This chapter gives quick instructions on how to create an on-demand or a live file with RealProducer Plus. It also describes G2SLTA, the tool for broadcasting an on-demand file as if it were live.
RealServer can stream many other file types, which are not described in this chapter. Consult the RealNetworks Web site for information about additional file types.
A content creator can make a file and then place it in a location available to your RealServer, or she can encode it (using encoding software such as RealProducer Plus) and send it to your RealServer as it happens.
Once you have created or started encoding your source, you'll create a link for it, so that users can receive your content. The link will go in a Web page or a Ram file.
RealServer can serve the following file formats (check your license to see which of these your RealServer can serve):
In addition to serving your own on-demand and live files, you can also serve content distributed by another RealServer. This is called splitting. It is described in Chapter 12, "Splitting Live Presentations".
Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language files, or SMIL files, are files that coordinate the delivery of several clips. A SMIL file (pronounced "smile") tells the client what clips to play, in what order, and where to show them on the screen. SMIL files can perform basic or sophisticated timing and layout. A SMIL file can refer to both on-demand and live clips. For detailed information on creating SMIL files, see RealSystem Production Guide. To view this manual, click Resources under Help in RealSystem Administrator.
This chapter describes two methods for creating source files and sending them to RealServer:
Instructions in this section create a brief, one-minute demonstration audio clip, using a music CD, and RealProducer Plus 8. Other versions of RealProducer Plus may have slightly different steps than the ones shown below; if you have a different software version, use these steps as a general guide.
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Additional Information |
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| To learn more about options for encoding, refer to RealProducer Plus User's Guide, available at http://service.real.com/help/library/index.html. |
ondemand.rm. (Always use the .rm extension.)
If you are encoding on the same machine as RealServer, you can type the complete path in RealProducer Plus.
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Note |
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| File names must consist of one word, with no spaces. |
The New Session dialog box closes, returning to the RealProducer Plus main window.
A message appears, asking if you want to add clip information.
RealProducer Plus begins recording your music CD. The word "Encoding" appears in the lower left corner.
RealProducer Plus halts the recording and creates a file named ondemand.rm in the RealProducer Plus directory, or in the directory location you specified in Step 7.
Copy the file ondemand.rm clip you created in the previous section, that is currently located in the main RealProducer directory, to the RealServer Content directory.
In Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT, the path is C:\Program Files\Real\RealServer\Content.
In UNIX, the path is /usr/local/RealServer/Content.
Create a link for the clip in a Web page. (The Web page can be local; it does not have to be on a remote Web server.)
In a Web page, type the following link and save the page (substitute your RealServer's machine name or IP address for address):
<a href="http://address:8080/ramgen/ondemand.rm">Click here to listen to my CD</a>
You can now view this Web page in a browser. When you click the link, RealPlayer will start and will play your ondemand.rm file.
You can also play the clip by starting RealPlayer, clicking File>Open Location, and typing the following in the dialog box that appears:
rtsp:address:554/ondemand.rm
Information on how to create links to your content is described in Chapter 5, "Understanding Link Formats".
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Note |
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| Notice that you must use the same capitalization in the link as you did when you created the file name, as they are case-sensitive. |
Instructions in this section create a demonstration audio clip, using a music CD, and RealProducer Plus 8. Other versions of RealProducer Plus may have slightly different steps than the ones shown below; if you have a different software version, use these steps as a general guide.
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Additional Information |
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| To learn more about options for encoding, refer to refer to RealProducer Plus User's Guide, available at http://service.real.com/help/library/index.html. |
Other sources of live content are described elsewhere in this chapter; see "Creating a Live Source with G2SLTA".
There are two steps to setting up and running RealProducer Plus:
You can type the name (such as realserver.example.com) of your RealServer instead.
4040.
live.rm. (Always use the .rm extension.)
If this broadcast is to be authenticated, use the path /secure/live.rm.
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Note |
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| File names must consist of one word, with no spaces. |
(To create an additional user name and password for each person who will be encoding to your RealServer, see "Authenticating Encoder Users".)
