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Putting my Movies in SL

Shawn Bakalava
Registered User
Join date: 29 Oct 2005
Posts: 5
01-14-2006 06:36
Hope someone out there can help.
I want to take my movie files from RL and be able to watch them on my TV in SL.
Does anyone know hot to do this.
Like what format do they need to be in. And what software do i do it in.

I am having a hard time trying to figure it out. I would really apperciate any help..:)
Kairen Overdrive
Registered User
Join date: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 38
01-14-2006 06:52
You might wanna try uploading is as a quicktime movie and then setting the land parcel movie URL pointing to it.
Shawn Bakalava
Registered User
Join date: 29 Oct 2005
Posts: 5
01-14-2006 06:54
From: Kairen Overdrive
You might wanna try using a movie stream by setting up a server


O.k. How would i go about that?
I'm new with all of this.:)
Chosen Few
Alpha Channel Slave
Join date: 16 Jan 2004
Posts: 7,496
01-14-2006 07:04
SL uses Quicktime to display movies so as far as formatting goes, your movies can be any format Quicktime is capable of using. That means .mov and common formats like AVI, MPEG, Flash, and some others will all work, but more proprietary formats like real and divx won't. For a complete list, open up your Quicktime settings, go to the File Types tab, and expand all the folders. There may also be a list in help, but I've never found it.

As for streaming the movies, I wouldn't recommend doing it from your home computer, although you can if you wish. Most people's up speed at home is not very good, and streaming from home is an unnecessary bandwidth hog, but if you really want to do it, Google "movie streaming software" and take your pick. A more practical solution though is if you've got a website, upload your movies to it and stream them from there. Hosting companies have much better and more reliable up's than home computers do, which of course is why they're in the hosting business to begin with. If you don't currently have a website, getting one with a decent traffic limit is pretty cheap (I pay $80 a year for mine, hosted by IX Webhosting), or else there are services out there specifically for hosting movies.

EDIT: Looks like there was some activity here while I was typing. I now see that you're asking how to play movied in SL in general. Here's how:

1. While standing on your land, click on the name of the parcel at the top of the screen. This will open up the About Land window.

2. Click on the Media tab. Where it says "Replace this texture" click on the little texture box to open up the texture picker, and select whatever texture is on your TV screen. Where it says "with content from the URL", type in the web address where your movie is located. No all instances of the texture you chose will be replaced with the movie. Obviously, it's best to make sure the screen has a unique texture that is not used anywhere else on your land.

That's all there is to it, really. There are also movie-playing systems out there like the Freeview system that will allow users to "change channels" without necessarily having to have land ownership rights. If you want people to be able to dynamically select from a list of movies you have available, you may want to look into gettint one of those systems, or learn how to make your own.
_____________________
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Land now available for rent in Indigo. Low rates. Quiet, low-lag mainland sim with good neighbors. IM me in-world if you're interested.
Shawn Bakalava
Registered User
Join date: 29 Oct 2005
Posts: 5
01-14-2006 07:11
From: Chosen Few
SL uses Quicktime to display movies so as far as formatting goes, your movies can be any format Quicktime is capable of using. That means .mov and common formats like AVI, MPEG, Flash, and some others will all work, but more proprietary formats like real and divx won't. For a complete list, open up your Quicktime settings, go to the File Types tab, and expand all the folders. There may also be a list in help, but I've never found it.

As for streaming the movies, I wouldn't recommend doing it from your home computer, although you can if you wish. Most people's up speed at home is not very good, and streaming from home is an unnecessary bandwidth hog, but if you really want to do it, Google "movie streaming software" and take your pick. A more practical solution though is if you've got a website, upload your movies to it and stream them from there. Hosting companies have much better and more reliable up's than home computers do, which of course is why they're in the hosting business to begin with. If you don't currently have a website, getting one with a decent traffic limit is pretty cheap (I pay $80 a year for mine, hosted by IX Webhosting), or else there are services out there specifically for hosting movies.


