Hi everybody,
I am hoping to get some direction in the realm of streaming video from some of you *gurus* on this list. The TV station I work for has asked me to implement video news clips into our Website that is currently being constructed. And while I am not illiterate in the methods of encoding and delivering online video for personal Websites, I am not sure about the process to do it commercially with relatively higher bandwidth usage and a relatively higher number of simultaneous connections. We are a smaller to medium-sized market with an area population of around 300,000 to give you an idea of the potential resources needed to accomodate this online delivery.
My first question would be which of the 3 major formats would you recommend for this task? Our network's site (CBS) uses Real media (as does ABC), while some of the station's sites in the Los Angeles area appear to be using Windows media which in my opinion, actually looks cleaner. I've not really seen any using Quicktime but I personally like the format and am familiar with it from a video editing standpoint.
The second question would be, are we going to need to purchase a dedicated server for streaming the video? I know RealNetworks has something called Helix for a few thousand bucks, but if I understand correctly, Windows Media Player wouldn't require this investment? Obviously, the cheaper the better, but the bottom line is that it needs to do the job without bandwidth problems or denial of connection due to the number of simultaneous users.
The third question would be, can we just use something like a Web Hosting service just to store and deliver the necessary video clips to our Website? Can these servers handle our needs and what would the cost be? And would it be more advantageous to try and secure the server space locally since our clientbase will be local residents?
And my fourth question is, what will happen if we just put all of our video clips on the same server as our Website and try to stream them directly from there? Are we talking server crashes? What about RealNetworks bandwidth restrictions? And Windows Media issues? Will it work, or are we asking for trouble?
Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer and for your time.
Dave Fore
I am hoping to get some direction in the realm of streaming video from some of you *gurus* on this list. The TV station I work for has asked me to implement video news clips into our Website that is currently being constructed. And while I am not illiterate in the methods of encoding and delivering online video for personal Websites, I am not sure about the process to do it commercially with relatively higher bandwidth usage and a relatively higher number of simultaneous connections. We are a smaller to medium-sized market with an area population of around 300,000 to give you an idea of the potential resources needed to accomodate this online delivery.
My first question would be which of the 3 major formats would you recommend for this task? Our network's site (CBS) uses Real media (as does ABC), while some of the station's sites in the Los Angeles area appear to be using Windows media which in my opinion, actually looks cleaner. I've not really seen any using Quicktime but I personally like the format and am familiar with it from a video editing standpoint.
The second question would be, are we going to need to purchase a dedicated server for streaming the video? I know RealNetworks has something called Helix for a few thousand bucks, but if I understand correctly, Windows Media Player wouldn't require this investment? Obviously, the cheaper the better, but the bottom line is that it needs to do the job without bandwidth problems or denial of connection due to the number of simultaneous users.
The third question would be, can we just use something like a Web Hosting service just to store and deliver the necessary video clips to our Website? Can these servers handle our needs and what would the cost be? And would it be more advantageous to try and secure the server space locally since our clientbase will be local residents?
And my fourth question is, what will happen if we just put all of our video clips on the same server as our Website and try to stream them directly from there? Are we talking server crashes? What about RealNetworks bandwidth restrictions? And Windows Media issues? Will it work, or are we asking for trouble?
Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer and for your time.
Dave Fore