The New Session dialog box closes, returning to the RealProducer Plus main window.
A message appears, asking if you want to add clip information.
These instructions describe a unicasting link in a Web page. For more sophisticated delivery methods, consult Chapter 12, "Splitting Live Presentations" and Chapter 13, "Multicasting Live Presentations".
Create a link for the live broadcast in a Web page. (The Web page can be local; it does not have to be on a remote Web server.)
In an existing Web page, type the following link and save the page (substitute your RealServer name or IP address for address):
<a href="http://address:8080/ramgen/encoder/live.rm">Click here to listen to my CD</a>
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Tip |
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| Be sure to use the same file name extension in the link as you typed in the encoder. RealServer will not supply a missing or incorrect extension. |
The word /encoder/ alerts RealServer that this is a live broadcast. Everything after /encoder/ is a file name or a path and file name. The path can be an actual path that matches directories in RealServer, or it can be a virtual path that you use to distinguish this broadcast from others. Virtual paths are described in greater detail later in this chapter.
You can also play the clip by starting RealPlayer, clicking File>Open Location, and typing the following in the dialog box that appears:
rtsp:address:554/encoder/live.rm
Information on how to create links to your content is described in Chapter 5, "Understanding Link Formats".
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Note |
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| Be sure to use the same capitalization in the link as in the file name, as file names are case-sensitive. |
In some cases, in the encoding software, you may want to supply a virtual path that doesn't actually exist. The notion of a virtual path is only applied to live content. In RealProducer Plus, the path name is typed in the Filename box.
Virtual paths can be useful in segmenting your streams. For example, if the accounting department and the marketing department regularly encode announcements made by their department heads, you can tell each department to use its department name so that you don't have to worry about each department using the same name for its broadcast. The accounting department can encode to /accounting/update.rm, and the marketing department can encode a clip named /marketing/update.rm. Both streams will be named update.rm, but because of the virtual path name, each department's stream remains distinct, and viewers in the different departments will see the right clip as they click the appropriate link.
The filename and path you type in the encoding software will always be reflected in the link to the resulting content. For example, if you type videos/familyreunion/1999/reunion.rm in the encoder, the link in the Web page to the clip will look like:
http://realserver.example.com:8080/ramgen/encoder/videos/familyreunion/1999/reunion.rm
If you are using the directory structure created by RealServer at installation, you don't have any directories named encoder or videos or familyreunion or 1999. But because /encoder/ is the mount point, and because you typed the rest of the path in the encoding software and matched them in the link, RealServer is able to find the clip.
The G2SLTA (Simulated Live Transfer Agent) software tool converts an on-demand stream to a live event. It simulates the encoder's connection to RealServer. Just as in an actual live broadcast, viewers who watch a presentation join the event in progress; no matter when visitors connect, they all see the same thing at the same time.
This feature also allows you to create a playlist that cycles through a set of prerecorded clips in a certain order.
You can stream RealAudio, RealVideo, AU, and WAV clips using G2SLTA. Only audio and video files can be delivered as live content with G2SLTA. Data types such as RealText and RealPix cannot be used; they have their own live delivery utilities. For more information, see RealPix Authoring Guide and RealText Authoring Guide at http://service/help/library/index.html.
You start G2SLTA from a command line. Just as if you were creating a live encoding session, you assign a name to the "live" broadcast, and supply a user name and password.
C:\Real\RealServer>Bin\g2slta.bat realserver.example.com 4040 pbrown swordfish annual.rm Content\Annual_Report.txt |
As G2SLTA runs, it displays the name of the file it is broadcasting. A line of asterisks indicates how much of the file has been broadcast, in percent. (A row of asterisks that lines up below the number five indicates that the file is approximately 50 percent complete.)
After playing the files according to the -r and -n switches in the command line (if any), G2SLTA displays the word Done. If you use the -n switch without a number (to create an infinite loop), G2SLTA will not ever show Done because it will always be playing a file.
