Search | Directories | Reference Tools
UW Home > UWIN > Computing and Networking > Web > Streaming Media Services 
RealMedia

How to Stream a RealMedia Clip

Summary

This guide describes how to incorporate a RealMedia™ clip within your Web site so that it streams from the streaming server and plays back in RealPlayer or the RealPlayer browser plug-in.

Instructions

First, create your Real Media clip and upload it to your streaming media directory:

  1. Prepare and encode your source content into a RealMedia clip. The instructions that follow refer to your RealMedia clip as yourclip.rm.

  2. If you have not done so already, activate your streaming media directory now.

  3. Upload yourclip.rm to your streaming media directory (public_media) on Dante or Homer. Be sure to upload it as "binary" or "raw data" since it is not a text file.

  4. (Optional) Now that yourclip.rm is in your streaming media directory, test it using RealPlayer. If your RealMedia clip does not stream correctly when opened by RealPlayer, it is unlikely to stream later, when you've done additional work to add it to your Web site.

Next, create a RealMedia metafile that points to your clip and upload it to your Web site:

  1. To create your metafile, open a new file in a text editor.

  2. Type into this file the URL for yourclip.rm on the server:

    rtsp://media.type.washington.edu/userid/yourclip.rm

    Substitute type and userid appropriately, refering to the RealMedia URL Reference for help.

  3. Save this text file using yourclip.ram or yourclip.rpm as the filename.

    Use a .ram filename extension if you want your clip to play in a pop-up RealPlayer window. Use a .rpm filename extension if you want to embed your clip within a Web page so that it plays via the RealPlayer browser plug-in.

  4. Upload yourclip.ram or yourclip.rpm to your Web site. Be sure to upload it as "text" or "ASCII".

Finally, reference your RealMedia metafile from a Web page:

  1. Create or edit the Web page on which you want visitors to find your streaming media. Use whatever tool you normally use to work on Web pages.

  2. Either add a link to yourclip.ram:

    <A HREF="yourclip.ram">my presentation</A>

    Or embed it on the Web page itself:

    <EMBED WIDTH=pixels HEIGHT=pixels SRC="yourclip.rpm"
    CONTROLS=ImageWindow CONSOLE=one NOJAVA=true>

    Substitute pixels according to the width and height of your clip. Refer to Chapter 8: Playing a Presentation in a Web Page found in the RealSystem G2 Production Guide to learn more about the attributes of the EMBED element in this context.

  3. (Optional) Add a "Download RealPlayer" button to your Web page for visitors who may need to download RealPlayer. Refer to Product Logos on Real Networks' Web site for the button image and linking information.

  4. Save this Web page and, if need be, transfer it to your Web site. Your Web page and metafile should reside in the same directory, otherwise you must adjust the reference to the metafile.

You're done. Open your Web page and try it out.