FlexTag: Flex
The past week has brought a series of announcements from Adobe that has elicited myriad speculation and concern from the Flash Platform and Adobe community. As a leading Adobe Solutions provider for Flash Platform solutions, RealEyes wants to address these announcements and how we see their impacting our focus in the technological ecosystem.
Before we begin this analysis, from our vantage point, the largest issue with these announcements is the way in which they were communicated—to the public, to partners, everyone. There was much good news in what Adobe announced; unfortunately, their public relations team chose to focus largely on what was being deprecated, which colored the resulting dialog.
We’d like to take a moment to refocus this conversation for our customers and community. Contrary to popular debate, Flash is NOT dead. And here’s why:
Adobe Focus on Mobile Applications
Adobe announced that it would be more aggressively contributing to HTML5, with future Flash Platform development to focus on personal computer and mobile applications. Great! Our clients who are developing mobile experiences are universally doing so with the intention of making installable applications. More Adobe focus in this area will only enhance the experiences that we are able to work with them to deliver.
The Flash Platform is still the best way to develop mobile application experiences intended to be deployed across the major application marketplaces: Apple, Android, and Blackberry.
However, what got the most attention in this announcement was that Adobe is discontinuing development of Flash Player for the mobile browser. While this got many people up in arms, declaring the general demise of the Flash Player, we at RealEyes can respect this decision and see the validity of it. For Adobe, the return on investment for this runtime simply wasn’t there, and with the fragmented nature of Android (and a few other issues that contribute to delivering an application to all browser, OS, and mobile hardware configurations) the continued development of the mobile Flash Player would be exponentially complex.
For application developers, the mobile Flash Player was never as good a runtime as the desktop one.
So, how is the discontinuation of mobile Flash Player affecting our clients? Really, it isn’t.
Because mobile device users are more likely to look exclusively toward installable applications for rich media content—and RealEyes’ Flash Platform applications largely deliver rich media content—our customers have been developing applications built using the Flash Platform and relying less on the mobile web. Mike Chambers does a nice job of discussing the differences in how users consume rich content on mobile devices compared to the desktop, and we agree wholeheartedly that this is the way to go.
Because Flash Player doesn’t have the same ubiquity on mobile devices as it does for desktop browsers RealEyes was already advising our clients to create fallback experiences for their Flash content for mobile browsers. For most of them we could achieve the same functionality in HTML as in Flash (video being the exception as you’ll see below). Why not forgo Flash entirely and have a single HTML codebase to support? Seems like a decision that makes good business sense.
Not that we aren’t sad to see mobile Flash Player go: we are.
If only because we don’t want the web to have missing plugin alerts. Having the Flash Player plugin available to Android and Blackberry mobile browsers was a convenience that offered a great marketing pitch, but, truthfully, delivered very little. This is due, in large part, to the fact that the majority of the web was design for the desktop and was not meant for (nor is it very functional for) mobile phones – period, full stop.
In truth, we’ve seen just a very few Flash applications developed specifically for the mobile browser. We at RealEyes have developed just one of these for commercial release. And this application was built before AIR for Android and was always intended to be a stop-gap until this runtime was available.
Now, tablets make a better use case for Flash’s place in the mobile ecosystem; however, the number of tablets that support Flash is under 30% of market share. Given this and Apple’s seemingly prohibition on Flash, the Flash Player was just never going to achieve the same ubiquity as it has on the desktop for tablets, or for mobile phones for that matter.
Adobe Supports HTML5 Development
As Adobe is a multimedia creation company it will want to be at the forefront of whatever technology is defining exceptional user experiences for multimedia delivery. And, for a few years now, Adobe’s been looking toward HTML5. Unfortunately, the announcement from Adobe that contains the information about the discontinuation of the mobile Flash Player makes it sound like Adobe’s just jumping on HTML as a development platform. That’s just not true.
Even more unfortunate in the present debate is a perception that Steve Job’s thoughts on Flash have somehow won and that this was just fallout from an Apple v. Adobe war. Not so fast. Apple and, to some degree Microsoft, have done much to market HTML5 development to the point that its perception overpromises what it can deliver. Although Adobe has been working to educate its community about the benefits of the Flash Player over HTML5 and was backed by legions of developers, animators, designers, and content creators, they couldn’t overcome the tactics of a such powerful and cunning marketing machines. While standing its ground on the mobile Flash Player, Adobe was, in many ways, able to achieve what critics said was not possible with Flash Player on mobile devices.
So, if Steve didn’t win, who did?
Well, Adobe is still poised to win and … more importantly so is its community of developers and customers. Look at tools like Adobe Edge and the new mobile enhancements to Dreamweaver. Also, with Adobe’s acquisition of PhoneGap, Adobe developers are poised to deliver the best HTML5 experiences out there. Yeah, it’s not Flash … but that’s OK. While it seems like Adobe’s making a sharp turn toward HTML5, from where we sit, they are more fully committing to a direction that Macromedia, and then Adobe, started in some time ago. Remember the HTML and Flash being friends video from Adobe MAX last year?
And, with other recent innovations for mobile AIR such as the availability of native extensions, the future of mobile development is exhilarating for any Flash Platform developer. We’re hopeful that Adobe will use this opportunity to sharpen their focus on native mobile functionality and continue the path of making the Flash Platform the best choice for developing multi-platform mobile applications with a single code base.
However, the perception that Adobe’s making a rash decision is very damaging and something that we’re working with our clients to help them understand. The reality of the situation is that not much has changed; however, poor communication, horrible messaging, and virtually no community outreach from Adobe regarding this messaging has made the perception the accepted reality in the short term.
And, if that weren’t enough news for one week …
Adobe Really Open Sources Flex
In clarifying its future plans for the Flex SDK, Adobe announced that the Flex SDK will be contributed to an open source foundation. The good news in this move is that the Flex community is mature enough to take on the governance of this robust framework moving forward. This wasn’t the case in February of 2008 when Adobe released Flex 3 as open source (Adobe had been planning to open source it since April of 2007).