The following are examples of when to use G2SLTA instead of live broadcasting:
G2SLTA works with all other RealServer live broadcasting features.
On-demand clips are "converted" to live clips as G2SLTA sends them to RealServer.
Use G2SLTA to test your equipment for doing live broadcasting before the event starts, and work out any bugs. Make sure you have the correct links.
The live archiving feature can create static files of all live files that arrive from an encoder. RealServer will use the same archive settings as for other broadcasts, whether it is configured to create one large file from each broadcast or several smaller files. If the live archiving feature is configured to save one large file, it will use the name you specified in livefile in the command line (see "G2SLTA Syntax"). For small files, it will use the name specified by livefile, and appending numbers at the end (see "Small Files").
If the live archiving feature is turned on for all arriving streams (the * in the Virtual Directories list), all broadcasts from G2SLTA will automatically be archived.
You can use simulated broadcasts as a live source for splitting. See "Creating a Source for Splitting".
You can use simulated broadcasts as a live source for multicasting. See "Creating a Source for Multicasting".
In order for a broadcast to be authenticated, it must use the /secure/ mount point. The value you use for livefile must include the /secure/ mount point.
A client that connects to any live broadcast that uses G2SLTA as its live source will be authenticated in the usual manner.
As with all live events, you can monitor the number of clients connected to a live broadcast by using the Java Monitor.
The broadcast created by G2SLTA appears in the Java Monitor as a typical encoder connection.
Just as in any other live broadcast, a record is created in the access log for any client that connects to a live broadcast simulated by G2SLTA.
There are four steps to setting up and running G2SLTA:
Use the following instructions to set up and run G2SLTA.
G2SLTA uses the same configuration settings as live unicasting. See "Encoders".
You will need to supply a user name and password in the G2SLTA command line. By supplying a user name, you allow RealServer to authenticate you and verify that the simulated stream is authorized.
Generally, you use the user name and password that you supplied during RealServer setup. This information was automatically added to the list of authorized encoder users.
SecureEncoder.
To run G2SLTA, you need to know the correct port number to use.
The playlist is a text file that contains a list of the files that G2SLTA will stream.
playlist parameter in the command line.
You can include as many files as you like in the playlist.
All files in the playlist must have been encoded at the same bit rates. Any SureStream files in the playlist must contain the same quantity of bit rates, and the bit rates must be the same among all files.
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Warning |
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| Do not combine both SureStream files and non- SureStream files in the playlist. |
When you start G2SLTA, you give a name to the stream that will be used as the file name that will be included in the URL. The playlist name is not included in the URL.
In a text file, list each file that you want RealServer to play, one per line. Files are played in the order shown in the file.
first_file
second_file
If the files are not in the same directory as the playlist, be sure to include their full paths, whether absolute or relative to the location of the playlist.
For example, a file named Annual_Report.txt might contain the following items:
CompanyLogo.rm |
For more playlist features, see "Optional G2SLTA Features" later in this chapter.
The instructions below show how to run the file G2SLTA.BAT (Windows) or g2slta.sh (UNIX). These files set two environment variables: G2SLTA_PLUGIN_PATH and G2SLTA_SUPPORT_PATH, with the values of variables PluginDirectory and SupportPluginDirectory. They are customized with your directory values when you install RealServer. (To view the values of PluginDirectory and SupportPluginDirectory, search for them in the configuration file; they are not shown in RealSystem Administrator.)
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Warning |
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| Running g2slta.exe, rather than the batch file or shell script, will result in error messages. Only the batch file and shell script contain the custom settings for your computer. |
Bin directory, run G2SLTA.BAT (Windows) or g2slta.sh (UNIX), using the syntax shown below.
