Video, Sound and Multimedia
Video, Sound and Multimedia |
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MULTIMEDIA
Windows XP and other advanced operating systems are designed to be data processing environments - but ones that are not merely confined to text and numerical data. Multimedia requires text, numbers, sounds, graphics, and full-motion video. Most of today’s modern operating systems enable you to insert a sound or even a full motion video file onto web page or some other application. For example, they place a speaker or some other kind of icon where the sound goes. When one double clicks this icon – one hears the sound.
The readers of this Syllabus will be interested in Multimedia for learning and providing instruction in Neuroradiology. RealOne Player is the player required for viewing ASNR eCME webcasts. Upgrading to this latest RealPlayer is essential and it seems to work better than RealPlayer 8.0 did. It works very well with our ASNR eCME webcasts. A detailed discussion of RealOne Player and other important media players may be found in the following paragraphs.
Audio and video multimedia presentations can now be delivered over the Internet with "streaming" transmission. Streaming means that the files play on your computer (you can almost instantly view the content) as these files download. This is as opposed to waiting for the entire file to be downloaded and transferred onto your hard disk before playback. The term "streaming" implies a one-way transmission to the viewer, in which both the client and server software cooperate for uninterrupted motion. The client side buffers a few seconds of audio and video data before it starts sending it to the speakers and screen, which compensates for momentary delays in packet delivery. Audio conferencing and videoconferencing, on the other hand, require real-time two-way transmission for effective results. Nielsen/NetRatings data show that nearly 33 million individuals surfing from home and about 17 million surfing from work accessed some form of rich-media content in September 2000.
Plug-ins are software tools that work with your browser and allow it to read additional file types with special coding. Some plug-ins work in tandem with your browser to allow you to enjoy multimedia elements, audio, video, and animation, online. Installing a plug-in will allow you to experience all that a particular website site can do. With a media player plug-in, you can download new music from the Internet, check out trailers for movies, and view short films. You can rip songs from a CD, manage a library of digital audio files, and burn music and videos to a CD-R-all from a single application. Live television and full-length Hollywood blockbusters are on the way. RealOne software from RealNetworks is close to becoming the first-ever Internet TV channel.
Many plug-ins offer similar features or support for the same formats. For example, Apple's QuickTime, Microsoft's Windows Media Player and RealNetworks' RealPlayer are all multimedia players designed to let users experience a host of audio and video formats such as MP3 and MIDI. However, different Web sites use different formats, so one plug-in may work on one site while you need another one when you visit a different site. Thus, if you want to be able to view everything you are likely to come across, you should download all of these players. Many of the players will play older versions of some other formats, but you may need the latest players to keep up with recent files in each format. When a Web site is using a file your browser can’t read you’ll usually get a pop-up message box telling you that you need a plug-in to see or hear files on that Web site. The message generally offers a link to a place where you can download the required plug-in. Simply download and install the plug-in by going to the Web site offering the software and following the instructions there. Your Web browser will automatically call upon the plug-in whenever it’s needed.
The most common formats for streaming AV presentations are RealPlayer, QuickTime, and Windows Media. These are proprietary formats created to provide streaming audio and video capability as part of a larger streaming multimedia system. For example, QuickTime audio and video is part of QuickTime, a division of Apple. RealAudio is the audio-playing part of RealPlayer, a product of RealNetworks. You might also run across Macromedia Flash, Shockwave, VDOLive, VivoActive, and a few other formats on certain sites. Film clips that you can download and play may also be in either audiovisual interleaving (AVI) or Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG) formats.
You can attempt to have all of your AV files shown by the same program (for example, Windows Media Player) or to have each file type displayed by whichever software you wish. You can designate associations from within a folder window. Click My Computer, View, and then Folder Options. Select the File Types tab. Scroll down to the file type you want to assign to another program. Once you click on it, you’ll see which program it is set to open the file. To make a change, click Edit to open the Edit File Type window and then click "Edit" again. Click on the Browse button and find the program you want to use. Click it, then on Open and OK. You may choose to reinstall your preferred player and then allow it to reclaim its own file associations. The last player that you install always offers to claim associations during its installation process.
You will discover you need a plug-in when you come across a Web page that requires it in order to see or hear an element on that site. In many cases, the site features a link to the Web page of the company that creates the plug-in so you can download it.
Most plug-in sites will walk you through the download and installation process. If you can, print the instructions before starting the download. As the download takes place, pay attention to where on your hard drive the software is going. Before the download begins, you may be asked what folder on your hard drive the software should be downloaded to. Write down the location.