For several years now, Adobe has been moving towards a more open standard with their development and this decision to contribute the Flex SDK to an open source foundation isn’t something that’s Adobe has done in isolation, and not just to the Flash Platform. Some other projects that are on this path are:
- PhoneGap
- BlazeDS
- Flex SDK
And, in reading Adobe’s clarification to this open source announcement, we see even more reason to be excited. They are also open sourcing tools that support Flex including an experimental one (Falcon JS) that cross-compiles MXML and ActionScript to HTML and JavaScript. Now, that’s exciting! And, we’re sure that more is on the horizon. Maybe HTML and Flash can be friends after all.
And, let’s be honest, the original model that Adobe used to open source Flex didn’t go as planned. While Adobe always said they welcomed contributions from the community to grow and improve the Flex SDK, the process for getting a change accepted was unclear and many community contributions were rejected for any number of reasons (valid or invalid). Adobe simply did not have the process or the resources to handle the influx of developers who wanted to contribute. It was a frustrating situation for the Flex development community (and arguably Adobe as well).
So, the vibrant Flex community answered back earlier this year by creating the Spoon Project to better organize and test Flex SDK modifications submitted by the Flex community. It proved to be an excellent model, drove innovation of the Framework, and was an initial step toward the full open source move that Adobe just announced.
Who’s governing the future of Flex? We are!
In case the nuance in what’s different now versus Adobe’s 2007 decision to open source Flex isn’t apparent, the major difference is that the Flex community will extend the Flex code base without needing Adobe’s permission to do so. A new governance, following Apache’s well-established community rules, will be formed to determine the future direction of the codebase.
Since our inception RealEyes has been in close contact with Adobe’s Flash Platform team, we’re excited for this change in governance. RealEyes has always been super excited about the Spoon Project, and our Development Manager (Jun Heider) is very active in this community as the Infrastructure Chairman. We’ve seen that this is truly a community-driven initiative that is supported by Adobe to increase the volume, speed (and maybe even the quality) in which the Flex framework can grow.
We are excited to contribute further to the future of Flex and confident that, like other successful open source communities, the language will continue to evolve.
Also … Flex isn’t all of the Flash Platform
Sadly, many of the announcements that we’ve been talking about, including the open sourcing of Flex, led many to say that Flash is dead. That simply isn’t true. Let’s talk about what the Flex framework actually is: a particular framework used to structure Flash Platform development. Do you have to use it to develop Flash Platform applications? No. And, to be honest, RealEyes doesn’t use Flex in every Flash Platform project because sometimes that framework can make applications to “heavy”. If performance is of paramount concern for a Flash Platform application, Flex often cannot replace pure ActionScript.
Flash and Flex are not going away. Adobe is still committed to developing tooling to support development for the Flash Platform. Further, Adobe hasn’t open sourced the Flash Player, the most installed piece of software in the history of the internet. Adobe plans on steadily contributing to the Flex SDK in its open sourced project and we are working with the Flex community to make us contributors as well.
Adobe and Enterprise Applications
In a week of poorly handled communication, probably RealEyes’ largest concern was Adobe’s statement that “In the long-term, we believe HTML5 will be the best technology for enterprise application development.” Ouch. Big enterprises have invested millions upon millions of dollars in the development and maintenance of Flash Platform applications. At the very least that statement can erode the confidence that large companies (or companies of any size, really) have when building systems based upon Adobe technology. Something that we feel is probably a bit of an over-reaction.
Also, without context this statement is very misleading. Currently, HTML5 does not have full functional parity with the Flash Platform. A few days after making this statement, Adobe clarified it by indicating what it intended as a timeframe for HTML5 to be able to truly complete with Flash Platform development: three to five years. That timeframe could be heavily extended when considering corporate browser adoption timelines.
There’s no enterprise that can wait three to five years for functionality.
As Adobe stated, “Flex has now, and for many years will continue to have, advantages over HTML5 for enterprise application development – in particular:
- Flex offers complete feature-level consistency across multiple platforms
- The Flex component set and programming model makes it extremely productive when building complex application user interfaces
- ActionScript is a mature language, suitable for large application development
- Supporting tools (both Adobe’s and third-party) offer a productive environment with respect to code editing, debugging and profiling and automation.
We see all that as being the case and some more:
- Enterprise clients tend to have slower adoption rates for software, meaning that not all enterprises support the advanced HTML5 features that exist.
- In particular, the video capabilities in HTML5 are not as robust as what is available in the Flash Platform including multicasting with integrated hardware acceleration and advanced security models.
- The testing issues for supporting browser fragmentation can be daunting to enterprises, compared with supporting a Flash Platform application that can be deployed across desktop browsers with consistent display and functionality.
RealEyes will continue to recommend Flex and Flash Platform development to our clients where it makes real business sense to do so. That said, there are reasons to use HTML over (or alongside) the Flash Platform, and we have plenty of clients we support who do that as well.
The Impact to RealEyes
So, what does all of this mean to RealEyes? In the short term, it has meant a challenge to bring context to Adobe’s announcements and dispel rumors and misinformation to our clients. In the long run, it probably doesn’t mean a lot.
We have already been on a path of technology diversification with continued focus and adoption of HTML5, its supporting technologies, and native mobile development. Many of us are in the technology space because we enjoy the challenge of evolving our skills as the industry grows. However, for the next few years, we anticipate that the Flash Platform will continue to be our predominant focus.
Our development specialty has been in delivering industry-leading streaming media solutions and multiscreen development. Flash and AIR are still the best solutions for this and will be for a while. The timeline for that largely depends on Adobe and, as a valued Adobe Solutions Partner, we will continue to support them in as educated and balanced way as possible.
We are actively involved in the future of the Flex framework through the Spoon Project and excited about the potential for future growth for that project. We are now even more apt to contribute to the betterment of this already robust framework for the benefit of the Flex community.
