MainConcept Codec SDK 7.6 Brings DivX Video Support to Broadcast Industry

MainConcept, a wholly-owned subsidiary of DivX, Inc. and one of the world's leading providers of video and audio codecs, as well as software development kits to the broadcast, film and consumer electronic markets, announced a new version of Codec SDK 7.6 that adds support for DivX video technology.

As a concise package for Windows, Mac/Intel and Linux, the Cross Platform SDK 7.6 provides a broad range of codecs including DivX, H.264, MPEG-2, DVCPRO HD, JPEG 2000, AAC and HE- AAC. With the new release, professional software developers in the broadcast industry are now able to seamlessly integrate DivX into their own solutions, creating video files compatible with over 100 million DivX Certified devices shipped to the market from major manufacturers, including DVD players, digital televisions, mobile devices and more.

"There are a number of different DivX Certified devices such as DVD players and mobile phones in the market which support this exciting format," says Muzaffer Beygirci, Managing Director and VP Worldwide Sales at MainConcept. "In addition, DivX continues to expand into new product categories. With MainConcept's SDK 7.6 and its new DivX support, we will enable broadcasters and professionals to support one of the world's leading video formats and provide true interoperability from the PC to the living room and mobile environments."

The full feature list of the new Codec SDK 7.6, as well as a full list of supported codecs, is available at www.mainconcept.com. For existing customers and partners with a maintenance contract, the product release will be available at MainConcept's Customer Portal for immediate download. Other parties interested in evaluating MainConcept Codec SDK 7.6 may send an e-mail to sales(at)mainconcept.com to request an evaluation license.

MainConcept Codec SDK 7.6 for Windows is available immediately. The Mac/Intel and Linux versions will be available end of September.

Highwinds Empowers Rich Media Design Firms

Highwinds Network Group, Inc., a multi-platform IP services and content distribution provider, announced that it is gaining considerable traction in the rich media design market, as an increasing number of technical and creative agencies are finding value in reselling Highwinds' content delivery services to their customers. In addition to offering direct access to their leading CDN technologies, Highwinds' gives its channel partners the ability to control their own billing and pricing structures, provision new customer accounts within seconds and private-label Highwinds' StrikeTracker dashboard. For rich media design firms like 9mmedia, i5labs, One Pica and VirtuPoint, selecting Highwinds as their CDN partner was a natural choice because of the business and technological gains.

Mark Snyder, COO of VirtuPoint, a Los Angeles-based rich media development firm has been working with CDNs for nearly a decade. Their client list includes many of the Forbes 100, and includes agencies looking to augment their creative direction with captivating interactive web applications. VirtuPoint has been using the Highwinds CDN for the broadcast of live events, on-demand video and static content distribution to reliably deliver client data. VirtuPoint's footprint includes locations in Europe and Asia, locations that are so geographically dispersed that serving content has been difficult in the past with other CDNs. The company is utilizing the reach of the Highwinds CDN to expand their client base and maximize revenue streams.

"We did a great amount of due diligence before we chose Highwinds as our CDN partner. We were impressed with Highwinds for their technology and massive infrastructure and, equally so, for their competence and longevity as a business," said Snyder. "Highwinds has done a great job of acquiring good talent, and their teams have an obvious passion for what they do - both from a technology perspective and a company-wide commitment to customer service. Our customers' videos stream better, faster and more reliably now, Highwinds has been quick to accommodate our requests, and the next-to-real-time establishing of accounts is unprecedented in the industry."

Jason Wong, CEO of i5labs, a web application development firm in San Francisco, agrees that customer account provisioning and complete content control afforded to them as a Highwinds reseller is second-to-none in the industry. "We can set up a new customer account within 30 seconds, which enables us to increase our sales cycle velocity by closing business faster," said Wong. Moreover, Wong indicated that i5labs is using the Highwinds CDN as a secondary revenue stream for the company. The real-time analytics, substantial bandwidth capacity and StrikeTracker re-branding opportunities that Highwinds offers its channel partners are well-positioning i5labs as an end-to-end provider of rich media development-to-delivery services.

OMS Teams with Brightcove for German Online Video Network

Brightcove Inc., the leading online video platform, and OMS, Germany's online sales and marketing network for regional newspapers, announced a wide-ranging partnership that will enable OMS to use Brightcove to create an online video network for its member newspapers. The online video network will feature premium content licensed and distributed by OMS, as well as local video published by the regional newspapers. OMS will sell advertising against the combined video inventory and provide a new ongoing revenue stream to participating newspapers.

The first newspapers to participate in the online video network include seven regional newspapers across Germany. Website producers from each newspaper will have full access to the Brightcove online video platform to publish video provided by OMS as well as their own local video content. Brightcove enables producers to fully customize the look and feel of Flash-based video players, access rich analytics on viewing behavior, and collect and distribute video clips submitted by website visitors.

"The deal announced with Brightcove has given OMS the ability to rapidly launch an expansive video distribution network across multiple websites and manage a complex set of advertising programs," said Kim Kriegers, who's leading the project for the OMS. Georg Hesse, Managing Director, OMS, adds, "At the same time, OMS is giving member newspapers access to the most comprehensive and scalable platform in the world which they will be able to use to add premium video content to their websites from the network and publish regional news coverage produced by their local newsrooms. Our objectives are to collectively capitalize on the revenue growth in the online advertising categories of videos."

