1) Get
some media
Film
something, record something, create an animation, download
an audio or video file, etc...
2) Digitize
it
Use
an analog to digital device to import video, a microphone for
audio or a patch-cable from an external stereo. You can also
copy a CD file to your hard drive or download a file from the
web.
Save
the data on the hard drive of your computer in a standard format,
ie...WAV or .AIFF for audio and .MOV or .AVI for video. Save
in the highest quality format you can afford (in time and disk
space). We are going to reduce the quality by compressing the
file so this is clearly an example of "garbage in - incomprehensible
garbage out."
Be
sure to save with the proper extension. I know what you're
thinking. Isn't this the 21st century, do Windows
users really still need file extensions?
3) Compress
the file and export it in either QuickTime or RealMedia format.
iMovie
does a nice job of exporting movie files ready for http streaming
on the web. It does so by default. If you use the Export-Expert
mode for some reason, be sure that the checkbox for prepare
for Internet streaming is checked. While you can have QuickTime
movies without pictures, RealAudio is the more common way of
streaming audio.
You
can also use the terrific Cleaner
6 software to compress and export Real or QuickTime
files. The quality is terrific, you can batch process clips
AND the software costs several hundred dollars.
Regardless
of whether you use QuickTime or Real as your destination format
you will need to determine the quality of the file you which
to creare. Audio can be compressed like crazy. Video has greater
aesthetic limitations. You probably wish to prepare your media
for the most common slowest connections your audience will
be using to access your masterpiece.
If
you want to stream video or audio files in the RealMedia format
you will need to download the free Real Producer Basic software from www.real.com. Boot
the software, follow instructions and your nice small smooshed
media files will be export with extensions .ra or .rm. Be sure to specify that you wish to create a single-stream file, the
cheapo version.
4) Put
the files somewhere
If
you export in QuickTime format, upload your file to a standard
web server.
If
you export in Real format, upload the compressed file to a
standard web server.
5) What
the heck is a metafile?
Here's
the tricky part if you are publishing a RealVideo or RealAudio
file. When your browser points to a file with an extension
it doesn't recognize, it automatically tries to download it.
We don't want to download the file. We want to play it with
the RealPlayer plug-in and application. (Be sure you have downloaded
and installed the RealPlayer Basic and QuickTime plug-ins and
files on your computer)
The
browser does not like .ra and
.rm files so we have to trick it
into welcoming their data onto the screen. We do this by creating
a metafile, ending with the extension .ram.
A
metafile is simply a file containing the link to the original
media file and is saved with the extension .ram. When the browser hits the
.ram file it goes and gets the file listed in the metafile and tries to play
it
6) Creating
a metafile
For
those of you already nodding off, don't worry. There's not
too much farther to go.
You
can create a metafile using a basic text editor or word processor.
Notepad and SimpleText will do the job quite nicely. The metafile
will only contain one line of text. That text is the path to
the original media file you compressed.
In
other words, the text looks something like this:
http://www.stager.org/workshopvideo.ra
Now
save this file with the name workshopvideo.ram
You now need to upload the new metafile
and the original media file into the same server directory (you
don't have to be in the same directory, but it makes things easier
for beginners).
7) Link
to the media file
Put
a link in a web page (you can make a web page, can't you?)
to either the QuickTime file you uploaded to a web server or
the Real metafile you uploaded.
8) Test
the link
Point
your browser to the web page, click on the link and see if
your audio or video plays. If it doesn't, check the names of
the links.
9) Tell
the world about your web page and let them enjoy your new
streaming media!
10)
The End!