When you're ready to download a plug-in, give yourself plenty of time if you don’t have high-speed transmission. While some plug-ins will download in seconds, others could take more than an hour depending on the speed of your modem. Many sites that offer plug-ins also sell full-featured versions of the products. These aren't necessary for basic Web browsing (they're typically used by Web site designers to create audio and video), so make sure you're downloading the free product.
Some plug-ins will require you to restart your computer once you've downloaded them. Others will create an icon on your taskbar or browser from where you can launch the program. Still others will integrate themselves within your browser completely and inconspicuously until you come across a Web page that requires use of the plug-in. At that point, the browser automatically uses the plug-in.
There are tricks to getting the most out of Windows Media Player and many of them will work with RealPlayer and QuickTime, too. It is a good general rule (for optimizing performance) to check your audio/video drivers, connections, and proxies with whatever streaming media player you use.
After you've tried these add-ons, you may decide to keep some of them but you may want to discard others. To remove an add-on, use the uninstall tool in Windows (Start, Settings, Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs).
Just as with traditional businesses in the broadcasting game, Microsoft, RealNetworks, and other competing companies are concerned more about their media players reaching as wide an audience as possible, so they can sell advertising, subscriptions, and premium content, than about making money from the sale of media players. For this reason, free versions of all the players are available online. Many are also bundled with other products: Microsoft's Windows Media Player is included in recent versions of Windows, RealNetworks' player is bundled in AOL, and MusicMatch Jukebox ships with various portable MP3 players.
Some companies try to entice people into buying Plus versions of their players, which may provide extra tools, improved performance, and premium content.
Comparing RealNetworks RealOne, Apple QuickTime, and Windows Media Player, PC Magazine's video quality tests showed RealOne to be the best streaming format at low bandwidths. Microsoft has a great alternative for those who have fast connections. For streaming video, QuickTime doesn't offer a good experience. But Apple offers the best quality with downloaded files. Typically, QuickTime files are not streamed over the Web; they're downloaded. Though downloaded QuickTime files require more bandwidth and have a longer delay before each video begins to play, the quality is superior to any streaming format.
Nevertheless, you will not typically have the luxury of choosing what format a site offers. Therefore, however, for video, we suggest that you install all the major streaming media players, because you don't have much choice over what format Web sites serve up content in, and your best bet is to watch files in their native player. So download the free versions of QuickTime, RealOne, and Windows Media.
Which of the major media formats is best for a Website: Microsoft Windows Media Player, QuickTime, or RealOne? You might think you can reach a decision based on simple deductive reasoning-and sometimes you can-but, very quickly, it becomes difficult to distinguish between the strengths and weaknesses of each format, and in the end, you may feel as if your decision is more random than you'd like it to be.
The five most popular plug-ins are listed and described below. There is information below about each of them, including what each one does, occasional service options, answers to some commonly asked questions about how to use the plug-ins, system requirements and instructions on downloads and installation.
We have provided the information below to draw your own conclusions and to help you
answer certain pertinent questions related to some of the leading players for Multimedia.
A. Microsoft Windows Media Player
As of February 2003, the Microsoft website offered Windows Media Player 9.0 for use with Win 98, 2000, Me and XP. File size was 9,660. Microsoft’s Windows Media Player allows you to listen to and view a number of audio and video formats, including Internet radio, WAV files, MIDI files, and the popular MP3 files. It can even play back some UNIX formats. One reference I looked at indicated that it cannot, however, play back RealPlayer files. The latest version of Window Media Player comes with tools allowing you to copy and customize your own CDs.
Downloading the Windows Media Player 7 plug-in from Microsoft's Windows Media Download Center is easy. Select the program version you want and your operating system, then click Download Now. The prompt will ask if you'd like to run the program from its current location or download it to disk (the default selection). Select the folder where you wish to download the file. After the download is complete, open the folder and double-click the downloaded file.
Uninstalling Media Player is easy. From the Start bar, go to Settings, Control Panel, and then choose Add/Remove Programs. Scroll down to Windows Media Player 9, select Change/Remove, and then follow the instructions in the dialogue box.