The OMS online video network will launch with a vast offering of premium content delivered by national and international news agencies and other premium content providers.

"OMS is an innovative and forward-looking organization that is pioneering new models for the newspaper industry to take advantage of online video to drive revenue and growth," said Jeremy Allaire, chairman and chief executive officer, Brightcove. "We are very excited to partner with OMS to empower newspaper organizations to use online video to deepen engagement with readers and website visitors and grow their online media businesses."

Over the coming months, OMS is planning to roll out the online video network to over 60 regional newspapers and additional marketing partners which are part of the OMS network.

Abacast Inc. Announces the Acquisition of Tukati, Inc.

Abacast, Inc., a leader in real-time streaming solutions has announced the purchase of Tukati, Inc., a producer of peer-assisted on-demand delivery solutions. The acquisition brings a combined peer-assisted Live and On-Demand Service under a single entity, which was previously offered via a partnership between the two companies.

"The combination of these two companies' technologies enables the first hybrid peer-to-peer solution covering the complete spectrum of real-time and on-demand distribution." said Michael King, President of Abacast. "Bringing Tukati into the Abacast family enables content publishers to make a single vendor choice for reliable content distribution, while getting a huge leap in distribution efficiencies."

The combined product gives content publishers a rich suite of delivery options including real-time streaming; on demand video, game, and software distribution; progressive video delivery; and push delivery. In addition, content demand and end-user performance metrics are offered in real-time, allowing marketing campaigns to be adjusted based on consumer usage patterns.

"The acquisition of Tukati by Abacast is great news for customers wanting secure, reliable, high volume rich media and file delivery services," said Jim Kott, current CEO of Tukati who will transition to be the VP of Business Development at Abacast. "Sales, support, and product integration are now done by a unified team at a single location, leveraging our cumulative 13 years experience running large-scale, secure distribution networks.

Telestream Introduces Drive-in for Disc-Free DVD Storage

Telestream, the provider of Flip4Mac Windows Media Components for QuickTime, announced a new product for digital media enthusiasts. Drive-in is a first-of-its-kind software application that allows Mac users to create and store images of digital video discs (DVDs) on personal computer hard drives. Released Friday, September 5, Drive-in provides travelers and home theater enthusiasts with quick, easy access to personal DVD movie collections for playback on laptops, desktop computers and home entertainment systems. A Windows version is planned for future release.

Drive-in provides all the benefits of DVDs, however disc-free hard drive storage offers a number of advantages over conventional physical DVD storage. Drive-in provides a richer user experience, for browsing, searching and accessing movies. Plus, the risk of misplacing or damaging physical discs is eliminated. Home theater users can consolidate their movie libraries onto a single, secure location. For travelers, drive-in saves battery life by removing the need to search and spin an optical disc, enabling viewing of several movies on a single laptop battery.

"Any family that has a collection of DVDs is well aware of the hassles of losing and damaging personal DVD movie discs," said Dan Castles, CEO of Telestream. "Our goal with Drive-in is to preserve all the original content, while improving search, storage and retrieval. Drive-in provides a great playback experience on personal computers. It removes the hassles of the physical disc and allows users to store away their DVDs, so they are not lost or damaged."

Under license by the DVD CCA and DVD FLLC, Drive-in creates an image that is an exact duplicate of the information that is on the owner's original DVD disc, thus preserving original content protection. In addition, Drive-in locks the software to the owner's computer and locks the images to the software. Drive-in allows users to play movie images on computers that they own, but it does not allow users to share their images with others.

Drive-in also preserves the quality, navigation and special features of the original DVD. Additional helpful features include the ability to store thumbnails of cover art, names of actors, and movie descriptions which simplifies searching, browsing and selection of movies. Users can play Drive-in software using Apple's DVD Player or Front Row to further enhance the user experience.

For more than a year, tens of thousands of users have participated in the Drive-in public beta. Digital media enthusiast, Jeff Puritz, reports, "I have been looking for exactly this program for a long time. I have no interest in stealing video but want to keep some DVDs on my hard drive for travel."

In Dave Peterson's article, Building a Disc-Free DVD Library With Drive-in which appears on GadgetyTech.com, he says of Drive-in, "I like the idea of being able to load in all my DVDs for ease of access and still have all the features built into the disc. Picture quality of the video image is excellent, the same as if you were running it from the original disc, and all menu and special feature content is available as it would be on the disc."

Michael Driskill writes, "I've been storing DVDs left and right. The saved movies are just like the original; no loading problems, nice product."

Drive-in is now available in two versions; a single-seat and a multi-seat that enables users to image and playback DVDs on up to five computers in a household. The single-seat version is priced at $39, while the multi-seat version is $59. Drive-in is available for download and immediate online purchase at www.flip4mac.com. A quick video user tutorial is also available at www.flip4mac.com . More information about Telestream is available at www.telestream.net.

Full Disclosure: Author, Derrick Freeman, serves as a consultant for Telestream.

1-Day Wowza Media Server Pro Training - (for PC)

Class Summary:

The Wowza Media Server 2 training teaches Flash on-demand and live streaming set-up. It also covers Flash encoding using the On2 VP6 codec, Flash encoding using the H.264 codec and how to deliver these files from the Wowza Media Server 2. Learning to stream Live Flash video using Wirecast with the Wowza Media Server 2 is a special topic that is included in this training class. Flash video is one of the most exciting developments in streaming video and you'll also learn how to author your web pages for Flash Streaming. Learn how to take advantage of cross-platform, cross-browser video playback that the Flash format provides with the Wowza Media Server 2.

