Streaming Video Made Easy

This month, as part of my ongoing research into video solutions for the Windows NT platform, I take a look at Microsoft's NetShow 3.0. NetShow is a full-featured product and promises to keep Progressive Networks on its toes. And because NT 5.0 Beta 2 supports Universal Serial Bus (USB) ports, I hooked up Eastman Kodak's USB-based DVC323 digital video camera and gave the camera a run for its money. Keep reading, and I'll tell you what you can expect when working with the new USB interface and the OS that isn't--­yet.

NETSHOW 3.0
I like so many features in Microsoft's third version of NetShow, the company's video broadcasting and distribution software, that I can't bring myself to single out just one. On a level from 1 to 10, with 10 being virtually unattainable, I'd give NetShow 3.0 an 8.5.

NetShow 3.0 includes NetShow Services, a software suite Microsoft designed for video distribution over the Internet or an intranet. NetShow Services consists of two parts: a server component and a tools component. You install each component separately. Depending on how many clients you serve and the performance you desire, you might not want to put NetShow's server components and tools on the same system.

The server component contains all the utilities and documentation necessary to distribute content over a variety of networks in different ways, depending upon available bandwidth and desired performance. The tools component includes three utilities for producing and editing content: NetShow Encoder, NetShow T.A.G. Author, and NetShow Indexer.

NetShow Encoder is a powerful tool for capturing, compressing, and converting multimedia data to a format acceptable for NetShow streams. NetShow streams use Microsoft's proprietary Advanced Streaming Format (ASF) codec. NetShow T.A.G. Author and NetShow Indexer edit and organize content (an Adobe Premiere plug-in lets you save the content you created or edited as an .asf file). Currently, you can view an .asf file's content only by using Microsoft's freely distributed Windows Media Player.

The ASF codec offers variations that let you tailor your stream to the content and bandwidth with which you are working. Depending on the quality of video and audio you want, the amount of motion in the video, whether you include slides, and how the majority of your client systems will view the content (i.e., via Internet or intranet), you can choose from up to 28 ASF variations. If you're not sure which codec variation is best for your needs, the NetShow setup wizard includes detailed dialog boxes that explain the advantages of each format.

Installing the NetShow software wasn't difficult. Configuring the software, although a complicated task, wasn't too difficult either, thanks to superb documentation and wizards that worked so easily and quickly they gave me whiplash. As with most new Microsoft products, you must have or install Internet Explorer (IE) 4.01 to run the NetShow software.

When you open the server-based NetShow Administrator window, a list of possible operations displays. Selecting any operation (e.g., Start Here, Configure Server, Monitor Server) calls a list of options and features, including various Quick Start wizards with integrated descriptions of the features and options available when you configure content for network delivery. For example, selecting the Start Here option initializes a guided text tour. The opening text block runs through a brief introduction to the software, defines key terms, and provides links to appropriate wizards. Selecting the Configure Server option, as Screen 1 shows, gives you the information you need to completely configure a NetShow server to transmit content across a network. Selecting Monitor Server enables tracking of the activity of NetShow servers and clients through an event log.

The first step in implementing a video distribution solution for your network is deciding whether you want to deliver the content by unicast or multicast. In unicasting, a server broadcasts one stream of content to one viewer. Unicast streams usually let viewers pause, rewind, or fast-forward the stream. NetShow delivers unicast streams from a folder on the server called a publishing point.

In multicasting, a server broadcasts one stream of content to a station, and multiple viewers can pick up the stream from the station. A station is a file on the server that contains the location of ASF content. Because multicasting transmits only one outgoing source stream that multicast-enabled routers replicate across the network, multicasting uses much less bandwidth than unicasting uses and reaches a larger audience. Because multicasts are available to all network viewers simultaneously, one viewer can't control the stream's progression. Multicast is best suited for live content and can also present prerecorded material that many viewers access at the same time, such as a CEO's address to stockholders.

Whether you choose to unicast or multicast your video content using NetShow, a wizard exists to help with setup and configuration. The NetShow Administrator server configuration interface includes Unicast Publishing Points, Multicast Stations, Multicast File Transfers, and Server Properties options. Selecting any of the first three options activates corresponding wizards; selecting Server Properties lets you enable security and authentication and set limits on the number of concurrent connections, bandwidth utilization, and bit-rate transfer.

NetShow Administrator's wizards are exceptional in the high degree of customization they make available to users. If you are unsure what a particular selection will do, you can almost always access an onscreen explanation or a link to explanatory text. NetShow has the best-documented and most flexible wizards I have seen in any software product to date.

Opening the Unicast Publishing Points wizard calls a screen displaying two options: On-Demand Unicast Publishing Point and Broadcast Unicast Publishing Point. When you select either of these options, you can create a new publishing point or modify existing publishing points. When creating a new publishing point, you must choose a source for your content from options such as NetShow Encoder, Remote Publishing Point, or Remote Station.

I selected the NetShow Encoder option on my test network in the Windows NT Magazine Lab. Using an Intergraph TDZ 2000 with a Winnov Videum video capture card and a Toshiba MK-128 video camera, and a Compaq WS6000 and Intel's ProShare video camera and video capture card, I had no trouble linking live video streams to a publishing point on my Toshiba Tecra 780CDM server using the NetShow wizards. In fact, the entire process took less than 5 minutes.

I didn't just create a link to the site: The wizards let me dictate exactly what formats to produce the video connection in. My choices included the following: create an .asx file that points to the ASF stream; create an .htm file with an <HREF> tag that links to an .asx file; create an .htm file containing <EMBED> and <OBJECT> tags for Windows Media Player (this .htm file is compatible with standard browsers); and copy <HREF>, <OBJECT>, and <EMBED> syntax to the Windows clipboard. I found the clipboard copying ingenious. This functionality is exactly what I see most Web developers looking for--­the ability to quickly paste the video tag into whatever HTML editor they're using.

An .asx file (or ASF Stream Redirector--­ASX--­metafile) is NetShow-specific. An .asx file is a redirector file that directs a browser or Windows Media Player to the source of an ASF stream.

As much as I like NetShow, the product lacks an important capability: distributing content between smart servers during off-peak network hours to optimize performance and limit network traffic. Multimedia content requires efficient management tools. Fortunately, Microsoft engineers told me such functionality will appear in a future NetShow release.