What kinds of media can be used?

I'm sure this has been addressed somewhere, but just what kind of media works. I've seen Quickime and Flash so far. Does SL support Windows Media and Real Player as well?

No, and you also can't take any old .qt or .mov and stream it, so don't plan on using Darwin Streaming Server unless you have QuickTime Pro. (Files have to be "hinted" for streaming and you need QTPro for that.) You can have it play any .qt or .mov as a direct download, but it won't be synchronized for all viewers if some people come after the playback starts, if I understand things correctly.

Alright, thanks for the answer!

More info: /invalid_link.html

Looks like they may be considering ffmpeg instead of QuickTime. If that package can actually support QT, MOV, AVI, MPEG, WMV, etc., it's probably a much better solution than QuickTime.

Looks like ffmpeg is trouble.



http://ffmpeg.sourceforge.net/

I don't think SL should play any codecs that can't be supported on all platforms, because nothing would suck more than not being able to play a movie every one else is playing just because you are on linux or pc or mac. For example if you supported wmv on pc but not on mac, wmv would end up being used very often and mac and linux users would get shafted. Or you would use a jinsy open source library that claims to play wmv files but breaks half the time or doesn't work on 40% of the codecs.

So here's what I think. We need to support only file types that can be fully supported (not a library that may or may not support all .wmv or quicktime files correctly). That way you can be sure that if you are playing second life, you can view any movie that is being played.

And, we need to be sure that we support the standard streaming file types and protocols, like mpeg4 and rtsp (and H.264 when the time comes). Live video stream and synced streaming file support is a must, so we can do live events (webcams! WWDC keynote showings! ^_^), or even movie showings where people are all at the same spot in the movie whether they arrive late or not. Open source libraries can more easily support the standardized formats and protocols correctly since they are publicly available.

Also I don't know the legal ramifications of using an open source library that plays a licensed file format like wmv (is it licensed?) Or Quicktime files for that matter (other than mpeg4 files or other standardized formats that quicktime supports).

ALSO: remember that quicktime files (.mov or hinted streaming files) and Windows Media files (.wmv) are meta formats that support many different codecs, not all which will be supported by ffmpeg or any other open source library (or ever will be due to licensing issues). So keep in mind that if you go that route people will be confused when you say you support .wmv for example but not certain codecs.

ffmpeg is trouble if you don't pay the owners of the various patents governing the codecs it implements. This means paying the MPEG LA among others.

As long as Linden Labs pays the associated patent licensing fees, they're free to use the ffmpeg code (excluding two optional components that are GPL, that aren't really required by the codecs).

GPLec code implementing patented algorithms is pretty much impossible to use in commercial applications, as most patent holders won't grant the unrestricted redistribution license the developer would require to be able to comply with the GPL. ffmpeg, however, is LGPL, so this isn't a concern.

NOT TRUE!!!
I have used Darwin Streaming Server to stream mpeg4 (xvid codec) files, and mpeg4 and H264 live streams 'via' SL to the client's (non-pro) quicktime viewer. Without problem, and to many viewers.

It is true that some .mov files have been unplayable, possibly becuase they used a strange codec.

It is true that if a Media Display is pointing at a startic file, then a late arriving Av who clicks 'play' will see the file out of sync with those who are already there and watching.

I used DreamHost's Darwin SS and it did not work on several files. The documentation specifically says that QT files have to be hinted for streaming by QuickTime, or they cannot be streamed.

Just for reference, here is the complete list of what's supported, out of the box:

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/products/qt/specifications.html

Ouch! No H264 support? *sigh* Guess we are stuck with mpeg4 then.

FC

They have been saying the end is nigh for *years* (they have been ahead of the times).

libavcodec has been in development for years (it's a part of ffmpeg). A nice implentation of libavcodec is ffdshow (but if you want the most up to date version look here). libavcodec supports a large number of audio and video compression formats. libavcodec is not a splitter but a decoder / encoder. LL could use portions of libavcodec, disabling the formats that are less stable but in development (Snow, h.264).

Well.. at least until Quicktime 7 is released which will be very soon. Once it is, it'll be no problem to use H264.

For $9.99 mac users can now watch Windows Media Player videos in SL, including the latest Version 9 Advanced.
For details see
/120/8b/49394/1.html#post523034