Students will learn in this training:

• How to set up their Wowza Media Server 2 streaming server
• How to configure On-demand streaming
• How to configure Flash live streaming
• Flash encoding using the On2 VP6 codec
• Flash encoding using the H.264 codec
• Live Streaming to iPhone and iPod Touch
• On-demand Streaming to iPhone and iPod Touch
• How to use Wirecast to stream Live Flash video
• How to use Sawmill to analyze Wowza Media Server 2 log files

Software Featured for Class:

• Wowza Media Server 2
• Sorenson Squeeze 6
• Wirecast
• Dreamweaver
• Sawmill Professional

Class Overview

1. Streaming Server Set-up

Your instructor will walk you through the process of the set-up for the Wowza Media Server 2 server for Flash real-time streaming. This section of the class will cover all of the install, networking and test procedures to make sure the server is functioning properly.

2. Configuring On-demand Streaming

In this section of training, students will learn to set-up on-demand streaming for On2VP6 and H.264 content. Students will learn where to place videos that are streaming from the server and how to reference on-demand streaming folders.

3. Configuring Live Streaming

This section will cover the procedure for setting up live streaming on the Wowza Media Server 2. Students will learn all of the necessary configurations required for live streaming to work on the streaming server. This training module will teach students how to set-up live streams using Wirecast.

4. Flash Encoding Using the On2 VP6 Codec

Learn how to encode Flash On2 VP6 content for real-time streaming for delivery from Wowza Media Server 2. You will learn how to encode Flash On2 VP6 videos using Sorenson Squeeze 6. Your instructor will guide you through the different adjustments that need be made in the encoder and will teach you how to create great looking videos for streaming server delivery. Learn about key frame every, frames per second, frame sizes, audio codecs, and other compression adjustments in this portion of the training.

5. Flash Encoding Using the H.264 Codec

Learn how to encode Flash H.264 content for real-time streaming for delivery from Wowza Media Server 2. You will learn how to encode Flash H.264 videos using Sorenson Squeeze 6. Students will be guided through various adjustments that need to be made in the encoder and will learn how to create great looking videos for streaming server delivery. Learn about key frame every, frames per second, frame sizes, audio codecs, and other compression adjustments in this part of the training class.

6. Authoring Flash On-Demand Streaming Videos and Live Streaming Videos in Web pages

This section will teach students how to create web pages for Flash streaming videos. Many Video Editors and multimedia professionals can encode their videos to the Flash video format, but don't understand how to author their web pages to deliver Flash streaming videos. This class will teach you how. Students will learn about Embed and Object Tags as well as javascript code and how they make web pages with streaming videos look great.

7. Analyzing Wowza Media Server Pro Log files with Sawmill Professional

Students will learn how to analyze log files from Wowza Media Server Pro. Also, learn where to locate the log files on Wowza Media Server Pro. In addition, class participants will learn how to gather information from log files such as: domain names, session paths, most popular videos viewed, most popular viewing days, most popular viewing months, video playback errors, viewer demographics and other information.

8. Streaming to iPhone and iPod Touch

One of the features of Wowza Media Server 2 is that it allows video content providers the ability to delivery On-demand and Live Streams to the iPhone and iPod Touch. This class will show you how to configure your Wowza Media Server for streaming to the iPhone. The class covers set-up of both On-demand and Live Streaming to the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Wowza Media Server 2 Advanced Topics:

The Wowza Media Server Training can be customized for you or your organization to include some of the following Advanced Wowza Media Server 2 topics:

• Re-streaming from RTSP based Live Encoders
• Re-streaming from RTSP IP Cameras
• Re-streaming from SHOUTCast Live Streams
• Secure Streaming Set-up
• Live Streaming Record Set-up
• Amazon EC2 Set-up
• Streaming Set-up to Multiple Wowza Media Servers

Give us a call to inquire about customizing a Wowza Media Server 2 Training for you or about attending one of our scheduled on-line classes. Call Freeman Compression at 407.477.5837 for more information or E-mail us at info@freemancompression.

Digital Rapids Takes H.264 Encoding and Streaming to New Heights

Digital Rapids -- a leading developer of solutions for bringing television, video and movie content to the latest generation of viewing devices -- unveiled new real-time, high definition encoding capabilities for the Digital Rapids Studio AVC Encoder software. Combining the real-time performance previously only available in hardware encoders with the feature and format flexibility of a software-centric solution, the Digital Rapids Studio AVC Encoder will support H.264 ingest, encoding, transcoding and streaming in high definition formats including 720p, 1080p and 1080i. The enhanced HD H.264 capabilities will also be available in upcoming models of the StreamZ Live family of live streaming encoders.

Digital Rapids Studio AVC Encoder is an optional module for Digital Rapids' StreamZ and StreamZHD media encoding servers and the Digital Rapids Transcode Manager enterprise-class transcoding software, providing premium-quality video encoding in the H.264 (AVC, or MPEG-4 Part 10) compression format for distribution across multiple viewing platforms. StreamZ Live encoders bring the same outstanding output quality and reliability to a dedicated live streaming platform.

"Until now, users of the H.264 compression format have been forced to choose between the flexibility and feature-richness of software-based encoding solutions, and the real-time performance of hardware-based encoders," said Brian Stevenson, Director of Product Management at Digital Rapids. "Our new HD H.264 enhancements offer the best of both worlds, while continuing our tradition of offering outstanding visual quality."