Finally, RealEyes has always helped our clients to choose the best technology to power a given project and we will continue to do this. And, as HTML5 becomes a more comprehensive solution, we will likely recommend it more frequently. It is truly about what is right for the current and future on a case by case basis. Our clients and projects will continue to be industry leaders, no matter the technology behind them.
——————–
Now, we can’t see all of the news in a positive light. And not all of it is positive – certainly not for the 750 Adobe employees who were laid off and their families. However, this degree of restructuring in the fourth quarter isn’t unprecedented for Adobe. We’ve seen this over the past couple of years. This year, as in years past, we lost meaningful relationships with Adobe employees that we’ve been happy to collaborate with on community and development projects. We at RealEyes have close contact with Adobe and tend to focus on how individuals shape the platforms, products, and communities that we work with instead of quarterly earnings and fiscal projections. While adjusting to this restructuring, we wish all of the affected employees only the best in their next moves and hope that they will continue to make positive contributions to the technical community they have helped to shape.
Additional Links:
Part 1 of this series discussed HTTP Dynamic Streaming (HDS) at a fairly high level. The next few editions in the series will explore some of the more powerful features that make using this protocol advantageous. Multi-bitrate stream switching and file encryption are two important features that we’ll cover in the very near future, as they’re very big reasons to stream over any protocol. However, in this article I’d like to discuss a brand new feature of the Open Source Media Framework (OSMF) known as “late-binding audio”.
Late Binding Audio Defined
Late-binding audio refers to the ability to stream videos with multiple associated audio tracks. This makes it possible to play an alternative audio track on the client-side using the same video file. There’s no need to encode, store, and deliver separate video + audio assets for each version you would like to provide. Say for example that you would like to provide video content with audio translated into multiple languages. Instead of creating separate video + audio files for each language, you instead encode the video only once, and include the alternate audio-only tracks along with the it. This represents a huge savings in time, storage, and bandwith that anyone making the switch to HTTP Dynamic Streaming can take advantage of.
Updates to OSMF that came in version 1.6, Sprint 5 make streaming late-binding audio files over HTTP possible. Specifically, the MediaPlayer class now contains the read-only public property hasAlternativeAudio : Boolean. By using the LateBindingAudio example application included in the latest OSMF release, I’ll demonstrate step-by-step how to get this new feature to work.
Many of the steps we’ll be taking are the same steps we took when packaging our files for simple streaming over HTTP, so if you’d like to review, please check out HTTP Dynamic Streaming – Part 1: An Introduction to Streaming Media.
Late-Binding Audio, Step-by-Step
1. Gather your media assets
In this example, we’ll be working with a video that has one alternate audio track. (President Barack Obama’s speech from July 25th, and an alternate audio track of the transcription translated into Spanish) You can include as many alternate audio tracks as you’d like, however there are some recommendations from the OSMF team in regards to how you prepare your media. One suggestion is that you should use audio tracks that are at least as long as the main video + audio track to ensure smooth stream switching. Other guidelines relate to encoding best practices for streaming over HTTP in general. You can read the white paper on encoding standards here. A list of known issues with OSMF 1.6 Sprint 5 can be found in the release notes.
The creation of the media assets prior to packaging them for HTTP streaming is beyond the scope of this article, but for your information:
- I used Adobe Premiere Pro 5.5 to edit the original video file down to something shorter (~2 min).
- I used Adobe Audition CS 5.5 to edit the audio, and to create the alternate audio track.
- I encoded the video and audio files to .f4v using Adobe Media Encoder (see part 1 of the series for file type requirements).
- I happily found a transcription of the speech online.
- Google Translate helped me with the translation (it’s been awhile since I’ve spoken Spanish).
- At&t Natural Voices text-to-speech demo provided me with the .wav files of the Spanish audio.
- The original video + audio file encoded into an .flv or Mp4-compatible format
- The audio track from the original video + audio encoded the same as above
- An alternate audio track, hopefully of the same duration as the original audio, encoded the same as above
2. Package your media using the f4fpackager tool
This step is the same as it is for packaging files for simple streaming over HTTP, covered in part 1.
using the f4fpackager to package the media files
At this point, if you’d like to send additional arguments to the packager, you can enter them here and they’ll show up in the XML of the .f4m file, otherwise use the minimum arguments. We’ll be editing the XML of the main video’s .f4m file in the next step. After you’ve packaged all of the files, it’s time to create a “master” .f4m file. I’m using 3 source files, so I have 3 sets of 3 packaged files:
- Obama.f4m
- ObamaSeg1.f4x
- ObamaSeg1.f4f
- Obama_Audio.f4m
- Obama_AudioSeg1.f4x
- Obama_AudioSeg1.f4f
- Obama_altAudio.f4m
- Obama_altAudioSeg1.f4x
- Obama_altAudioSeg1.f4f
3. Create master .f4m file
Next, we’ll be adding some information from the two audio tracks’ .f4m files (the separated audio from the original video, and our alternate Spanish track) to the .f4m of the packaged main video file. Copy the “bootstrapInfo” and “media” tags from inside the .f4m files of the two audio tracks, and paste them into the main video’s .f4m file.
Add media and bootstrapInfo tags to main .f4m file
4. Add attributes to media tags in master .f4m
In order for late-binding audio to work, we’ll need to add a few attributes to the media tags inside the main .f4m file. In the media tag of your alternate audio, add:
- alternate=”true”
- type=”audio”
- lang=”Spanish”
- bitrate=”"
Updated master .f4m file
5. Place all packaged files into vod folder in the webroot of your Apache server
When done, it should look something like this: (“readme.htm” and “sample2_1000kbps.f4v” are files that come with Flash Media Server, and can be ignored)
Packaged files in the vod folder on the server
Setting Up Flash Builder
6. Make sure you’re using the latest versions of Flash Builder, Flash Player, and OSMF
In order for this example to work, you’ll need to ensure that you’re using Flash Builder 4.5.1 and the latest OSMF .swc. You’ll need to replace the OSMF .swc that comes with the latest Flex SDK with the one from OSMF 1.6 Sprint 5, and deploy your project to the latest version of the Flash Player. (At least 10.2)
Use Flex 4.5.1, and Flash Player 10.2 and up
Use the latest OSMF .swc-OSMF 1.6, Sprint 5
As mentioned earlier, this example uses the LateBindingAudioSample application that comes bundled with the latest OSMF release. It can be found in OSMF/apps/samples/framework/LateBindingAudioSample. Modify this application to point to your main video’s .f4m file on the server.