Ohh thank you Chosen,
That really helps.:) I'll take a look at all my options. Most of my movies are in AVI and Mpeg. So this should work for me. I dont mess with real and my DIVX are few and far between..LOL
I do have some web space as well. But for me streaming from home may not be to bad.
I'm hitting 10mbps. So i'll be taking a look at my options today.
Will let you know how it comes out..:)

EDIT: Wow thats cool..:) So you could pretty much run your own SL TV station if you wanted to.. Neat
Chosen Few
Alpha Channel Slave
Join date: 16 Jan 2004
Posts: 7,496
01-14-2006 07:25
Oh, I almost forgot. I promised Hudson Stryker I'd put in a good word for his hosting company whenever questions like this come up. It's called Server Cave. Most of the staff are SL people. Hudson's a good friend as well a computing genius, so I'll likely be switching to Server Cave when my term with IX expires.

Server Cave did all the live streaming from SLCC, by the way. They're a cool little company.

www.servercave.com
_____________________
.

Land now available for rent in Indigo. Low rates. Quiet, low-lag mainland sim with good neighbors. IM me in-world if you're interested.
Shawn Bakalava
Registered User
Join date: 29 Oct 2005
Posts: 5
01-14-2006 07:33
From: Chosen Few
Oh, I almost forgot. I promised Hudson Stryker I'd put in a good word for his hosting company whenever questions like this come up. It's called Server Cave. Most of the staff are SL people. Hudson's a good friend as well a computing genius, so I'll likely be switching to Server Cave when my term with IX expires.

Server Cave did all the live streaming from SLCC, by the way. They're a cool little company.

www.servercave.com

I will defiantly check it out..:)
Keirsten Ash
Registered User
Join date: 5 Jan 2006
Posts: 9
To compress or Not to compress and when?
02-07-2006 17:54
From: Chosen Few
SL uses Quicktime to display movies so as far as formatting goes, your movies can be any format Quicktime is capable of using. That means .mov and common formats like AVI, MPEG, Flash, and some others will all work, but more proprietary formats like real and divx won't. For a complete list, open up your Quicktime settings, go to the File Types tab, and expand all the folders. There may also be a list in help, but I've never found it.

As for streaming the movies, I wouldn't recommend doing it from your home computer, although you can if you wish. Most people's up speed at home is not very good, and streaming from home is an unnecessary bandwidth hog, but if you really want to do it, Google "movie streaming software" and take your pick. A more practical solution though is if you've got a website, upload your movies to it and stream them from there. Hosting companies have much better and more reliable up's than home computers do, which of course is why they're in the hosting business to begin with. If you don't currently have a website, getting one with a decent traffic limit is pretty cheap (I pay $80 a year for mine, hosted by IX Webhosting), or else there are services out there specifically for hosting movies.

EDIT: Looks like there was some activity here while I was typing. I now see that you're asking how to play movied in SL in general. Here's how:

1. While standing on your land, click on the name of the parcel at the top of the screen. This will open up the About Land window.

2. Click on the Media tab. Where it says "Replace this texture" click on the little texture box to open up the texture picker, and select whatever texture is on your TV screen. Where it says "with content from the URL", type in the web address where your movie is located. No all instances of the texture you chose will be replaced with the movie. Obviously, it's best to make sure the screen has a unique texture that is not used anywhere else on your land.

That's all there is to it, really. There are also movie-playing systems out there like the Freeview system that will allow users to "change channels" without necessarily having to have land ownership rights. If you want people to be able to dynamically select from a list of movies you have available, you may want to look into gettint one of those systems, or learn how to make your own.


I need to know if you have to compress the file, and if it has to be before or after you upload to your server. Like does it get installed while in SL or prior to game via a third party software. Please advise as I am in the middle of a project. Thanks
Vlad Bjornson
Virtual Gardener
Join date: 11 Nov 2005
Posts: 650
02-07-2006 18:03
From: Keirsten Ash
I need to know if you have to compress the file, and if it has to be before or after you upload to your server. Like does it get installed while in SL or prior to game via a third party software. Please advise as I am in the middle of a project. Thanks


You'll need to 'compress' the file into a good format for the Web. Quicktime has some presets for that (you'll need the Pro version to export) Most other video program should have an option for saving a file for viewing on the Web.