Digital Rapids Studio AVC Encoder continues to deliver superior quality from its software-based compression architecture than that available with typical hardware encoders. When used with StreamZ and StreamZHD, the Studio AVC Encoder also continues to leverage those systems' acclaimed hardware-based pre-processing to optimize output quality and bandwidth efficiency in the compressed result. StreamZ and StreamZHD continue to raise the bar for multi-format encoding solutions, seamlessly supporting three-screen experiences with real-time encoding and streaming in multiple formats targeting a broad range of devices.

MainConcept Adds DivX Support for Reference Application

MainConcept, a wholly-owned subsidiary of DivX, Inc. and one of
the world's leading providers of video and audio codecs as well as
software development kits to the broadcast, film and consumer electronic markets, announced that the new version of MainConcept Reference 1.6 for Windows was released on September 1, 2008. The video converter application now features integrated DivX support with a dedicated software licensing plug-in. DivX transcoding capabilities join the portfolio of existing MainConcept plug-ins for the formats H.264/AVC, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 Part 2, VC-1, DVCPRO and JPEG2000.

With standard presets ranging from video for mobile devices up to high-definition video, the DivX plug-in for MainConcept Reference makes it easy to encode video footage into DivX compliant streams. There are five presets available for the DivX profiles Home Theatre, 720p, 1080p, Mobile and qMobile that offer a simple selection for the user to match to a DivX Certified device. Over 100 million DivX Certified devices have shipped into the global market from major manufacturers, including DVD players, gaming consoles, digital televisions, Blu-ray devices and more.

There are a huge number of different DivX Certified devices such as DVD players and mobile phones out in the market which support this exciting format and the DivX ecosystem continues to expand into new product categories, says Muzaffer Beygirci, Managing Director and VP Worldwide Sales at MainConcept. With help of MainConcept Reference and its new DivX support, we will enable broadcasters and professionals to support one of the world's leading video formats and provide compliance with numerous DivX Certified devices."

MainConcept Reference 1.6 and the DivX plug-in are available for online purchase and download at the MainConcept website. The SDK with DivX support will be available shortly.

To test the power of the codecs and the Reference workflow, a free evaluation version with all important MainConcept codecs in demo mode is available for pre-purchase testing at www.mainconcept.com.

RipCode Introduces Real-Time Stream Transcoding Solution

RipCode, Inc. announced the addition of Real-Time Stream Transcoding to its solution portfolio, creating the only dual-application transcode platform for both video on-demand and live video broadcast available from a single RU appliance. Powered by its high density, DSP-based video transcoding appliance, RipCode's Real-Time Stream Transcoding solution gives mobile video streaming and mobile TV broadcast customers the best video quality achieved through RipCode optimized codecs over IP or broadcast networks.

Supporting simultaneous, multi-channel ingest from satellite and studio feeds to mobile broadcast and mobile streaming, RipCode's Real-Time Stream Transcoding solution supports video delivery over current and next generation networks including: 3GPP and 3GPP2, DVB-H, MBMS, ATSC, and Qualcomm MediaFlo.

NextWave Wireless, a global provider of mobile multimedia and wireless broadband technologies, is collaborating with RipCode to supply live video stream transcoding for its UMTS MBMS based TDtv solution. "We've chosen solutions that enhance our TDtv ecosystem based on their innovation and service quality. Incorporating RipCode's transcoding capabilities will help NextWave and its subsidiaries meet our commitments to delivering a cost effective, feature rich mobile TV service," said Alan Cameron, SVP & GM Global Services of NextWave Wireless.

"Companies operating in today's Web 2.0 market are really challenged to keep pace with evolving customer demands and stay one step ahead of their competition," said Brendon Mills, CEO of RipCode. "By creating a single transcoding platform for delivering both video on-demand and mobile video broadcast, RipCode is enabling operators with the ability to offer a superior mobile video experience to their subscribers. "

H.264 High Profile in MPEGIF Logo Qualification Program

The MPEG Industry Forum (MPEGIF), the largest advocacy group for MPEG technologies in the world, congratulates the Joint Video Team (JVT), lead by Messrs Gary Sullivan, Ajay Luthra and Thomas Wiegand for being honored by the 2008 Primetime Emmy Engineering Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for the work in developing the High Profile for MPEG-4 AVC/H.264. The JVT is comprised of engineers from the International Standardization Organization (ISO), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).

The MPEGIF is pleased to announce the addition of the MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 High Profile to its MPEGIF Logo Qualification Program, a unique initiative designed to help guide interoperability among products and technology. The program, which until now included the MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 Baseline and Main Profile, is based on a self-certification process, is free of charge and open to all companies using MPEG-4AVC/H.264 technology, not just members of MPEGIF. Qualified products have the right to display the MP4 Qualification Mark and list their status in their documentation, literature, and advertising. They will also have their product listed in the MPEGIF Product Directory. Participant Companies include Motorola, Hantro, Harmonic, dicas, Divx, Amino, Envivio, NVidia, Samsung, Freescale, 2Wire, Fraunhofer, Bsoft, Elecard, Vsoft, Seva, Human Monitoring, Scopus, Sencore, Silicon Image, ARC, Sunplus, Media Tek, and Ceva.

