Do I need a server to serve up my live streams?

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Anil Gupte - 24 Sep 2007 08:50 GMT

I am planning a set of webcams that can be watched by users using the
EMBED/OBJECT tags in a page. I have always used an encoder (i.e. a dedicated
machine with a capture card connected to a camera) and then connected to the
encoder in the Player. I have never bothered creating a Publishing Point
and everything works fine. Am I missing out on something?

Also, if the streams from the Webcam are Windows Media Streams, do I need an
encoder? I can have the client connect to that IP address automatically and
dispense with the server.

Any advice and thought appreciated. Thanx,

Signature

Anil Gupte
www.keeninc.net
www.icinema.com

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Neil Smith [MVP Digital Media] - 24 Sep 2007 18:45 GMT

>I am planning a set of webcams that can be watched by users using the
>EMBED/OBJECT tags in a page. I have always used an encoder (i.e. a dedicated
>machine with a capture card connected to a camera) and then connected to the
>encoder in the Player. I have never bothered creating a Publishing Point
>and everything works fine. Am I missing out on something?

Although it should work fine, there will be no bandwidth management by
the encoder. With multiple possibly high bitrate streams in a page,
you might find there's a lot of buffering - but suck it and see, no
harm in trying.

If you're delivering to multiple clients though, you'll probably find
the encoder starts to choke up rather quickly - in theory it can
support 50 connections but the practical limit before it starts to
stall on network output is somewhat lower.

>Also, if the streams from the Webcam are Windows Media Streams, do I need an
>encoder? I can have the client connect to that IP address automatically and
>dispense with the server.

Dunno. Does it work ? Did you try it ?

I don't know of any webcams that do ASF over http or rtsp, which are
the only formats and protocols routinely supported by WMP for video.

Cheers - Neil
------------------------------------------------
Digital Media MVP : 2004-2007
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/mvpfaqs

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Anil Gupte - 25 Sep 2007 11:18 GMT

Thanx, I don't have access to the streams/cameras yet. I will let you know
if I am successful.

Not having used Publishing Points, I am unclear on their usage. Do I need
one for each camera or encoded stream? Is there a definitive guide to all
this on MSDN?

Thanx,

Signature

Anil Gupte
www.keeninc.net
www.icinema.com

>>I am planning a set of webcams that can be watched by users using the
>>EMBED/OBJECT tags in a page. I have always used an encoder (i.e. a
[quoted text clipped - 29 lines]
> Digital Media MVP : 2004-2007
> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/mvpfaqs

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Mike Lowery - 25 Sep 2007 18:05 GMT

Typically you have one pub point for each stream (camera), but that's not
always the case. You could create a single pub point that uses a
server-side playlist to cycle through your cameras every x seconds, for
example.

Most documentation is available here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/knowledgecenter/default.aspx

> Thanx, I don't have access to the streams/cameras yet. I will let you
> know if I am successful.
[quoted text clipped - 38 lines]
>> Digital Media MVP : 2004-2007
>> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/mvpfaqs

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