That’s it! Ensure that your Apache web server is running, and if you’re using the same example application, run the application in debug mode to get valuable information about the stream in the Console. Select your video asset from the dropdown menu up top, and hit “Play”. Choose the alternate audio stream at any time from the dropdown in the lower left of the application.
Where to go from here
For a more in-depth look into HDS, including discussions on file encryption, and live streaming, please refer to John Crosby’s series on HTTP Dynamic Streaming
For an informative look into the world of OSMF, including deep-dives into such things as building custom media players and plugin integration and development, please see David Hassoun and John Crosby’s article series “Mastering OSMF“on the Adobe Developer Connection site .
For information on how Realeyes Media can help you make the switch to HTTP Dynamic Streaming, please feel free to contact us today.
Documentation
Adobe HTTP Dynamic Streaming documentation
Downloads
Flash Media Development Server (free)
Scott Sheridan writes about, and messes around with, the latest technologies in digital motion media at Realeyes. He also does triathlons. Really big triathlons.
Feel free to reach out with any questions-we’re glad to help!
scott AT realeyes DOT com
Kao tehnologija koje se odnosi na proizvodnju i isporuku digitalnih pokreta medija nastavlja da napreduje, tako da su zahtevi potrošača za sve raznovrsniji i bogatiji mediji iskustveniji.. Video visoke definicije se sada isporučuje na više korisnika, na razlicitim vrstama uređaja, i kroz više kompleksnih mreža nego ikada pre. Za provajdere sadržaja, to naravno znači više raspoloživih mogućnosti za medijsku distribuciju i monetizaciju.
Zatim
Tradicionalno, video je dostavljen klijentu na jedan od dva načina:bilo progresivnim preuzimanjem korišćenjem široko podržanog HTTP protokola, ili strimovanjem, korišćenjem protokola RTP, RTMP, UDP, ili TCP, u saradnji sa specijalizovanim serverom softvera za rukovanje tokom (npr. Flash Media Server ili Windows Media Services). Ove dve metode dostave imaju i prednosti i mane. Streaming medija protokoli nude gledaocu bolje iskustvo omogućavajuci videu da reprodukuje odmah, bez potrebe da prvo sačekamo da su potpunosti uploaduje. Oni su takođe omogućili takve karakteristike kao adaptivne bitrate strimovanja da nadoknadi za fluktuacije u korisničkom protok, uživo gledanje, sadržaj enkripciju, i pametne ribanje. Ove karakteristike su često vrlo skupe, međutim, i kao takve nije su održiva opcija za mnoge sadržaje. Isporuka preko HTTP, s druge strane, traži kompletan file download pre nego se moze poceti gledanje. Pored toga, sadržaj prebačen na ovaj način je uskladištena na hard disku krajnjeg korisnika, i zbog toga često nije najbolje rešenje za prikazivanje zaštićenog sadržaja autorskih prava. Međutim, podrška za HTTP protokol bio je i ostao, veoma rasprostranjen. Specijalizovani server tehnologije se ne zahteva da bi se dostavio sadržaj preko HTTP- jednostavno (i besplatano) ce to uraditi web server. Biti podrzan postojećim i rasprostranjenim serverom hardvera i caching infrastruktura nastavlja da bude jedan od glavnih prednosti pri korišćenju HTTP protokola.
Sada
U prošlosti, provajderi sadržaja su često bili suočeni sa teškom dilemom. Da li bi oni trebali da naprave velike finansijske investicije u cilju pružanja najboljeg streaming videa iskustva svojim krajnjim korisnicima? Ili bi njihov ROI bio bolji ako isporuci robustano iskustvo gledanja, iako ima potencijalno veću publiku, preko HTTPa? Kompanije kao što su Move Networks, Microsoft, Adobe i Apple su došli sa svojim jedinstvenim rešenjima ovog problema – dinamičan problem streaming medija preko HTTP protokola. Svako rešenje podrazumeva razbijanje kodiranih medijskih datoteka u manje komade, koji su zatim ponovo okupljeni od strane medija playera klijenta.
Nekoliko adaptivnih bitrate streaming rešenja:
- HTTP Dynamic Streaming – Adobe
- HTTP Live Streaming – Apple
- Smooth Streaming – Microsoft
- Adaptive Bitrate – Octoshape
HTTP Dynamic Streaming – Adobe
Od puštanja Adobe Flash Playera 10.1, i Open Source Media Framework 1.0 (OSMF), sadržaj isporuke usluga, stvaraoci i izdavači imali su opciju usklađivanje HTTP Dynamic Streaming da znatno povećaju svoj domet kada je u pitanju pružanje kvalitetnih video iskustva klijentu. HTTP Dinamic Streaming (HDS) je prava streaming tehnologija, ali ne zavisi od specijalizovanih streaming servera ili vlasničkih transfer protokola. . Pored toga, potreban alat da biste gledali svoj video preko HTTP dobija se besplatno sa Adobe.
Da biste pripremili svoje medije za HDS, uradite sledeće:
Spakujte vaš FLV, F4V ili druge MP4-kompatibilne datoteke pomoću slobodanog f4fpackager alata.
