Studio OnLine -

Sharing Your Movie

You would be forgiven for thinking that with 'OnLine' in its title, and reading the 'hype' on the box, that, by some new miracle of modern technology, you can ditch your VCR, and take the cyberworld by storm with a full-blown video masterpiece. Whilst Studio OnLine certainly succeeds in providing a very capable and affordable means of producing files suitable for streaming, it does not break the current bounds of science.

So, let's take a stroll through the subject, and see some real facts -

What is Video Streaming?

There are two ways to download and view a movie.

The first involves literally that - downloading it from a location on the Internet (or receiving it as an attachment to an e-mail), storing it on your hard-drive, then viewing it off-line using the appropriate movie player. The higher the image and sound quality of the movie, the larger the file will be, and the longer it will take to download.

The second is the 'streaming' method. Upon request, a file is downloaded to you which plays in a movie window on your machine as it is being received. Nothing is stored on your hard-drive and, if you wish to view the movie again, you need to repeat the request. This is a very user-friendly and efficient way of passing video messages to someone, but there are limitations on the quality of the image and audio, imposed by the speed of your Internet link. A standard 56k dial-up modem is the slowest type of link, and ADSL/Cable/LAN are amongst the fastest (these require special hardware, in place of the modem, and can be expensive).

The vast majority of users (and, more to the point, their audiences), will be limited by the capabilities of normal 56k dial-up modem connections. This limitation is beyond the control of Pinnacle Systems, and is a fact of Internet life for most of us. Let's take a look at this -

A review of video streaming with a 56k Modem - what should we expect?

Firstly, it is necessary to appreciate that, although a modem is classed as 56k (bits/sec), that the true rate is closer to 40k for downloading, (and, at best, 33k for uploading data). For some, these rates are even lower - it depends to a large extent on the quality of the connection between you and your Internet Service Provider (ISP).

If we assume a normal download rate of 40k (bits/sec), this translates to a figure of 5k (bytes/second). If we want to stream our movies at full frame rate (25fps - PAL), then this means that each frame (including audio) is only allocated 200 bytes!

If we now look at the frames themselves - even a modest 160x120 'thumbnail' with 8-bit colour requires 19.2kBytes, and a mono, FM radio quality, sound contribution of about 2.6kBytes. That is a total for each frame of about 23kBytes (over 100 x more than we are allocated).

So, something has to give. The first thing is to reduce the frame rate. This can be reduced by a factor of 4 before we begin to notice any 'jerkiness', and by a factor of 8 before our movies turn into slide-shows. The rest is achieved by compressing the image and audio data in an intelligent way to retain as much 'perceived' quality as possible, whilst remaining within the allocated average byte-limit. There are several techniques available to achieve this compression, but all of them result in a noticeable image and sound degradation of one form or another. The dominant formats in use are Real Media (Real Networks) and Windows Media (Microsoft), each having their good and bad points.

Having said this, the result is quite acceptable as a casual video 'greeting', that one may wish to share with far-flung family and friends, but it is not really good enough to use as a commercial promotional video, or as an on-line training aid. (There are special 'presentation' formats that can be employed to satisfy these applications, but this is outside the topic of discussion here).

Studio OnLine has the capability of producing RealMedia (.rm) files locally on your harddrive, and both RealMedia and WindowsMedia (.wm) files on the remote Pinnacle server (using the Share method).

When producing local RealMedia files, you have the ability to influence the trade-off between image quality/frame rate, and also the quality of the soundtrack. Studio OnLine will then optimise these for the chosen type of Internet connection you want to use.

The overall fact to be aware of is that the 56k dial-up connection is the limiting consideration here. There is nothing that you, or Pinnacle, (or anyone else, for that matter) can do to improve on this. If you try increasing the size of the image for instance (to get a 'better picture'), then the picture will be bigger, but the quality will suffer. Just be optimistic about the whole issue, and marvel at the fact that we are able to send and receive movies over a normal telephone line at all!

If you argue that you have seen some very high resolution 'movies' played from commercial sites during your internet surfing activities, be aware that these are not movies at all. What you will have seen are vector-drawn presentation graphics, that are more in line with 'animations' than the home movies you are trying to produce.

