WebCasting

WebCasting tools and related technologies

Web audio, video and conferencing tools make long-distance get-togethers possible. There are many tools you can use, but be sure the tool is suited for the task you have in mind.

Webcasting as in one-to-many? Our favorite low-cost, easy-to-configure webcasting solution for live video and/or audio is IVISTA from www.ivista.com. A 30-day version of this software is bundled with Intel's latest Pro Video PC Cam, and a retail variant is due to hit store shelves in Oct. 2001. IVISTA does not require a dedicated server, and runs on any recent version of Windows. It automatically creates a web page containing your live video/audio content and, best of all, visitors to your web site don't need any plug-ins to view the video -- IVISTA's player is entirely Java-based, providing compatibility with virtually any browser. Other video streaming options, including some suitable for large-scale net broadcasts, can be found at www.realnetworks.com. also, look at the Vivo Producer product from www.vivo.com (also owned by RealNetworks). There are a many other choices, too. Apple fans might want to check out Apple's QuickTime streaming server -- not one of our favorites, frankly.

If you are doing "One to one or one to a few," such as sharing an app, voice conferencing, and/or viewing a shared whiteboard, you can use Microsoft's free NetMeeting. Those running Windows 2000 servers who want a more robust conferencing app might want to check out the Exchange Conferencing Services add-on for Exchange 2000. CUSeeMe can also do this "video-conferencing" type of webcasting.

To do it in 3D, check out Blaxxun at www.blaxxun.com or www.onlive.com  Or, for more elaborate results, see the tutorials at http://machinima.com/articles/hl_movies_1/

Audio? To develop and broadcast your own Internet radio station(s), you could use Shoutcast.com. With it, you can build your own internet radio station like Yahoo's Launch.com -- with or without the ads, as you prefer. However, if you prefer to keep your content private or you want to annoy people with sign-in requirements such as those imposed by Launch.com, you'll want to set up your own secure streaming server on the platform of your choice. The simplest way to stream audio we've seen is via the audio feature of the webcam software offered by ivista.com.

There are a number of webcam apps that can automatically post web pages -- a primitive form of webcasting. An online service with this capability is SpotLife.com.

Another good tool is/was Connectix's Digital Radar. (now owned by Logitech and distributed with some models in its its line of Quickcam and Clicksmart products as Digital Radar II). Sadly, when Connectix entered into the arrangement  to sell its QuickCam and QuickClip product lines to Logitech in Aug., 1998, its version of Digital Radar for Mac was dropped. The last released edition of the product doesn't work at all on recent Mac OS versions. A competing product was offered by Syncronys Software, before they went bankrupt.

Setting Up a Web Server

Many would-be Webcasters like to set up a personal web server on a home machine to see how their video epic will look before netcasting it to the world. There are a number of web servers that can be used for this task, but those running Windows 98 or Windows 98SE might want to use the PWS (Personal Web Server) included right on the Windows CD. (The older PWS version shipped on some FrontPage discs is not recommended.) A note of caution for Windows Me owners: although PWS works on Windows Me, you should choose to install it to C:\PWS, not the default C:\Program Files\PWS directory. And, in case you are wondering how to uninstall the thing when it doesn't appear in 'Windows Setup', here are the steps:

To uninstall PWS:

• Insert Win98SE Disc in CD-Rom
• Click Start ¦ Run
• Type 'x:\add-ons\pws\setup.exe' (replacing x with your CD-ROM letter)
• Click 'Next'
• Click 'Uninstall'

And that will get rid of the MTS files too!

PWS can be useful for many other development tasks. It's not hard to configure it to support Perl, run a Cold Fusion application server, in-house search engine, or other web-enabled technology. Windows 2000 users should not install the MS PWS, though. Use the version of IIS 5.0 on the Windows 2000 CD instead, or choose an industrial strength alternative such as Apache.

To fully implement a Microsoft Windows Media Technologies server, even Windows 2000 Professional isn't enough. To stream Windows Media, you'll need to be running the (free) Windows Media Server extensions for (the not free) Windows NT Server 4.0, or use the Windows Media Services built into Windows 2000 Server or better. Alternatively, you could set up a QuickTime streaming server (etc.) on Linux or Mac OS X, although, as noted earlier, we haven't had particularly good results from our attempts to configure a so-called Darwin server.

Microsoft in Oct. 2001 released a Windows Media add-on for FrontPage 2000 and FrontPage 2002, allowing Web page creators an easy way to add ASF and WMV content and upload it to an existing Website.

Bad news for would-be Internet broadcasters

Reuters claims a Dec. 8, 2000 ruling by the U.S. Copyright Office that essentially demands royalties to be paid by anyone broadcasting audio content over the Internet was "cheered by digital media companies, or Webcasters who sided with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) as part of their crusade to clarify what they say are gray areas of copyright law." Rigggghht.

So, we're cheering because we have to pay? We're cheering because the RIAA now stands to rake in millions of dollars in licensing fees? Or are we cheering because many smaller radio stations (or heck, even some of the big ones) may no longer be willing to simulcast their radio broadcasts via the Internet, when such activities start incurring extra costs? How many radio stations or small webcasters will cancel their Internet plans entirely as a result of this ruling?

Hopefully, the artists will see some of this windfall, too, however, the report gives no indication of this.

Products mentioned:

• NetMeeting (Win95/NT/2000)
• CUSeeMe (Win/Mac)
• RealPlayer (Win/Mac)
• Blaxxun CC3D (Win/Mac)
• Onlive (Win)
• Digital Radar (Win & MacOS)

For Further Reading:

• Web Authoring Made Easy - part 1
• PCWorld: Launch your own radio station
• [10/14/01] Globe and Mail: JumpTV.com withdraws from copyright hearings: Company has been fighting for the right to rebroadcast TV programming on-line.
• [05/07/02] Internet video faces buffering obstacle