How Does One “Play” a PTE Slideshow on the Web with Streaming Video?

[weiphoto]

I got the right codecs and created an AVI file from PTE, v 5.5. The AVI plays correctly on my computer with Windows Media Player (WMP) and with DivX Player. I then pasted an url with the *.AVI file on my website. The file (48 mb) takes a while to load on WMP, but miraculously, it plays correctly, with music, and a fairly reasonable quality.

My questions: How does one create the slide show so that it

1. Plays like a streaming YouTube “video” (I’m willing to forego the quality) or

2. Plays like a streaming video with other software (Flash? I’m guessing).

Can anyone point me to some of their experiences—or documentation on how to do this? I don’t think my audience can sit around waiting for the AVI file to load (there’s no moving slider that tells how long they will wait on WMP), or will be willing to download an AVI file from via FTP (they won’t understand/tolerate how).

Thanks in advance, WeiPhoto

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Try http://www.mediafire.com you can post your show on there for anyone to see, it's free good quality and counts down when loading.

Yachtsman1

[Ken Cox]

do a search on forum for youtube - many members have put shows up there

ken

[Lin Evans]

First - hang in there for a short while. Version 5.6 beta will soon be released and it allows the creation of Youtube and Vimeo output with code to embed this in your website.

Second - Youtube "is" Flash FLV. Your AVI or MPEG slideshows which are uploaded to Youtube are converted by Youtube to Flash format. Flash FLV is similar to "streaming" in that the playback begins very quickly and it's not necessary to wait until the entire show has downloaded to your computer. The difference in true server side "streaming" and Flash FLV is that with server side streaming the show is spooled out from the server at a rate which your interconnect (modem, cable, wireless, DSL, etc.) can support and which is fast enough to sustain continuous play of the video. With Flash FLV, the difference is that the show is actually downloaded from the host computer to the client computer and stored in a temporary hidden folder then spooled from there. There is a "preload" percentage spooled "before" the show begins and this percentage can be set by you. So, if your video (slideshow) resides on your website, the user clicks on your link or thumbnail and spooling begins. When the percentage of the file you have designated (usually 10% to 15%) has been downloaded to the client then the show begins.

To do this, you need software which first converts your slideshow output (avi or mpeg) to Flash FLV then inserts the proper code to allow the preload and spooling. There are numerous companies which have software available to do this which range in price from about $39 (USD) to $250. The difference in price depends on several factors including the level of Flash produced (Flash 5, 7, 8, 9, etc.) and whether it produces one pass or two pass encoding. Companies such as On 2 Technology, Wildform and Sorenson produce top-level Flash encoders for FLV conversion. Unless you need the two pass encoding and many other professional features you probably don't need to pay more than about $50 for the software you need.

My suggestion is to wait a few weeks until PTE version 5.6 beta is released then you can simply upload your files automatically to Youtube or Vimeo (higher resolution and very good quality), embed to code created in your website and you clients simply click on the link or thumbnail on your website and the show plays immediately from Youtube or Vimeo. This is far easier for you to do than to learn to output and embed the Flash FLV show on your own website.

Best regards,

Lin

Questions: How does one create the slide show so that it

1. Plays like a streaming YouTube "video" (I'm willing to forego the quality) or

2. Plays like a streaming video with other software (Flash? I'm guessing).

[weiphoto]

First - hang in there for a short while. Version 5.6 beta will soon be released and it allows the creation of Youtube and Vimeo output with code to embed this in your website.

Second - Youtube "is" Flash FLV. Your AVI or MPEG slideshows which are uploaded to Youtube are converted by Youtube to Flash format. Flash FLV is similar to "streaming" in that the playback begins very quickly and it's not necessary to wait until the entire show has downloaded to your computer. The difference in true server side "streaming" and Flash FLV is that with server side streaming the show is spooled out from the server at a rate which your interconnect (modem, cable, wireless, DSL, etc.) can support and which is fast enough to sustain continuous play of the video. With Flash FLV, the difference is that the show is actually downloaded from the host computer to the client computer and stored in a temporary hidden folder then spooled from there. There is a "preload" percentage spooled "before" the show begins and this percentage can be set by you. So, if your video (slideshow) resides on your website, the user clicks on your link or thumbnail and spooling begins. When the percentage of the file you have designated (usually 10% to 15%) has been downloaded to the client then the show begins.

To do this, you need software which first converts your slideshow output (avi or mpeg) to Flash FLV then inserts the proper code to allow the preload and spooling. There are numerous companies which have software available to do this which range in price from about $39 (USD) to $250. The difference in price depends on several factors including the level of Flash produced (Flash 5, 7, 8, 9, etc.) and whether it produces one pass or two pass encoding. Companies such as On 2 Technology, Wildform and Sorenson produce top-level Flash encoders for FLV conversion. Unless you need the two pass encoding and many other professional features you probably don't need to pay more than about $50 for the software you need.

My suggestion is to wait a few weeks until PTE version 5.6 beta is released then you can simply upload your files automatically to Youtube or Vimeo (higher resolution and very good quality), embed to code created in your website and you clients simply click on the link or thumbnail on your website and the show plays immediately from Youtube or Vimeo. This is far easier for you to do than to learn to output and embed the Flash FLV show on your own website.

Best regards,

Lin

Thank you kindly for your experiences and advice. Your reply, Lin, was excellent--so informative and well-written that I was able to post a test P2E slideshow on YouTube, and then copy the HTML onto a test website--it works. Again, thank you for your prompt and generous replies. Wei Photo