How to accomplish video streaming over the Internet

There are four main ways to publish streamed movies using Studio OnLine.

Use the Studio OnLine Make Movie 'Share' option.
Upload a RealMedia movie file, produced by SOL, directly to Pinnacle's server site.
Make the RealMedia movie available for streaming from your homepage or website.
Pass the movie to third-party site for 'server-side' streaming.

When Studio OnLine first appeared, the first two methods showed the greatest promise as being ideal ways to publish our masterpieces to the world without having to 'get our hands dirty', learning all about streaming.

In reality, although it is early days for the product, I have found the first of these methods (Share) tiresomely unreliable, slow, and supported by a serving site that is poorly designed, overburdened with superfluous graphics (slow), and with the irritating need to be refreshed at the slightest provocation. I am convinced that Pinnacle will eventually bring this aspect up to their usual high standard, but at the moment I give the whole area a definite 'Thumbs Down'.

I had intended to give an in-depth guide to the SOL Share process, with a preview of the sharing site, and a few tips to help you yet the best out of the service. Having spent many weeks evaluating the process, I have finally decided that this would be a waste of time. Instead, I shall discuss with you how it works, and present you with some facts of life that highlight what is wrong with it.

So, let's have a look at the four options -

OPTION 1 Studio OnLine's Make Movie Share option

When you choose this method of distributing your movie, you are not presented with any options that will influence the way the movie is handled. SOL sets to work straight away, producing a medium-resolution MPEG file, which is then uploaded to Pinnacle's Online sever site. When upload is complete, the MPEG is transcoded into four streaming files - two of type Real Media, and two of type Windows Media. (Each media type has two versions - low and high bandwidth, hence the existence of four files).

When you say it quickly, this sounds very plausible, and rapid. The reality is a lot more messy. This is what actually happens -

Click on Share. You will immediately be connected to the Pinnacle Share site, and your phone bill will start to be charged (mostly of concern outside N.America)
SOL now commences rendering your movie locally to a file on your hard-disk (MPEG)
When this is complete, the MPEG file begins to be uploaded to the SOL server site, and the first web page starts to be downloaded to your browser (choose your greeting card)
Some little while later, when the page is complete enough for you to see the greeting card options, you choose one, and the screen blanks whilst another screen is loaded...
This is the screen that allows you to fill in the recipient's details, and enter a Title and Message. Being another 'fussy' graphically overblown page, it also takes a long time to load.
Eventually the page is complete, you type in your details, and click on the Send button. The page clears again and.....
A new page eventually appears with a message that the video has been successfully completed, and that an email has been sent to the recipient - BUT THIS IS NOT TRUE!
Ever since Step3, your MPEG has been uploading, hampered by all the unnecessary graphics that have been downloaded to your browser. Given the above message, you would be forgiven if you went off-line. If you did, you would terminate the upload, and the share process will fail.
You now have to wait until until the upload is complete. This could take a very long time. There is no indication of progress on this site when in Share mode. Just keep an eye on your modem's activity.
The final indication that uploading is complete is given by a change of message in the movie screen on the 'My Movie' page. It changes from 'Your video is waiting to be encoded' to 'Your video is now being encoded'. That has to be the most subtle form of user feedback ever devised. (It took me several sessions before I even noticed the change)
Now, if you are lucky, you may be able to successfully view your movie - streamed back to you from the SOL website - but don't hold your breath.....

This may all sound rather cynical, but I have been through this many many times, over a period of several weeks, and this is an accurate account of my experience.

Now, it seems that patience really is a virtue when using Share. Just how big a virtue?

Well, here are some figures for a 20 second movie I shared today -

The MPEG file uploaded to the share site was 1.78MB
The overall process took 13 minutes which I estimate comprised....
7 minutes to upload the MPEG
6 extra minutes to download 3 different webpages during the process.
The final file(s) consumed 530kB (The 56k RealMedia file was only 97k)

Projecting these figures forward, to estimate the maximum length movie that could be stored on the Share site we get this -

Initial MPEG size = 33.6Mb (this may violate the 10 MB limit, even though it is temporary)
Maximum movie length = 6.2 Minutes (but not in one movie, if above is true)
Total Upload Time = 2Hrs 12Mins

These figures are so discouraging, that I wondered if there may be something wrong with my Internet connection, so I did a calculation - (based on the 33k bits/sec max upload rate). This predicted an upload time of 7mins for my 1.78MB MPEG file - exactly what I achieved in practice.

