streaming flv video

Discussion in 'Graphics & Multimedia' started by ansi, Jan 24, 2008.

  1. #1
    anyone know how to do this? i've googled a bit and have really not found an answer to this. tried some php stuff but that didn't seem to work.
     
    ansi, Jan 24, 2008 IP
  2. Mirage

    Mirage Active Member

    Messages:
    204
    Likes Received:
    12
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    58
    #2
    Okay,

    The terminology here can get a bit tricky...so let's just make sure we are talking about the same thing.

    Sometimes people confuse something called "progressive download" with "streaming".

    FLV files can be either streamed or "progressively downloaded." To stream, you need a streaming server such as Flash Media Server (big bucks) on the server side. You can also find companies that give you Flash Media Server hosting accounts...a MUCH more economical way to get started. Just search for FMS hosting to find several locations for FMS hosting. Also, I recently began looking at another streaming server called "wowza." I have not played with it but it professes to be able to do streaming...and a 10-concurrent user server is allowed to be deployed FOR FREE. Higher numbers of concurrent users you have to pay for.

    As far as "progressive download," the FLV file incorporates the ability to do that without any other server-side stuff. Progressive Download is when the browser begins playing your movie before the entire thing is downloaded.

    Now keep in mind you need a flash video player on the client side. This would be an swf file that you would embed in your html. The Flash development kits come with tools to build such things but I am also sure you could get one custom made if you wanted to (a nice-to-have...but certainly not a "must have").

    This is just to get you started. Good luck.
     
    Mirage, Jan 29, 2008 IP
    ansi likes this.
  3. ansi

    ansi Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    1,483
    Likes Received:
    65
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    100
    #3
    hey thanks for the reply, Mirage. i ended up going with the progressive download method and used an open source player. ( www.osflv.com ) it's really pretty nice and the developer of it helped me quite a bit as well. only question that i have now is that on shared hosting (which the site is on now), how could multiple people viewing the video at the same time affect server performance? right now the client has about 250 or so members but within the period of about a year there's going to be an estimated 10,000 or so members. with that estimate, i'm sure quite a bit will be watching videos at the same time. these numbers are probably off to some degree so don't hold me to it but that is the predicted user base that the client proposed to me. i guess we're looking at a dedicated or VPS in the future maybe?

    Travis

    PS: Rep added for a great reply. Thank You.
     
    ansi, Jan 30, 2008 IP
  4. Mirage

    Mirage Active Member

    Messages:
    204
    Likes Received:
    12
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    58
    #4
    Hey Ansi,

    Thanks for the rep...and glad to help.

    With respect to your client, there will certainly be a point where they are going to overwhelm their shared hosting plan...but I am not sure where that point will be.

    I cannot say that I have done this myself, though I am in the midst of putting video on my site (but not as much as your client seems to be having), nor do I have any traffic...yet. Therefore, I cannot advise you from experience, but I can tell you the plan I have developed thus far for myself (assuming my traffic grows).

    First, I can bump my allowed bandwidth up once with my current ISP before I have to go to dedicated hosting..but I am hoping to have to go to dedicated hosting at some point.

    For purposes of performance, yes you can bog down the server with a lot of video, but I do not expect it would be CPU bound...I would expect I/O bound. I am not sure how your ISP tracks that...but I know mine says that if I use some percentage of the CPU for one minute straight, I have to go to dedicated hosting.

    I recall reading on Macromedia's site (now Adobe) that the streaming server technology controls computer load much better than progressive download as it is software actually geared for delivering video. The problem with the FMS licensing is that you usually (at last glance) get a choice between a limited number of concurrent users (with unlimited bandwidth use) or a limited amount of bandwidth for an unlimited number of users. The pricing has been a bit funny.

    Though I have just started looking at the Wowza server and their pricing/licensing seems much better...as long as the technology checks out.

    Anyway, I would expect and plan for having to go to a dedicated server. You can do the calculations on bandwidth for the number of users you are expecting to give you an idea as to at what point you will be clogging your bandwidth (or simply driving your bandwidth cost up).

    That was a lot of rambling...sorry for that...I hope something in there helps you.
     
    Mirage, Jan 30, 2008 IP
  5. Wes Lee

    Wes Lee Peon

    Messages:
    25
    Likes Received:
    2
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    #5
    you might also want to try jeroenwijering.com/?item=JW_FLV_Player

    it might be easier to use on wordpress pages / posts. just dont forget to convert the "embed" code to "object" code, then wrap it with simple embed tags.
     
    Wes Lee, Jan 30, 2008 IP
  6. Valdor

    Valdor Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    450
    Likes Received:
    23
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    185
    #6
    Why not convert the flv to swf and use a simple flash player?
     
    Valdor, Jan 31, 2008 IP
  7. Mirage

    Mirage Active Member

    Messages:
    204
    Likes Received:
    12
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    58
    #7
    That can certainly work...but there are a few down sides to that:

    1) SWF files ARE NOT capable of "progressive downloads." You have to wait for the entire thing to download (and the video would be embedded inside the swf file) before play can begin. This can lead to the "perception" of a much slower site.

    2) It is child's play to relocate an FLV file to a streaming server (scalability). If you go with SWF files, you are going to have to convert to FLV files anyway when you go to streaming.

    3) SWF files have a size limitation. It may not matter if your longest video is not too long (I would have to look up the time limit...I do not recall it off the top of my head).

    4) SWF files can get the audio and video "out of synch"...especially the longer videos. FLV do not suffer from that problem. I forget the cause, but I recall coming across that before.

    5) I do not know if you can use the best FLV compression algorithms when embedding into an SWF. This one I am not sure about.

    Getting an FLV player is not so big a deal (in my opinion) as to want to give up some of the benefits above for it.

    There are probably other reasons as well...these are just the ones I remember...
     
    Mirage, Jan 31, 2008 IP
  8. amanamission

    amanamission Notable Member

    Messages:
    1,936
    Likes Received:
    138
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    210
    #8
    My search for a free player brought me to choose Flowplayer, which I found preserves quality and plays smoother than JW above (it was second place, but it kept putting blank sides on the edge.
    Overall it has the best options for my purpose, especially the embed code/copy button. (hint: your advanced options are in FlowPlayerJs.html)
     
    amanamission, Jan 31, 2008 IP
  9. tibberous

    tibberous Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    216
    Likes Received:
    13
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    110
    #9
    tibberous, Jan 31, 2008 IP
    ansi, Mirage and amanamission like this.
  10. amanamission

    amanamission Notable Member

    Messages:
    1,936
    Likes Received:
    138
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    210
    #10
    I just tried to install it today and I couldn't get it going.:confused:

    I used the codegenerator and I tried using the code from the website demo, but after 45 minutes I was running out of battery.

    In fairness i didn't try as hard as I could because I already have Flowplayer running, and while your player is more attractive (hands down!), I didn't see the "embed code copy" option that flowplayer ads to the control bar. That made the difference, because that feature is really useful.

    I make this challenge

    You could sell me that yours is the best if you can tell me how to configure it to buffer/load faster than Flowplayer (currently 15 seconds for a 30-second image intensive flv), or plugin code for that embed feature.

    In return, I will say so in every forum thread I see on the subject. I do prefer open source solutions...and in the last week I have tried half a dozen progressive flash players, half of which I couldn't get playing.

    At any rate, I do thank you for coding open source:)

    Rep added for helping us express ourselves.
     
    amanamission, Jan 31, 2008 IP