webStreamer - an integrated Web streaming solution

[sirlonghair]

awesome little add on, I was able to get it working, and i really enjoy it.

few things, I noticed that once a stream starts if i stop the stream the video lan exe on the server side does not stop until the file is done streaming and also was wondering if there was a way to adjust the stream codec setings for example I would like to try to tweak the audio up to a little better bitrate.

Well anyways thanks,

longhair

[sgilani]

The next version will let you have more control over the bitrates. Right now you can change the video and audio codecs, but not the bitrate.. I highly recommend you stick with mp4a for audio, and if mp4v isn't working out then try WMV2.. they give the best quality with lower bitrates.

When you close the player window, the vlc.exe process on the server should end. If you're using the external player option (by checking the checkbox at the bottom), then you're right, it won't quit the vlc.exe process until the clip is over.. this is because by using an external player, the app loses control.... if that makes sense. I might put in a fix for this.

[djtaylor]

The next version will let you have more control over the bitrates.

I look forward to that. I Have used Orb which lets me set pretty much any bitrate and my sweetspot is around 300 to 350kbps. 256kbps is less than I can use, 512kbps is my top outbound bandwidth and causes constant buffering.

David.

[pBS]

the new ie options are working great..thanx
[not alot of machines have firefox installed]
one thing i noticed is WMV2 is CASE sensitive! plus it only seems to work with mediaplayer, and then only if you use mp3 audio and asf mux..
[a vlc problem,not yours]
seems like the only audio you can have with asf mux is mp3..
[i wish mp4a would,it sounds great at almost any bitrate]
mp1v loooks decent and should be the easiest load on the server machine..
[for those who have low-end machines as server]


hope you're working on the errant recordings showing up,that really is a pain to find the files that are actually still there...
but other than that, excellent work...

oh and could we please get a link put on the regular web admin to get to this page? would simplify things when away...
[hoping one day it'll get integrated into the web admin,or at least be an option...like if stream.aspx exists,show button to link to it]
or bettter yet,total integration so we could play from web admin screens..
[but i realize that'll take a while..]
my player runneth over..lol
Cheers

[sgilani]

Yeah, the stuff is case sensitive.. but thats cuz of how VLC works. and yes, WMP doesnt like mp4a... personally i think MP3 is horrible for this, mp4a is simply wonderful.

No guarantees, but I'm planning on working with the EnhancedWebAdmin folks to integrate webStreamer into it; i agree that makes the most sense for this.

On another note.... what about streaming Live TV, do you guys think its worthwhile? i can think of a few times where i wish i could. im not saying im gonna add it (shoot i dont even know how to launch live tv right now), but i wanted to test the waters.

[Lucas_24]

I could see myself using live TV from a stream from time to time.

[UncleJohnsBand]

On another note.... what about streaming Live TV, do you guys think its worthwhile? i can think of a few times where i wish i could. im not saying im gonna add it (shoot i dont even know how to launch live tv right now), but i wanted to test the waters.

That would be a little trickier since the filename that the Live TV stream goes to changes each time and the API does not let you initiate Live TV. There is currently a link in the EWA that shhows if you have initiated Live TV via GBPVR then you can click on it and stream the Live TV. Can't control Bitrates or anything but it works. You could use the same idea with the VLC streamer.....look in the EWA code....the link shows up on the statistics page.....the lable (if not showing live tv) reads:

Currently Transcoding: There are currently no files being transcoded

[sgilani]

ah, I see what you're talking about... well I could always query the database and get the live tv filename.. true, the API doesn't support starting Live TV, but my hack-type idea was to use some Windows API calls to send keystrokes to GBPVR (i suppose by using FindWindowEx to get the window and then work from there)... not a good solution, but it might just work.

[al1suarez]

Hello Sarmad, donwloaded the latest build v60, extracted to my \gbpvr\web and edited the webStreamer.xml file and set the VideoCodec to WMV2, the AudioCodec to MP3, and the Mux to ASF. Then I logged in using link http://localhost:7467/gbpvr/stream.aspx. The first thing I noticed is that button images are missing. Secondly, when I press the what appears to be a button I get a new window with the following error:

[Win32Exception (0x80004005): The system cannot find the path specified]
System.Diagnostics.Process.StartWithCreateProcess(ProcessStartInfo startInfo) +1022
System.Diagnostics.Process.Start() +70
System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(ProcessStartInfo startInfo) +49
webStreamer.player.doPlay(String filename, String bt) in d:\my documents\my music\vlc\player.aspx.cs:195
webStreamer.player.Page_Load(Object sender, EventArgs e) in d:\my documents\my music\vlc\player.aspx.cs:61
System.Web.UI.Control.OnLoad(EventArgs e) +55
System.Web.UI.Control.LoadRecursive() +27
System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequestMain() +750

Why does it complain about VLC since I'm not using it? Should I remove tag <VLCPath> in webStreamer.xml? I can't wait to get it working in IE/WMP. Thanks Sarmad!

[sgilani]

No matter what, you need VLC on the machine that has GBPVR. This is because VLC is used behind-the-scenes to stream the recordings.. what version of GBPVR are you using, because the images are taken from GBPVR's built-in web admin. (its nothing new)