Dear Len and Alan: Thanks so much for your excellent info! We do indeed wish to use prerecorded audio and video content (if this experiment is a success, we'll look into live broadcasts later). I think my confusion about whether it needs to be a stream or not stems from Second Life's documentation about using the media tools available (ie. going to the land settings and the Media tab and putting the URL into those fields).
I tested this out by trying to create a video object with the default video texture. I pointed the URL to a *.mov video hosted on SDSC (which has nice big fat pipes). It didn't work, but I couldn't tell if this was something I did wrong, or the video is too big, or that method just didn't work. (65.1 MB file) I just tested an mp3 file, and that worked, after a couple of minutes of "loading". It's unclear whether SDSC is being sluggish (likely) or is the content loading before playing? At any rate, it's great to know that I don't necessarily need to set up a streaming server for the content. ~Perian aka Isara Vollmar -----Original Message----- From: mcn-l-boun...@mcn.edu on behalf of Leonard Steinbach Sent: Fri 1/25/2008 9:12 AM To: Museum Computer Network Listserv Cc: Alan Levine Subject: Re: [MCN-L] Webcasting Perian, I took the liberty of forwarding your query to Alan Levine, Chief Tech Officer of New Media Consortium which has been at the forefront of Second Life programming for higher education. [NMC is also responsible for Pachyderm and has a considerable and growing museum membership.] Here is his reply: Hi Len, I'll try to share some info. There is a distinction that is important, and that is not clear in Perian's message as to what is meant by "webcast"; whether the audio he/she is wanting to play in Second Life is pre-recorded (which it sounds like because the list reads "gather the content"), e.g. the audio exists as sounds files, or whether the installation calls for a live audio. The latter is really the case of needing a "streaming" server, which encodes the audio in real time and then relays it to the listeners. "Streaming" is a special case of offering audio over the net when it is done in near real time. For playing pre-recorded audio, the needs are simple. The sounds merely need to be saved as an MP3 file on a web server, so there is a URL that points to it. No server plugins are needed, But as suggested, running from a DSL line is not advisable. A DreamHost account may be enough, it is hard to say for sure as it depends on how many SL avatars might be listening to the same file at the same time-- each avatar is a separate data request. For the NMC media, we have a hosting account with a content delivery service, Limelight Networks, that has a national network of highly efficient servers that can more or less host the files. But we have large scale audiences Like I said, live audio is a different thing. Typically you need a computer at the source of the audio that uses software such as ShoutCast (PC) or NiceCast (Mac) that takes the input form an audio source, and then relays the audio in real time to a special streaming server, which in turn is what handles the bandwidth of all the requests. Our arrangement with Limelight Networks provides this service as well, but there are many other sources for offering hosted live audio. It is not exactly a tutorial, but I've blogged with some images and diagrams, the setup we use at NMC for live audio streaming http://cogdogblog.com/2006/08/20/we-can-all-be-radio-stations/ - Show quoted text - On Jan 25, 2008, at 7:57 AM, Leonard Steinbach wrote: Hello Alan.... The message below just came across the MCN listserve, and I was wondering whether it is something you could easily answer....both as good samaritan and in demonstration of how NMC is relevant to the museum community......if this is too complex or convoluted, dont worry about it. best len ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Perian Sully <psu...@magnes.org> Date: Jan 24, 2008 7:33 PM Subject: [MCN-L] Webcasting To: mcn-l at mcn.edu Hi fellow techies... In another classic example of Perian-biting-off-more-than-she-can-chew, I suggested to my bosses that I recreate a sound installation into Second Life. The actual construct of the exhibition objects is all well and good, but I'm not an audio/video guru, so I'm lost when it comes to trying to figure out how to stream the audio. Basically, here's what I think I need to do to set up the audio stream: Gather the content (done) Set up a streaming server or purchase space on one Download some plugin and install on some server if setting it up myself Run the software and locate the IP address of the stream and link to it Right around step two