"This Emmy award manifests the technological superiority of MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 and the unmatched engineering delivered by the JVT, comments Sebastian Moeritz, President MPEGIF and CEO at dicas. "Picking up from where the exceptional technical work of the standardization bodies stop, the many promotional activities of MPEGIF include the MPEGIF Logo Qualification Program, its interoperability program, and educational and informational initiatives such as the MPEGIF MasterClasses. These have significantly contributed to the worldwide adoption of MPEG-4 AVC/H.264." he continued.

David Price, Vice President MPEGIF, and Vice President at Harmonic added, "MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 has emerged as the world's clear successor to MPEG-2 for digital video compression technology. It is being widely adopted for next generation media delivery delivering the new television experience from mobile up to HD. Organizations such as the JVT and MPEGIF are distinctive in their area of engagement and complement each other perfectly sharing a common goal. MPEGIF has clearly achieved its mission of widespread adoption of MPEG technologies set out when the organization was formed back in 2000."

Inlet Technologies Partners with NetBlender for Blu-ray

Inlet Technologies, the leader in advanced encoding solutions for new media, announced that it is partnering with NetBlender, makers of DoStudio software for professional Blu-ray authoring, to bring high-quality Blu-ray Disc production within the reach of every studio. Inlet's latest release of Fathom, an advanced encoding platform, produces files in any of the codecs that Blu-ray supports.

"In the past, smaller, independent production houses faced barriers to the creation of high-quality professional Blu-ray content because of the high equipment cost," said John Harrington, NetBlender CEO. "Working with Inlet, we are helping to eliminate that digital divide by providing a more economical solution for this growing market that wants to take full advantage of Blu-ray technology and all it has to offer."

The joint Inlet/NetBlender solution should help propel the growth of Blu-ray by enabling a much greater variety of content for the new HD format. According to market research firm Futuresource, U.S. consumers are expected to buy 45 million Blu-ray Discs by the end of 2008, up about 400 percent compared to last year.

Typecast Films and VoloHD are leveraging Inlet's Fathom and NetBlender's DoStudio to satisfy customer demand for BD. Typecast Films, an independent film production and distribution company, recently released its Academy Award and Emmy-nominated documentary "Iraq in Fragments" on Blu-ray Disc. The company partnered with VoloHD for HD production work and encoding.

"This is our first foray into the Blu-ray Disc market and we would not have been able to do it without the technology and support from Inlet and NetBlender," said Joshua Warren of Typecast Films.

"It was very important to the integrity of 'Iraq in Fragments' that the Blu-ray encode be faithful to the color and depth of the original film master. The film has a unique blend of color, modern cinematography and editing - the dynamic nature of the film makes for a very complicated job for an encoder," said Marshall Riser with Volo HD. "We've been very impressed with the quality and detail achieved with the use of Fathom."

Fathom and DoStudio together provide Blu-ray Disc authors with an easy-to-use, collaborative solution for creating high-speed, high-quality professional Blu-ray Discs without the costs associated with other solutions.

Telestream Acquires Live Streaming Company Vara Software

Telestream, the provider of Flip4mac, Episode and FlipFactory content repurposing and workflow automation products, today announced that it has completed the acquisition of European-based Vara Software Ltd., a privately-held company. The acquisition adds the products, technologies and employees of Vara Software to those of Telestream, Inc., a privately-held US-based company. Vara Software brings successful, award-winning live production and streaming products to the Telestream product family. The acquisition expands Telestream's reach beyond encoding-based media workflow solutions for leading broadcast, media and entertainment companies to include powerful tools for real-time creation and distribution of video content over the Web for a broad range of businesses.

Vara Software provides real-time production tools, including webcasting, screencasting and rich media presentation products for entertainment, corporate communications, education and training. Webcasting allows companies to reach large, dispersed audiences by distributing content over the Internet, either live or on demand. Screencasting combines screen captures, video recordings and audio narration to provide cost-effective software training and sharing of computer desktop activity over the Internet.

"Vara Software is a highly-regarded, award-winning company that has been recognized by industry leaders such as Apple, Inc.," said Dan Castles, CEO of Telestream. "The ability to quickly capture live events, create and distribute content for Internet-based content delivery is experiencing explosive growth. We believe the live element is going to be even more important going forward. While Vara Software products currently target individual users and departments within larger organizations, the technology is well suited to easily migrate to enterprise-level solutions."

The acquisition moves Telestream into the real-time production end of the digital media supply chain. Vara Software products are an ideal fit for the millions of Telestream Flip4Mac Windows Media component and Episode desktop encoder users who might benefit from these powerful yet easy-to-use video production tools. Telestream is well positioned to leverage this innovation for its higher-end enterprise-level applications. The company also plans to leverage its existing technologies to add greater value to Vara Software products.


Full Disclosure: Author, Derrick Freeman, serves as a consultant for Telestream.

Wowza Goes 2 for 2 in StreamingMedia.com Readers' Choice Awards

Wowza Media Systems, an emerging leader in streaming media server software, who turned heads last year by placing in the top 3 in the Best Server Hardware/Software category alongside such industry titans as Adobe and Microsoft, announced that its flagship product, Wowza Media Server Pro, is again a finalist for this prestigious award, now in two categories, Best Server Hardware/Software and Best Streaming Radio Solution.