I export mine in Quicktime format using the Sorenson video codec, it seems to work for more people than the newer (better) codecs.

After you have a file that plays in Quicktime, and is sized ok for the Web, you need to get it to a web server - either your own set-up (tricky) or pay for an account somewhere. You don't actually upload the video to SL, you just give it the URL of your video.
Keirsten Ash
Registered User
Join date: 5 Jan 2006
Posts: 9
Thanks Vlad!!!
02-07-2006 18:42
From: Vlad Bjornson
You'll need to 'compress' the file into a good format for the Web. Quicktime has some presets for that (you'll need the Pro version to export) Most other video program should have an option for saving a file for viewing on the Web.

I export mine in Quicktime format using the Sorenson video codec, it seems to work for more people than the newer (better) codecs.

After you have a file that plays in Quicktime, and is sized ok for the Web, you need to get it to a web server - either your own set-up (tricky) or pay for an account somewhere. You don't actually upload the video to SL, you just give it the URL of your video.


Your quick response is appreciated. I had just started uploading to the server, I already have a site. However, I didnt compress it yet. Its already in .avi format. I have blaze media but dont know what the requirements are for the compression.
options are...

Cinepak Codec by Radius
Intel Indeo (r) Video R3.2
Intel Indeo Video 4.5
Microsoft Video 1
Indeo Video 5.10

Also for output, there is the option to set the width & height. Is there a perticular setting I need to set this to.

Thanks in advance.
Vlad Bjornson
Virtual Gardener
Join date: 11 Nov 2005
Posts: 650
02-07-2006 19:44
I am no expert, but out of those choices I would pick Cinepak or possibly Indeo Video.

As for resolution...Sort of depends on what your going to do with it, but I have had good luck with 320x240 videos. I tried 400 x 300 put the in-game quality was not that much better and it seemd to cause me a slower frame rate.

If there is an option for Bandwidth or Data Rate or something similar, you;ll want to set it somewhere in-between modem and broadband settings. like 200 to 300 kilobits per second. This will affect the size of your movie file and how well it streams in to the viewer.

I'm ususally happy with a file size that is about 2 or 3 megabyte / minute of video..

Almost any video that plays in Quicktime will play in SL - so if you can get your video into a format that will play from your webserver and is around 2.5 megabytes per minute then most other players should be able to see it.

I have had some issues with players having different version of Quicktime, so I try and make files that are compatible with Quicktime version 6 - even though 7 has some better video compression codecs.
Vlad Bjornson
Virtual Gardener
Join date: 11 Nov 2005
Posts: 650
02-07-2006 19:50
I might as well mention the Texture too..

You'll need to created or decide on a texture that you will use as a placeholder for the video. When you play the video this texture will be replaced with the video stream.

You can use any texture you want - but I usually make a custom one for each object. That way you know your video won;t suddenly start playing on an object with the same texture.

It can be a little tricky to get the texture to line up and be the same Aspect Ratio as your video. There is an option in the editing tools that says Align Media Texture. After you play your video once, you can select this option and SL will line it up to fill the texture.

I would recommend against using the Auto-Scale feature that is available in the Land options. This will slow down your client and frame rate. The best way is to get the texture lined up with the editing tools.
Keirsten Ash
Registered User
Join date: 5 Jan 2006
Posts: 9
Thanks
02-08-2006 06:09
OMG! I am so happy that you responded to my questions. I think I can do everything now. I will test it today and let you know if I have success. You're awesome!
Keirsten Ash
Registered User
Join date: 5 Jan 2006
Posts: 9
Only Audio playing
02-09-2006 10:20
Hi again... well I tried to convert the movie but only the audio is playing. Is there something I should adjust to get both the video and the audio. Thanks
Erin Talamasca
Registered User
Join date: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 617
02-12-2006 10:32
Edit: Noooooo, never mind! You have to actually hit the play button for video, don't you? :D I'm an idiot.

I haven't tried a video with sound yet. I hope you get an answer, cos I suspect I may come across the same problem.