Preuzmite f4fpackager. f4fpackager je komandna linija alat dostupan za Windows i Linux koji koristite za pretvaranje svoje izvorne medijske datoteke u nužno-fragmentiranedatoteke potrebne za strimovanje. Možete skinuti packager besplatno sami, ili koristite verziju koja se isporučuje u okviru Flash Media Server 4.0 i dalje. Proces je prilično jednostavan i brz, mnogo brži nego kodiranje izvornog fajla za početak! Za pokretanje Packager u operativnom sistemu Windows, na komandnoj liniji, “cd” u svoj Flash Media Server ili Apache web server instalaciom ““tools\f4fpackager” foldera. Odavde se lako pokrene Packager jednostavnim kucanjem “F4″ (tada Tab), i pustiti komandni prozor da auto kompletira pokretanje f4fpackager.exe. Dajte Packageru najmanje sledeće argumente:
01 |
--input-file=<em>theFullPathToYour/Media |
01 |
--output-path=theFullPathToTheOutputLocationOfYourChoice |
Alternativno, možete izostaviti argument izlaz, a Packager će staviti upakovane fajlove u izvornom direktorijumu. Više Packager argumenta za stvari kao sto su trazenje bitrate nekog datoteke, kriptovanje, itd mogu se naći ovde.
- Korišćenje f4fPackager na komandnoj liniji
Ako sve ide dobro, trebalo bi da imate 3 nova fajlova za svaku izvornu datoteku koju ste poslali Packager-u:
- .F4M (manifest) file
- .F4F (fragment) file
- .F4x (index) file
Manifest fajl (F4M.). je XML fajl koji sadrži bitne informacije o vašim medijima koje medija plejer analizira kako bi se reprodukovao pravilno datoteku. Da biste saznali više o F4M, i. F4F tipovima datoteka., Pogledajte Džona Krozbi serija na HTTP Dinamic Streamingu
The 3 packaged files: .F4M, .F4F, and .F4X
Uverite se da imate HTTP Poreklo modula spreman zarad
Instalirajte i konfigurišite HTTP Module Porijekla u postojeću instalaciju Apache web servera. HTTP Modul porekla je proširenje na Apache web serveru koji je neophodan za striming medija preko HTTP-a za Flash Player. Možete preuzeti modul ovde. Alternativno.,I HTTP modul porekla i Apache web server dolaze u paketu i konfigurisani sa Flash Media Server om verzije 4.0 i gore. *Napomena* Uvjerite se da se vas server Apache koristi operativni sistem Windows, podrazumevan, Apache web servis počinje konfiguraciju unutar Flash Media Servera 4 koji je postavljen na “Manual”. Možda ćete želeti da se prebaci ovo na “automatski”.
Postavi vase spakovane media server datoteke u vod direktorijum vašeg Apache web servera (webroot / vod/)
Kada imate sve datoteke pravilno upakovane, i vi ste instalirali i konfigurisali Apache web server, kao i HTTP Modul porijekla (kao samostalan ili u paketu u okviru Flash Media Server), sve sto treba da uradite na strani servera je postaviti 3 upakovana fajla u vod fasciklu unutar vašeg Apache servera, i zgrabite URL (e) medijske datoteke (e) koje želite da pustite. *napomena* Apache je postavljen za slušanje na port 80 kao podrazumevano, i prelaze na port 8134 ako port 80 je u upotrebi. Međutim, možete konfigurisati Apache server da sluša bilo koji dostupan port.
Make sure Apache service is running
Konfigurisanje media player da ukaže na URL medi unutar vašeg vod fajla
Dobrodošli ste da izgradite sopstveni prilagođeni player na potoku preko HTTP-a, međutim, fini ljudi na Adobe i Realeyes mediji su već uradili dosta posla za vas. Dajte nekima ili svima od sledećih playera sansu:
REOPS Player Moćan, OSMF-baziran media player iz Realeyes medija The Realeyes OSMF player primer (REOPS) nudi odličnu bazu za stvaranje snažnog video playera koristeći Open Source Media Framework (OSMF) iz Adobe. REOPS je trebalo da bude kamen temeljac za programere, kao i vizuelni prikaz da ilustruje mogućnosti i kako da se od OSMF framework. The REOPS projekat uključuje veoma proširu i robustnu kontrolnu traku i šablone da pomogne da prilagodite traku kontrole, kao i Full-screen podršku, zatvoren Captioning iz eksternog fajla, kao i OSMF dinamički plugin podršku. The REOPS projekat može da se koristi za primenu lako prilagođenog player videa koji podržavaju progresivnu video reprodukciju, video na zahtev, striming live streaming i dinamičkih striming. Šta više, sve ove funkcije se mogu konfigurisati iz spoljnog XML fajla.
Flash Media Playback Besplatan, standardni medija player za Adobe Flash platformu Flash Media Playback može koristiti bilo koji sajt sa samo nekoliko linija HTMLa, omogućavajući video i druge medije u nekoliko minuta. Njegova prošira plug-in arhitektura omogućava jednostavnu integraciju sa mrežama sadržaja isporuke (CDNs) i oglašavanja platformi, kao i podršku za analitiku i dodatne nezavisne usluge. Sa podrškom za najnovije metode isporuke, Flash Media Playback omogućava web programerima svih nivoa da u potpunosti iskoriste mocne karakteristike videa na Flash Platformi.
Strobe Media Playback Besplatni, OSMF bazirani media player iz Adobe. Strobe Media Playback je Open Source Media Framework (OSMF) baziran media player koji možete brzo i lako integrisati u vaš sajt. Sastavni SVF i njegov izvorni kod su dostupni za besplatno preuzimanje ovde.
… ili napravi svoj pomocu sledeceg tutorijala! Ovladavanje OSMF-Adobe Developer Connection serije. John Crosby i David Hassoun iz Realeyes medija napisali su odličan niz članaka i tutorijalekoji nas vode kroz ucenje rada sa OSMF. Oni počinju sa izgradnjom jednostavnog medija playera, a onda zarone dublje u složenije teme, kao što su odvajanje kontrole, uključujući media prekrivače, kao i integraciju i razvoj custom plugin-a.
