Technical FAQ
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- What is
Real Audio/Video?
- What are the steps in using Real Audio/Video?
- Do you support smil and rtsp files?
- What is RTSP protocol?
- Can I do live broadcasting on my account?
- Am I
limited to the # of files or streams using Real Audio/Video?
A: RealAudio/Video is a real time audio/video transmission/player system.
A digital audio/video stream is transmitted from the server over the internet to the destination
and played immediately, rather than being stored to disk first and then played.
Real Audio is available for a small extra
charge.
Q: What are the steps in using Real Audio/Video?
A: The first step is the audio or video file which has an extension of .ra (RealAudio) or .rm (RealMedia). You create this file from your audio or video source using the RealEncoder or RealProducer.
The second step is creating the metafile with the extension .ram.
The .ram file holds
one or more lines of ASCII text, each of which references the .ra file to be played when
the .ram file is accessed by the browser. The .ram metafile is
simply a text file containing a special URL telling the Real Server to send your audio
or video clip to the browser.
Entries in .ram files have the form:
rtsp://machine.host4u.net/yourdomain/name-of-clip.ra
(yourdomain
= yourdomain with no extension like .com)
Note: the clip will either be a .rm (Video) or .ra (Audio) depending on the media type.
You may then access these files at http://www.yourdomain.com/realaudio/filename.ram.
---> for instance, usage for the domain musicmall.cc on server
cyclops
Content of metafile "welcome.ram":
rtsp://cyclops.host4u.net/musicmall/welcome.ra
Calling the audio file through a browser by accessing the metafile:
http://www.musicmall.cc/realaudio/welcome.ram
If you want to automatically play several video or audio files one after another, list each file on a separate line in the metafile:
rtsp://machine.host4u.net/yourdomain/name-of-clip1.ra
rtsp://machine.host4u.net/yourdomain/name-of-clip2.ra
rtsp://machine.host4u.net/yourdomain/name-of-clip3.ra
Upload your .ram and .ra or .rm files to the /realaudio sub directory in your web directory. When you FTP these files it is important that the .ram files be transferred in ASCII mode and the .ra or .rm files be sent in BINARY mode.
Q: Do you support smil and rtsp files?
A: Yes, these files are supported.
A: RTSP, or Real-Time Streaming Protocol, is a protocol developed by Real Networks. Just as File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is the best protocol for transferring large files, RTSP is the best protocol for streaming multimedia applications.
Q: Can I do live broadcasting on my account?
A: This is a feature of the Real Networks server that we currently do not support.
Q: Am I limited to the # of files or streams using Real Audio/Video?
A: We run 100 per server that every one would be sharing.
Glossary:
pnm = The previous standard protocol for streaming media to your RealPlayer. ©1998-1999 RealNetworks, Inc.
rtsp = Real Time Streaming Protocol. The newest and fastest protocol used to stream media
to your RealPlayer over the internet. ©1998-1999 RealNetworks, Inc.
smil = SMIL formatted (multiple datatype layout) files
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