dedlykme

August 6, 2011

Can anyone tell me code to add that will allow a placeholder image to display when the live stream is offline? Right now it just displays an ugly white box where the stream would play.

See the 2nd section called "Modernizing Your BVSS Embed Scripting/Code" in my most recent post at:

http://nch.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=15895

The improved embed script/code provides for a static "Start Frame" image, which is displayed in the player when the video stream is not playing and/or before it starts.

Good luck,

DeDLykMe

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."

-- Hunter S. Thompson

August 6, 2011

It can stream video files but I'm not sure what you're asking. I have tried streaming video files as they are being created but I've had not success at all.

I understand your question, I think....

Your should look at Item No. 4., in my reply to another post from someone else. The link directly to my reply is:

http://nch.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=15837&view=findpost&p=36416

This will solve your problem/request.

Personally, I don't care for the ".asf" format, preferring Flash for streaming (see my profile for why). But with either format the above link will solve your issue.

Ciao,

DeDLykMe

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."

-- Hunter S. Thompson

August 6, 2011

Title says it all.

i.e. switching between the two cameras from time to time.

Well..., actually..., the title doesn't quite "say it all", but here goes:

1. BVSS can stream as many simultaneous livestreams as you bandwidth and CPU can handle.

2. The Flowplayer (see the tail end of my most recent post: http://nch.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=15895 regarding Flowplayer use) has a configuration script you can use which will switch, at pre-defined intervals, between pre-defined multiple streams, either in sequence or at random (shuffled).

3. Have either a hardware (Grass Valley, etc.) or software (MediaLooks, etc.) Video-Switcher/TBC. This solution is okay if you are independently wealthy. (costs BIG $$$$$$).

and,

The **really easy & free** solution:

4. Get the most current version of a **free** (yay!!!) program called ManyCam (Google it). It is a "virtual" video capture device which plays nicely with BVSS. It will recognize & make available all of your video capture devices within its interface/gui and then you set BVSS to use ManyCam as its capture source. From within ManyCam you can do real-time/dynamic switching between your various device sources. It also plays/broadcasts any & all of the videos that you are capable of viewing on your own computer (codec-wise..., if you can play it, then ManyCam will play it). It even has a separate "Playlist" section which allows you to add your video capture devices as Playlist Items (for designated periods of time) in addition to adding video/audio files.

Good luck,

DeDLykMe

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."

-- Hunter S. Thompson

August 5, 2011

As the title and description says, I was wondering if I could use some other front-end to play my Broadcam streamed videos other than the provided NCH Flash Player? For example, could I use something like JW Player or Flowplayer? If so, how? I can't seem to find the urls of the streaming video...

See the tail end of my most recent post:

http://nch.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=15895

DeDLykMe

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."

-- Hunter S. Thompson

August 5, 2011

For my device settings, I use NTSC. I also select "S-Video" as my input. When I reboot the computer, the settings revert back to "PAL" and "Tuner", and I have to manually go in each time and reset them. Is there a way to save my camera settings. This is quite annoying!

Jim

This is usually a function of the capture device itself as I have found this behaviour to be true with nearly every video capture device in combination with nearly software application. Its seems that they always revert to whatever the "default" settings are for that device after reboot/shutdown. I have some *very* high-end video hardware from AVID that I use & it behaves in the same manner.

The way that I have solved this issue for myself is in a very wierd way:

The only piece of software that I have found which always "remembers" by video capture hardware settings is a small, *free* (yay!!) program called VirtualDub (Google it) which, if you don't know, is a handy little "quick down & dirty" video editing, encoding and capture app for windows. Ironically, this little freeware app never forgets my video device settings (I/O, Video Standard, Framerate, Colorspace, HSV Tweaking, etc.). I just keep a shortcut to VirtualDub on my desktop, and have developed the habit of double-clicking that shortcut anytime I plan to do any video capture work, whether I have rebooted, or not. The program is so that it opens in about 0.5sec., it then immediately set the capture device to all of my desired settings that it "remembered". I then exit right back out of VirtualDub and my video device is all set up for anything until the next time I reboot/shutdown.

It's almost like having a desktop shortcut just to set my video device settings.

I know..., it's strange..., but it works.

Ciao,

DeDLykMe

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."

