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Audio Streaming InformationReal Audio and Real Video, streaming media for your web site
by:
Dominic Arnold
Anybody interested in creating RealAudio and RealVideo content on
their sites will find it's a great deal easier than they mightiness have
initially imagined.
The manual given below are for RealAudio on a Windows 95/98
computer, but the process is about identical for RealVideo and other
platforms. I tentatively suggest you print out this tutorial for easier
reading, by repetition the text and pasting it into Wordpad or Word
then printing it out. Or if, you prefer, you can transfer
the text as
a zipped document from here. Browser users please press shift as
you click to save the file to disc.
Before you start, be sure you:
1: have an audio or video file in one of the following
formats: AVI, MOV, WAV, or AU format. If your file is
not in one of those formats, you will need to convert it
before starting this tutorial.
2: check with your computer network service provider or the people
who provide your web space that they keep streaming
media. This is the one sure thing that will guarantee that
you'll ne'er
get this technique to activity on your site. Save
your self a lot of time and effort by finding out before
you start this tutorial.
3: are not violating any copyright laws by placing
proprietary
material on your web site. It goes without
expression that the better files to put on your web site are files
you've created yourself. A snip of the Spice Girls may
titillate a few but it won't encourage folk to stick
about or even as move back to see how your site develops
and it may do you vulnerable to prosecution.
Step 1: Transfer
RealProducer encoder
The current version is RealProducer 7.0. To get the encoder, click
here, fill out the form and transfer
the encoder. I've been through
this process myself a few times and I can guarantee that Real won't
send you annoying bumf. After you stop downloading, you will
need to execute the file you downloaded and install RealProducer.
Step 2: Preparations to code your music file
Double click the icon on your desktop or from the start menu called
" RealProducer." In the dialogue box which pops up choose 'record
from file'
Now you need to enter the name of the file that you want to encode.
Click "Browse" and browse for the file. Once you have found the
file, click "Open" then "Next".
In the next screen, enter the title, author, copyright and a brief
description of the track to inform your listeners of the kind of thing
they can expect to hear once
they play it. Then click "Next". Now
you need to choice the target audience. Choice "Multi-rate SureStream
for Real Server G2" and click "Next". Then choose 56k Electronic equipment
as
a target Audience stream format. Most PCs, browsers and modems
should be able to handle this.
The current screen asks for the audio format. Choice the appropriate
type based on the type of file you are encryption and click "Next".
Now you will be asked to enter the output file. You can choose to
enter it anyplace
on your hard driving but you should be able to
remember exactly wherever
you placed it. Then you should click
"Next". Please ensure at this stage that you avoid any spaces in a
file's name. Most servers are still susceptible to file names which
aren't around-the-clock so a file like 'wake free zone.rm' would-be be more
easily recognised as 'wakefreezone.rm'.
Finally, RealProducer allows you to confirm your choices. If there is
nothing wrong with your choices, click "Start". If you will to change
something, hit 'back' and change what you need to in the appropriate
dialogue boxes.
Step 3: Code the file
In the "RealEncoder" screen, click the "Start" button in the lower left
corner of
the RealEncoder window. It may take a few minutes to code the
file, depending on the length of the innovational file. The blue bar in the
lower right corner of the RealEncoder shows your progress. When
encoding is finished, a "Recording Complete" box will pop up. Here
you are given the choice to transfer
the destination of your file to Real
Server Roman deity
where, if you're lucky, person may stumble across
your musical offering via their web site. You just connect to the
internet and fill out the form at Roman deity
to inform them wherever
they
might find your music. Then you should close RealProducer .
Step 4: Transfer
the file
To transfer
the file to your Web site, you will need to use an FTP
program or Site Manager. You can transfer
to any directory, just be
sure you remember the address of the file. If your program asks, this
file should be uploaded in "Binary" mode.
Step 5: Do a text file linking to the Real (*.rm) file
Click your Start Menu and go to "Run." Type "Notepad" and click
"OK". In Notepad, type only this line of text:
http://www.server#/username/directory/file.rm. # is the server that
you are on, username is your domain username, directory is where
you've uploaded the rm file to and file.rm is the actual file that you
uploaded. For instance the file wakefreezone is at:
'http://www.eidosnet.co.uk/donkit racks/wakefreezone.rm'
Here's the rub. There should only be one line of text in the Notepad
window. Once
you are finished, click "File" and go to "Save As." In
the "Save as Type" selector, choice "All Files (*.*)". Choice a
directory you can remember, and in the "File name:" box type a
name with an ending of .ram. (For example, sound.ram.) Click
"Save." This is extremely important. What you've done here is to
create a kind of sign post to the .rm file which then, once
your
visitor clicks on to the link, points their copy of RealPlayer to the .rm
file which the application will then play.
Step 6: Transfer
the text file
Use an FTP program or Site Manager to transfer
the text file to your
web site. You can transfer
to any directory, just be sure you
remember the address of the file. If your program asks, this file
should be uploaded in "Text" or "ASCII" mode, however most FTP
programmes worth their salt will cognize what type of file you're
uploading and change the mode automatically.
Step 7: Link to the text file on your web site
You will need to edit one of your Hypertext mark-up language files on your Web site and
place a link to the *.ram file. This link should be to your web site,
not to the file on your hard drive. Then you will need to re-upload
the Hypertext mark-up language file.
Step 8: Test your RealAudio file
Go to your web site and click on the link to the RealFile (the *.ram
file). Your browser should quickly transfer
a file, and RealPlayer
should open and play the RealAudio file. If thing
makes not work
correctly check the addresses you used and do sure they are
accurate. If your file refuses to play but no another error messages pop
up, you should check that you uploaded the files with the proper file
type.
RealVideo
To do RealVideo, use the same know-how
but be prepared to wait
while the file encodes as video is far much memory hungry than
audio.
Have fun!
Just about the Author
Dominic Arnold
dominic@deepflight.co.uk
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