<nettime> Frictions..

[Heiko Recktenwald <uzs106@IBM.rhrz.uni-bonn.de>]

I elaborated this here, in responses to B92s suggestions for streaming
networks. Many ways lead to Rome. And the aspect of simplicity, you can
write those filelists without knowing any special syntax on every notpad
or whatever simple plain text editor. Without a special application
between, that must be mastered, which is bad for the occasional user.
Might fit into what Geert observed.

Anyway, this is how it looks in lynx today, BlaTV at
http://www.uni-bonn.de/~uzs106/ , 

Critics are most welcome !! 

H.

Et voila:


   Video/vnd.mpegurl and a shellscript and blatv.mgu. Much ado, still under
construction, about special MPEG video metafiles. With certain extensions. That
 might cause problems, who knows without central registry, if browsers ignore
                  MIME. "Personal computers" and the net....
                                       
   You are welcome ! If you dont understand all, dont mind. If it makes
   you start thinking about Netscape, Edit, Preferences, Navigator,
   Application, the menu in the browser, or 2001 digital life and the
   internet in general, this page has allready had some use. Special
   thanks to my webadmin, who did support video/x-mpegurl and mgu before.
   As your webadmin might support you, maybe, one day with
   video/vnd.mpegurl and mgu or whatever, see below. If you have your own
   server, hi anyway.
   
   You should have UNIX and mtvp or some other MPEG video player
   installed for the shellscript below and blatv.mgu or Windows 95 or
   better with the MS Mediaplayer to fake it with blatv.m3u. Macusers can
   play the blatv.ram or blatv.smi with Real or Quicktime. Quicktime 5
   for Wintels can play blatv.smi too. How MPEG is Real ? Users of
   PocketTV are not yet supported on this server.
   
   There are fancy Microsoft, Apple etc solutions for streaming media
   content. Ready or in the making. Special metafiles for a magnitude of
   codecs. But there is also currently no such multi codec multimedia
   system on Unix. Maybe this will change. But it is also a matter of
   fact, and this fact will remain, that MPEG is simple. It is, even more
   than Real, a true multiplatform format. Real cinema sotosay. 25
   frames/second, not just a lookalike. And there is also allready MPEG 1
   on VCD and MPEG 2 on DVD. Etcpp. Blabla. More bandwidth coming soon.
   Users of PocketTV might have it allready today.
   
   You might say, that the future of digital MPEG internet TV will be
   completely different in some years. Most likely broadband streaming
   will use protocols that are more advanced than http and involve QoS,
   bandwidth reservation, multicast etc. But there might be niches.
   Certain network situations, where such things are not available. MPEG
   video filelists are simple to create, you dont have to learn any
   special syntax or to understand a special editor, which is more or
   less the same. Perfect for the occasional user, who just wants
   something simple, that works. And they are open wide for all kind of
   URLs. Whatever the future might be.
   
   A special metafile for MPEG video, as there is allready one for MPEG
   audio, means less frustration on platforms, that dont support all
   codecs, for which certain other metafile might be designed. Single
   platform solutions are like WAP. Or: what doesnt run on Unix isnt in
   the world.
   
            Wintels can fake it with audio/x-mpegurl and blatv.m3u.
                                       
IANA did register a new MIME type: video/vnd.mpegurl. The extension is mgu.

   [fff.gif]
       
    "Open Location" ?
       
   We had had allready, thanks to www.mp3.com etc,
   
                             MPEG audio filelists,
                                       
   audio/x-mpegurl and m3u, now we do have, thanks to IANA, who did put
   the request on its server and included it in its list of registered
   MIME types and provided numerous other help,
   
                           MPEG video filelists too.
                                       
   Www.pockettv.com/stream/ suggests video/x-mpegurl and m1u (hardcoded).
   Mgu is allready in use by another application.
   
   Well, I asked IANA to change the extension to mxu. Most freedom for
   everybody. But such things take time. Meanwhile, and while mxu isnt
   yet supported here, this text still speaks of the currently registered
   mgu. You'll need bandwidth anyway, example movies are MPEG 1 Pal with
   the screensize of 80x48 for streaming over modern modem lines or
   better:
   
What is MIME ?