The G2SLTA program uses the following format:
g2slta.bathostport username passwordlivefileplaylist [-r] [-nN] [-bN]
g2slta.shhostport username passwordlivefileplaylist [-r] [-nN] [-bN]
host |
Name of the RealServer system and domain name, or IP address. |
port |
Port number specified in the Encoder list, usually 4040. See "Looking Up Broadcasting Information". |
username |
Name of the encoder user as defined in the encoder realm. Often the same as the username for RealSystem Administrator. See "Looking Up Password Information". If no username has been defined, type two quotation marks: "". |
password |
The corresponding user's password. Often the same as the password for RealSystem Administrator. See "Looking Up Password Information". If no password has been defined, type two quotation marks: "". |
livefile |
Name of the broadcast that you want to include in the URL that links to this event. |
playlist |
Name of your playlist. If it is in a different directory than the RealServer directory, include its path. If you are broadcasting a single file, you can give its full path and name here, instead of referencing a playlist. |
-r |
Optional. Indicates that RealServer should randomly play the files in the playlist. See "Playing Files in Random Order" for further discussion. |
-nN |
Optional. Gives the number of files in the playlist for RealServer to play. When this switch is omitted, the list of files plays indefinitely. See "Specifying Number of Times to Play Files" for more information. |
-bN |
Optional. Gives the target bandwidth to stream from a SureStream file; RealServer will stream the bandwidth of N. Give the number in bits per second. For example, -b20000 will stream the 20 kilobit bit-rate stream. See "Controlling Bandwidth" for additional information. |
The following example command starts a simulated live broadcast. The user name is pbrown and the password is swordfish. The filename that users will connect to is annual.rm. Files are specified by the playlist named Annual_Report.txt. Switches for random play and bandwidth are omitted; therefore the files will play in the order listed in the playlist, and all the bandwidths are available to clients. Since there are five files in the playlist, -n5 is used to indicate that each file should be played once. In this example, the command is typed from the main directory, thus the commands are preceded with the path to the Bin directory.
Bin\g2slta.batrealserver.example.com 4040 pbrown swordfish annual.rm Content\Annual_Report.txt-n5
Bin/g2slta.shrealserver.example.com 4040 pbrown swordfish annual.rm Content/Annual_Report.txt-n5
This section discusses the three optional command line options, which are also shown in "G2SLTA Syntax":
The -r switch instructs G2SLTA to stream the files in the playlist in random order.
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Tip |
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Use both the -r and -nN switches, where N is a multiple of
the number of files in the playlist, to cycle randomly
through the playlist N times.
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The -nN switch gives the total number of files to play from the playlist. Notice that it does not indicate the number of times each file should be played.
To play each file in the playlist once, count the number of files in the playlist, and use that value for N.
To indicate that RealServer should play seven files, include -n7 in the command line. If a playlist contains three files, RealServer will play the file sequence twice, and will play the first item a third time, for a total of seven files played.
Using the example playlist that contains five files (shown in "Example Playlist", the switch -n7 would play the following files:
CompanyLogo.rm (first time)Welcome.rm (first time)President.rm (first time)Treasurer.rm (first time)Conclusions.rm (first time)CompanyLogo.rm (second time)Welcome.rm (second time)
To play through each file in the playlist x times, multiply x by the number of files in your playlist and use it for N.
Another way to think of this switch:
N is the same as the number of the files in the playlist, each file in the playlist will be played once.
N is less than the number of files in the playlist, only the first N files in the playlist will be streamed.
N is greater than the number of files in the playlist, every item in the playlist will be played at least once.
To cycle through the playlist indefinitely, omit the -n switch.
Use the -b switch bandwidth switch when your playlist consists of SureStream files, and you want only a specific bandwidth to be broadcast. Ordinarily, clients will choose the best possible SureStream rates for their connections.
Links to simulated events use the same format as for actual live events, including the mount point that corresponds to the port number you specified in the command line.
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Additional Information |
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| See "Step 2: Linking to the Live Event". |
For example, if you started the simulated live event using the example shown in "G2SLTA Example", the link in the Web page would look like the following. Notice that the Ramgen mount point is included.
http://realserver.example.com:8080/ramgen/encoder/annual.rm
If you want to test this broadcast before creating the Web page, type the following directly in the RealPlayer Open Location dialog box. Notice that the Encoder mount point is included.
rtsp://realserver.example.com:554/encoder/annual.rm
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Tip |
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Because the URL is linked to the list of streamed files via
the livefile name, you can use different playlists with
different names, yet keep the same link on the Web page.