Bilo da odlučite da izgradite sopstveni ili da koristite medija player koji je vec napravljen, moraćete da istaknete svoju aplikaciju na F4M fajlu. vod direktorijumu vašeg Apache servera. Opet, ovo je media manifest datoteka, XML datoteka koju media player koristi da analizira ažne informacije o medijima, kao što su bitrate, trajanje, itd
*Napomena*
HTTP Dinamic Streaming zahteva Flash Player 10.1 i gore. Bilo koja verzija OSMF, počevši od 1.0 bice kompatabilna sa HDSom.
Streaming Demo
Ispod je primer ugrađenog Flash Media Playback medija playerakoji dostavlja video preko HTTP-a. Ako želite,možete podesiti svoj player ovde. Ukoliko želite da koristite iste upakovane fajlove koji se koriste u demo, možete ih preuzeti ovde.
Naravno, ova demonstracija samo pokazuje video snimak preko HTTP-a to nije primjer moćnih funkcije dostupnih preko HDSa, kao što su promenljive bitrate prebacivanje, enkripcija, ili kasno vezivanje audio. Ostanite uz nas za vise informacija i o tome..
Where to go from here
Za dublji pogled na HDS, uključujući rasprave o File Encriptionu, Live streamingu, pogledajte John Crosby seriju na HTTP Dinamic Streamingu
Za informativni pogled na svet OSMF, uključujući i duboko zaranjanje u takvim stvarima kao građenje prilagođenih medija playera i dodatke integracije i razvoja, pogledajte David Hassoun i John Crosby’s clanak serijeMastering OSMF na Adobe Developer Connection sajtu .
Za informacije o tome kako Realeyes Mediji vam mogu pomoći da se prebacite na HTTP Dinamic Streaming, budite slobodni da nas kontaktirate danas.
This article is translated to “http://science.webhostinggeeks.com/http-dinamic-streaming” Serbo-Croatian language by Vera Djuraskovic from “http://webhostinggeeks.com/” Webhostinggeeks.com
As technologies related to the production and delivery of digital motion media continue to advance, so do consumer demands for an increasingly varied and rich media viewing experience. High-definition video is now being delivered to more users, on a wider variety of devices, and through more complex networks than ever before. For content providers, this of course means more available avenues for media distribution and monetization.
Then
Traditionally, video has been delivered to the client in one of two ways: either by progressive download using the widely-supported HTTP protocol, or by streaming, using protocols such as RTP, RTMP, UDP, or TCP, in conjunction with specialized server-side software to handle the stream (e.g., Flash Media Server or Windows Media Services). These two delivery methods had both advantages and disadvantages. Streaming media protocols offered the viewer a better experience by allowing the video to play back right away, without having to first wait for it to completely download. They also made possible such features as adaptive bitrate streaming to compensate for fluctuations in user bandwith, live viewing, content encryption, and smart scrubbing. These features often came at a significant cost, however, and as such weren’t a viable option for many content providers. Delivery over HTTP on the other hand, required a complete file download before viewing could start. In addition, content transferred in this way was stored on the end user’s hard drive, and was therefore often not the best solution for displaying copyright-protected content. However, support for the HTTP protocol was, and remains to be, very widespread. Specialized server technology isn’t required to deliver content over HTTP-a simple (and free) web server will do. Being supported by existing and widespread server hardware and caching infrastructures continues to be one of the major advantages of using the HTTP protocol.
Now
In the past, content providers often faced a difficult dilemma. Should they make the relatively large financial investment in order to provide the best streaming video experiences to their end-users? Or would their ROI be better served by delivering a less-robust viewing experience, albeit to a potentially larger audience, over HTTP? Companies such as Move Networks, Microsoft, Adobe, and Apple have come up with their own unique solutions to this problem-the problem of dynamically streaming media over the HTTP protocol. Each solution involves breaking up the encoded media files into smaller chunks, which are then re-assembled by the media player on the client end.
A few adaptive bitrate streaming solutions:
- HTTP Dynamic Streaming – Adobe
- HTTP Live Streaming – Apple
- Smooth Streaming – Microsoft
- Adaptive Bitrate – Octoshape
HTTP Dynamic Streaming – Adobe
Since the release of Adobe Flash Player 10.1, and the Open Source Media Framework 1.0 (OSMF), content delivery providers, creators, and publishers have had the option of leveraging HTTP Dynamic Streaming to vastly increase their reach when it comes to delivering quality video experiences to the client. HTTP Dynamic Streaming (HDS) is a true streaming technology, but not dependent on specialized streaming servers or proprietary transfer protocols. In addition, the tools required to make your media files streamable over HTTP are provided free from Adobe.
To prepare your media for HDS, you do the following:
Package your FLV, F4V, or other MP4-compatible files using the free f4fpackager tool.
Download f4fpackager The f4fpackager is a command line tool available for Windows and Linux that you use to convert your source media files into the necessarily-fragmented files required for streaming. You can get the packager for free on its own, or use the version that ships within Flash Media Server 4.0 and up. The process is fairly simple and quick-much faster than encoding the source files to begin with! To run the packager in Windows, at the command line, “cd” into your Flash Media Server or Apache web server installation’s “tools\f4fpackager” folder. From here, easily run the packager by simply typing “f4″ (then Tab), and let the command window auto-complete your prompt to launch f4fpackager.exe. Give the packager at least the following arguments:
--input-file=<em>theFullPathToYour/Media
--output-path=theFullPathToTheOutputLocationOfYourChoice
Alternatively, you can omit the output argument, and the packager will place the packaged files into the source directory. More packager arguments for doing things like declaring a file’s bitrate, encrypting, etc. can be found here.
- Using the f4fPackager at the command line
If everything goes well, you should have 3 new files for every source file you sent to the packager:
- .F4M (manifest) file
- .F4F (fragment) file
- .F4x (index) file
The manifest file (.F4M) is an XML file that contains pertinent information about your media that the media player parses in order to play back the file appropriately. To learn more about the .F4M, and .F4F file types, please check out John Crosby’s series on HTTP Dynamic Streaming.