If you have problems, Microsoft suggests that you first make use of its Web-based searchable Knowledge Base. Use the pull-down window to select "Windows Media Player," enter a keyword or question, and browse the answers. Your best bet is to use single keywords (uninstall, crash, error) rather than complete questions. This support is thorough, but it's not simple to navigate: The abundance of links on the MS site makes it easy to go round and round, ultimately getting nowhere. You could also visit Windows Media Player's FAQ page; the answers here address everything from error messages to system-specific troubleshooting information. However, this isn't much help if you can't use your browser because of a faulty plug-in. If that's the case, you'll have to pay. Microsoft is generous enough to provide software free, but you'll have to pay when its software goes haywire and crashes your system. If you still have problems you can call Phone support: 425-637-9308 for games and multimedia. (charges on a per-incident basis) E-mail support: Online Support Request (charges on a per-incident basis) Web support: Microsoft Knowledge Base, Windows Media Player FAQ. Submitting an Online Support Request for Media Player, is not as simple as sending an e-mail. You must first have a Microsoft Passport account, which is free, but you are then charged $35 per help request. A support professional will return your request in 24 hours. Get free e-mail support through a Windows newsgroup. Downloaded Windows Media programs can only get live, in-person phone help through Microsoft's paid support option, which also costs $35 per incident. A complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services can be found at http://support.microsoft.com/directory .
While Apple Computer is known for providing technology for Macintosh users, its QuickTime application is popular among Windows users as well. The plug-in lets users enjoy streaming audio, video, and animation on the Web. QuickTime users also can view three-dimensional QuickTime Virtual Reality movies. QuickTime supports more than 200 file formats, including MP3, AVI, MIDI and WAV files. Some uses of QuickTime on the Web include movie trailers, news segments and other film or video clips. QuickTime is Apple's award-winning, industry-standard software architecture for creating, playing, and streaming digital media for Mac OS and Windows. Requirements: QuickTime 6 requires a PowerPC, G3, or G4 CPU running Mac OS version 8.6 or higher. In addition, the computer must have at least 32 MB of RAM. Windows System Requirements: QuickTime 6 runs on Windows 95, 98, Millennium Edition (aka Windows Me), NT, XP and 2000. It requires an Intel Pentium or compatible processor, 32 MB of RAM, SoundBlaster or compatible sound card and speakers. DirectX version 3.0 or later is recommended. A download of QuickTime version 6 is around 4.3MB - 10MB.
A true all-in-one cross-platform media tool, QuickTime 6 delivers a host of new features that include:
This is just a brief sampling of the new capabilities of QuickTime 6. For more details on these and the rest of the QuickTime 6 capabilities, visit the QuickTime web site at www.apple.com/quicktime . The QuickTime web site also provides many links to QuickTime content and to other Internet sites that highlight QuickTime.
Despite competition from a handful of digital video formats and a host of media players, Apple's QuickTime has remained an indispensable application. If you want to watch a movie trailer online, chances are you'll need a copy of QuickTime 6. Movie makers almost always turn to this format for online previews, and with good reason: QuickTime trailers look great.
QuickTime 5 didn’t allow true real-time content streaming. Files had to be partially downloaded before playback would begin. With QuickTime 6, a new stand-alone streaming application, QuickTime Streaming Server, became available. It allows content to be streamed in real-time, royalty-free. QT6 is optimized to provide skip-free playback.
QuickTime has broad format compatibility, and it allows users to adjust brightness, bass, treble, and speaker balance. In addition, it is reasonably polite with MIME types and, according to Apple, asks you to upgrade only every couple of weeks, though it seems more frequent than this. Unfortunately, Apple's TV and radio offerings are perfunctory at best.
Upgrading to QuickTime Pro 6 ($29.99) gives you basic tools for editing video files. You can cut and paste edits, add special effects, and export your files to a range of streaming and desktop formats. The interface has no timeline and is best suited for advanced users.
QuickTime Pro 6 also has near-universal DV compatibility, which is a useful feature when working with video from a variety of DV cards. In addition, it allows you to move through videos frame by frame, a feature Microsoft sadly dropped from Movie Player many moons ago.
All this is nice, but QuickTime's success on the PC still relates primarily to movie trailers. Online previews of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones have been released exclusively in QuickTime 6, requiring legions of fans to install the latest version of the QuickTime player. Over 100 million copies of QuickTime 6 have been downloaded.
Producers with less compelling content don't have the luxury of using this viewing style, which is why Microsoft and RealOne dominate in most lower-bit-rate applications. However, as long as Hollywood keeps awarding QuickTime a starring role in movie encoding (including an Academy Award), Apple's player will require at least this bit part on your Windows desktop.
You can find the plug-in for Apple QuickTime 6 at the Apple QuickTime Download Site. You are required to provide your name and e-mail address to start the download. QuickTime Setup begins with a small downloadable install file that can be run directly from the Web. An interrupted download resumed flawlessly. QuickTime also supports proxy downloads, so you can set the software up from behind a network firewall if necessary. After the install is complete, you can view a test movie; if you see an apple, you're in business. Unlike some plug-ins, QuickTime doesn't take over every extension on your machine once the install is finished. QuickTime handles Apple format files by default, leaving PC and Web format files for Windows applications. QuickTime will also "fight" other plug-ins to assert itself as the default for other file formats, asking you if you want to re-associate the file with QuickTime. If you like the QuickTime Viewer (which also works as a standalone program) you can use it for more than 200 different multimedia types.
