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Flash On the Beach

Alltop, all the cool kids (and me)

 
Note to self: when trying to stream H.264 based footage from Flash Media Server 3 using the FLVPlayback component and a SMIL file, make sure to specify both the mp4: prefix as well as the file extension. I found out the hard way and 45 minutes later managed to debug it... As you may know, when using FLV files you need neither a prefix nor a file extension.

Here's a example of what worked for me. I saved this as smil.xml, uploaded it to a web server and pointed the FLVPlayback component's source property at that file.

<smil>
   <head>
      <meta base="rtmp://server.com/app" />
   </head>
   <body>
      <switch>
      <!-- bitrate is in bits -->
         <video src="mp4:Video Clip 150k.mov" system-bitrate="153600" />
         <video src="mp4:Video Clip 350k.mov" system-bitrate="358400" />
         <video src="mp4:Video Clip 650k.mov" system-bitrate="665600"/>
         <video src="mp4:Video Clip 900k.mov" system-bitrate="921600"/>
         <video src="mp4:Video Clip 150k.mov" />
      </switch>
   </body>
</smil>

Comments
[Add Comment]
Actually you can leave off the extension if it happens to be .mp4 or if there is no extension. If FMS3 is asked to play

ns.play("mp4:myfile");

then it will first look for a file called "myfile", then "myfile.mp4".

Cheers,
Will
# Posted By Will Law | 3/23/08 2:25 AM
The mp4: is needed by FMS however if you're streaming. It's so FMS knows which type of file to look for. You can omit the extension if the h.264 file is .mp4, but if the extension is m4a, mov, etc... then you need to specify that when requesting the stream name. Live streams do not require the mp4: prefix or extension.

For files downloaded from the web, it makes the decoder decision based on what's in the file.
# Posted By Brad | 3/23/08 3:56 AM
I have downloaded some flv files from YouTube with the help of Real Player and when i am trying to stream these flv's from FMS3. It's not streaming at all, Giving Bad Meta Data error. Same happen if i use the files downloaded with the help of Firefox plugin.
The sample files with FMS3 installation streams fine.

Any idea of why its happening?
# Posted By Sunil Gupta | 3/26/08 5:00 AM
Sunil, run them through the flvcheck tool that ships with FMS.
# Posted By Brad | 3/26/08 7:04 AM
Hi Brad, Thanks for telling. What i got is


FLVCheck version 1.0 - Utility to validate flv and mp4 media files.
Copyright (C) 2008 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved.
www.adobe.com

08-03-27 07:15:29 Error: -9 Invalid FLV message footer. Terracot
ta.flv

Any idea now why this is happening?
# Posted By Sunil Gupta | 3/27/08 1:50 AM
I'm not sure what YouTube might be doing with their FLV's. Also, you should keep in mind that they are transitioning their video's over to MP4 format and that their files are optimized for progressive download not streaming.

flvcheck has an option to fix a stall in a video if it's FLV. It might be worth taking a peak at the metadata to see if you're working with MP4 or FLV. If it's MP4 then you would need to specify mp4: when you attempt to stream it.
# Posted By Brad | 3/27/08 11:22 PM
Yes, it could be the reason of the problem. I will check it for mp4.

Thanks for your reply. It was very useful.
# Posted By Sunil Gupta | 3/28/08 2:07 AM
Note: there seems to be a bug with H.264 files in combination with SMIL and bandwidth checks in combination with FLVPlayback component. It seems to select incorrect files for playback. Will try and find out more details, file a bug etc.
# Posted By Stefan Richter | 5/1/08 10:06 PM
Hi Brad,
I can't get the h.264 video stream to work from a Flash Media Encoder 2.5 live stream.
The NetStream metadata comes right into the Flash 9.0.124 runtime, but no video feed is visble.
I tried :
flux_in.play( "livestream" );flux_in.play( "mp4:livestream" ); // Not Found
flux_in.play( "livestream.mp4" );
flux_in.play( "livestream.f4v" );

Nothing works.
Seems that the client doesn't send the input to the right decoder.

Any idea ?
If I try have to publish from FME with a stream name like "mp4:live" I get an error.

