Installation guide

Streaming delivery
eabilitytostreamvideoandaudiowasrstavailablewithFlashMX,FlashPlayer6,andFlash
CommunicationServerMX.
When you use streaming delivery, the video les are kept external to the other content, just
likeprogressivedownloads.DeveloperscanuseActionScriptcommands(andparameter
settingswithmediacomponents)toloadexternalvideolesintoaSWFleandplaythem
backatruntime.Infact,theActionScriptcodeneededforstreamingisalmostidenticaltothat
for progressive download.
However, in streaming video, each client opens a persistent connection to the streaming server,
and the server streams the video bits to the client. ose bits are displayed by the viewer and
then immediately discarded.
is tight connection between the server and the client, and the server’s ability to precisely
control and deliver any portion of a stream as requested, enables the developer to take advantage
of some advanced capabilities, including:
• Determiningtheclientbandwidthandservingastreamwithanappropriatebitrate.
• Measuringandtrackingthestream’squalityofdeliveryandswitchingtoalower(orhigher)bit
ratestreamifneeded(forexample,ifnetworkcongestionincreases).
• Automaticallygeneratingthumbnailsorplayingshortpreviewsofyourvideoclipwithout
having to create separate images or video clips, and without downloading the entire video in
the background.
• Automaticallycreating“chapters”(withappropriatethumbnails)thatcanbeusedfornavigation
of longer videos, without having to break the video into smaller les.
• Seamlesslyswitchingmidstreamfromonecameraangleoronestreamtoanother.
• “Editing”videoclipstogethertocreateonecontinuousvideoforplayback.Forexample,you
couldplaytherst10secondsofclip1,followedbythecontentbetweenthe30-and40-second
marksofclip2,followedbythelast20secondsofclip3.
• Creatingwebcastliveeventsorrecordedeventswhereallviewersaccessthesamecontentatthe
same time.
Why streaming is better
Progressivedownloadisasimplemethodofvideodeliverywithverylittlecontrol—it’sbasically
a simple HTTP download call. Streaming is a method that allows the publisher to control every
aspect of the video experience.
e advantages of streaming video from Flash Media Server are numerous:
• Fast start—Streamingvideoisthefastestwaytostartplayinganyvideoontheweb.
• Advanced video control—Featuressuchasbandwidthdetection,quality-of-servicemonitoring,
automatic thumbnail creation, server-side playlists, and more.
• Ecient use of network resources—Customerswhopayfortheirvideohostingorbandwidth
by the number of bits that are transferred can reduce their costs by using streaming video,
because only the bits that the client actually views are transferred.
• More secure, protected media delivery—Becausethemediadataisnotsavedtotheclient’s
cachewhenstreamed,viewerscan’tretrievethevideooraudiolefromtheirtemporaryInternet
le folder. Additional security features in Flash Media Server 3.5 also prevent stream ripping and
otherriskstoyourle’ssecurity.Formoredetails,seethe“SecuringcontentwithFlashMedia
Server 3.5” section.
• Minimal use of client resources—Resourcessuchasmemoryanddiskspacearesignicantly
reduced with streaming, because the clients do not need to download and store the entire le.
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