SDSU faculty have access to www-rohan.sdsu.edu, which runs the Real Networks Helix Streaming server. The server will stream media for RealMedia .rm, Quicktime .mov, and Windows Media Player .wmv (and .wma) The server also supports the World Wide Web Consortium's Synchronised Multimedia Language (SMIL pronouced "smile"), this language allows the integration of multiple media types within a single presentation, including Macromedia's Flash animation format. RealNetworks has documentation on using SMIL.
The server runs under Solaris 9 on Sun Microsystems Ultra 80 hardware and has a dedicated 100Mbps port. The server is presently licensed to support a maximum of 4000 simultaneous users.
If your Rohan account has been enabled for Streaming Media, a directory is created under /opt/local/real/faculty (or /opt/local/real/dept if the account is for departmental use by an academic department) Contact webmaster@rohan.sdsu.edu to request Streaming Media access for your account.
Publishing Quota
The /opt/local/real file system is for content that is being used for delivery by this service for teaching and learning i.e. it is not for offline file storage. Such content can be kept elsewhere e.g. on CD-R/W or user's local hard disk. Content is not backed up.
Publishers have an initial quota of 1000Mb. This is sufficient for example for > 60 hours of RealAudio encoded at 24Kbps or 400 minutes at 350Kbps (288x216). If you require more quota please send your request to webmaster@rohan.sdsu.edu. See also Streaming Media Policies.
Web pages use your Rohan username, not the word username in URLs. A typical streaming media file is rtsp://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/username/welcome.rmThe actual location of faculty/username/welcome.rm is /opt/local/real/faculty/username/welcome.rm
Encoding limits
Stand-alone audio streams must have a maximum encode rate of 64Kbps, for speech based material, an encode of 24Kbps is usually sufficient. Standalone video streams must have a maximum encode rate, **including audio** of 350Kbps. We may revise these limits once we have had time to evaluate the effect of these limits in use for some time.
Encoding software and hardware
Consider using the ITS encoding service described below to encode your content. However, if you do decide to undertake your own encoding then this will require:
- a Windows NT/2000/XP PC, Macintosh OS, Linux or Solaris machine that meets the specifications provided by RealNetworks
- RealSystem Producer Plus software (please note that this software costs $200 approx. and there is a freely available basic version of RealSystem Producer)
- QuickTime Pro 6. This software runs on Mac and PC platforms and costs $30 approx.
Encoding service
ITS - the University's Instructional Technology Services Multimedia Room has the professional expertise and equipment to encode material in QuickTime and RealMedia formats. For further details contact Jon Rizzo at jonrizzo@mail.sdsu.edu or 594-0270
Linking to RealMedia content from Web pages
Create a .ram metafile that references the rtsp location of your RealMedia movie/audio file. Then reference .ram metafile in the URL placed on your web page. Then reference .qtl metafile in the URL placed in your web page. For example here is realqt.qtl:
rtsp://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/username/real9video.rmThe file contains the rtsp location of the RealMedia movie. Now call the reference movie file, real9video.ram from the URL in the web page like this:
<a href="real9video.ram">RealMedia streaming demo</a>
Linking to QuickTime content from Web pages
Create a .qtl metafile that references the rtsp location of your QuickTime movie/audio file. Then reference .qtl metafile in the URL placed in your web page. For example here is realqt.qtl:
<?xml version="1.0"?> <?quicktime type="application/x-quicktime-media-link"?> <embed src="rtsp://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/username/realqt.mov">The first two lines are always the same. The third line is the rtsp location of the QuickTime movie. Now call the reference movie file, realqt.qtl from the URL in the web page like this:
<a href="realqt.qtl">QuickTime streaming demo</a>
Linking to Windows Media Player content from Web pages
Create a Windows Media .wvx metafile — actually an XML based metafile — that references the rtsp location of your Windows Media file. Reference the .wvx metafile in your web page. A sample metafile is wmvideo.wvx:
<asx version="3.0"> <Entry> <REf href="rtsp://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/username/wmvideo.wmv"> </Entry> </asx>The third line is the rtsp location of the Windows Media file. Now call the metafile, wmvideo.wvx from the URL in the web page like this:
<a href="wmvideo.wvx">Windows Media Player streaming demo</a>