The 3 packaged files: .F4M, .F4F, and .F4X
Ensure that you have the HTTP Origin Module ready to go.
Install and configure the HTTP Origin Module into an existing Apache web server installation. The HTTP Origin Module is an extension to the Apache web server that is necessary for streaming media via HTTP to the Flash Player. You can download the module here. Alternatively, both the HTTP Origin Module and the Apache web server come bundled and configured with Flash Media Server versions 4.0 and up. *Note* Make sure your Apache server is running. On Windows, by default, the Apache web service start configuration within Flash Media Server 4 is set to “manual”. You may want to switch this to “automatic”.
Place your packaged media files into the vod folder of your Apache web server. (webroot/vod/).
Once you have your files properly packaged, and you’ve installed and configured your Apache web server, as well as the HTTP Origin Module (as a standalone or bundled within Flash Media Server), all you need to do on the server side is place the 3 packaged files into the vod folder within your Apache server, and grab the URL(s) of the media file(s) you wish to stream. *note* Apache is set to listen to port 80 by default, and to switch over to port 8134 if port 80 is in use. However, you may configure your Apache server to listen to any available port.
Make sure Apache service is running
Configure your media player to point to the URL of the media within your vod directory.
You’re welcome to build your own custom player to stream via HTTP, however, the fine people at Adobe and Realeyes Media have already done a lot of the work for you. Give any or all of the following example players a try:
REOPS Player A powerful, OSMF-based media player from Realeyes Media The Realeyes OSMF Player Sample (REOPS) offers an excellent base for creating a robust video player utilizing the Open Source Media Framework (OSMF) from Adobe. REOPS is meant to be a building block for developers as well as a visual representation to illustrate the capabilities and how to of the OSMF framework. The REOPS project includes a very extensible and robust control bar skinning solution and templates to help customize the control bar, as well as Full-screen support, Closed Captioning from an external file, and OSMF dynamic plugin support. The REOPS project can be used to deploy easily customized video players that support progressive video playback, video on demand streaming, live streaming and dynamic streaming. What is more, all of these features are configurable from an external XML file.
Flash Media Playback A free, standard media player for the Adobe Flash Platform Flash Media Playback can be used by any website with only a few lines of HTML, enabling playback of video and other media in minutes. Its extensible plug-in architecture enables easy integration with content delivery networks (CDNs) and advertising platforms, as well as support for analytics and additional third-party services. With support for the latest delivery methods, Flash Media Playback enables web developers of all levels to fully utilize the powerful video features of the Flash Platform.
Strobe Media Playback A free, OSMF-based media player from Adobe Strobe Media Playback is an Open Source Media Framework (OSMF) based media player that you can quickly and easily integrate into your website. The compiled SWF and its source code are available for free download here.
…Or Build Your Own With These Tutorials! Mastering OSMF-Adobe Developer Connection Series John Crosby and David Hassoun of Realeyes Media have written an excellent series of articles and walkthrough tutorials for teaching us how to work with OSMF. They start with building a simple media player, and then dive deeper into more complex topics such as separating control, incorporating media overlays, as well as integrating and developing custom plugins.
Whether you decide to build your own, or use a media player that’s been provided, you’ll need to point your application to the .F4M file within your Apache server’s vod directory. Again, this is the media manifest file, an XML file that the media player uses to parse important information about the media, such as bitrate, duration, etc..
*Note*
HTTP Dynamic Streaming requires Flash Player 10.1 and above. Any version of OSMF, starting with 1.0, will be capable of HDS.
Streaming Demo
Below is an example of the embedded Flash Media Playback media player delivering a video over HTTP. If you’d like, you can configure your own player here. If you would like to use the same packaged files playing in the demo, you can download them here. Of course, this demonstration is merely showing a video stream via HTTP-it’s not an example of the more powerful features available with HDS, such as variable bitrate switching, encryption, or late-binding audio. Stay tuned for coverage of those topics and more.
Where to go from here
For a more in-depth look into HDS, including discussions on file encryption, and live streaming, please refer to John Crosby’s series on HTTP Dynamic Streaming
For an informative look into the world of OSMF, including deep-dives into such things as building custom media players and plugin integration and development, please see David Hassoun and John Crosby’s article series “Mastering OSMF“on the Adobe Developer Connection site .
For information on how Realeyes Media can help you make the switch to HTTP Dynamic Streaming, please feel free to contact us today.
Documentation
Adobe HTTP Dynamic Streaming documentation
Downloads
Flash Media Development Server (free)
Scott Sheridan writes about, and messes around with, the latest technologies in digital motion media at Realeyes. He also does triathlons. Really big triathlons.
Feel free to reach out with any questions-we’re glad to help!
scott AT realeyes DOT com
Today Adobe released version 4.5 of Flash Builder and the open-source Flex SDK. Arguably the most important update in this release is the added support for mobile application development. Developers can leverage Flash Builder 4.5 and the Flex 4.5 SDK to create applications destined for multiple mobile platforms using a common code base (Flex and or ActionScript 3.0). The new SDK includes 21 new, ready-made components that developers can use to build applications for Android, BlackBerry, or iOS. Testing and debugging can done on the desktop by leveraging the AIR-based device emulator, or by connecting devices locally and using a one-click process to package, deploy, and launch the application. Flash Builder 4.5 will generate platform-specific installer files to upload to a mobile application distribution site or store.
Adobe’s Serge Jespers demonstrates how to create an application that can run on several devices running Android, BlackBerry, or iOS using Flex and Flash Builder.
