[Hidden-tech] QuickTime and streaming video question

[Frieda Reichsman]

Thanks, everyone for your replies. Very clear on this now. I do love  
this list!
Best,
Frieda

//////////////////////////////////////

Frieda Reichsman, PhD
Molecules in Motion
Interactive Molecular Structures
http://www.moleculesinmotion.com
413-253-2405

//////////////////////////////////////




On Jan 20, 2008, at 3:38 PM, Robert Heller wrote:

> At Sat, 19 Jan 2008 06:54:34 -0500 Frieda Reichsman <frieda at moleculesinmotion.com 
> > wrote:
>
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>> Thanks, Adam - that is really helpful information. What are the main
>> reasons to use "true" streaming as opposed to progressive download?
>> Is it mainly to protect the media, so the user does not have the
>> media on their own computer? In other words, it seems clear that some
>> decide to go to additional expense (streaming server) to avoid
>> progressive download. Why?
>
> There are several reasons:
>
> 	Content protection (to make it hard/impossible for the user to
> 'just download' the content.
>
> 	To use some propriatory viewer software (either for content
> protection or just because there is some 'advantage' to using the
> propriatory viewer software.  (The 'advantage' is mostly for the  
> content
> provider not really for the consumer, even when the propriatory viewer
> software is advertized as being somehow advanagious to the user.)
>
> 	In some cases the media is 'live' (eg a webcam), in which case a
> 'normal' progressive download might not be possible or would require a
> special server anyway, in which case the streaming server is also the
> live media handler -- the live media handler *could* just use
> progressive download with an indefinite file size, but often they  
> don't
> do things that simply.  If the connection is bi-directional (eg a  
> video
> conferencing type of thing, then 'passive' progressive download  
> probably
> does not make sense.
>
> Note: the progressive download method is in fact how most (all?)
> browsers handle plain image data (JPegs, GIFs, PNGs, etc.) -- the  
> image
> is painted as it is being downloaded.
>
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Frieda
>>
>>
>> On Jan 18, 2008, at 5:25 PM, Adam Connor wrote:
>>
>>> Technically, the circumstances you describe would be called
>>> "progressive download" which many times is lumped together under
>>> the moniker "streaming"
>>>
>>> Traditionally, streaming media works something like this:
>>> Your browser/media player requests a media file
>>> The server sends a "piece" of the file
>>> Your browser/media player plays the piece it receives (if it came
>>> through OK)
>>> The server sends the next piece of the file
>>> Your browser/media player "forgets" about the piece it already
>>> played, and plays the next piece.
>>>
>>> This is a generalization, there are other components to streaming,
>>> such as the fact that if a "piece" is not received correctly by the
>>> player it is skipped all together and not re-sent and, a user
>>> cannot smoothly "scrub" a streamed piece of media, and streaming
>>> media typically requires a specialized server.
>>>
>>> The situation you describe, "progressive download" is much simpler,
>>> and goes a little something like this:
>>>
>>> Your browser/media player requests a media file
>>> The server begins sending the file
>>> After your browser has received a certain amount, anything from 1%
>>> to 100% of the file, it begins playing the file back
>>>
>>> In this situation your local computer retains the entire file, so
>>> you can jump to any point that has been downloaded while the media
>>> is playing. Also, no special type of media server is needed.
>>> Popular sites like YouTube use progressive download.
>>>
>>> I hope this answers your question, if not, let me know, I'd be
>>> happy to clarify further.
>>> adam connor
>>> little green toaster
>>> 413.244.4457
>>> adam at littlegreentoaster.com
>>> www.littlegreentoaster.com
>>>
>>>
>>> Frieda Reichsman wrote:
>>>>
>>>>   ** The author of this post was a Good Dobee.
>>>>   ** You too can help the group
>>>>   ** Fill out the survey/skills inventory in the member's area.
>>>>   ** If you did, we all thank you.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Hi,
>>>>
>>>> Can anyone clarify for me what "streaming video" per se does
>>>> beyond the immediate playing of a movie that is downloading?
>>>>
>>>> Here's my confusion: If I create a QuickTime movie (.mov) say
>>>> using QuickTime Pro, or SnapzProX, for example, and then upload it
>>>> to my website along with a web page that links to it, when I click
>>>> that link, the movie opens on its own page and starts playing
>>>> immediately. The start of the movie is playing while the rest of
>>>> it is downloading in the background. This sounds like streaming
>>>> video to me, but I have not done anything special, like use a
>>>> streaming video server, or hosting service.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks,
>>>> Frieda
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> //////////////////////////////////////
>>>>
>>>> Frieda Reichsman, PhD
>>>> Molecules in Motion
>>>> Interactive Molecular Structures
>>>> http://www.moleculesinmotion.com
>>>> 413-253-2405
>>>>
>>>> //////////////////////////////////////
>>>>
>>>>
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