streaming avi or mpeg

[skate_element20]

i have a web server running on my pc and am hosting mpeg and avi movies on it. but when i want to view them from outside it takes forever to download, i was wondering if i could stream them. any help would be great,

[d-cat]

I don't know specifically about aprelium, but I do know that most media players equiped with http (including Microsoft) will treat any mpeg download as a stream and can play while downloading. This doesn't work for AVI's because the "index block," which tells the media player where all the key frames are (among other things), is at the end of the file.
I know the MPeG "streaming" works with X1 server and MS MediaPlayer, I used it just yesterday.
AVI's can be converted to MPeG's, with software such as TMPG Encoder, available almost anywhere, and is particlarly useful for this task since you can adjust the bitrate and output frame size to suit your streaming needs.
Now I know there's a way to override the default mime-type in the html file to cause a click to pass on the url to your default media player, instead of trying to download the file first... I have not figured it out yet (sorry). For now, I just capture the URL, open the media player, click file\open... and paste the url into the open dialog box. WMP does the rest from there. Good Luck!
»D-cat

[os17fan]

No I believe that he was talking about streaming his videos like you do with Real One , I put a tutorial on streaming mp3 files but he wants to stream video files and I my Self would want to know how to stream video files. 8)
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[os17fan]

Dude I don't think you can stream MPEG or AVI files. I will write a tutorial on streaming .ra , .rm files later today so sit back and relax. 8)
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[d-cat]

MPEG absolutely IS streamable, and is in fact designed for it. Digital Cable and Satellite data ARE MPEG-2 STREAMS. MPEG formats are backwards compatible, so mpeg-2 (eg DVD players) and mpeg-4 (eg DivX) equipment can play back Mpeg-1 (eg VCD) data*. This means that Mpeg-1 is just as streamable as Mpeg-2 and 4, just not as efficient. Being that Mpeg-1 is a net standard, I though I'd throw that idea out.

Plus, MPEG streams, either raw or in Microsoft's WMV format (another streaming server option), are a good way to not have to buy in to RealMedia's proprietary (and IMO, defective) technology.

I know that in my first reply, what I was suggesting was not true streaming, but I felt it would accomplish what Skate was asking for... to be able to view the video while downloading, instead of having to wait for it to finish first... and that works with Abyss and a Media Player he likely already has.

»D-cat

*I know SOME DVD players don't play VCD's. This is not a function of codec but rather lazy programmers not including the VCD disk layout in the BIOS.

[skate_element20]

thanks people, so are you telling me that therer is a way to stream the movies before downloading them??

[os17fan]

According to what d-cat said , avi is already streamable and also mpeg and I think he is right because when I clicked on a mpeg link from my abyss server , it poped up with Windows Media Player. Now for real media files I will write a tutorial on that. 8)
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[Kent]

for streaming mp3s for people using winamp and winamp3
all you have to do is create a text file with the abosulte urls of your mp3s
and put a .m3u extention on it thus creating a playlist all in one file
that will autoload into the player and stream the files. This may not work in microsofts media player but im not for certain (it just might). :wink:

or you can use the SHOUTcast server to do this, I run my own online radio station using shoutcast and also use the m3u method with abyss server both work great.

Kplaylist is also an awesome script for streaming mp3, ogg, wma (and others)
you can get it here http://www.kplaylist.com

[d-cat]

OS17: MPG format is streamable, AVI is not.
Kent: I have seen that most sites like MP3.COM and Shoutcast use the playlist method (D/l and execute the playlist, default media player will take it from there). This I know works for WinAMP and WMP. (Note: Winamp 2.91 [full install] and later have video player as well, but less efficient: doesn't appear to use any directshow features)
Thank you for the kplaylist idea.. I'll check it out.
»D-cat

[os17fan]

Ok sorry about that , but I thought avi was streamable any way I wrote a Tutorial on the mp3 streaming. Just go to the tutorial section and check it out. 8)
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