How to play a video on demand file

charlie · #1 10-21-2009, 11:50 AM

Video On Demand Streaming

Below are the steps to set up an applcation named vod to stream video on demand content to the Adobe Flash player, the Microsoft Silverlight player and the Apple iPhone or iPod touch. For this tutorial we will use the Extremists.m4v sample video file that is located in the [install-dir]/content folder:

Create application folder [install-dir]/applications/vod
Create configuration folder [install-dir]/conf/vod and copy [install-dir]/conf/Application.xml into this new folder
Edit the newly copied Application.xml file and make the following changes (some of these settings may already be present):
1. Set the Streams/StreamType property to: default
2. Set the HTTPStreamers property to: cupertinostreaming,smoothstreaming
3. Set the RTP/Authentication/PlayMethod to: none
Smooth Streaming only: Right click and download clientaccesspolicy.xml to the [install-dir]/conf folder (this file might already exist, if so, no need to update it). Once downloaded, you can test to be sure it is working properly by starting Wowza Media Server, opening a web browser and entering the url http://[wowza-ip-address]:1935/clientaccesspolicy.xml. It should return the following XML (if the web browser page is blank, you may need to select view source in the web browser to see the XML):
Code:
```
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<access-policy>
  <cross-domain-access>
    <policy>
      <allow-from http-request-headers="*">
        <domain uri="*"/>
      </allow-from>
      <grant-to>
        <resource path="/" include-subpaths="true"/>
      </grant-to>
    </policy>
  </cross-domain-access>
</access-policy>
```
Start Wowza Media Server 2

To play using Adobe Flash player:

Double-click [install-dir]/examples/SimpleVideoStreaming/client/simplevideostreaming.html, enter the information below and click the Play button.
Code:
```
Server: rtmp://[wowza-address]/vod
Stream: mp4:Extremists.m4v
```
To play using iPhone or iPod touch:

Enter the following URL into the Safari web browser on the device:
Code:
```
http://[wowza-address]:1935/vod/mp4:Extremists.m4v/playlist.m3u8
```
Note: This stream can also be played using the Safari Browser or QuickTime 10.x on a computer running OSX version 10.6 or greater (Snow Leopard).
Note: This requires video encoded with H.264 format, Baseline 3 profile, or lower, and AAC or MP3 audio
To play using Microsoft Silverlight:

Double-click [install-dir]/examples/SimpleVideoStreaming/clientSilverlight/Default.html, enter the URL below and click the Play button.
Code:
```
http://[wowza-address]:1935/vod/mp4:Extremists.m4v/Manifest
```
Note: If you have Wowza Media Server 2.1.1 or older installed, download and unzip the following package and follow the instructions in the README.txt file to install the latest Smooth Streaming example players: SmoothStreamingExamplePlayers.zip
To play using RTSP/RTP player or device (Wowza 2.1 or greater):

Enter the following URL into the RTSP/RTP player:
Code:
```
rtsp://[wowza-address]:1935/vod/mp4:Extremists.m4v
```
See Also:
How to configure QuickTime player ...
How to configure VLC player ...
How to best setup an application for RTSP/RTP streaming

Note: [wowza-address] is the IP address or domain name of the server running Wowza Server.

Note: To play your own content, copy it into the [install-dir]/content folder and substitute it's file name for the Extremists.m4v file name above.

Multi-bitrate Video On Demand Streaming

Multi-bitrate video on demand streaming to Flash, the iPhone/iPod touch and Silverlight requires that you have multiple files pre-encoded to the desired bitrates for streaming. For stream switching to occur properly, the key frames of each of the files must be aligned. This must be done at encoding time and can be achieved by setting the key frame interval and frame rate values the same for each encoded file. Once you have the files properly encoded, copy them to the [install-dir]/content folder and create a Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL) file that links the files together for playback.

