Streaming
Media
November 21, 2003
Topics
What is streaming media
Things to consider
ITSS Streaming services
Streaming examples
How to get started?
Streaming options
ITSS rates and contacts
Q&A
What is Streaming Media
The delivery of audio, video and other
multimedia content across the internet
using streaming media servers.
Content is converted to digital files sent
over the internet as data packets.
Playback begins as soon as first packets
arrive or as requested by the end user.
No waiting for complete file to download
No impact on end-user’s computer
Streaming Media Formats
Major player formats
Real Networks
Real Media Player – RM
Microsoft
Windows Media Player – WMV
Apple
Quicktime Player – MOV
Other formats
Audio downloads – MP3
Capture and editing - AVI
Flash and animation - SWF
CD audio playback – CDA, WAV
Things to Consider
Identify your user audience
Player compatibility
Are they using PC or Mac
Offices, Dorms, Computer Labs, Homes
Wireless and other mobile devices
Internet Connection
Low speed – 28kbps to 80kbps
High speed – 80kbps to 300kbps
Broadband – 300kbps to 1.0mbps
Audience members
Faculty, Students
Staff, Dept. Admins, Managers, Directors
Anonymous users on WWW
Things to Consider
Identify your user audience
Media delivery
On-Demand
Webcasting
Live
CD-ROM, DVD
Network
User connectivity on or off campus
Firewalls, multicast enabled routers
Other
Password restrictions
E-Commerce
Media reports on viewer usage
Confusion Begins
And some of the questions might be…..
Where do I go from here?
What format do I choose?
Is one better quality than another?
Can a player work with different formats?
Do my viewers need special equipment on their
computer?
What hardware and software do I need to make it
all work?
What bitrate speeds do I use?
What about copyrighted content?
Listen to these two experts make sense of all this
confusion
ITSS Streaming Services
Providing streaming media services to
the Stanford University community
since 1998.
Who are our clients
Staff
Faculty
Students
Other authorized Stanford affiliates
ITSS Streaming Service
Services we will provide to clients
Initial consultation and development
Encoding in multiple formats
Authoring for rich media presentations
Indexing content for search capabilities
Webcasting of live events
Hosting Servers for streaming to end-user
Other related media production
Format conversions and duplications
CD, DVD burning
Editing
Videotaping (Partnered with Stanford Video)
Some Streaming Examples
Teaching and Learning
In and out of the classroom
Administration and Training
Informative and promotional for staff,
faculty and students
Research and Special Projects
For Stanford and beyond
Some Streaming Examples
Teaching and Learning
In and out of the classroom
Streaming of class lectures, live or on-demand
Incorporate powerpoint with video, graphics,
animation and more
Produce class assignments and tests
Create desktop screen captures for specific
instructional topics
Include links in course websites for student’s to
review related information
Some Streaming Examples
Administration
To support staff, faculty and students
Provide information about your department’s
services
Enhance staff training with audio/video
instructional elements
Make meetings and seminars accessible to
viewers that couldn’t attend the event
Communicate your information to users at
their convenience
Some Streaming Examples
Research and Special Projects
For Stanford and beyond
Make various forms of archive material
available to one or all
Preservation of important historical content as
digital archived collections
Indexing your content for users to search your
media using keywords
Collaborate with other organizations or
institutions on research and learning
How To Get Started?
Contact us, then it’s as easy as 1-2-3…
1. We can accept your content in many different
formats (VHS, DVCAM, MiniDV, CD, DVD,
Betacam, Digital Files, etc).
2. We will encode the content and stream it from
our media servers.
3. We will provide you a URL that you can
incorporate into your own website.
With free, easy-to-download player software, your
users can access your material right from their
computers
Streaming Media Options
Encoding
Choosing a format
RealMedia
Windows Media
Quicktime
Determine a window size
(Width x Height in pixels)
160x120
240x180
320x240
Even larger
Streaming Media Options
Window Size of 160x120
Streaming Media Options
Window Size of 240x180
Streaming Media Options
Window Size of 320x240
Streaming Media Options
Encoding
Bitrate selection
Single rate - 28k, 56k, 120k, 200k, 400k
One stream per bitrate
One encoded file for each user’s connect speed
One URL for each connect speed
Multirate – (28k-56k-200k)
Real - SureStream
Windows - Intelligent Stream
Quicktime - Alternate Movies
One encoded file can reach multiple connect speeds
Server finds optimum connect speed and adjusts as
network bandwidth usage changes
Only one url needed for all connect speeds
Larger file size for archive media
Streaming Media Options
Authoring
Include powerpoint slides sync’d to video
Insert graphics, images, logos
Add URL links to other sites or content
Create a URL to play only parts of the media
Create a playlist within one URL to stream
multiple clips or media files
Set player commands, end-user controls
Pop-up or embedded player
Streaming Media Options
Indexing
Assign keyframes to your content media
Allows you to create smaller segments of
your media and store them as clips
Add keywords to clips for users to search
your media from a website
Convert speech, closed captioning and ppt
slides to text for searching
Save clips in a playlist and share them with
other users
Streaming Media Options
Webcasting
Live presentations over the internet
One multicast stream to many users
Include powerpoint or other rich media
Hosting
On demand playback of archived media
Multiple streaming server platforms
Unlimited streams
Low storage costs
No impact on your own network
No hardware resources to maintain
Streaming Media Rates
As of Sep 1, 2003 *setup fees waived depending on services
Encoding
$80.00 per content hour, $35.00 Setup fee*
Authoring
$95.00 per technician hour
Indexing
$45.00per content hour, $35.00 Setup fee*
Indexed database , $10.00 per month
Webcasting
$500.00 per content hour, $200.00 Setup fee
Hosting
Monthly charge of $0.01 per MB for total size of
streaming files on server, 90 day minimum
Streaming Media Contacts
For more information, please contact:
Dominga Zepeda
725-0660
dzepeda@stanford.edu
Jeff Bornstein
723-4026
crete@stanford.edu
Visit our Streaming Media Website at:
http://streamingmedia.stanford.edu