"This year's Readers' Choice Awards presented more than 200 different products and services from more than 150 different companies from around the world," said Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen, Editor, Streaming Media, in an official statement to all finalists. "The fact that there's so much competition for these awards is a reflection of just how many competitive solutions are now available to consumers, enterprises, and educational institutions looking for online video solutions; the fact that nearly 4,000 Streaming Media readers voted in the awards shows just how passionately they feel about the tools they've chosen. Regardless of who the ultimate winners are, that's something we can all celebrate."

"The enthusiastic response of Streaming Media Magazine readers to Wowza Media Server Pro is an excellent benchmark of the impact Wowza has made on the streaming market," said David Stubenvoll, CEO and Co-Founder, Wowza Media Systems. "Placing so high again, and not only in one but two important categories, is an incredible affirmation for us." He added, "We are particularly thrilled to see readers recognize the value of Wowza Pro's exclusive SHOUTcast-to-Flash streaming capability that is empowering both traditional broadcasters and newly minted netcasters as the industry moves toward ubiquitous Web radio."

Launched in February 2007, Wowza Media Server Pro has since become the streaming media server solution of choice for thousands' of licensees globally, including such well-known customers as Macy's, Sun Microsystems, Interoute, RAINet, and Astral Media. Among the reasons cited for its rapid and enthusiastic adoption are its unmatched combination of performance, price, and functionality, which include its recently announced exclusive interoperability with live non-Flash (RTSP/RTP and MPEG-TS) media encoders.

The winners of Streaming Media Magazine's 2008 Readers' Choice Awards will be announced at Streaming Media West, September 23-25, in San Jose, CA, as well as in the October/November issue of Streaming Media Magazine and a special digital-only feature on streamingmedia.com.

1-Day Wowza Media Server Pro Training - (for Mac)

Class Summary:

The Wowza Media Server Pro training teaches Flash on-demand and live streaming set-up. It also covers Flash encoding using the On2 VP6 codec, Flash encoding using the H.264 codec and how to deliver these files from the Wowza Media Server 2. Learning to stream Live Flash video using Wirecast with the Wowza Media Server 2 is a special topic that is included in this training class. Flash video is one of the most exciting developments in streaming video and you'll also learn how to author your web pages for Flash Streaming. Learn how to take advantage of cross-platform, cross-browser video playback that the Flash format provides with the Wowza Media Server 2.

Students will learn in this training:

• How to set up their Wowza Media Server 2 streaming server
• How to configure On-demand streaming
• How to configure Flash live streaming
• Flash encoding using the On2 VP6 codec
• Flash encoding using the H.264 codec
• Live Streaming to iPhone and iPod Touch
• On-demand Streaming to iPhone and iPod Touch
• How to use Wirecast to stream Live Flash video
• How to use Sawmill to analyze Wowza Media Server 2 log files

Software Featured for Class:

• Wowza Media Server 2
• Sorenson Squeeze 6
• Wirecast
• Dreamweaver
• Sawmill Professional

Class Overview

1. Streaming Server Set-up

Your instructor will walk you through the process of the set-up for the Wowza Media Server 2 server for Flash real-time streaming. This section of the class will cover all of the install, networking and test procedures to make sure the server is functioning properly.

2. Configuring On-demand Streaming

In this section of training, students will learn to set-up on-demand streaming for On2VP6 and H.264 content. Students will learn where to place videos that are streaming from the server and how to reference on-demand streaming folders.

3. Configuring Live Streaming

This section will cover the procedure for setting up live streaming on the Wowza Media Server 2. Students will learn all of the necessary configurations required for live streaming to work on the streaming server. This training module will teach students how to set-up live streams using Wirecast.

4. Flash Encoding Using the On2 VP6 Codec

Learn how to encode Flash On2 VP6 content for real-time streaming for delivery from Wowza Media Server 2. You will learn how to encode Flash On2 VP6 videos using Sorenson Squeeze 6. Your instructor will guide you through the different adjustments that need be made in the encoder and will teach you how to create great looking videos for streaming server delivery. Learn about key frame every, frames per second, frame sizes, audio codecs, and other compression adjustments in this portion of the training.

5. Flash Encoding Using the H.264 Codec

Learn how to encode Flash H.264 content for real-time streaming for delivery from Wowza Media Server 2. You will learn how to encode Flash H.264 videos using Sorenson Squeeze 6. Students will be guided through various adjustments that need to be made in the encoder and will learn how to create great looking videos for streaming server delivery. Learn about key frame every, frames per second, frame sizes, audio codecs, and other compression adjustments in this part of the training class.

6. Authoring Flash On-Demand Streaming Videos and Live Streaming Videos in Web pages

This section will teach students how to create web pages for Flash streaming videos. Many Video Editors and multimedia professionals can encode their videos to the Flash video format, but don't understand how to author their web pages to deliver Flash streaming videos. This class will teach you how. Students will learn about Embed and Object Tags as well as javascript code and how they make web pages with streaming videos look great.

7. Analyzing Wowza Media Server Pro Log files with Sawmill Professional

Students will learn how to analyze log files from Wowza Media Server Pro. Also, learn where to locate the log files on Wowza Media Server Pro. In addition, class participants will learn how to gather information from log files such as: domain names, session paths, most popular videos viewed, most popular viewing days, most popular viewing months, video playback errors, viewer demographics and other information.