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The G2SLTA program will stop automatically when it has finished playing all the files in the playlist, according to the command line instructions.
To stop G2SLTA before it is completed, either press CTRL+C at the command line from which you started G2SLTA (Windows), or use the KILL command with the process ID of the G2SLTA process (UNIX).
Ordinarily, you will not need to do this unless you want to stop the broadcast prematurely, or if you want to stop an infinite looped broadcast.
The G2SLTA program has additional options that you can configure:
When a clip is initially encoded, the content creator can fill out information about the title, author, and copyright (TAC) information. You can view this information for any clip (if the content creator supplied it) by choosing Help>About this Presentation in RealPlayer. Other client software may have a different method of showing the TAC information.
Ordinarily, G2SLTA sends the TAC information for each clip as it is broadcast. If you check the About this Presentation information as each clip is played, you will see the information changing.
By using options within the playlist, you can override the encoded TAC information and supply your own:
Type the following at the beginning of the file. The rest of the file lists the files to be played:
Title:your titleAuthor:your authorCopyright:your copyright information
first_file
second_file
All files in the playlist will stream with the same TAC information.
In the following example, the information title, author, and copyright information appears the same for every clip in the presentation:
Title: Example.com's Annual Report
Author: Chris Lee, Executive Assistant
Copyright: Copyright 1999, Example.com
CompanyLogo.rm
Welcome.rm
President.rm
Treasurer.rm
Conclusions.rm
Add the TAC information to the end of each line, using the following format:
first_file?title="title_info"&author="author_info"©right="copyright_info"
where first_file is the name of the file; title_info, author_info, and copyright_info are strings of any length.
If you have included an overall TAC at the beginning of the playlist, including information about separate files will "turn off" the TAC at the beginning of the file; subsequent clips will then stream with their own TAC information.
In the following example, separate TAC values are supplied for each clip:
CompanyLogo.rm&title="Our Founder"&author="P. Brown, artist"©right="1999"
Welcome.rm&title="Welcome to the Annual Meeting"
President.rm&title="Lee Adams, President"
Treasurer.rm&title="Chris Anderson, Treasurer"
Conclusions.rm©right="Example.com, 1999"
If you are using the -n switch, either to loop the playlist infinitely or to play all clips a specified number of times, you can take advantage of the fact that RealServer re-reads the playlist after it plays all the clips in the playlist.
Instructions in this section give high-level overview steps; they assume you already have the splitting feature enabled. For instructions on individual steps, consult the appropriate section of this manual.
livefile; you will use it in Step 2 and in Step 3.
livefile does not already exist in the Directory Sources section, add it now.
livefile. Use the format described in "Step 3: Linking to Split Content".
livefile; you will use it in the next step.
livefile. Use the format described in "Linking to Pull Split Content".
Instructions in this section give high-level overview steps; they assume you already have the multicast feature enabled. For instructions on individual steps, consult the appropriate section of this manual.
livefile; you will use it in the next step.
livefile. Use the format described in "Linking to Back-Channel Multicasts".
livefile; you will use it in the next step.
livefile.
livefile. Use the format described in "Linking to Scalable Multicasts".
The files used by the G2SLTA program are shown below.
Other data types may require other Windows and UNIX files.
For important events in which multiple backup sources are required, RealServer includes a feature to use multiple sources for the same event. Should one source become unavailable, RealServer will automatically switch the stream to use the next source.
If one source fails, the following message appears in the error log: "Switched live source from address1 to address2."
Redundant sources work with all other RealServer live broadcasting features.
Only live events use this feature, but you can use G2SLTA to simulate a live broadcast with an on-demand file. See "Setting Up the Source".