To uninstall QuickTime, go to Start, Settings, Control Panel, then choose Add/Remove Programs. Scroll down to QuickTime, select Change/Remove, then follow the instructions in the dialogue box. QuickTime will leave a link to the QuickTime site and the setup program on your desktop, which you can delete manually. Some users have reported problems with QuickTime not deleting all registry associations.
Downloading isn't nearly as complicated (or lengthy) as downloading RealPlayer, in part because Apple isn't trying to bundle other products with the QuickTime application. During installation, you'll have a choice between installing the Minimum, Full or Custom versions of QuickTime. Select Minimum; it'll give you everything you need for Web surfing. The other options are for more advanced users and/or Web site developers. For the most part, as you click through the installation screens you can leave the default settings as-is. QuickTime will want to install itself into its own directory; let it do so. Because you're not going to be using QuickTime Pro, you can bypass the registration screen.
Apple's Support Site provides solid online information on setting up QuickTime. To access some aspects of online technical support, users need a free AppleID; the application form takes awhile to fill out. The best places for users of the free download looking to fix a QuickTime problem are the Discussion Sites (requires AppleID) and the Technical Support Database. Find a summary of Apple's support options at QuickTime Support. For personal help, be prepared to pay $29.95 for the more advanced player, QuickTime Pro, since only registered Pro users get telephone support. You are not just paying for one-on-one assistance with an Apple employee, though: The Pro version lets you edit and create your own media files for distribution on the Web. If you do register the product, make sure you get your questions answered within 90 days -- after that, support for QuickTime jumps to $49 per incident. Once you have a licensed product and an AppleID, you can talk to a customer support rep via telephone at Apple. Phone support: 512-674-8700 (Complementary launch and install help; otherwise requires registered software) E-mail support: Online Support Request (charges on a per-incident basis) Web support: QuickTime Product Support, QuickTime FAQ, Knowledge Base
RealOne Player is the player required for viewing ASNR eCME webcasts. Upgrading to this latest RealPlayer is essential and it seems to work better than RealPlayer 8.0 did. It works very well with our ASNR eCME webcasts.
RealPlayer will bring the world of audio and video to your PC. The free plug-in now available at www.real.com (RealOne Player is the current downloadable software) lets you listen to Internet radio stations or choose from the plug-in’s channels of programming from such Web sites as Discovery Online and CNN.com. The plug-in supports a number of audio and video formats, including MP3, WAV and MIDI files. Many sites broadcasting live audio and video use RealPlayer to bring it to your desktop.
In 1995, RealNetworks (then named Progressive Networks) pioneered streaming audio with the RealAudio Player. Soon after, the company added streaming video to its player's bag of tricks. RealNetworks then helped establish the audio jukebox software market and ignited the ripping revolution with the launch of Real Jukebox in 1999. In RealNetworks' latest attempt to stay at the forefront, the company has merged these two products. The result is RealOne. The free download is now available at www.real.com . The predecessor products, RealPlayer and RealJukebox, will be discontinued, so like it or not, if you want RealPlayer, you'll need RealOne.
PC Magazine’s video quality tests showed RealOne to be the best streaming format.
For $4.95 per month, you can add advanced features such as theater mode and a graphics equalizer. For $9.95, you can add premium content, including NBA games. The free version can encode MP3s at up to 360 Kbps but requires an update that you can download free.
Visually stunning, RealOne's interface is an inviting fusion of soft colors, graphics, and text. On top are the player and a related info window. On the bottom is a function-specific working area, where you rip and burn CDs, manage your library, and surf the Web. In library mode, the program supports the familiar Windows Explorer–style of directories and files, allowing easy drag-and-drop play list creation.
Both MusicMatch and Windows Media Player provide these same basic tools. What is different with RealOne is that it displays content within the embedded browser. RealOne also provides a compact player that is available when playing disc-based content or streaming content accessed through an external browser.
A toolbar mode (a fee-based feature), reduces controls to a low-profile tool bar, and the theater mode (also fee-based) blacks out the desktop, leaving the video playing against the black background with controls at the bottom. You also pay for a ten-band graphics equalizer, a jewel-case label creator, and color, sharpness, brightness, and contrast controls for video.
Its non-streaming audio format didn't perform well, but RealOne is essentially format-agnostic (once you upgrade), since it can encode Real, WMA, and MP3 formats. RealOne has impressive jukebox capabilities. Ripping performance was very competitive, edging out MusicMatch for the fastest time by about 20 seconds. To burn CDs at speeds faster than 2X, you must purchase a plug-in for $19.95. In beta testing, CD burning was slow and sometimes crashed the system.