-- Hunter S. Thompson

August 5, 2011

To start with I want to say hello to everyone , and to the future customers of NCH software's. So I spent my war like 1 hours setting up the router to be able to port forward Ports 86 and 88. 86 is for BroadCam and 88 for BroadWave, so I actually succeed on that part . I know i did since when I pressed the button saying "Run Web Routing and Test Wizard " said the my network was configured correctly on both applications( Cam and Wave) and to be double sure I ran test with website the check if ports are open and both ports were open. So when I go with BroadCam app I click connect so it would show me the addresses that I can use to see videos, In local link I could see the pre-recorded ones Ive posted but when I go to the public links that others should be able to see in the world the link is not valid meaning it dint work. So I think do i have to use another computer and check there or I don't know, etc... So I scroll down the page and this is what I find "Warning: Because your computer is on a private network you must setup your router and enter the known host details for the links to work properly from a public IP." Since I know all my necessary port are working fine and they are tuned to my public ip address(the one that other could use) then I'm sure this must be the problem. The thing is that I don't really know how to do this, what do I have to do to remove this message?

This issue is briefly mentioned in my recent post:

http://nch.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=15895

The short story is..., if you know that you have your firewall(s) properly configured with the applicable port(s) that you are using being open, then you can simply ignore those warnings in the NCH Software. Apparently this is a flaw/bug in the application(s) because there warnings show up anytime you deviate from the NCH recommended default ports in you configuration, even if you completely disable/bypass all firewalls.

Go figure.

The sure-fire way to make sure that you are in good shape is to use the **free** (yay!!!) tool from PortForward.Com which you can get here:

http://www.portforward.com/store/PFPortChecker.exe

Just download and run it (it's really self-explanatory).

**Important Note: Be sure that you have closed/exited whatever application(s) you are verifying connectivity for before you run the PFPortChecker Tool because they will actually block the applicable port(s) during testing if they are running.

DeDLykMe

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."

-- Hunter S. Thompson

August 5, 2011

Serving-Up Your BroadCam Content More Effectively--Tutorial

I'm going to be bold here and offer a few suggestions to the BroadCam Video Streaming Server ("BVSS") User Community which, at least for may part, have improved my capabilities and general state of "Zen" when using BVSS. While BVSS is (in my experience) the best combination of being the easiest, most painless, & generally good quality media server available for the Windows OS, it is no secret that support from NCH Software hard to come by (sorry NCH..., but it's true).

This post will be the first in a series (probably) which will endeavor to share with my fellow Users some good, handy tips & tricks which I have found, thoroughly tested and which have improved upon the use of BVSS in some way.

So..., today the two topics I am going to discuss are the "Web Server" and "Modernizing Your BVSS Embed Scripting/Code".

First, the "Web Server"----

The "Web Server" that is bundled with BroadCam is NOT essential to the operation of the Media Server component (like Flash Media Server or Wowza) of the BroadCam Video Streaming Server. It is simply a generic web (www/html) server that is bundled with BroadCam for all the n00bs out there who don't know any better. The problem is, that it is really NOT a very good one at all, and it is kind of a resource hog due to being poorly written as well as being quite insecure.

If you are not using an account with a Web Hosting provider to host your web pages (there are plenty of free ones out there, too), and are serving up the web pages from your own local computer, I strongly recommend getting/installing a "real" web server such as XAMPP (Apache) or LightHttpD, both of which are free/open-source, highly supported standards based, and much more lightweight (not as taxing on your computer). LightHttpD is slightly more lightweight than XAMPP (hence the name) but either one is good. Just "Google" search terms "XAMPP Windows" and/or LightHttpD Windows". Each of these web servers has an editable text file named "httpd.conf" located in a directory/folder named "conf" where you can set the default server port (generally port "80") to any port number that works best for you. (See the Notes on "Using Custom Ports"*** below.)

The way to permanently turn-off/disable the web server that is bundled with BroadCam is to click on "Options", and under "Non Secure Web Access" click on the "Stop" button. Then click "OK" and are back at the BroadCam main interface window. Finally, exit BroadCam by clicking "File" - "Exit (Turn Off)" - "Stop", and then restart BroadCam.

The bundled web server component of BroadCam will no longer start-up with BroadCam (unless you re-enable it in "Options"), however, the Media Server component of BroadCam still starts-up automatically.

When using a different web server with BroadCam, you need to open "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users|Application Data\NCH Software\BroadCam\Web" in Windows Explorer and copy/upload the "nchplayer.swf" file to the same directory/folder where your hosted web pages are located. The plain-vanilla, generic web page "embed" code used by BVSS for your videos now needs to look like these samples:

Live Stream Sample**--

</object>

Recorded Video On Demand Sample**--

</object>

Before you fool around with the video embed script/code in your web pages I STRONGLY URGE you to read the second topic in this post: "Modernizing Your BVSS Embed Scripting/Code"

**Notes on the "FlashVars" (variables) in the code:

a.) For both Live and On Demand Video streams the "bandwidth=#" variable will always be "1" for your "Broadband"/higher-bitrate (in "Options") streams, and will be "0" for you "Dialup"/lower-bitrate streams.

