We have all heard the words “streaming video” however do we fully understand them, what is it and how does it work? Those are the questions I will be answering in my next series of articles to be posted on GuyGraphics.com
First – what is streaming?
Many of us are use to downloading files. In years past when someone had a video file to view on their website we would have to download the whole file to our computer and then we could watch it. Well with streaming video we no longer have to wait for the file to download. We can just click play and the file will start playing as the file downloads. With some video players the file might download partly before play continues – it creates a buffer of information incase your download speed is not fast enough to have continual play while you watch.
Streaming video can be found in multiple formats. The most common are:
- Windows Media
- RealMedia
- Quicktime (.mov files)
- MPEG (in particular MPEG-4)
- Macromedia Flash
I will cover the difference of these formats in a future article. Each has its benefits, but all will allow your viewers to watch you videos. There is software available like SorensonMedia Squeeze that will allow you to take most any video file and convert it to a streaming format.
Now why would you use streaming video?
You will see news site out there that have streaming video. They use it to share their top stories with viewers this draws people to their site and increases visitor volume (which is what we all want for our websites right). So there are many sites that use to draw people to there site and thus increase business.
YouTube, MySpace – these are some major sites that many of us use the benefits of streaming video. We all want to share of fun videos with others and we do this by posting them on public sites like that or sites of our own.
Production houses use streaming videos to show examples of their work with potential customers. Maybe you are an advertising agencies showing what you offer. Videographers often want to show their editing techniques.
We are also seeing more and more companies offering streaming video as a way for their customers to share files with family and friends. A wedding videographer will offer this for their client so a distant Grandma or Uncle that was unable to travel can view the wedding video once it’s complete.
All of the above methods can be easily done by creating a streaming file and uploading it to you website, either be just having it there so people click a link to view and start the stream. The files can also be embedded so they start playing immediately when some is on that page. I will further explain both methods in my next article.
Live streaming is another reason to use streaming video. This is often use by companies who hold multiple location conference meetings via video. This allows the director to be seen by multiple employees at the same time. This can also be used for one to one video conferencing. Live streaming can require high bandwidth and faster systems. There are companies that offer services to allow people to do multi user streaming, they offer what is called a CDN – Content Delivery Network. I will go into full detail on live streaming in a future article.
Please remember in order to create a streaming video file you first have to have the file on your computer. This can be done by using a number of capture cards. For those who use DV cameras they can use the firewire port on their computer to capture their video. Osprey Cards are a top choice for those who want capture analog video sources and also are great for live streaming.
As I mentioned before this is one in a series of articles I will be writing about streaming video. If you have questions that you want me to address as I write future articles please email them to me at clayton@guygraphics.com.
Until next time, Happy Streaming
Clayton Guy