But hooray for video!
Vlad Bjornson
Virtual Gardener
Join date: 11 Nov 2005
Posts: 650
02-12-2006 20:58
From: Keirsten Ash
Hi again... well I tried to convert the movie but only the audio is playing. Is there something I should adjust to get both the video and the audio. Thanks


Hmm. Have you assigned a texture as the 'placeholder' for the video? You set that on the same screen as the option for Media URL. If you don't set the texture- or you don't have an object rezzed with the chosen texture - you would hear the video but not see it. You have to have a 'screen' to show it on.

You should have a freebie Movie screen in your inventory. I think everyone starts with one. It's called Media Player. It looks kind of like a simple remote control.

Go to your land options, put in your movie's URL, then click on the Media Texture option and choose a texture. This will be the texture that is on the TV when nothing is playing. Then press play on the Medua Player object. It should pop up a screen, set the screen to the current Media Texture, and start playing your video.

Lemme know if that helps. If not we can try something else. :)
Vlad Bjornson
Virtual Gardener
Join date: 11 Nov 2005
Posts: 650
02-12-2006 21:04
another idea...

do a Search in-world for FreeView. It's a free video player with lots of features. I think you can find it at Script-Foo. Apukohai (162, 11, 64)
Osgeld Barmy
Registered User
Join date: 22 Mar 2005
Posts: 3,336
02-12-2006 23:29
if you just have audio and no video QT isnt decompressing it correctly, try another format

rant: why are we using quicktime anyways, the files are usually large and the framerate suffers under QT's purdy factor

anyways ive not tried it recently but QT is supposta support MPEG1 video, which if done properly can produce broadcast tv quality (properly as in good software and maby a analog video processor) the file sizes are smaller and a 386 can render it full fps

and i love the comedy feed that the freeview tv has in its url listings (if you like the marx bro's or the 3 stooges)
GoneSilent Dot
Dot Com Bomb
Join date: 31 Jan 2006
Posts: 10
=(
02-16-2006 02:27
I got lots of bandwidth and want to send some stream to view in game as well. But no way Im going to get quicktime thats for sure. I'd like to see a little vlc love maybe? Gives us a much wider options. Id also like to have a pay per view in game as well. But I dont see any easy way for this. Call up a www and reg the clients ip to allow play of the public url is my only guess.
Vlad Bjornson
Virtual Gardener
Join date: 11 Nov 2005
Posts: 650
02-16-2006 11:22
Quicktime Haters: You don't actually have to use Quicktime to create a file that'll work in SL - you just have to have it installed to see the final project in-world. So even if you don't want to use the Quicktime software you can still create video content for SL. Quicktime supports a lot of different codecs - including many flavors of MPG & AVI. Shoot - even some Flash animations will play in-world.

You may even be able to use one of the alternative, but I have not tried to do so.
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/QuickTime_Alternative.htm
Dagny Hemingway
Registered User
Join date: 26 Sep 2005
Posts: 3
Compression SEttings for Video for Web
03-04-2006 06:42
For compression setting, check out http://freevlog.com.

They also list a number of free media hosting services, among them http://archive.org (forever free) and http://blip.tv (free for the nonce anyway).

Best!
Dagny Hemingway
Lightwave Valkyrie
Registered User
Join date: 30 Jan 2004
Posts: 666
03-07-2006 16:52
I use 3gp-converter for my anime music videos.
but pspvideo9 works well too. both are free.
really like the 3gp format makes files 1/10
the file size and still looks good.
I also made a script buttons to set my
video and screen size so anyone can choose
what video to watch.
-LW
Merlin Alphabeta
Registered User
Join date: 12 Feb 2006
Posts: 83
09-24-2006 05:28
Well let's see if I can't turn necromancer and zombify this dead thread real quick...

3gp is by far the highest quality video SL can handle. I'm doing perspective mapping in SL, and because of the way the perspective is done the only way it's going to look good is if it's pixel-accurate (or reasonably close)

with a .mp4 I could get pixel-perfect quality oustide of SL in QT but in SL the 8x8 quantas were all that were drawn on anything but the I-frames. Bump the resolution down and it worked, but wasn't sharp enough. Ditto with h.264 in the mp4 container and a .mov. I was tickled pink when the 3gp test was succesful, as I was pretty much out of options...