Parcel_media_command_agent

After Strife introduced me to this setting (PARCEL_MEDIA_COMMAND_AGENT), allowing me to set a video per user, rather than per parcel, it had me wondering. I made a basic HUD screen that sent a command by email to a server. Think the opposite of those networked media players, so I kept the URL list on the player in my hands, and the server just carried out a play command on my agent.

The idea was that I could then take a screen around to see clients etc which could scan for local clients and then display the video to them, even though I don't have rights to their parcel. Basically like those business men who tour with projectors etc...

It started well. I could step off my parcel, onto protected land, and hit play. Sure enough the server played the video on my HUD screen and I was watching it within 10secs. Great I thought, but does it work cross-sim?

I soon found that yes it does. My place is near a border so I stepped onto the sim next door and it still worked. I gave a copy to a friend to test and he said it worked for him, but then it stopped working. I went to him and mine had stopped also.

I eventually found that I seem to have approx 100m range, until which point the server is no longer able to send me video. This doesn't seem to be completely accurate though, since I wandered a couple of sims once and it was still working, but on the way back I had to be almost back in my own sim before it worked again. So there is no obvious range then?

Any ideas? Is there a limit on how far I can go? I can't see any reason why there is, but either there is a limit or I suck. Either is possible! I've actually just TP'd to a friends private island and it's still working from here... go figure!
I set the server to flash when it received and sent a request. A friend tells me that it is flashing when it's supposed to, so I'm thinking that it's a limitation of the PARCEL_MEDIA_COMMAND_AGENT and its range

Nope, got the idea all wrong Lauren!

The way it works is that when you walk from one parcel to another, it resets and stops playing, but while you're on that other parcel, if you hit play again it will then play where you are, but of course ONLY for you. I've got varying results on where I can be while this is happening mind you.

How I do it...

Normal media-player, but when you click play, it emails the request to the server which is on my land. The email will contain the UUID of the sender (me) as well as a command (play) and the URL. it splits it by CSV (would be sent something like "play,URL,my_key". When it sees the first value is play it will invoke a play function. That function will use my key with parcel_media_command_agent to play only for me. The URL obviously sets what URL I want to watch.

It does work, and I'd be happy to demo it for you, I set up a beta server which would be up until January for me to test how it works with multiple users, but hit a snag already in that I can't get the damn thing to work all the time from a distance. It works every time when I'm in the same sim or very near it

Nope. I don't have to be in that sim at all, but the exact yes and no of when it will and won't work has yet to be figured out! But yes, maybe an interesting bug that I could work with... was hoping to work it so that I can watch my own video anywhere I want in SL, but it's not going quite the way I wanted it to!

Sorry Llauren, I thought I had already mentioned that when I entered a private island and hit play it did work, but only once. When the next stream was due to play it did not do so.

As for when you move from one parcel to another, well that's just like when you walk from one parcel where you're watching video to another. It stops and the prim's texture is reset, where earlier you saw video. It's exactly the same as normal playback. I figured it would be possible to do some work with timers to get either the script in the server, or more likely the script in the HUD to note when it moved into another parcel and then continue from there, though I've never looked into any kind of event based on moving from one parcel to another, if indeed one even exists. Yes there would be a delay, but it would be better than starting the stream again, especially if you're not talking about live streams but music videos maybe

Thinking about it, if it was that somehow I was still interacting with the home sim after TPing to the private island and that's why it played when I was there, it still leaves me in a position were we could look at having some kind of server in a number of sims. when you arrive your HUD could shout to that server and receive the UUID back, at which point you can send requests back to it, rather than relying on the one back home. Now if only I could convince EVERY land owner in SL who has a plot near the centre of a sim...

hmmm just thought of something Landing. What about the server being worn as an attachment????? Just as a test?

No, the server has to be on land owned by yourself, it still has to interact with that parcel's media settings, which is odd really, because you'd think that if you're setting your own texture and everything after parcel_media_command_agent that it would let you do it anywhere wouldn't you? But I think there is more experimentation to be done still!

Dunno, I'll try it when I get the chance...