Online Video Streaming

Dear Readers,

Wishing you all Happy and a Prosperous Year Ahead!!

I am sharing with you something about Online Video Streaming…

Introduction: Streaming video is a sequence of “moving images” that are sent in compressed form over the Internet and displayed by the viewer as they arrive. Streaming media is streaming video with sound. With streaming video or streaming media, a Web user does not have to wait to download a large file before seeing the video or hearing the sound. Instead, the media is sent in a continuous stream and is played as it arrives. The user needs a player, which is a special program that uncompresses and sends video data to the display and audio data to speakers. A player can be either an integral part of a browser or downloaded from the software maker’s Web site.

Microsoft’s approach uses the standard MPEG compression algorithm for video. The other approaches use proprietary algorithms. Microsoft’s technology offers streaming audio at up to 96 Kbps and streaming video at up to 8 Mbps .

Streaming video is usually sent from prerecorded video files, but can be distributed as part of a live broadcast “feed.” In a live broadcast, the video signal is converted into a compressed digital signal and transmitted from a special Web server that is able to do multicast, sending the same file to multiple users at the same time.

Just like a google’s youtube, Video streaming has become a bit like an on demand micro video channel. Thousands of videos are now on demand online with more and more television content available. We can download video streams of the latest movie trailers and find both entertaining video streams along with knowledge-based electronic seminars. Video streams are sent by email, included in blogs and are a key part of most social network sites.

Video streaming provides opportunities for individuals to share footage of their families with other family members. Music and entertainment video streams can be shared. Television shows can be downloaded and best all, business can be done effectively through the use of video streaming technology.

Another benefit of video streaming is the strong potential for increased backlinks that can increase the number visitors to video stream. In turn, those visitors may stick around to check out what you have to offer in your online business.

Example::You can visit MotionFlicks.com to get quality Online video on various topic
Visit http://www.MotionFlicks.com to enjoy Online Video, Hollywood Movie Clips ,Bollywood Movie clips and lots more.

How to Create Streaming Video & there Different formats:

The two main methods of streaming video: Streaming servers (true streaming) and HTTP streaming.

When creating streaming video, there are two things  we need to understand: The video file format and the streaming method.

File Formats

There are many video file formats to choose from when creating video streams. The most common formats are:

1. Windows Media
2. RealMedia
3. Quicktime
4. MPEG (in particular MPEG-4)
5. Adobe Flash

There are pros and cons for each format but in the end it comes down to personal preference. Be aware that many of  users will have their own preferences and some users will only use a particular format, so if you want to reach the widest possible audience you should create separate files for each format. But its better for you to understand all the options so that maximum of users will take advantages.

Streaming Methods

There are two ways to view media on the internet (such as video, audio, animations, etc): Downloading and Streaming.

Downloading

When you download a file the entire file is saved on your computer, which you then open and view. This has some advantages (such as quicker access to different parts of the file) but has the big disadvantage of having to wait for the whole file to download before any of it can be viewed. If the file is quite small this may not be too much of an inconvenience, but for large files and long presentations it can be very off-putting.

The easiest way to provide downloadable video files is to use a simple hyperlink to the file. A slightly more advanced method is to embed the file in a web page using special HTML code.

Delivering video files this way is known as HTTP streaming or HTTP delivery. HTTP means Hyper Text Transfer Protocol, and is the same protocol used to deliver web pages. For this reason it is easy to set up and use on almost any website, without requiring additional software or special hosting plans.

Streaming

Streaming media works a bit differently — the end user can start watching the file almost as soon as it begins downloading. In effect, the file is sent to the user in a (more or less) constant stream, and the user watches it as it arrives. The obvious advantage with this method is that no waiting is involved. Streaming media has additional advantages such as being able to broadcast live events (sometimes referred to as a webcast or netcast).

True streaming video must be delivered from a specialized streaming server.

