Notes from Streaming Media West 2004 Created: 10-25-04 D.Cline Good web resources --------------------------------------------- www.benwaggoner.com www.streamingmediabible.com www.streamingmedia.com codec central http://www.siggraph.org/education/materials/HyperGraph/video/codecs/Sorenson.html Codec summary Open source codecs (code avail free, patents required addt'l license): Xvid, LAME Open standard codecs (standards available to all, buillding produced based on standard may required patent fee): MPEG-1/2/4, VC-1 (Microsof't open standard), WMV9 Free codec software: Ogg Vorbis(audio only http://www.vorbis.com/), Theron, Dirac(http://sourceforge.net/projects/dirac) Industry standards (used in practice, can be licensed): MPEG1,2,MP3 Proprietary: Real Media, WMV9 Discrete Cleaner 6.0.2b --------------------------------------------- Batch mode MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 compressor not good Not crossplatform Questionable end of product development ?? Cleaner XL --------------------------------------------- Bad UI Good batch mode Not good support for Windows Media Updates MPEG-1/2 compressor fast but not good quality Squeeze 4 --------------------------------------------- Cross-platform Competitive tool for Discrete Cleaner Very good MPEG-4 (2-pass VBR) and Flash Video Good preprocessing tools Best batch mode First H.264 encoder Good preview while rendering Good inverse telecline Canopus ProCoder 2.0 --------------------------------------------- Very fast (optmized code) Not great QT support Simultaneous rendering Best MPEG-1/2 Not cross platform Good preview while rendering Good inverse telecline Windows Media Server --------------------------------------------- Bandwidth vs. quality stats display useful Only support WM format No batch mode PopeWire (mac only) --------------------------------------------- To encode MPEG4 in .mov Vegas --------------------------------------------- Waggonner uses to make DVD's Administrivia, rumor and other side notes --------------------------------------------- Windobws Media Encoding not available on Mac platform until Telestream releases support (next year?) Windows Media 7.0 or later only supports VBR Windows Media Audio 9.0 oldest standard that will work with older WM players Real Player has best audio codec support and best viewer for scaling video MPEG-4 is struggling for adoption. Licensing fees req'd (25 cents per subscriber or 2 cents per hour). H.264 is next efficient compression standard. H.264 has many names, but is really MPEG-4 part 10. Authoring and image adjustments tricks of the trade --------------------------------------------- If you need to adjust brightness, don't adjust brightness alone. Adjust gamma, contrast, and maybe negative brightness. e.g. settings on Squeeze 4 "Generic Web" contrast +15, brightness -5, Gamma +25 Crop letter box - will not compress as well, and black bars will look bad if against black background and not black balanced (versus white balanced). MAKE SURE ASPECT RATIO is not altered > 5% or objects will look distored. Need to manually do the aspect ratio math in Cleaner to fix aspect ratio. Inverse telecline filter required for film to NTSC Use meta file instead of direct links to file for quick handoff to browser for viewing.qtl for quicktime, .ram for Realsystem, .asx for Windows Media Example on embedding netscape/windows media tags together http://cit.ucsf.edu/embedmedia/step1.php (very useful - TODO: try this) Require Netscape v. 7.1 plugin (best version for activeX??? on Mac) TODO: verify active X? If embedding video player, allow room for FFW, PAUSE, etc. controls in width/height HTML tag description to not distort original image. Suggested maximum size for web audience: 320x480 Two schools of thought to reduce bandwidth: better to shrink frame size and keep full frame rate, or (B.Waggoner) keep full frame size/rate and change compression settings (reduce key frame rate, etc.) For high-motion video, compress using more keyframes and lower frame rate, versus full frame rate and full-frame size. For DSL/broadband audience: maximum rate 300 Kbps. Keep less than 200 Kbps for guaranteed performance. If include audio, can use 32kHz mono instead of stereo and receive good quality Deinterlace using interpolation for files > 320x240 Deinterlace using drop line for <320x240 Do color editing with CRT not LCD monitor Suggestions --------------------------------------------- Partner with outside company for live encoding/streaming Keep in mind 2GB/4GB file size limits for different tools limits file size, thus length of progressive download (something like 10 minutes or less) Archive in MPEG-2 format Keep original in DV format if making DVD copies of content. Quality vs. bandwidth(bps) analysis programs --------------------------------------------- wmsnoop (free) bitrateviewer ($20 shareware) virtualdub (free) sliq (www.sliq.com) Security and latest news on Acacia DMT patent --------------------------------------------- Look at security setting in media encoders like: timeout viewing to not allow users to pass on to other viewers. Can add copyright info to media headers, but doesn't preclude people from copying files if they know where OS/player stores "hidden" files. www.streamingmedia.com/portal search for patent. Click Acacia Research Patents Acacia patent is a "process" patent that covers all digital media transports (DMT's). Licensing payment scheme is complex. 6 licensing models; anywhere from $1k/year up. 188 companies chosen to license. Any company that streams digital audio/video (except live broadcasts because feed does not come from repository) is subject to licensing fees. Not sure about whether Universities/non-profit organizations payment required, or whether exempt from "fair use" clause in patent. Acacia patent expires in 2011. If not putting streaming media on site, but linking to it from your site, are still liable if infringing patent. No class action suits filed yet against Acacia. Some academic institutions reportedly collaborating. Acacia now enforcing patent with Cable & TV and education organizations, not just the adult entertainment industry. Ideas --------------------------------------------- Test Sorenson (Squeeze) vs. Windows Media and Quicktime Pro Encoder Cannot use VBR encoded file in streaming unless okay with user experiencing pausing for buffer to fill. Linda and Lonny --------------------------------------------- Good settings in encoding software like Cleaner as starting point. Keep aspect ratio same/remove black bars Resize first then crop (for 2-pass VBR progressive format) Use WM 7.0 or later for broader audience than Real Player. Note that RealPlayer is crossplatform, but most Mac users use Quicktime. Use Flash format for largest audience. Use 2-pass VBR + progressive download for clips < 3 minutes length, otherwise encode for streaming. Add copyright info to clip. Note that copying progressive encoded clips still possible. Use noise-reduction filters to clean-up poor image quality. Will also help compress. Most codec will interpret random noise as motion which is harder to compress. Gamma settings different for Mac versus Windows machines. This may make a big difference in viewing quality for dark footage. To create cross-plaftorm video lighten gamma. Sorenzon Squeeze has some nice gamma filters. Good site to compare different video formats/resolution http://www.videohelp.com/comparison.htm Broadcasting live internet video --------------------------------------------- Redundancy,redundancy, redundancy Video source redundancy Redundant encoders Mutlicast not successful for NASA education broadcasts - interesting Planning live event --------------------------------------------- On-site or not? Create and fill out event planning form (have list of numbers, replacement parts) Keep audio feed up - video can go, but need good audio Tell camera man screen smaller, so frame shot tighter Avoid lots of pans/zooms - doesn't compress well Microphone in audience triggered by audience volume (turn-up on applause, turn down otherwise) Building redundancy in SMIL file two streams, if one drops goes to other (two encoders cross feed two servers) Setup separate video only URL to launch pop-off player Setup help/conference page/help desk NASA uses Osprey 1000 for encoding shuttle box (USB inputs) Submit random pop-up survey window to get users feedback Spotters in field viewing event Flash format --------------------------------------------- Overlay watermark/txt Supports real-time video Requires Squeeze tool or FlashMxPro Quicktime export module (free) Uses H,263 Video and MP3 Audio codecs