Streaming video buffering?

This may be a long shot, but...

We are trying to stream the Annenberg CPB streaming video
series "Teaching
Foreign Languages K-12" via the learning.org video on
demand service into
our library. The videos are in Windows Media player format.
It will play
for a while and then stop. I think the problem is mostly due
to our
inconsistent (and relatively slow) network connections
during peak usage
time. I was thinking if an alternative to Windows Media
player that
allowed increased buffering options (Windows media player
only seems to
allow buffering up to 60 seconds of content), maybe we could
get it to
work better. Does anyone have any other options or tricks
they can share
(besides the obvious, which is to get increased bandwidth)?

FWIW: The actual videos we are trying to view are at:
http://tinyurl.com/2lr6yj

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There is an option with Flash to serve clips with
"progressive download".  
That is, you can process a large Flash file to serve
incrementally small 
parts at a time.  Each small section is downloaded to the
client one at a 
time.  I am not fully versed to how this is done but know
our campus 
Multimedia Designer has set this up for some of these for
our Distance 
Learning pages.  I feel certain there are programs that may
convert AVI or 
WMV to Flash to minimize your work.

Thomas



On Tuesday 24 April 2007 12:25, Edward Corrado wrote:
> This may be a long shot, but...
>
> We are trying to stream the Annenberg CPB streaming
video series "Teaching
> Foreign Languages K-12" via the learning.org video
on demand service into
> our library. The videos are in Windows Media player
format. It will play
> for a while and then stop. I think the problem is
mostly due to our
> inconsistent (and relatively slow) network connections
during peak usage
> time. I was thinking if an alternative to Windows Media
player that
> allowed increased buffering options (Windows media
player only seems to
> allow buffering up to 60 seconds of content), maybe we
could get it to
> work better. Does anyone have any other options or
tricks they can share
> (besides the obvious, which is to get increased
bandwidth)?
>
> FWIW: The actual videos we are trying to view are at:
> http://tinyurl.com/2lr6yj
>
> _______________________________________________
> Web4lib mailing list
> Web4libwebjunction.org
> http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/

-- 
============================================================
========
Thomas McMillan Grant Bennett		Appalachian State University
Computer Consultant III			P O Box 32026
University Library				Boone, North Carolina 28608
(828) 262 6587

If it's not as simple as possible to try it, then the
barrier to entry is too 
high.

Library Systems Help Desk: http://www.libr
ary.appstate.edu/help/
============================================================
========
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What version of Windows Media are they in?  Depending on the
version,
you might have some luck with VLC or Mplayer.

http://www.videolan.org/
vlc/
http://www.
mplayerhq.hu/design7/news.html

-Andrew


On 4/24/07, Edward Corrado <corradotcnj.edu> wrote:
> This may be a long shot, but...
>
> We are trying to stream the Annenberg CPB streaming
video series "Teaching
> Foreign Languages K-12" via the learning.org video
on demand service into
> our library. The videos are in Windows Media player
format. It will play
> for a while and then stop. I think the problem is
mostly due to our
> inconsistent (and relatively slow) network connections
during peak usage
> time. I was thinking if an alternative to Windows Media
player that
> allowed increased buffering options (Windows media
player only seems to
> allow buffering up to 60 seconds of content), maybe we
could get it to
> work better. Does anyone have any other options or
tricks they can share
> (besides the obvious, which is to get increased
bandwidth)?
>
> FWIW: The actual videos we are trying to view are at:
> http://tinyurl.com/2lr6yj
>
> _______________________________________________
> Web4lib mailing list
> Web4libwebjunction.org
> http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/
>
_______________________________________________
Web4lib mailing list
Web4libwebjunction.org
http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/

I don't think that more buffering will solve the problem. I
would guess that
the bandwidth problem is on your end, so unless the buffer
is as long as the
video, you are going to overrun a 331 Kb/s stream. If the
video could be
downloaded and played locally, that would help, but that
does not seem to be
available on the Annenberg site.

Cary Gordon
The Cherry Hill Company
http://www.chillco.com


-----Original Message-----
From: web4lib-bounceswebjunction.org
[mailto:web4lib-bounceswebjunction.org] On Behalf Of Edward
Corrado
Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2007 9:25 AM
To: web4libwebjunction.org
Subject: [Web4lib] Streaming video buffering?

This may be a long shot, but...

We are trying to stream the Annenberg CPB streaming video
series "Teaching
Foreign Languages K-12" via the learning.org video on
demand service into
our library. The videos are in Windows Media player format.
It will play for
a while and then stop. I think the problem is mostly due to
our inconsistent
(and relatively slow) network connections during peak usage
time. I was
thinking if an alternative to Windows Media player that
allowed increased
buffering options (Windows media player only seems to allow
buffering up to
60 seconds of content), maybe we could get it to work
better. Does anyone
have any other options or tricks they can share (besides the
obvious, which
is to get increased bandwidth)?

FWIW: The actual videos we are trying to view are at:
http://tinyurl.com/2lr6yj

_______________________________________________
Web4lib mailing list
Web4libwebjunction.org
http://lists.we
bjunction.org/web4lib/