   [bt.gif]
    1. Take it as a way to invoke remotely a display programm by an
       extension.
       In other words: It is on the server side, where the extension is
       important. Localy, the extension means nothing. Only if your OS
       wants it and your browser ignores MIME, as some browsers do,
       you'll need the extension localy too. Sotosay remote versa local
       clicking. All about clicking anyway. Instead of opening the file
       from within its program ("Open file" or "Open location").
    2. Blatv.mgu is a textfile with URLs of MPEG video files. The
       extension mgu makes the server send the MIME type
       video/vnd.mpegurl to the browser. After the download of the
       textfile, the browser runs a certain display program for this MIME
       type. This program reads the textfile and plays the URLs.
    "One-click-streaming" and the ability to "cut" movies by editing
       filelists.
    Adding, moving, deleting URLs in lists.
       Other "metafiles" with known MIME types were unusable.
       Application/smil is to complicated, if you dont want the bells and
       whistles. Players that support MPEG are rare. Etcpp.
       Video/vnd.rn-realvideo is useless if you just want MPEG video.
       Audio/x-mpegurl is audio.
       [fl.gif]
    3. To make a MIME type work, there must be a line for this type in
       the servers mime.types file, everybody runs apache, and the
       clients .mailcap or equivalent. See
    Netscape, Edit, Preferences, Navigator, Applications. In many cases
       this is done automatically during installation, but it can also be
       done by hand, see for example this .mailcap file. The lines for
       audio and video/x-mpegurl and video/vnd.mpegurl were added
       manually:
##########################################
#mailcap entry added by Netscape Helper
application/x-shockwave-flash;;\
        x-mozilla-flags=plugin:Shockwave Flash
#mailcap entry added by Netscape Helper
application/futuresplash;;\
        x-mozilla-flags=plugin:Shockwave Flash
##########################################
#mailcap entry added by Netscape Helper
application/pdf;xplaygizmo /usr/local/bin/acroread %s &
audio/x-pn-realaudio;/usr/local/lib/RealPlayer7/realplay "%u"
audio/vnd.rn-realaudio;/usr/local/lib/RealPlayer7/realplay "%u"
application/smil;/usr/local/lib/RealPlayer7/realplay "%u"
text/vnd.rn-realtext;/usr/local/lib/RealPlayer7/realplay "%u"
video/vnd.rn-realvideo;/usr/local/lib/RealPlayer7/realplay "%u"
image/vnd.rn-realflash;/usr/local/lib/RealPlayer7/realplay "%u"
application/x-shockwave-flash2-preview;/usr/local/lib/RealPlayer7/realplay "%u"
application/sdp;/usr/local/lib/RealPlayer7/realplay "%u"
application/x-sdp;/usr/local/lib/RealPlayer7/realplay "%u"
application/vnd.rn-realmedia;/usr/local/lib/RealPlayer7/realplay "%u"
image/vnd.rn-realpix;/usr/local/lib/RealPlayer7/realplay "%u"
audio/wav;/usr/local/lib/RealPlayer7/realplay "%u"
audio/x-wav;/usr/local/lib/RealPlayer7/realplay "%u"
audio/x-pn-wav;/usr/local/lib/RealPlayer7/realplay "%u"
audio/x-pn-windows-acm;/usr/local/lib/RealPlayer7/realplay "%u"
audio/basic;/usr/local/lib/RealPlayer7/realplay "%u"
audio/x-pn-au;/usr/local/lib/RealPlayer7/realplay "%u"
audio/aiff;/usr/local/lib/RealPlayer7/realplay "%u"
audio/x-aiff;/usr/local/lib/RealPlayer7/realplay "%u"
audio/x-pn-aiff;/usr/local/lib/RealPlayer7/realplay "%u"
#########################################
#mailcap entries added manualy:
audio/x-mpegurl;/usr/X11R6/bin/xterm -iconic -e /usr/local/bin/xaudio -input=m3
u %s &
video/x-mpegurl;/usr/X11R6/bin/xterm -iconic -e /usr/home/uzs106/bin/mgu.sh %s
&
video/vnd.mpegurl;/usr/X11R6/bin/xterm -iconic -e /usr/home/uzs106/bin/mgu.sh %
s &
##########################################
#"Progressiv download":
video/mpeg; /usr/local/bin/mtvp -; stream-buffer-size=20000 &
##########################################
       (This .mailcap file is not perfect. If your browser ignores MIME,
       get another browser or take care, as your OS might want, of the
       extension mgu, localy, somewhere else.)
       
   "One-clip-streaming" without metafile: "Play from Network" or "Save
   First" ? Not all browsers and applications support this.
   
What do I have to do ?

    1.
       
Write movies in the mgu way.
       Files can be everywhere in the world.
       
Give those filelists the extension mgu.
       [metafile.gif]
       Mgu and mpg are like m3u and mp3, Real needs the extension mpg (or
       mpv) for MPEG video files, errors with the usual m1v.
       URLs must be complete. You may not just write bla.mpg, there must
       be lines like http://foo.bar/path/bla.mpg. Just click on a link
       with blatv.mgu, and you'll see, if your browser still shows it as
       text/plain.
    2. Ask your webmaster to support video/vnd.mpegurl. He might want to
       update his mime.types file. There must be a line video/vnd.mpegurl
       mgu.
    3. Get yourself a decent display program and configure your browser.
       You must do this anyway. The best would be something like the MS
       Media Player.
    This thing can fake it, if you disable Real Player's file
       association. Yes, you can use audio/x-mpegurl and m3u instead, no
       artificial restriction. But this world work only in the Wintel
       world. And is more a misuse than a path to follow. A player for
       Unix is at
       ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/iana/assignments/media-types/video/vnd.
       mpegurl.
       Oliver Fromme suggests:
#!/bin/sh -
exec xargs -n 1 mtvp < "$1"
       Have fun !
       
                           How MPEG is Real ? Apple.
                                       
                        Top of the Page. More friction.
                                       
   [dodoanim.gif] [dodoanim.gif]
   
   Blatv is Godard, CNN, Pop2000, Sivan/Brauman and blender. Thanks to
   IANA, RHRZ, Andy Warhol etc. "Apple", "Band in a Box", "MicroSoft",
   "PocketTV", "Quicktime" and "Real" are registered trademarks. (C)
   2000.

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