[Playlist] XSPF clips - byte-serving - streaming

[Lucas Gonze]

Thanks for doing that, Gideon.

First question is a very basic one: does a Flash MP3 player have the 
ability to make those few changes to the request header?

(And leaving aside the issue of how to calculate which bytes you want to 
request...)

On Thu, 25 May 2006, Gideon Marken wrote:

> I saw that Lucas had posted something about this discussion on XSPF clips on 
> his blog and sent this as an email to him, which he then asked for me to post 
> here to the list... so here we go :)
>
> =======================================
>
> I wanted to comment on a post of yours - about xspf clips
>
>>>> The hard part is getting authors of multimedia players to tackle such a
>>>> gnarly job as moving a playhead around within an HTTP stream.
>>>> Is seeking within the body of an MP3 loaded via a URL even possible in 
> Flash?
>
> Actually the issue is at the server. When a request is sent at the byte level 
> - which is what happens when you try to fast forward or jump within a file, 
> the server must be able to address the request. If the server isn't 
> configured or has any support for byte-serving, then the file will be served 
> 'again' - but from the begining of the file - as the server won't know how to 
> access and serve up portions of the file.
>
> From the client, I believe it's just a few changes to the request header - it 
> would read the streamed file just the same.
>
> This is an issue that I've had to deal with - actually, I'm still working on 
> getting a workable solution, I have to come up w/ a completely new streaming 
> method as I'm about to max out on what my systems can handle.
>
> In terms of Flash being able to fast forward in a file - it would depend if 
> the file was cached or being streamed, which would then rely on the server 
> setup. etc.
>
> I do believe Adobe's Fash Media Server would support it... but alas... they 
> request 1 arm and 1 leg for a copy of their software - which means it's not a 
> product for anyone unless you are: A) funded, B) an already established 
> revenue generating business, C) you just happen to have $4,500 laying around. 
> Fortunately, there is an open source Flash server under development: 
> http://www.osflash.org/red5
>
> Off Track - But Related...
>
> Just an FYI... byte-serving is also an important issue to deal with for 
> serving media files to mobile phones. Several phones will only accept data 
> through what's called WTP-SAR (Wireless Transaction Protocol - Segmentation 
> and Reassembly). So if you wanted to transfer media files to say a Moto V551, 
> it would only accept data in 500K segments. This is a bit off track - but 
> I've noticed that this issue with media files and mobile phones isn't well 
> known. So if you find yourself doing some mobile work and you can't send your 
> file to your phone... you just might find you're up against WTP-SAR. Your 
> solution would be to serve the file in 500K chunks - thus, byte-serving the 
> data to the phone.
>
> -- 
> Take care,
>
> Gideon Marken
>
> http://www.ArtistServer.com
> http://www.MarkenMedia.com
>
>
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