For example, let's say we have four files encoded at different four different bitrates bigbuckbunny_15000.mp4 (1500kbps total bitrate), bigbuckbunny_11000.mp4 (1100kbps total bitrate), bigbuckbunny_750.mp4 (750kbps total bitrate) and bigbuckbunny_450.mp4 (450kbps total bitrate). Using a text editor create a SMIL file in the [install-dir]/content folder with the name bigbuckbunny.smil with the following content:

Code:

<smil>
	<head>
	</head>
	<body>
		<switch>
			<video src="mp4:bigbuckbunny_450.mp4" system-bitrate="450000"/>
			<video src="mp4:bigbuckbunny_750.mp4" system-bitrate="750000"/>
			<video src="mp4:bigbuckbunny_1100.mp4" system-bitrate="1100000"/>
			<video src="mp4:bigbuckbunny_1500.mp4" system-bitrate="1500000"/>
		</switch>
	</body>
</smil>

You can see that there is a <video> entry in the <switch> container for each rendition of the file. The system-bitrate value is set to the total bitrate in bits-per-second for that file.

To play using iPhone or iPod touch:

Enter the following URL into the Safari web browser on the device:
Code:
```
http://[wowza-address]:1935/vod/smil:bigbuckbunny.smil/playlist.m3u8
```
To play using Microsoft Silverlight:

Edit the same Default.html file referenced in the Silverlight section above and change the MediaSource URL (line 254) to:
Code:
```
http://[wowza-address]:1935/vod/smil:bigbuckbunny.smil/Manifest
```
Next, open a web browser and enter the URL that loads the Default.html file and the video will begin to play.
To play using Adobe Flash player:

Dynamic Streaming to the Flash player requires a fair amount of work on the client-side. These articles cover the details of how to achieve dynamic streaming in Flash:

Dynamic streaming in Flash (part 1)
Dynamic streaming in Flash (part 2)
Dynamic streaming in Flash (part 3)

Also see JW Player Dynamic Streaming and Flowplayer Dynamic Streaming

Note: JW Player and Flowplayer use a client-side xml file to reference each version not the server-side smil file shown in this tutorial. The both also use the BWCheck module.

Note: When streaming using Flash dynamic streaming with Wowza Media Server, it is best to turn on dynamic stream markers. These markers in most cases will provide more accurate on the fly bitrate calculations. To turn on dynamic stream markers edit [install-dir]/conf/[application]/Application.xml and add the following property to the Streams/Properties container (be sure to get the correct properties container - there are several in the Application.xml file):

Code:

<Property> <Name>enableDynamicStreamMarkers</Name> <Value>true</Value> <Type>Boolean</Type> </Property>

You can download the smil file and the videos referenced in this tutorial from these links:
http://www.wowzamedia.com/_h264/bigbuckbunny.smil
http://www.wowzamedia.com/_h264/bigbuckbunny_450.mp4
http://www.wowzamedia.com/_h264/bigbuckbunny_750.mp4
http://www.wowzamedia.com/_h264/bigbuckbunny_1100.mp4
http://www.wowzamedia.com/_h264/bigbuckbunny_1500.mp4

Here is an IPhone set also:
http://www.wowzamedia.com/_h264/bigbuckbunnyiphone.smil
http://www.wowzamedia.com/_h264/bigb...iphone_300.mp4
http://www.wowzamedia.com/_h264/bigb...iphone_400.mp4
http://www.wowzamedia.com/_h264/bigb...iphone_600.mp4

These sample mutiple-rate files where encoded with Microsoft Expression Encoder version 3 and are properly encoded with key frames aligned

Note: Silverlight Smooth Streaming will only switch between the video portion of the files. The audio track of the first file listed in the <switch> container will be used. If you want to use a file other then the first file for the audio track, add an <audio> entry to the <switch> container for that item (Note: the <audio> item will be ignored by the iPhone/iPod touch). For example:

Code:

<smil>
	<head>
	</head>
	<body>
		<switch>
			<video src="mp4:bigbuckbunny_450.mp4" system-bitrate="450000"/>
			<video src="mp4:bigbuckbunny_750.mp4" system-bitrate="750000"/>
			<video src="mp4:bigbuckbunny_1100.mp4" system-bitrate="1100000"/>
			<video src="mp4:bigbuckbunny_1500.mp4" system-bitrate="1500000"/>
			<audio src="mp4:bigbuckbunny_1500.mp4" system-bitrate="1500000"/>
		</switch>
	</body>
</smil>