b.) For Live Video streams the "src=#" variable will always be "1" for the first (or only, if applicable) stream that appears in the "Live Video Streams" window of the main BroadCam interface. Additional Live Streams will be numbered as "src=2", "src=3", etc. in the order that they appear in the same main window.

c.) For On Demand (recorded) Video Streams the "src=______" variable will always the file name of your pre-recorded/encoded video, ***minus*** the file extension ("myvideo" when the actual video is named "myvideo.flv"). In case you don't already know, BroadCam places your pre-recorded/encoded videos in to the following folders:

"C:\Documents and Settings\All Users|Application Data\NCH Software\BroadCam\High" for your "Broadband"/higher-bitrate videos,

and,

"C:\Documents and Settings\All Users|Application Data\NCH Software\BroadCam\Low" for your "Dialup"/lower-bitrate videos.

***Notes on "Using Custom Ports":

To change the port number used by BVSS for its bundled web server from default port number of port "86" (blocked by many ISP's), just click on "Options" & go to the first tab marked "Web Access". There you will see two buttons labeled "Configure" (one each for the "Private Network" & for the "Public Network").

Click on each of those & the resulting pop-up window will show and easily configurable "Port" setting where you can enter the port of your choice. Then click "OK" as many times as it takes until you have exited "Options" and are back at the BroadCam main interface window.

Don't forget to configure **both** the Private & Public Networks so that you don't get confused trying to access your media pages.

Important advice:

Choosing the wrong TCP or UDP custom port numbers for your applications can cause a conflict if that port number is already registered/pre-allocated by IANA for a different internet protocol/application. Whenever you configure a custom port for any internet application **always** check the current IANA List of Registered Ports which is available at:

http://www.iana.org/assignments/port-numbers

Personally, I always use TCP and/or UDP ports in the range of 34981-35353 since they are not registered/assigned to any other protocol/application and, as such, are never blocked by any ISP's.

Note: For Flash Media delivery you cannot change the port (port 1935), as that is the registered/assigned port for the Flash RTMP media delivery protocol and is hard coded as such into Flash Media Delivery applications.

As always, don't forget to open up the applicable ports (1935 & #####) in both any software **and** hardware (router) firewall(s) and, if you do, you can ignore the "Routing" warnings that show up in red on the BVSS "Web Access" tab in "Options".

Second, "Modernizing Your BVSS Embed Scripting/Code"----

The embed script/code samples shown above in the "Web Server" topic section are in the format that BroadCam generates in its sample pages/helpfile for n00bs. This format of embed code is klunky, ugly, cumbersome to deal with, and has been abandoned as outmoded by the Flash Standard & Adobe for quite a long time. There is a much cleaner, more current, and fully tested method of embedding your BroadCam video content in web pages using the most current "swfobject-2.2.js"(10KB) file, which is made publicly available by Adobe and by Google Code, and which uses a much more efficient, pretty, and more easily editable embed script. Some people prefer to leave the "swfobject-2.2.js" file hosted on Google's servers and access it using the URL that they provide to the public, but I prefer to host the file myself on my web server rather than depend on Google (it's only 10KB for Pete's sake).

First..., don't panic..., this is **soooooo eeezeeepeeezeee** to do!!

I have thoroughly tested this with BVSS, and have put everything you that need to do this in to a little ".zip" file ("bc_embed_files.zip"-21KB) that you can download from:

http://www.multiupload.com/WWKT0TAVC7

which also includes the samples given below.

So..., this first thing that you do after unzipping the zip-file is to copy the files contained in the "bc_embed_files" folder into the directory/folder where you place/host you web pages with embedded video. Next you need to edit simply your HTML files exactly as follows:

1. Between the "<HEAD>" and the "</HEAD" tags you insert "<script type='text/javascript' src='swfobject-2.2.js'></script>" (no quotes, obviously), so that the top part of your HTML page would look something like this really basic sample:

<html>

<head>

<title>Video</title>

</head>

<body

style="color: #999999; background-color: #000000;"

alink="#ffffff" link="#3366ff" vlink="#999999">

Of course all of the "style", "font", "title" stuff is up to you.