RealOne's media library has fields for information and graphics. Though the program doesn't automatically follow clips that you move to new directories, it can move files for you, avoiding broken links. Moreover, the program is able to track down files that have been moved.
RealOne provides access to over 2,700 radio stations, searchable by the usual mix of genre, language, and other preferences.
System requirements (PC): 120 MHz Pentium/200 MHz MMX processor, Win 95/NT/2000/ (98 and higher recommended), 16 MB RAM (32 MB recommended), Netscape 4.0/IE 4.01. System requirements (Mac): 200 MHz PowerPC 604 (233 MHz G3 recommended), Mac OS 8.1 (Mac OS 8.5 recommended), 32 MB RAM/64 MB virtual (64 MB RAM/128 MB virtual recommended), Netscape 4.0, IE 4.01 (Netscape 4.05 recommended).
Macromedia’s Flash Player allows you to see graphics and animation created using Macromedia Flash. Many Web designers use Flash programming to develop dazzling technical illustrations. You need Flash to view these special graphical effects incorporated into a site. These effects include images dissolving and fading from your screen. Online presentations and eye-catching advertisements are other common uses of Flash. More help with this plug-in
System requirements (PC): 166 MHz Pentium processor, Win 95/NT/98/2000, 32 MB RAM (6 MB available space on hard drive), Netscape 4.0/IE 4.01/AOL 4.0. System requirements (Mac): 120 MHz PowerPC, Mac OS 8.1, 32 MB RAM (6 MB available space on hard drive, Netscape 4.0/IE 4.01/AOL 4.0.
The Macromedia Flash Player plug-in that could be downloaded online as of 2/2003 is Version: 6,0,65,0. File size is merely 404 K with a Download Time Estimate of 1 minute using a 56K modem.
The Macromedia Shockwave Player 8.5 and Flash Player 6 plug-ins can both be downloaded simultaneously because they are Macromedia products. More information is provided below in the paragraphs on Macromedia Shockwave.
Because a browser plug-in renders Flash, it displays anti-aliased text and smooth graphics consistently across many devices and platforms, including PCs, Macs, Solaris, Linux, and Pocket PCs, as well as WebTV and other Web appliances. According to NPD Online, over 97 percent of Web users already have the Flash player, which is even included with Microsoft Windows XP.
The Flash format—SWF—was created by FutureWave Software; Macromedia bought the authoring software, then called FutureSplash Animator, in 1996, and SWF took off. Flash is based on vector graphics rather than rasterized images, so it downloads quickly, even on low-bandwidth connections. The scalable vector data allows zooming and automatically scales a Web page to match the size of a browser window. From that perspective, the fact that Flash also delivers a rich media experience and a high level of user interaction is icing. Flash drives a wide range of animations on the Web, ranging from the ever-popular spinning logo to full-screen productions with high-quality audio, embedded photographs, and video.
There is no doubt that Flash is the de facto vector standard on the Web today. The new SVG (scalable vector graphics) format, however—basically an XML tag set—may prove a feasible alternative to Flash, especially for data-driven applications.
Using vector-based Flash instead of HTML can solve many problems and can avoid a number of the potential problems of HTML. Some of the problems are as follows:
Macromedia Flash MX—the authoring tool—requires a major time investment and some training; fluency in it requires sophisticated animation and scripting skills. In 1998, when Macromedia released the Software Developers Kit for working with the Flash file format, competing products quickly emerged, all stressing ease of use. After five iterations, Macromedia Flash MX is well tuned to the format it was developed to create. Flash MXs libraries of symbols make reusing elements easy, and they reduce download times. The program's interactivity and output options contribute to a high-quality finished product. Although it's not particularly easy to use, Flash MX is powerful. In fact, its power and unique ability to build complete applications are the reasons it was awarded PC Magazine’s Editors' Choice January 2002.
The Shockwave Player is used to view Web content created with Macromedia’s Director Shockwave Studio. Web sites use Shockwave to combine audio and video into one interactive presentation. Examples can be found in many online games. The latest version of Shockwave, 8.5, comes bundled with Flash in the same download, eliminating the need for downloading both players. For more help with this plug-in go to http://www.macromedia.com/support/shockwave/
System requirements (PC): 166 MHz Pentium processor, Win 95/NT/98/2000, 32 MB RAM (6 MB
available space on hard drive), Netscape 4.0/IE 4.01/AOL 4.0
System requirements (Mac): 120 MHz PowerPC, Mac OS 8.1, 32 MB RAM (6 MB available space on
hard drive, Netscape 4.0/IE 4.01/AOL 4.0
As of 2/2003, the operative state-of-the-art Macromedia Shockwave Player was Version 8.5.1. It has a File size of 3,567 K. The Download Time Estimate is 8 minutes on a 56K modem.