8. Streaming to iPhone and iPod Touch

One of the features of Wowza Media Server 2 is that it allows video content providers the ability to delivery On-demand and Live Streams to the iPhone and iPod Touch. This class will show you how to configure your Wowza Media Server for streaming to the iPhone. The class covers set-up of both On-demand and Live Streaming to the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Wowza Media Server 2 Advanced Topics:

The Wowza Media Server Training can be customized for you or your organization to include some of the following Advanced Wowza Media Server 2 topics:

• Re-streaming from RTSP based Live Encoders
• Re-streaming from RTSP IP Cameras
• Re-streaming from SHOUTCast Live Streams
• Secure Streaming Set-up
• Live Streaming Record Set-up
• Amazon EC2 Set-up
• Streaming Set-up to Multiple Wowza Media Servers

Give us a call to inquire about customizing a Wowza Media Server 2 Training for you or about attending one of our scheduled on-line classes. Call Freeman Compression at 407.477.5837 for more information or E-mail us at info@freemancompression.

Flowerfire to Attend Streaming Media West 2008

For those individuals, companies and organizations attending Streaming Media West and have implement streaming media services you definitely check out Flowerfire's Sawmill Professional. Sawmill Professional is great at generating streaming reports for the various streaming servers available on the market. You can create reports for Session Paths, Client IPs, Countries, Cities, Errors and many other items. This tool is one of the best kept secrets in the streaming media space and you can get a first hand look of Sawmill Professional at Streaming Media West in San Jose, CA, September 23-25. Flowerfire will be showing off their newest version of Sawmill and will be giving away t-shirts and have special offers during the show.

MPEG-4 vs. H.264/AVC

In understanding MPEG-4 vs. H.264/AVC it's important to know that H.264/AVC are also both MPEG-4 as well. Let me explain. MPEG-4 actually consists of 22 Parts, many of which have not been implemented yet. MPEG-4 Part 2 was implemented in real world applications first and because of that, it has become widely known of as MPEG-4. My guess is that MPEG-4 Part 2 came first because it was the least complex of many video profiles for MPEG-4 and people could start viewing what MPEG-4 content had to offer sooner. This is because MPEG-4 Part 2 doesn't require as much processor speed or memory as that of H.264/AVC because it's decoding algorithms are less complex. Now, let's talk about H.264/AVC.

H.264 and AVC are actually the same thing. They refer to another part of MPEG-4 called MPEG-4 Part 10. So you can take your pick at what you would like to call it. MPEG-4 Part 10 includes Advanced Video Coding and uses higher level profiles than that of MPEG-4 Part 2. This type of decoding is more complex and requires more computer processor speed and memory because it uses more complicated decoding than MPEG-4 Part 10.

Note: Simple Profile and Advanced Simple Profile are included in MPEG-4 Part 2. The least complex to decode being the Simple Profile. AVC Baseline Profile and AVC Main Profiles are found within MPEG-4 Part 10. The least complex to decode being the AVC Baseline Profile.

Deleting Hint Tracks in QuickTime Pro

With the new QuickTime 7 Pro there are some changes as it relates to the software. One change is the way you delete Hint Tracks. For anyone that is using QuickTime streaming videos and putting them on a Streaming Server you will need to use hint tracks. Nevertheless, if you are posting your streaming videos as downloadable to a web server instead of real-time streaming you will not need the videos hinting. It only make the files larger so you should delete the hint tracks. Here is how to do it:



1. Open Your hinted video in QuickTime Pro 7.
2. Go the Window pull-down menu and choose Show Movies Properties
3. You will see the hint tracks listed as Hinted Video and Hinted Sound.
4. Click on both tracks and hit your delete button. Select delete when the dialog box comes up and your done.

Now you can take your QuickTime Streaming videos and posting them as downloadable files on your streaming server or you can make changes to your video.

MPEG-4 Audio Profiles

Here's an overview that will help you with understanding MPEG-4 Audio Profiles. MPEG-4 Audio profiles are being used in podcasting, XM Satellite Radio and Video Streaming on the web. At the heart of these types of implementations is the MPEG-4 standard which boasts some audio codecs that provide greater compression efficiency. MPEG-4's AAC codec provides significant improvements over MP3. Likewise, HE-AAC provides significant improvements over AAC at a given bit rate.

Now the MPEG-4 standard uses profiles, which are groups of tools that allow users the ability to choose from a variety of toolsets supporting the functionality they need. So think of profiles as having certain features. Since profiles occur at different levels it provides a way to limit computational complexity. The lower the profile the easier it is to playback the content. The higher the profile is the more difficult is is to playback the content.

Here is a list of Audio Profiles for MPEG-4 and their features:

High-Quality Audio - Includes the most popular AAC object type, AAC Low Complexity, and the CELP speech coder

Low Delay Audio - A variant of the AAC codec with ~ 20ms delay, suitable for high-quality conferences or conversations

High Efficiency AAC Audio - Adds Spectral Band Replication tool to improve coding efficiency at low bitrates

MPEG Streamclip Excellent for Pre-processing Video Files

I found an excellent tool on the web for pre-processing videos. The application is called MPEG Streamclip and the software is freeware that is available from Squared 5. You can download MPEG Streamclip at The software is a High-quality converter for MPEG files, QuickTime and transport streams compatible with the new iPod.



Here's what I like about the software. You can use MPEG streamclip to open most formats and then convert to QuickTime, AVI, DV, MPEG2, MPEG4, H.264 files. If you work with multimedia you have got to get this tool. It really cool! You can de-interlace content, make adjustments to volume, contrast, brightness, and saturation.