In case you missed it in the notes above, my 20 second movie consumed 530kB of valuable space. The same movie, rendered as a 56k compatible RealMedia file (the one most people will be watching) needs only 97kB.

To add insult to injury - YOUR MOVIE WILL BE DELETED AFTER 30 DAYS, without any warning.

I rest my case........

OPTION 2 - Upload a file yourself to the Sharing site - www.mystudioonline.com

This, potentially, is the most attractive way of using the sharing site. It makes optimum use of the allocated memory, and gives the added benefit of the 'greeting card' facility, complete with automatic e-mailing service.

Here are the steps involved -

Use SOL to make a RealMedia file on your hard drive. Choose options from the Settings list - the most important being the Target Audience ('Dial-up Modem' for 56k), and the Web Server choice (HTTP). Pinnacle recommend using the 240x180 picture size.
Preview your movie using the RealMedia button in SOL. If you want to change the audio or video settings to optimise the quality of that particular movie, then go back to Settings, make your changes, and remake the movie. (Remember the 56k limitations discussed earlier)
When you are happy with the result, close down SOL, and log on to the Internet site www.mystudioonline.com
Select the page called My Videos. There is an Advanced Upload check-box next to the 'Upload a video' link. If you have not 'checked' this before, checking it will give you the opportunity to download an ActiveX control (plug-in) that will add a 'Progress Bar' to the upload screen. You only need to download this once.
Click on the Upload link. A new page now opens where you can fill in a Title/Description, and locate your file on your hard drive (use the Browse button)
Click the Upload button. Your file will be uploaded.
When it is complete, you will be returned to the My Videos page, where you can play the movie, or send it to someone via the e-mail greeting facility.

This procedure works quite well, but remember that your movie gets deleted in 30 days. There are some points to note however -

Pinnacle recommend you use 240x180 movie size. This may not be the best advice if you are working with a 56k modem. I suggest you experiment a little, and see what you find is best (I use 160x120, then use the Zoom facility in Real Player if necessary)
Pinnacle say that your uploaded movie will be transcoded into RealMedia and WindowsMedia files. This is not true if you specifically upload a RealMedia file. You only use the amount of webspace determined by the size of your uploaded .rm file. (Good News!)
The Upload time is a fraction of that required by the Share method. My 20 second test file only took 38 seconds, compared with 13 minutes using Share.

Overall, I recommend using this method of sending video greetings if your movie has a limited life, and you do not want to get involved with streaming it yourself, or taking charge of its distribution. Well done Pinnacle!

OPTION 3 - Stream the movie from your own webspace or website

This is my favourite method. It is very easy to do, and it is completely under your control. All you need is your own Webspace (Most ISP's provide this free). You do not need a Website as such, and there is no need to get involved with HTML, or any form of web designing software.

The principle is quite straightforward. You just need to upload 2 files to your Webspace - the RealMedia file itself (.rm), and a small text file (known as a Metafile) with a .ram extension, that you create to set the streaming in motion. Then all you do is send an email to someone, which contains a URL link to the metafile. Alternatively, you can provide a hyperlink to this file on your Website (if you have one).