I become completely stumped. I don't think I'd be able to host the stream on the servers here in the museum. we have a RedHat server and a W32 Enterprise server. The Windows server I have no control over, and that's the server through which the internet connection is run. In addition, the museum is only connected to a DSL line (I know, I know...). We're not going to be streaming to 100 simultaneous users at 256kbs, and our needs are quite modest, but I suspect that the DSL line isn't going to fly. I have a personal account on Dreamhost which should have enough available bandwidth and transfer limits. They allow for Quicktime Streaming, but I don't know that Dreamhost allows for streaming to Second Life. We also have a partnership with San Diego Supercomputer Center, who gives us storage and web space, and who probably has plenty of bandwidth. I'm not sure yet if they'll allow streaming, but I'm checking with them. So, in lieu of SDSC giving me everything I need, I'm wondering if other institutions have dealt with this before and how you went about setting up a webcast. Is there a nice, friendly hosting company somewhere who offers services to nonprofits? Does anyone know of any really good step-by-step tutorials for webcasting? Confusedly yours, Perian Sully Collection Information and New Media Coordinator Judah L. Magnes Museum _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network ( http://www.mcn.edu) To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l ----------------------------------------------------------- Alan Levine ? Vice President, NMC Community and CTO ------------------------------------------------------------ NMC: The New Media Consortium: sparking innovative learning and creativity 6101 W. Courtyard, Bldg. One Suite 100, Austin, TX 78730 t: (512) 445-4200 f:(512) 445-4205 aim/skype: cogdogblog http://www.nmc.org NMC Campus Observer: Second Life http://sl.nmc.org/ NMC Virtual Worlds: http://virtualworlds.nmc.org Upcoming NMC events: * 2008 NMC Spring Symposium: Topic TBD- Apr 1-3, 2008 in Second Life * 2008 NMC Summer Conference - Jun 11-14 at Princeton University For details see http://www.nmc.org/cal On Jan 24, 2008 7:33 PM, Perian Sully <psully at magnes.org> wrote: > Hi fellow techies... > > In another classic example of Perian-biting-off-more-than-she-can-chew, I > suggested to my bosses that I recreate a sound installation into Second > Life. The actual construct of the exhibition objects is all well and good, > but I'm not an audio/video guru, so I'm lost when it comes to trying to > figure out how to stream the audio. > > Basically, here's what I think I need to do to set up the audio stream: > Gather the content (done) > Set up a streaming server or purchase space on one > Download some plugin and install on some server if setting it up myself > Run the software and locate the IP address of the stream and link to it > > Right around step two I become completely stumped. I don't think I'd be > able to host the stream on the servers here in the museum. we have a RedHat > server and a W32 Enterprise server. The Windows server I have no control > over, and that's the server through which the internet connection is run. In > addition, the museum is only connected to a DSL line (I know, I know...). > We're not going to be streaming to 100 simultaneous users at 256kbs, and our > needs are quite modest, but I suspect that the DSL line isn't going to fly. > > I have a personal account on Dreamhost which should have enough available > bandwidth and transfer limits. They allow for Quicktime Streaming, but I > don't know that Dreamhost allows for streaming to Second Life. > > We also have a partnership with San Diego Supercomputer Center, who gives > us storage and web space, and who probably has plenty of bandwidth. I'm not > sure yet if they'll allow streaming, but I'm checking with them. > > So, in lieu of SDSC giving me everything I need, I'm wondering if other > institutions have dealt with this before and how you went about setting up a > webcast. Is there a nice, friendly hosting company somewhere who offers > services to nonprofits? Does anyone know of any really good step-by-step > tutorials for webcasting? > > Confusedly yours, > > Perian Sully > Collection Information and New Media Coordinator > Judah L. Magnes Museum > _______________________________________________ > You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer > Network (http://www.mcn.edu) > > To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu > > To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: > http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l > _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l