The application also has the ability to crop and trim videos and export still frames from video clips. I expect MPEG Streamclip to be one of my favorite tools.

QuickTime Pro and 3GPP and 3GPP2 content

QuickTime Pro is an essential tool for creating 3GPP and 3GPP2 content. 3GPP video and audio is for streaming content on cell phones and mobile devices that utilize GSM Networks and 3GPP2 formatted video and audio must used to stream media over CDMA Networks.

QuickTime Pro can easily export directly out to 3GPP and 3GPP2 formats with the QuickTime Pro default settings. Then streaming files can be uploaded to a QuickTime Streaming Server for Delivery. Users must be using QuickTime Streaming Server 5.5 to deliver 3G streaming videos.

Find out more about QuickTime Pro for creating 3GPP and 3GPP2 content

Bio For Derrick Freeman

Derrick Freeman earned a Bachelor's Degree in Communication from DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. He started his career at WHIO TV as an Editor and Technical Director for the cable news operation. Derrick has 11 years of experience in video production, 9 years of videography experience and 8 years of experience as a non-linear editor. He has been compressing video for 8 years and has spent the last 7 years researching streaming media. Derrick was an instructor in the Design Department at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio for 5 years. He taught Computer Basics for Mac, Digital Video and a Interactive Digital Theory.

Derrick managed the website for the City of Dayton Television Network's Video Streaming Channels for 4 years. Their streaming channels were featured in Sorenson Media's on-line video showcase. In addition to Derrick's consulting and training work at Freeman Compression Inc., he manages the Streaming and Compression Training Division for GeniusDV. Outside of his teaching and consulting duties Derrick has been a speaker for the WEVA Expo and NAB Show discussing video streaming and compression and writes tutorials for "Studio Monthly" magazine and GeniusDV.com.

He works with video compression and streaming tools such as: Episode, Sorenson Squeeze Compression Suite, Flip4Mac, Wirecast, QuickTime Pro, Dreamweaver, QuickTime Streaming Server, Wowza Media Server Pro, Windows Media Streaming Server, MPEG Streamclip, and Sawmill Professional. Derrick is a Certified Sawmill Trainer. He is also a beta tester for Sorenson Media and Telestream's Flip4Mac compression tools.

Derrick has provided video streaming and compression training to the following organizations:

Ducks Unlimited, MoreNet, The Central Intelligence Agency, Rayonier, Disney Animal Kingdom, West Corporation, Miami Valley Communications Council, Wichita State University, St. Philip's College, Ohio State University, University of Vermont, Defense Information School, William Woods University, Baptist General Convention of Texas, Queens Mary College (United Kingdom), Southeastern Oklahoma State University, G3 Grafix Studios Orlando, Black Media Stream, Medisca, Texas Transportation Institute, Verizon Wireless, and Robert Morris University-Illinois.

In addition to Derrick's work in Video Streaming and Compression, he was a member of the Visual Communications' Advisory Committee at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio. He served as a member of the Digital Design Advisory Committee for Miami Valley Career Technology Center in Clayton, Ohio and was part of the Ohio Valley Chapter of Media Communications Assoc. Intl. (formerly ITVA).

Contact Information

Freeman Compression
Video Streaming and Compression Training & Consulting
Phone 407.477.5837
info@freemancompresssion.com
www.FreemanCompression.com

Working with MPEG-1 muxed media files

Working with MPEG-1 muxed media files can be tricky but it can be easier using a tool called MPEG Streamclip. Every Multimedia Specialist should have this tool available. There's a link to a write-up about MPEG Streamclip below.

A muxed MPEG-1 file is a MPEG-1 file that has the video and audio tracks mixed together. You can run into problems encoding these types of files using some compression applications. So it's a good idea to demux the MPEG-1 file. Once you compress the video you can re-assemble the audio and video in Quicktime Pro. This will give you a seperate audio file. If you don't have QuickTime Pro available then you can assemble your files in Final Cut Express or Final Cut Pro then export to QuickTime. It's not the best work flow but it will work.



To demux your MPEG-1 file open your file in MPEG Streamclip and navigate to Demux to AIFF via the File pull-down menu. You don't have to bother with Demuxing the video because when you compress your MPEG-1 muxed file in many cases you will get a video only file.

Download MPEG Streamclip for Mac or Windows XP

Podcasting Continues to Bring Excitement

The Buzz that surrounds Podcasting offers a reason for many to be excited about streaming. Podcasting is a growing phenomenon and is basically downloadable streaming using untraditional streaming methods. The other item to know about Podcasting is that it is all about content. If you have good content people will listen.

Here are the basic items needed to create a Podcast:

1. A Blogging Service (Like Blogger at www.Blogger.com)
2. A Web Hosting provider (To host your audio files)
3. An RSS feed provider (Like Feedburner that makes podcast-friendly RSS feeds)
4. A Microphone
5. Software to capture audio to your computer (Audacity is popular and free)

There may be additional items needed based on the type of Podcast.

If you are interested in starting a Podcast you can visit www.podcastexpert.com for tutorials on the process. This is a great website to get you started.

For good examples, there are individuals like Brian Alves, from the DV Show leading the way with Podcasting.

Here are some other links to assist you with Podcasting:

Audacity Software
The Portable Media Expo
FeedBurner

Note: These are just some basic items to help you get started with Podcasting. A Special thanks to Brian Alves from The DV Show for background information provided for this write-up.