Sites that use the Shockwave plug-in will let you know if you don't have it or if you need a new version and will point you to the Macromedia Web Player Download Center. If you're using Internet Explorer on a PC, Shockwave will install itself. Macintosh and Netscape users will have to download a small (approximately 700 KB) setup file, run the program, and then restart their browser to complete the installation. There is only one version of Shockwave, and it's free. You will be required to register the player with your name and an e-mail address, but you can opt not to receive marketing e-mails. Problems installing Shockwave are often due to an incomplete previous installation or a working installation that has become corrupt. The best way to fix this is to uninstall the plug-in and start over. Download the special uninstall program available on the Shockwave and Flash FAQ page in the section entitled "How do I fix almost all Shockwave and Flash Player issues?," double-click the program to run it and then reinstall the player. You can test the new installation at the Macromedia Web Player Test Center. If you find Shockwave drains your computer's performance rather than enhances it, you can remove the plug-in using the uninstall program mentioned above.
The Flash plug-in is included in the most recent versions of Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer, so you may already have it. (If you have Netscape, you can check by clicking Help, About Plug-ins). The latest version is available at the Macromedia Web Player Download Center. The download is free and no registration is required. Flash will install itself on a PC with Internet Explorer. Netscape and Mac users have to download a small (approximately 300 KB) setup file, run the program, and then restart their browsers. The final installation is very small (also approximately 300 KB). Test new installations of Flash at the Macromedia Web Player Test Center. Installation and execution problems with Flash are relatively rare due to the nature of the plug-in. If you are having trouble viewing Flash, try reinstalling it. Also, be sure to double-check that you are downloading the correct version for your operating system and browser version at Macromedia's Web Player Alternates. Using Internet Explorer 4.5 on a Macintosh is a known problem combination for Flash, so you may want to upgrade to IE5.x or switch to Netscape. To uninstall the Flash plug-in on a PC, find, and delete the file called "swflash.ocx" (Internet Explorer) or the file called "npswf32.dll" (Netscape). On a Mac, delete the "Shockwave Flash NP-PPC" file from the plug-ins folder of your browser.
This download and installation is perhaps the easiest of all, especially if you're using Internet Explorer. Once you click the download button, both of these applications integrate themselves into your computer almost immediately. You will see sample animation as evidence that your download was successful.
However, after repeatedly installing and uninstalling plug-ins during our research, we did run into a problem getting Flash to work properly. A quick visit to the Shockwave and Flash FAQ page revealed a tip that resolved the problem in less than a minute. We were able to correct the problem by downloading a small executable file that overrode our computer's inability to install Macromedia products on demand.
The website FAQ provides help for Shockwave and Flash plug-ins (both plug-ins are Macromedia products). Common installation problems are covered, as are tips on upgrading and improving plug-in performance. If the FAQ doesn't resolve your problem, you can submit a question to technical support via an e-mail form on a linked page. There is no telephone support for Shockwave or Flash plug-ins.
Turnaround time for e-mail support is quick, averaging about four hours. Unless your problem is unique, you will probably receive one of several standard replies tailored to common issues. These automated responses aren't necessarily bad. As with most tech support, if you persist you will eventually get a response from an actual person. Phone support: None E-mail support: Via a form on Shockwave's Contact Us page Web support: Shockwave and Flash FAQ page
Performance Tests: Sound and Video Testing for Media Players
At what bit rate should you encode your files? Which format is best for streaming? When it comes to digital media, there are many variables, and finding the right balance can be difficult. This section, revised from PC Magazine - January 29, 2002, deals with these issues.
If you have a portable digital audio player or have stored any CDs on your hard drive, you're familiar with the dilemma: You want the best sound quality using the least amount of space. To find out which format is best for compressed audio and how low a bit rate you can use for encoding without losing too much quality, PC Magazine assembled a jury and performed a series of listening tests.
PC Magazine encoded three different sound clips—a jazz recording, a rock song, and a techno track—each in MP3, Real, and WMA. The clips for each format were encoded at 64 and 128 Kbps. (In the case of RealOne, we used 132 Kbps, the Real encoding format closest to 128 Kbps.) To encode the MP3 files, we used Easy CD-DA Extractor; for judging, we played these files back with Nullsoft's Winamp 2.78. For encoding and playback of the Real and WMA files, we used RealOne and Windows Media Player for XP, respectively.