Progressive Downloading

There is also a hybrid method known as progressive download. In this method the video clip is downloaded but begins playing as soon as a portion of the file has been received. This simulates true streaming, but doesn’t have all the advantages.

**Most people will opt for HTTP streaming (download or progressive download). This is the easiest and cheapest way to get started.

Embedding Streaming Video in a Web Page:

The are two ways to add a video clip to a web page: Direct link and Embedded file.

*Direct Links

A direct link is a simple hyperlink which points to the video file, like so:
<a href=”videofilename.mov”>Click here to view video</a>

Direct links causes the video file to be opened in the end user’s default media player. For example, if you click a link to a Windows Media file, your Windows Media Player will open and play the file.

This has the advantage of giving the end user full control using their preferred player. However, from the webmaster’s point of view the results can be unpredictable and this option provides the least control over how people will see the video.

*Embedded Files

Embedding a video file means placing the video file right there on the web page, like the embedded Flash clip shown here. This provides a high level of control over the way the video is displayed.

To embed a file you must add some HTML code to the web page. The exact code you use will depend on your video format. The following example is for a Windows Media file:

For maximum browser compatibility this method uses two tags:

• <object> For Internet Explorer.
• For Firefox etc.

As you can see, these tags are basically duplicates. You will need to set the file name and any other parameters for each tag.

To get the code for embedding a video file, choose your format:
Windows Media | Real Media | Quicktime | MPEG-4 | Flash

 

Streaming bandwidth and storage:

Streaming bandwidth and storage

Streaming media storage size is calculated from streaming bandwidth and length of the media with the following formula (for a single user and file):

storage size (in megabytes) = length (in seconds) · bit rate (in kbit/s) / 8,388.608

(since 1 megabyte = 8 * 1,048,576 bits = 8,388.608 kilobits)

How to Increase Sales Through Streaming Audio

There are several ways to stream audio from your site. First, is to stream a radio program from your site or blog. You can find free affiliate programs that allow you to stream their radio content from your site.

What will this mean to you? This means that your site will have new audio content every time it is visited. What’s even great is that the content is being updated even without much effort from you.

In this case, what you needed to do is to signup with an Internet radio station and have the link embedded on your blog or website.

Another way is to stream mp3s. To do this, you just need to upload your mp3files on a server and add the files’ links to the page. When the link is clicked, the browser opens a media player window and plays a file. However, since the file is in mp3 format, it may also be downloaded. Downloading music files without the authorization of the copyright owner is illegal. Therefore, if you will be using this type of streaming, make sure that you have the appropriate permit to do so.

A third way to add audio to you blog or website is to stream music through organizing playlists. Playlists are m3u files, which if downloaded, will not play music if offline. Using this process, however, can be complex.

Here is a short instruction on how to do it.

1. Save your mp3 or wma file on the server. You may skip this step if you know that the file exists on another server and know the link to that file. Make sure that the link has a .mp3 or .wma extension.

2. Open your text editor and type the path to the file. Include the http:// and the file extension. Repeat this step until you have included all the links to the files that you would like to be included in the playlist.

3. Save the playlist with a .m3u extension.

4. Upload the m3u file on the directory where the music files are hosted or to your server.

5. Open your html editor and embed the link to the m3u file. Through this, you can also set if you want to have the playlist to autoplay if someone visits your site of if you want your visitor to control playing the music. You can also set the volume level.

After the code is embedded on the html file, and whenever your site is visited, the songs in the playlist will be buffered, streamed and played one after another. If your playlist has several songs, the user can skip forward or go back a song in the playlist using the media player controls.

Doing this setup works for many website owners. Through this you can customize the type of music being played on your site. You can even play recordings related to your product to boost product awareness.

It requires knowledge of html to be done. But if it will be the best way to increase traffic to your site, why not request assistance from programmers. After all, having audio on a website is a proven way to increase sales.

Please feel free to share your inputs/questions on the same. For free SEO-SEM consultation you can mail me at: advancedseosolutions@gmail.com.

Thanks,

Mable