User Guide

CALCULATING APPROPRIATE BIT-RATES FOR THE INTERNET
When authoring Internet file formats, it is important that the content not
exceed the bit-rates of your targeted modem connection. The reason is that
modem connections to the Internet are often less than 14.4 Kbps or 28.8 Kbps.
It is important not to consume all the bandwidth available to the browser,
control protocols, etc.The following guidelines suggest a combined (audio and
video) bit-rate with error corrections slightly below the targeted Internet
connection:
Internet Connection Authored Bit-Rate Total Bit-Rate
(audio + video) with Error Correction
28.8 Kbps 18,500 bps 20,813 bps
14.4 Kbps 10,000 bps 11,250 bps
For example, in the Authoring a Low Bit-Rate File section above, the audio was set
to 4.8 Kbps and the video was set to 14 Kbps. With the addition of error
correction to the stream, the total ASF file bandwidth as displayed in the
NetShow Player is 19,332 bps.
WHAT DO I DO WITH MY ASF FILES?
ASF files are specifically designed for network streaming and are authored for
specific network bandwidths. For network streaming,ASF files can be stored on
an HTTP server or optimally off of a Microsoft NetShow server. The NetShow
Player can play back ASF content as an embedded Active control within an OCX
container such as Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 or Microsoft Visual Basic.The
NetShow Player can also run in standalone mode, such as when an ASF file is
launched as a link within any Internet browser.ASX files (ASF Redirector Files)
are meta files that pass the ASF file link from the browser to the NetShow
Player so it can start streaming.
For more information, see the NetShow web site. The entire Microsoft
NetShow product can be downloaded free of charge from http://
www.microsoft.com/netshow.
FILE FORMATS AND ATTRIBUTES
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