2. Next it's time to put the nice, pretty, new BVSS video embed script/code into your web pages just like the following samples:

Live Stream Sample--

var flashvars = {

'provider': 'rtmp',

'host': 'Your_IP_Or_Hostname(FQDN)',

'scope': 'BroadCam',

'streamName': 'live',

'bandwidth': '1',

'src': '1',

'autostart': 'true',

'image': 'http://Your_IP_Or_Hostname(FQDN)/start_frame.jpg'

};

var params = {

'allowfullscreen': 'true',

'quality': 'high',

'allowscriptaccess': 'always'

};

var attributes = {

'id': 'player1',

'name': 'player1'

};

swfobject.embedSWF('nchplayer.swf', 'mediaplayer', '640', '480', '9', 'false',

flashvars, params, attributes);

</script>

Recorded Video On Demand Sample--

var flashvars = {

'provider': 'rtmp',

'host': 'Your_IP_Or_Hostname(FQDN)',

'scope': 'BroadCam',

'streamName': 'vod',

'bandwidth': '1',

'src': 'myvideo',

'autostart': 'true',

'image': 'http://Your_IP_Or_Hostname(FQDN)/start_frame.jpg'

};

var params = {

'allowfullscreen': 'true',

'quality': 'high',

'allowscriptaccess': 'always'

};

var attributes = {

'id': 'player1',

'name': 'player1'

};

swfobject.embedSWF('nchplayer.swf', 'mediaplayer', '640', '480', '9', 'false',

flashvars, params, attributes);

</script>

**Notes as to the FlashVars (variables) in the code:

a.) For both Live and On Demand Video streams the "bandwidth" variable will always be "1" for your "Broadband"/higher-bitrate (in "Options") streams, and will be "0" for you "Dialup"/lower-bitrate streams.

b.) For Live Video streams the "src" variable will always be "1" for the first (or only, if applicable) stream that appears in the "Live Video Streams" window of the main BroadCam interface. Additional Live Streams will be numbered as "2", "3", etc. in the order that they appear in the same main window.

c.) For On Demand (recorded) Video Streams the "src" variable will always the file name of your pre-recorded/encoded video, ***minus*** the file extension ("myvideo" when the actual video is named "myvideo.flv"). In case you don't already know, BroadCam places your pre-recorded/encoded videos in to the following folders:

"C:\Documents and Settings\All Users|Application Data\NCH Software\BroadCam\High" for your "Broadband"/higher-bitrate videos,

and,

"C:\Documents and Settings\All Users|Application Data\NCH Software\BroadCam\Low" for your "Dialup"/lower-bitrate videos.

d.) For both Live and On Demand Video streams the new "image" variable allows you to set a static "Start Frame" image (.jpg), which is displayed in the player when the video stream is not playing and/or before it starts.

Again, I have put everything you that need to do this in to a little ".zip" file ("bc_embed_files.zip"-21KB) that you can download from:

http://www.multiupload.com/WWKT0TAVC7

which also includes the samples given above.

Well.., that's all for today..., but if you are so motivated, you might want to consider watching this thread because coming **very soon** is:

1. "'Skinning'/Customizing the Appearance of the Nchplayer" -- I have just about perfected this and, no..., it is not a hack. But let's face it..., the Nchplayer in it current form is really kind of an "ugly duckling" just waiting to be a "swan" (Sorry again, NCH..., nothing personal).

2. "Using the JW Player (and others..., maybe) With BVSS" -- I have written a tiny, little script (less then 1KB) which asynchronously (both directions: to & from the server) translates the Flash variables ("FlashVars") so that they can be understood by the JW Player, BVSS, and vice-versa. This is in the final, "fail-safe" testing phase. If you haven't heard of the JW Player, Google it..., it's very cool. This script also has the potential for use with additional players such as the Flowplayer and various other Flash/Action-Script players. I'm kinda proud of this one!

Okay so..., ciao for now.

Good Luck & Happy Streaming,

DeDLykMe

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."

-- Hunter S. Thompson

August 5, 2011

Hello,

my ISP blockes port 86.

Does anybody know how you can change the port to another like 2086 or something?

Kind regards,

Kris

You will find that, while the BroadCam Video Streaming Server is (in my experience) the best combination of being the easiest, most painless, & generally good quality media server available for the Windows OS, the support from NCH Software is pretty much non-existent..., even if you pay for it..., so never expect any answers here from them.

That said, the answer to your question is: yes, it is quite easy to change the port.

Just click on "Options" & go to the first tab marked "Web Access". There you will see two buttons labeled "Configure" (one each for the "Private Network" & for the "Public Network").

Click on each of those & the resulting pop-up window will show and easily configurable "Port" setting where you can enter the port of your choice. Then click "OK" as many times as it takes until you have exited "Options" and are back at the BroadCam main interface window.

Don't forget to configure **both** the Private & Public Networks so that you don't get confused trying to access your media pages.

