produce and test content for devices and

mobile phones with device templates and emulators

Macromedia’sother products

• Web publishing products:– Dreamweaver – content builder– Fireworks – graphic designer

• Interactive learning products

MacromediaFlash

• Flash was known as FutureSplash until 1997, when Macromedia bought the company that developed it

• Flash is a bandwidth-friendly and browser-independent vector-graphic animation technology

• As long as different browsers are equipped with the necessary plug-ins, Flash animations will look the same

Flash usesvector graphics

• Flash permits users to draw their own animations or import other vector-based images

• The leading vector technology for designing high-impact, low-bandwidth Web sites

• Flash lets designers and developers integrate video, text, audio, and graphics

Microsoft’s Windows Media Technologies

An increasingly dominant streaming technology

Current Windows Media versions

• Current versions include:– Windows Media 7– Windows Media for Windows XP– Windows Media 9 Series

Microsoft’s Data Rates

• Microsoft’s technology offers:– Streaming audio up to 96 Kbps– Streaming video at up to 8 Mbps (for

the NetShow Theater Server)

Media 9 Series Features

• Instant-on / always-on streaming• New fast and easy player• Smart Jukebox• Comprehensive platform• 20% audio & video quality

improvement• Fast Streaming

Media 9 Series platform components

• Windows Media Player 9 Series• Windows Media Encoder 9 Series• Windows Media Audio and Video 9

Series• Windows Media Services 9 Series• Windows Media 9 Series SDK

Media Series 9

• Windows Media Series 9 components work together to provide special features to broadband users:– Fast Streaming– Instant-on / Always-on playback

Fast Streaming

• Eliminates buffering time to deliver instant-on playback experience

• Streams content to the Player’s cache as fast as network allows, reducing the likelihood of interruption in play due to network issues

• Automatically restores live or on-demand Player/Server & Server/Server connections if disconnected during a broadcast

Fast Streaming requirements

• You must run Windows Media Player 9 Series to get Fast Streaming

• Your connection speed must be higher than the data rate of the content you are playing

• The media you are connecting to must be hosted on a server running Windows Media Services 9 Series, a part of the Windows Server 2003 operating system

Summary

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