G2SLTA can be used to "convert" an on-demand file to a live file; see "Setting Up the Source".
RealServer archives the incoming source, but doesn't store the source number. In the example shown in "Setting Up the Source", the various sources are named live.rm.1 and live.rm.2; RealServer archives a file named simply live.rm, without the delimeter and number.
A transmitter that uses the redundant sources feature sends out its streams just like any other live broadcast.
To create a system with multiple layers of backups, you should configure multiple transmitters to name their broadcasts with the same file name, plus the delimeter and a unique number.
Redundant live sources can be multicast, as with any other live content.
Use access control and authentication the same as with any other live content.
ISP hosting does not work with live broadcasts.
Redundant sources are displayed like any other live broadcasts.
Just as in any other live broadcast, a record is created in the access log for any client that connects to a live broadcast originating from redundant sources. You can't determine which redundant source is is in use, only that the redundancy feature is in use. See "Using the GET Statement to Identify Delivery Method" to see how redundant sources appear in the access log.
To use this feature, you perform two steps:
To minimize latency when RealServer changes stream sources, start all sources as close to the same time as possible.
This feature is automatically enabled; you don't need to make any changes unless you want to disable the feature, or to change the settings it uses. To view the settings currently in use for broadcast redundancy, start RealSystem Administrator and click Broadcasting>Redundancy:
'), a tilde (~), or a caret (^).
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Additional Information |
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| To see how to use the delimeter in the source application, see "Setting Up the Source". |
Automatic (this is the default selection).
Manual.
/redundant/. If this field is blank, a default error message will appear.
Manual. This message tells users how to connect to the new stream. The supplied message is "Broadcast timed out; click Play button to restart."
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Note |
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| For streams delivered with the PNM protocol, users must always reconnect manually, regardless of the setting in the Reconnect list. |
Regardless of the source for the live broadcast, you must add a delimiter and a unique number to the file name in each source. Note that the number doesn't indicate the order in which the streamed packets arrive at RealServer; it is used as a unique identifier.
In one session of RealProducer, type the name of the file, and type a delimiter and number after it. For example, if the file name is live.rm, and the delimiter is a period (.), you would type live.rm.1 in the Filename box.
In the next session of RealProducer, type the name of the file as before, but use a different number: live.rm.2.
Continue this numbering for each additional source.
Add a period and a number to the livefile parameter. For example,
Bin/g2slta.sh realserver.example.com 4040 pbrown swordfish annual.rm.1 Content/AnnualReport.txt
Use another number for the second session of G2SLTA:
Bin/g2slta.sh realserver.example.com 4040 pbrown swordfish annual.rm.2 Content/AnnualReport.txt
Continue this numbering for each additional source.
Links to live events with multiple sources use the same format as links to single-source live events, but substitute the broadcast redundancy mount point for the encoder mount point.
The link to a live event with multiple sources has the following format:
http://address:HTTPPort/ramgen/redundant/path/file
| Component | Meaning |
|---|---|
http |
The protocol used to initiate streaming. Always use http in Web pages. |
address |
Machine and domain name of RealServer. IP address may be substituted. |
HTTPPort |
Port number where RealServer listens for requests sent via HTTP. This value is usually 80 or 8080; see "Port Numbers". |
ramgen |
Ram file generator mount point. |
| redundant | Mount point for live events with redundant sources. |
path |
Optional; any actual directory, relative to the base path of the main mount point. If you typed any subdirectory in the source software, include it here. |
file |
The file name itself, including the extension. |
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Note |
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| The number and delimiter you used on the source do not appear in the link itself. |
For example, the link to a live event being encoded as concert.rm.1 and concert.rm.2 would look like this:
http://realserver.example.com:8080/ramgen/redundant/concert.rm
Links typed directly in RealPlayer or used in a Ram or SMIL file use the following format:
rtsp://address:RTSPPort/redundant/path/file
The format is nearly the same as the link used in the Web page; the protocol is different, the port number (if any) matches the protocol, and Ramgen is omitted.