Important advice:

Do NOT use port 2086 because it may cause a conflict as it is already registered/pre-allocated by IANA for a different internet protocol/application. Whenever you configure a custom port for any internet application **always** check the current IANA List of Registered Ports which is available at:

http://www.iana.org/assignments/port-numbers

Personally, I always use TCP and/or UDP ports in the range of 34981-35353 since they are not registered/assigned to any other protocol/application and, as such, are never blocked by any ISP's.

Note: For Flash Media delivery you cannot change the port (port 1935), as that is the registered/assigned port for the Flash RTMP media delivery protocol and is hard coded as such into Flash Media Delivery applications.

As always, don't forget to open up the applicable ports (1935 & #####) in both any software **and** hardware (router) firewall(s) and, if you do, you can ignore the "Routing" warnings that show up in red on the "Web Access" tab in "Options".

Another tip based on my experience:

The "Web Server" that is bundled with BroadCam is NOT essential to the operation of the Media Server component (like Flash Media Server or Wowza) of the BroadCam Video Streaming Server. It is simply a generic web (www/html) server that is bundled with BroadCam for all the n00bs out there who don't know any better. The problem is, that it is really NOT a very good one at all, and it is kind of a resource hog due to being poorly written as well as being quite insecure.

If you are not using an account with a Web Hosting provider to host your web pages (there are plenty of free ones out there, too), and are serving up the web pages from your own local computer, I strongly recommend getting/installing a "real" web server such as XAMPP (Apache) or LightHttpD, both of which are free/open-source, highly supported standards based, and much more lightweight (not as taxing on your computer). LightHttpD is slightly more lightweight than XAMPP (hence the name) but either one is good. Just "Google" search terms "XAMPP Windows" and/or LightHttpD Windows". Each of these web servers has an editable text file named "httpd.conf" located in a directory/folder named "conf" where you can set the default server port (generally port "80") to any port number that works best for you.

The way to permanently turn-off/disable the web server that is bundled with BroadCam is to click on "Options", and under "Non Secure Web Access" click on the "Stop" button. Then click "OK" and are back at the BroadCam main interface window. Finally, exit BroadCam by clicking "File" - "Exit (Turn Off)" - "Stop", and then restart BroadCam.

The bundled web server component of BroadCam will no longer start-up with BroadCam (unless you re-enable it in "Options"), however, the Media Server component of BroadCam still starts-up automatically.

When using a different web server with BroadCam, you need to open "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users|Application Data\NCH Software\BroadCam\Web" in Windows Explorer and copy/upload the "nchplayer.swf" file to the same directory/folder where your hosted web pages are located. The generic web page "embed" code for your videos now needs to look like these samples:

Live Stream Sample--

</object>

Recorded Video On Demand Sample--

</object>

Notes as to the FlashVars (variables) in the code:

a.) For both Live and On Demand Video streams the "bandwidth=#" variable will always be "1" for your "Broadband"/higher-bitrate (in "Options") streams, and will be "0" for you "Dialup"/lower-bitrate streams.

b.) For Live Video streams the "src=#" variable will always be "1" for the first (or only, if applicable) stream that appears in the "Live Video Streams" window of the main BroadCam interface. Additional Live Streams will be numbered as "src=2", "src=3", etc. in the order that they appear in the same main window.

c.) For On Demand (recorded) Video Streams the "src=______" variable will always the file name of your pre-recorded/encoded video, ***minus*** the file extension ("myvideo" when the actual video is named "myvideo.flv"). In case you don't already know, BroadCam places your pre-recorded/encoded videos in to the following folders:

"C:\Documents and Settings\All Users|Application Data\NCH Software\BroadCam\High" for your "Broadband"/higher-bitrate videos,

and,

"C:\Documents and Settings\All Users|Application Data\NCH Software\BroadCam\Low" for your "Dialup"/lower-bitrate videos.

One last note on BroadCam web page video embed code:

The embed code samples given here are given in the format that BroadCam generates in its sample pages/helpfile for n00bs. This format of embed code is klunky, ugly, cumbersome to deal with, and has been abandoned as outdated by the Flash standard & Adobe for quite a long time. Immediately following my (admittedly lengthy) reply to you I will be posting a new thread entitled:

"Serving-Up Your BroadCam Content More Effectively--Tutorial"

which will include a much cleaner, more current, and fully tested method of embedding your BroadCam video content in web pages. You might want to give it a quick read.

Good Luck & Happy Streaming,

DeDLykMe

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."

-- Hunter S. Thompson

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How to set a placeholder image when live stream is offline?

How Do I Stream Video Files

Does Broadcam support streaming from two cameras?

Can I use a different flash front end?

Camera Driver settings

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Serving-Up Your BroadCam Content More Effectively--Tutorial

change server port

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