Charlie

asrekik · #2 12-28-2009, 05:26 AM

Hi,
I'd like to play a video on demand file, I read the appropriate tutorial and I run it using the Extremists.m4v file. but when i past my file "Fichier.mp4" to the folder "Content" and when I try to play the new file using the examples/SimpleVideoStreaming/client/simplevideostreaming.html sample,
I receive the error in the Wowza Media Server Console:

Code:

WARN server comment Fichier.mp4 MediaReaderH264.open[2]: java.lang.Exception: QT
Utils.parseQTMediaContainer: File is missing 'moov' atom.

Have you any idea to solve this problem.
thank you

charlie · #3 12-28-2009, 06:02 AM

It sounds like the file is not properly formatted. We can take a look at it. Send a copy to support@wowzamedia.com.

Charlie

Alexey · #4 01-10-2010, 02:12 PM

Hi Charlie,

Does described method of Multi-bitrate Video On Demand Streaming supported by latest Flowplayer (3.1.5)?

Here is a part of code from flowplayer.smil-3.1.3 plugin. It seems to be very primitive.

Code:

        private function parseSmil(smilFile:String):Array {
            log.debug("parsing SMIL file " + smilFile);
            var smil:XML = new XML(smilFile);
            return [smil.children()[0].children()[0].@base.toString(), smil.children()[1].children()[0].@src.toString()];
        }

nandakumar · #5 01-11-2010, 05:39 AM

Hello,

I have tired the Multi-bitrate Video On Demand Streaming as per your instructions but it gives following error in log file

ERROR server comment 2010-01-11 06:36:55 - - - - - 1583442.288 - - - - - - - MediaReaderFactory: getInstance: Missing definition for smil

Please let me know the solution to fix this issue.

rrlanham · #6 01-11-2010, 07:07 AM

Alexy,

For Flowplayer, you have to try it out, but I think the answer (at this moment) is no. But I am not sure. JW player 4.7 is supposed to work for multi-bitrate, and they are working on multi-bitrate for JW player 5.

Richard

rrlanham · #7 01-11-2010, 07:46 AM

Nandakumar,

Please provide more details. You should be using Wowza Server 2. What player technology are you using? If Flash, which player system? Are you prepending "smil:" to stream name?

Richard

hikalodner · #8 01-13-2010, 07:46 AM

The tutorial says:

"Enter the following URL into the Safari web browser on the device:

Code:
http://[wowza-address]:1935/vod/mp4:.../playlist.m3u8
Note: This stream can also be played using the Safari Browser or QuickTime 10.x on a computer running OSX version 10.6 or greater (Snow Leopard).

This works very well on an iPod Touch and using the Get URL function in QuickTime Player. However in Safari it downloads the playlist part of the command as an iTunes file with the following content:

"#EXTM3U
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:PROGRAM-ID=1,BANDWIDTH=100000
http://161.77.180.51:1935/vod/mp4:Extremists.m4v/playlist.m3u8?wowzasessionid=1565372152"

It does not play the movie.

What can I do to make this work - I ultimately need to be able to place a command in an html document which will play the movie.

Thanks for your advice.

rrlanham · #9 01-13-2010, 07:50 AM

On the IPhone, go to Settings > Safari > Plugins. It's probably "OFF". Switch it on and it should work.

Richard

hikalodner · #10 01-13-2010, 08:37 AM

I should have been clearer. When I described my experience with Safari, I should have said that I meant Safari on a desktop computer. The same result (that download of a file with an iTunes icon) occurs when I use FireFox or Chrome on either of the computers which I have used (Mac Pro and MacBook Pro). If I play the dowloaded file (titled playlist.m3u8) using QuickTime, it makes a brief buzzing sound and then plays the next file in my iTunes music directory. I have also tried this http:// command as suggested in the Tutorial on my wife's Windows computer. It does have iTunes installed and its behavior is the same as on my two Macintosh computers.

I am sorry that I was not clearer in my prior message. I hope this helps. By the way, my Macintosh computers are both running SnowLeopard and my wife's Windows machine is using WindowsXP.

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