Thanks.
# Posted By erixtekila | 6/6/08 12:35 PM
Arf, It was just an issue on Flash player 9.0.124 on osx 10.5, all browsers.
9.0.115 works just great.
# Posted By erixtekila | 6/6/08 1:26 PM
>I have downloaded some flv files from YouTube with the help of Real Player and when i am trying to stream these flv's from FMS3. It's not streaming at all, Giving Bad Meta Data error.

Hi Sunil

For some reason youtube sets the first tag size (the one that carries metaData) to 0. Thats the problem. When I manually changed the 0 to the proper size (425 bytes in my case), the flv streamed properly.

I'm making a small utility to fix this automatically, but you can do it manually by using any old hex editor (HxD for example). Assuming youtube hasn't changed their metadata, the field in question is at offset 438 and spans 4 bytes, although I would probably double check that.
# Posted By Daniel Kozimor | 6/20/08 4:40 PM
erixtekila,
I'm having the same issue. Running FMS3 locally and broadcasting to it using FME2.5. VP6 stream shows up with no problems, but when I switch to H.264 I get nothing. Status in the SWF says 'playing' with no apparent errors thrown. Were you able to fix the problem? Any one have any insight? (I'm certain I have the latest Player version.) Any tips appreciated. Thanks!
# Posted By lisa larson-kelley | 7/3/08 10:55 PM
Hi lisa,
I wonder if you've fix your issue&
You can contact me at viacontact [@] v-i-a.net
Greetings
# Posted By erixtekila | 7/7/08 9:50 AM
Lisa et al,
I've just tested the H.264 live streaming over Edgecast and it worked fine for me (using FME2.5).
I also tested locally over FMS3 and that worked too... I know this won't shed light on your problem but at least you know that it does work for some people.
# Posted By Stefan Richter | 7/7/08 10:12 AM
i was running Player 9,0,115,0 btw... Let me try with .124
# Posted By Stefan Richter | 7/7/08 10:14 AM
Confirmed, the H.264 live stream no longer works with Player .124 (tested on OSX only).

My traces show that stream is playing and metadata is being received, but the player seems not capable of displaying the video. Mp3 audio works.

[INFO] time 10:15:16.376 :: Metadataplayer.html (line 34)
[Object]
[String] presetname = Custom
[int] videodatarate = 350
[int] avclevel = 31
[String] creationdate = Mon Jul 07 10:12:38 2008
[int] avcprofile = 66
[int] width = 480
[String] audiodevice = Intel(r) Integrated Audio
[String] keywords =
[String] description =
[int] height = 360
[int] videocodecid = 7
[int] audiosamplerate = 22050
[String] rating =
[Number] framerate = 30.00003000003
[int] audiochannels = 1
[String] author =
[int] audioinputvolume = 75
[String] title =
[int] audiocodecid = 2
[int] audiodatarate = 48
[String] videodevice = USB Video Device
[String] copyright =
# Posted By Stefan Richter | 7/7/08 10:23 AM
same problem on Windows, works in .115 but not in .124. Must be a Player bug.
# Posted By Stefan Richter | 7/7/08 10:45 AM
<quote>Must be a Player bug</quote>
Too bad ! Hope a new release will pop up soon !
# Posted By erixtekila | 7/7/08 11:41 AM
Aha! Seem to have found the problem... and its one I should have guessed earlier, given my past experiences with FMS. I had FMS 3.0 installed; needed to upgrade to 3.02. Grrrr! (And, of course, because the "upgrade" is actually a full install, I'm not sure if it was a bug in the server itself, or in the provided sample 'livetest' application.) But it does work now. Something must have changed in .124 that required a fix in FMS, perhaps? Though, if you are running FMS 3.02 then there may be another issue here...? (Upgrade for 3.0.2 was just released on July 1: http://www.adobe.com/support/flashmediaserver/down...)
# Posted By lisa larson-kelley | 7/7/08 1:47 PM
ah yes, that could be my issue as I am still running FMS 3.0.0

thanks!
# Posted By Stefan Richter | 7/7/08 3:02 PM