A 128-Kbps file is about one-tenth the size of the original version on an audio CD, while a 64-Kbps file is about one-twentieth. Both Microsoft and RealNetworks claim their 64-Kbps files sound better than 128-Kbps MP3 files, which means hypothetically you could store twice as much audio in their formats without losing quality. But according to PC Magazine tests, this isn't always true.
Interestingly, the PC Magazine jury decided that different formats are better for different types of music. The jazz clip sounded best when encoded with WMA. Even at 64 Kbps, WMA clearly outperformed the 128-Kbps MP3 file. However, the rock and techno clips sounded best when encoded as 128-Kbps MP3 files. All the 64-Kbps MP3 files sounded quite bad.
Deciding which format is best for streaming video was a bit easier. To test this, PC Magazine jury set up three Pentium 4, 2 GHz servers with Windows 2000 Advanced Server and streamed video to a test system. For playback, they used a 2 GHz P4 system running Windows XP. Starting with three uncompressed AVI clips—an action scene, a talking head, and a music video— they encoded to QuickTime, Real, and Windows Media at three different bit rates: 56 Kbps, 100 Kbps, and 300 Kbps. They encoded the QuickTime clips, as Apple recommended, using Cleaner 5 and Sorenson Video 3 Professional codecs. The files were streamed through Darwin Streaming Server 3. They encoded Real clips with RealSystem Producer Plus and streamed them using RealSystem Server 8. To encode the Windows Media files, they used Windows Media Encoder; then streamed them through Windows 2000's built-in Windows Media Services. They encountered a problem when encoding Windows Media files at 56K. The encoder would crash while trying to save a file at 180-by-68 resolution. Microsoft is aware of this problem, and is reportedly working on an update.
RealNetworks offered the best sound and video quality for all clips at 56 Kbps and 100 Kbps. At 300 Kbps, however, Windows Media was more competitive: It displayed the best quality on the talking-head clip, and our jury gave it the same score as for RealOne on the music video.
For streaming video, QuickTime doesn't offer a good experience. Typically, QuickTime files are not streamed over the Web; they're downloaded. Though downloaded QuickTime files require more bandwidth and have a longer delay before each video begins to play, the quality is superior to any streaming format.
The bottom line is RealNetworks offers the best streaming video at low bandwidths. Microsoft has a great alternative for those who have fast connections. Moreover, Apple offers the best quality with downloaded files (see next paragraph). However, remember again, you won't typically have the luxury of choosing what format a site offers.
Most online media pundits will say that QuickTime offers the best video quality. Individuals who regularly work with all three formats see a noticeable difference.
Windows Media will occasionally skip frames. QuickTime is much smoother going from frame to frame. Apple's technology is usually a step ahead in terms of image quality. Most sites that offer QuickTime videos, however, choose not to stream the clips. Instead, users must download videos before playing them, which often means they have to wait a bit longer before viewing.
Some prefer QuickTime, their research indicating that Apple's media player was the easiest to use. One user’s colleagues tried the three leading players. "Everyone thought that QuickTime was the easiest to understand and use - Windows Media is a great player but gives you too many controls, too many options." However, Real and Windows are the two players with the biggest markets. The QuickTime player is currently on far fewer desktops than the Microsoft and RealNetworks players. According to Nielsen/NetRating, an organization that tracks the way people use the Internet, QuickTime had 7.7 million home users this past October, whereas RealPlayer and Windows Media Player had 32 million and 14 million, respectively. This is why some prefer Windows Media and Real formats. To reach the widest possible audience, many sites also serve up videos in multiple formats. Because basic versions of most streaming servers are typically on hand or are easily acquired it usually isn't much more difficult or expensive to serve videos in two or three formats.
Problems associated with sound and video playback
Be aware that problems may develop in your sound playback when you have installed, or have installed and removed, programs such as RealAudio. Your computer was initially programmed to do the following, pertaining to audio CDs: You put the audio CD in the CD drive and it starts automatically. Then after having installed, or having installed and removed, programs such as RealAudio you now get a message that states the following: "Windows cannot find Play.exe. This program is needed for opening files on audio CD. Yet you cannot find a copy of Play.exe on your drive. This kind of a problem is quite common among those who have installed, or installed and removed, such programs as RealAudio. To fix it, you'll need to modify some file types, probably CD Audio Tracks and possibly Audio CD. What you're doing here is pointing the file associations for your CD audio software to the CD player built into Windows, which should be something like "cdplayer.exe." Be sure to make extensive backups before doing anything like this. To change which program starts when you open a file, open up My Computer and go to the View menu on top. Click Folder Options. Click the File Types tab. In the list of file types, click the one you want to change. Hit the Edit button. In Actions, double-click the word in the box, which should be Play. This should open up the Edit box. If not, hit Edit. In the empty box labeled "Application used to perform action," enter the program you want to use to open files that have this extension (it should read something like "C: WINDOWScdplayer.exe /play") and then click OK.