More on Flash Builder 4.5, and Flex 4.5:
Article: Coding productivity enhancements in Flash Builder 4.5
Video: Testing Android applications on the desktop
Download Adobe Flash Builder/Flex 4.5
Adobe Flex SDK
Adobe Flash Builder
Try | Buy | Learn More | Help & Support
From the previous post you should know how to navigate from 1 view to the next using the ViewNavigator. Now, you want some data in that view right? No problem, this is where the View object’s ‘data‘ property comes into play. Setting the data property is accomplished by passing the data object, in addition to the View’s class name, into the pushView() method on the navigator object.
Example:
navigator.pushView(MyNewView, dataObject);
This effectively calls the setting for the data property of the new View (MyNewView) object that is created.
Managing View Data
You could work with the data property on the View object directly. For instance, if the data object passed into the View via the pushView() method was a simple user object that contained a name property, you could bind the name property to a label control.
Example:
<s:Label id="name_lbl" text="{data.name}" />
Overriding the Data Property Setter
Usually though, you’d want to override the setter for the data property. Then you can type your object and work with it in a better manner.
Example:
protected var user:User;
override public function set data(value:Object):void
{
super.data = value;
user = value as User;
}
<s:Label text="{user.name}" />
So now we’ve got the data in the view. The next step is to manage the state of each view. With mobile apps you can’t count on the view staying around, so we’ll need to keep a tight control on the state of each view. That way we can bring the user right back where they expect to be when they come back to the app after a call for example. In the next post we’ll look into how to do this. Stay tuned.
Flex 4.5 provides some pretty slick updates and enhancements, the least of are the of Mobile components and the ability to easily slam out some pretty nice mobile apps. The first thing I’d like to talk about is a new concept, the ViewNavigator. The ViewNavigator provides some pretty intense functionality such as view management.
What is the ViewNavigator?
The ViewNavigator keeps track of your views. It does this by keeping your views in a list. To add a new view you ‘push’ the view into the list, to remove a view you can ‘pop’ a view out of the list. You can think of it as a stack – first in, last out – and the last view in is the visible view.
Pushing a View into ViewNavigator's 'stack'
Popping a view out of the ViewNavigator's 'stack'
Using the ViewNavigator
Using the view navigator is a pretty straight forward process of capturing a user interaction, such as a button click, then pushing the new View into the ViewNavigator’s stack.
For example, let’s pretend that you have a new Flex mobile project. The default view of that project has a button, that when clicked should display another view named MyNewView. MyNewView also has a button, that when clicked returns you to the home view.
Home View Component
In the Home View component all you really need to worry about the click handler on the button:
label="NEXT" width="100%" click="navigator.pushView(MyNewView)" />
The click handler calls the pushView() method on ‘navigator‘, a property available from the View class, passing it the class name of the View that you want to display. We’ll cover getting data into that view and transitions in other posts. The creation of the new View & default transition are all handled by the framework.
MyNewView Component
The MyNewView View component is basically the same thing:
label="BACK" width="100%" click="navigator.popView()" />
You call popView() on the ‘navigator‘ property which removes the view from the stack displaying the Home view again.
Here is a quick screen cast of an application using similar code:
Digital-Tutors is a recognized leader in on-demand training for the motion graphics industry, partnering with leading design studios, software manufacturers, and educational institutions. To extend their platform of web and mobile video applications, Digital-Tutors worked with RealEyes Media to create a new version of their online training library that would allow users to download lessons and courses for offline viewing, while continuing to advance the features in their training platform: Digital-Tutors Vault.
Today, Digital-Tutors is releasing the second major release of Vault, coupled with a new Web application that brings Vault’s advanced user interface and much of its functionality to the browser. Curious about what all the fuss is about? Vault 1.6 includes enhanced group functionality and updates to Digital-Tutors’ streaming technology.
Digital-Tutors Vault provides digital visual artists at all experience levels the opportunity to stream training content while online and use a credits system to download and lease DRM protected content for offline viewing. All users are welcomed to the application with an HTML experience that is seamlessly integrated into the application. Through an API, the HTML pages can execute actions in the parent AIR application, allowing Digital-Tutors to highlight important content easily. To keep content fresh, Vault has an integrated asset and data update system that ensures users have the most up-to-date local catalog assets. In fact, the AIR application is bundled with catalog assets (local database, images, HTML, and JavaScript) so users experience a robust application right from the start – even when offline.
With the ability to move category tabs such as Browse and Playlists as well as create and organize custom tags, notes and video clips, Vault provides an extremely customizable digital learning environment. The Vault application also automatically syncs custom user data across Digital-Tutors suite of applications, including web and iPhone, so that items like view progress and clips are consistent across all of a user’s devices.
Want to experience Vault for yourself: http://www.digitaltutors.com/09/vault.php
Adobe Flash Player 10.1, Adobe Stratus 2, and Real-Time Media Flow Protocol (RTMFP) are setting a firm foundation for peer-to-peer (P2P) with peer-assisted networking. Using the capabilities of groups and the new features around them, you can make deployments of nearly any scale and take advantage of multiuser interactive applications for data and media. Everything from application-level video multicasting to swarming file delivery and multiuser games are within easy reach of developers, without the heavy burden being laid upon a server infrastructure.
RealEyes’ David Hassoun and Jun Heider have just released the first in a series of articles for Adobe’s Developer Connection that focus on the P2P capabilities of the Adobe Flash Platform, Adobe Stratus, and RTMFP. Future articles will dive deeper and provide a hands-on approach to utilizing the new groups and peer-assisted network topologies to make corporate enterprise, social media, and entertainment applications. Read the article.
The Vermont Country Store has stocked hard-to-find apparel, personal care, food, candy and country home products since 1945. After a successful project re-engineering the store’s online checkout process, The Vermont Country Store engaged RealEyes Media to build one of the very first Facebook storefront applications.
The resulting application allows Facebook users to shop for select Vermont Country Store products without leaving the Facebook web application. The retailer can provide previews of products, special deals, or highlight inventory specials just to its Facebook fans and users, giving them additional incentive to interact with Vermont Country Store.
The application launched today!
Be one of the first to shop The Vermont Country Store on Facebook!
Follow Us!