Here are the simple steps involved -

Follow Step1 and Step2, described in Option2 to make your movie.
Decide on the address where your files will be stored on the web. This may be something like http://www.freeisp.net/users/joebloggs/ or http://www.mydomain.com/movies/. Only you and your ISP can determine this. You may have to do a bit of research here - find out how to open up your webspace by visiting the homepage of your ISP if you do not already have a homepage or a website.
Now create the metafile, using something like Notepad. Only one line of text is needed. It will comprise the name of your RealMedia file, and its address. For example, http://www.freeisp.net/users/joebloggs/myholidaymovie.rm. Now save this metafile to your hard drive. You can give it any name you like, but it must have the extension .ram.
Now upload both of these files to the address you chose on your webspace. To be precise, the two files do not need to be in the same location. You could even have your movie file (.rm) on a completely different site (just register with an additional ISP to get more free space). The important thing is that the metafile (.ram) contains the movie file's address - wherever that may be.
That's it. (See the bottom of this page for a working example) To test it out, point your browser to the metafile, and its location on the web. For example http://www.freeisp.net/users/joebloggs/mymovie.ram This will be the address that you need to send someone by email, to let them view it too. Remember than anyone who wants to view it must have Real Player. Tell them to download it from www.real.com.

That's all there is to it. Setting up your Webspace, and finding out how to upload files is not difficult, but it is the biggest step you will need to take to succeed with this method. Who knows - once you have taken this step it may open up a whole new interest for you. In no time at all you will probably start publishing your own homepage or running a Website!

OPTION 4 - Use a Third-Party streaming site

This is a bit like using Pinnacle's Share site, but gives you more control on exactly what files are stored on the site.

This option uses something called 'server-side' processing. What this means is that there is a special program that runs at the server which decides on the best type of file (out of the selection that you chose when you made the movie), that matches the speed of each of your audience's web connections.

What you have to do is choose the range of Target Audiences that want to include, and set the Web Server option to 'RealServer'. Then make your movie. The file will be a lot larger this time, depending on how many Target Audience types you choose.

This file is then sent to the Third Party site to be published.

I have never used this method, so I cannot tell you who to use, or how to do it. All I know is that there are many sites out here that offer the service. Some will undoubtedly make a space rental charge (particularly the wide-bandwidth ones). Just search the web to find out more.

If anyone is already using a service like this please let me know. I would be glad to share your advice and experience here (fully acknowledged, of course)

Working Example of Option 3

I have prepared a short RealMedia movie clip from the Pinnacle demo 'A day in the park'. It is sitting on my hard drive, and is called adayinthepark.rm. I am going to put it on my website at the address (URL) www.sparkysworld.co.uk/movies/

I now make a metafile with Notepad, which contains the line -

http://www.sparkysworld.co.uk/movies/adayinthepark.rm

I now save this file as aditp.ram, somewhere on my hard drive.

Now, using an upload utility (not worth describing here, you will probably use a different one), I upload adayinthepark.rm and aditp.ram to the movies folder on my website.

I could now send someone an email, and tell them to click on a link similar to the one below (try it yourself now if you like).

http://www.sparkysworld.co.uk/movies/aditp.ram

Or, I could add a hyperlink to the same file (aditp.ram) on this website. Lets do it -

Click here to see the movie at 160x120

(Try passing your cursor over the hyperlink, your browser will confirm which file will be run)

Advanced use of Metafiles

You can include 'switches' in the metafile to affect the way the movie is played. These switches effectively 'remote-control' your audience's Real Player. One of the most useful ones is to make the player open at 200% zoom. I am now going to create a new metafile with this switch using the following line of text -

http://www.sparkysworld.co.uk/movies/adayinthepark.rm?screensize="double"

This new metafile will be named aditp2.ram, and uploaded to my website with the other two files. Here is a new hyperlink to the new metafile -

Click here to see the movie at double size (320x240)

Other switches that you can use are as follows -

screensize="full"
title="put your title here"
author="put your name here"
copyright="put your copyright info here"

You can even make the player use just a clip from your movie with these two switches -

start="dd:hh:mm:ss.ss" (e.g. start=03:10.3)
end="dd:hh:mm:ss.ss"

To add several switches together, use the ampersand. For example (from the ?) -

?screensize="double"&author="Sparky"&title="A Day In The Park"

Well folks, that just about wraps it up. There should be enough for you to be getting on with here. For those 'techno-freaks' that have a very high speed Internet connection such as ADSL, you may find my preoccupation with 56k dial-up modems a little 'retrograde'. Some of the advice I give above, however, is just as applicable to you, particularly Option3, but do not forget that, if you do not know your audience personally, there is a strong possibility that they will (only?) have 56k modems, so be sensible.