If you can't hear an audio clip it could be a problem with the server you're visiting. Nevertheless, check to see if the problem could be yours first make sure your sound card drivers are current. Next, determine how the sound was sampled. Open the stream that's giving you grief in Windows Media Player, select File - Properties, click the Advanced tab, and select the codec (the audio/video decoding program) in use. If the codec's sampling rate is different from the sound card, adjust the setting to match it.
If you get hissing, popping, or scratchy sounds, or if the sound drops out periodically, check your sound card drivers. Then make sure your connection setup is solid with a tool like Modem Doctor ( www.modemdoctor.com ) and make the necessary adjustments. Finally, try the connection when there is less traffic.
Should the video look bad, with random flashes of pink or green, when playing a Windows Media file, the explanation is outdated video drivers. To download updated drivers go to the video card vendor's site or get a driver from the Microsoft site. For the latter right-click the My Computer icon on the Windows desktop and choose Properties - Device Manager, open the Display adapters item, select your video card, click the Properties button, the Driver tab, and the Update Driver button. Click Search for a better driver, the Next button, check the Microsoft Windows Update box, click Next, and follow the prompts. (You may have to register with the Microsoft site.) If Microsoft has a new driver, it will find it and install it for you. If that doesn't work, try this: Open a file in Media Player. Select File - Properties, then click the Advanced tab. Select Video Renderer from the list of filters and click the Properties button, then click the DirectDraw tab. Un check the YUV Flipping box (a European video output standard that can conflict with an RGB setup). Click OK, then close and restart the Windows Media Player for the changes to take effect. This should correct the problem. If it doesn't, in that last dialog, uncheck all of the boxes in the DirectDraw options section.
If your video playback stops and starts with some frames missing, the most likely explanation is network congestion. To avoid having anything in the background retrieving data while you're streaming media close all your other programs while getting streaming sound or video. Alternatively, it could be the file streaming to your PC was sampled at a bit rate too high for your connection. In short, it's trying to cram too much data down too small a pipe. Windows Media Player compensates in such conditions by "thinning" - reducing the number of frames sent per second, which lowers the amount of data being transmitted. Let Windows Media Player make the negotiation – do not attempt to adjust this manually yourself.
If you can connect to some sites that have streaming media but not others going through your office network, chances are your office network firewall doesn't have the appropriate "ports" open. Luckily, Windows Media Player has a device called "protocol rollover". Most firewalls allow HTTP traffic, so if it can't use the normal protocols to receive a stream, Windows Media Player tries HTTP. The firewall must allow HTTP streaming. Similar problems may occur if you're using a proxy and running NetShow. To configure Windows Media Player to use a Web proxy, run Player, then select View - Options, then the Advanced tab. In the Advanced Options section, select Streaming Media (NetShow) and click Change. In the Protocols section, verify that HTTP is selected. If you know your Web browser is configured to use a Web proxy, select Use browser settings and click OK.
If you can’t fast forward, rewind, or use the seek bar (the moving slider of the clip's playback progress) with some clips while you can with others this is related to the way the file was created. If the author indexes the file, then the seek bar, fast-forward, and rewind controls work. If there is no index, they will not work.
Saving Multimedia Files and Creating Your Own
Although Windows Media Player has a File - Save feature, you can't save a streaming file to your hard disk - at least not in the current version. What you can do is save a link to something you want to revisit in the Favorites file, much as you'd bookmark a favorite page in Internet Explorer. Here is how: Open the stream, select Favorites - Add to Favorites and click OK. You will find a link to the file in the Media section of Internet Explorer's Favorites folder. If you are using Internet Explorer 4 and the Active Desktop, you can view the stream by clicking Start – Favorites - Media. Click Favorites in Windows Media Player.
Among the most useful software packages for creating one’s own multimedia files are Adobe Premiere, Avid Cinema, Macromedia Flash, Media Cleaner Pro, QuickTime Pro, and RealProducer Plus. The inexpensive QuickTime Plus can be used for very simple work. Hardware needed to create one’s own multimedia files includes at the very least, a fast computer and up-to-date graphics card both with as much memory as you can manage. Depending on the software you choose and the type of files you wish to make, you may need a video camera, a video capture card, or a VCR.
Additional multimedia audio, video creation and modification information:
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